Typically I would not volunteer to offer my review for a service that I contracted with & paid for. However, with the extra-ordinary customer service focus that Mr. Vu has demonstrated, I made an exception and submitted this write-up to share with you my experience in having my SUV serviced by Vu and my take on why he has earned a full 5-stars (should be 6-stars) appraisal from me.
My 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser has reached a major maintenance milestone of 183K miles which necessitated replacing the timing belt, water pump, hydraulic belt tensioners, and cam & crank shafts seals, etc.. I visited 3 reputable large repair shops in my area and after a quick look at my suv and starting the vehicle for few minutes, a similar pitch was given by their technicians to replace all the items without any pros/cons analysis. Their cost estimates were not only higher than what I have learned from Toyota online forums but also were not close to one another. Feeling not satisfied, I shared my story with an old friend of mine who has many vehicles in a hope to hear his experience in maintaining his fleet for his feedback. After hearing my story and saw the estimates, this friend wasted no time in referring me to Vu Auto Services located about an hour from my home. Apparently, my friend and his family have had their cars serviced for nearly 2 decades by Vu's. So they knew a few things about car repairs.
I then drove in and met Vu who took time to meet with me cordially and happily. I told him what I needed for my SUV. He listened but politely told me he is not sure that I needed to replace all those items. He questioned me about maintenance records of past services performed on the suv for those items and then started the engine, performed visual inspections, and checked for certain I/O system responses. I was taken aback at his dedication & diligence in assessing my vehicle. He then gave me his reading & suggestion on what critical maintenance items needed to be taken care of first and what could be addressed later, all in my best interests not his! It turned out there was a decal--not easy to be seen--on the timing belt cover that listed previous technician's repairs (which items were replaced & when) ! This really was the answers that I was looking for and he patiently looked these up in order to give me an accurate maintenance status of my suv instead of trying to suggest me to replace everything at an exorbitant costs. His integrity and honest action indeed gave me the confidence for the merits of having certain maintenance items that really needed to be replaced worked on!
His estimate on what to replace/repair based on what really needed, per Toyota's recommendation & actual replacement made, was very competitive, item to item, to all other shops's and it was an easy decision to have him serviced my vehicle. I dropped my Toyota at his shop in the morning and got a call from him as promised in the PM to pick it up. All the works were professionally done, on time, within cost target, and old parts were also given to me.
Since I was extremely satisfied with his personal integrity, honest advice, service quality, competitive costs, professionalism, and customer care, I offered a small tip to recognize him. He politely declined and shared that my satisfaction of his shop' service is enough of a tip for him and his co-workers! I then drove my land cruiser home and told myself that I would "offer" my tip to him by having spent few minutes to sum up my experience in having my vehicle repaired by Vu with you all using this Yelp forum. I hope this will be of some benefits for you in making a right repair decision for your vehicles or someone's you know.
I would give him a 6-star if there was an outlier scale & rating for such an outstanding auto repair business operated with the aforementioned qualities & characters which are rare in these days. I trust you will have positive experience as I have had in bringing your car to Vu's shop. read more
