Beware: Terrible Experience with Duggy's Garage

A squealing belt can sound like a bigger deal than it is. Just find the one thats looser than the other two and snug it up a little.

There's a reason manufacturers got away from those tiny little belts and started using bigger single belts. You can be doing everything right and still get a pesky one that wants to keep stretching.

Subaru still uses those small size belts and they stretch all the time

Those little belts can cost the shop as much as 20-25$ (for the good ones) and as little as 7-10$ for the cheaper ones. Those cheapies are tempting but you risk squealing

 

Its called charging for the time you spend on the car.. i charge about the same for presale/post-sale inspections.

 

as we can all see in the video the post sale inspection cost of $156 was clearly justified

 

only reason the shop replied was that the OP started a thread and Duggy was tagged on a major Toyota owners website about lousy service there

 

It's nice to see a shop respond [really] but every bit of decent work and trust was negated by your mechanic who ran a vehicle out the door that was very obviously not repaired. Every bit of other work including pricing becomes suspect when that happens.

You failed the customer and your mechanic failed you.

 

I also have issue with @duggys Duc told me Devin will give me a call that was October 15 till now no call,e-mail,text to address a leak, good thing traded the truck could had been dry by now.

Here is the thread I made

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-cause-a-leak-of-a-front-differential.689835/

 

If Duggys took the time to respond to this email maybe they really do care about their reputation and hopefully a mutual agreement can come about.
In my area there are a few good shops but most are shady. I worked in one shop where I saw the owner tell a young college girl that he had to replace the alternator and battery when I was the one who worked on the car and the battery was all that needed to be replaced. Recently at a Ford dealership I had to watch mechanics throw new parts in the trash that the customers were paying for and not installing them. Being around crap like that gives me a very negative view of shops in general.

 

Just to play devil's advocate - the more you tear into a 20 year old car, the more surprises you find. Ive been there before, and I wish my mechanic would have communicated that disclaimer on the front end instead of after the fact, but it does happen.


Hope you all reach a mutual agreement.

 

I was going to use them for a front wheel alignment and was ask to leave the vehicle overnight, I declined and went to Southwest alignment.

A few months later I requested a quote for a gear change in my 2016 Tacoma, since they were local and Toyota experts. The quote was $5500., I passed again.

 

Wanted to provide an update on this. Duc called me yesterday and genuinely apologized for the things that happened. Rather than suggesting how he can make he right he asked me what I think it would take to make it whole again. I felt like it was only fair for both parties that I get refunded for the parts and labor on the timing belt and the additional $675 I was charged from the initial quote. At the end of the day Duggy's did a lot of work on this car and they should still be compensated for their time. Shit happens, I can sympathize with that as a business owner. As car enthusiasts I think we all know that a good shop is a dime a dozen. A lot of shops wouldn't have taken the time to actually listen and solve the issue. Duc cares about the reputation of his business and he backed it up.

 

Good on you both.

 

So what is the status of your 4Runner? And who are you going to have complete the work now?

I've been looking for a decent shop locally to replace a needle bearing with a bushing but have had little traction on finding anyone. Luckily, things like this, have forced me learn how to do things on my own and acquire the tools to do so.

 

Duc is good people. Whenever someone in the Houston area asks for a recommendation, I always point them in the direction of his shop. We are all human and make mistakes, but what makes the difference is how we make good on those mistakes. Going a step further is coming up with a way to prevent making the same mistake again.

 

Well none of this aged well. Found a ton of issues with the 4runner post Duggy's. I just fixed it and kept it pushing. But now their marketing person keeps trying to get me to delete this post. Does a reputable shop that does good work need to hire a marketing company to scrub reviews? I updated my google review from a 1 star to a 3. But I guess that wasn't enough. The elephant in the room is that multiple people have had issues with Duggy's garage despite their 4.7 stars on google reviews. So maybe it's time to compare good marketing to actual quality of work.

 

Lol. Their marketing genius just stirred up attention on a 4 year old review, putting them back in the spotlight instead of letting it be. Changing it from a 1 star to a 3 star was kind of you. I'd probably lower it back to a 1 out of spite for dragging up a nightmare experience that happened 4 years ago.

 

I've completely rebuilt the car at this point. Now I'm laughing at how anyone on their side thought this was a good idea. If I ignored the email you probably shouldn't text me with the same exact message a week later. But what do I know? I'm just a small business owner as well.

 

So they asked you if the belt noise was there with the A/C on?

But come to find out, They left the A/C compressor off completely.
Like MIA.....

WTF.......?

I wouldn't have responded.
Delete. Goodbye forever.

I don't waste my time trying to "work it out".
I move on and never look back.

 

I think I came to terms with not getting my fair side of this a long time ago. But maybe it's time to hold them accountable to prevent anyone else on this forum for falling into the same trap.

 

This is the marketing strategy for reviews and reputation "management" btw. Reviews are worthless. Word of mouth is it.

Tire shop near me takes $25 off the bill if you leave a 5* review at checkout. Shocker, 4.9* reviews.

What few forums are left is about the only place. Google is corrupted. Amazon ruined. Yelp sucks. Nextdoor is karens. Facebook is a cesspool of spam, shills and people too Karen for nextdoor. Angieslist is hopeless.

I suspect it wont be long now until forums are polluted by "reputation" management firms making accounts to promote businesses covertly. There's another tacoma forum where its just overrun with chinese sellers giving out free products and buying reviews. Sad.

 

What's sadder is a Toyota "speciality shop" can't figure out how to fix a 20 year old car properly. Because I looked at this forum and rebuilt the exact car over time and still daily drive it.