Tuffy Auto Service Center

Reviews 3

DO

Dominic Fracasso

Our 07 Sante Fe made a high pitched sound when starting it up after hitting the remote start button one morning. I heard it shut it off & started 2 more times with the same noise occuring. So I went out to see what was going on & just shut it off manually. There was a burnt smell from inside the car & under the hood but I did not see anything out of place. We have an extra car & both my wife & I had to go to work so we left the car at home to look at later when we got home. When I got home I tried to start it again & nothing happened but the dash flashed a wierd light show. Our cars are newer so I really dont have a place to have mechanic work done but had a reccomendation from a friend for this Tuffy store. I called Tuffy to have it towed in to see what was wrong. The next day I got a call from Sue the owner of Tuffy & said the starter had burned out. Possible cause was a wiring issue for the auto remote start we had installed about a month prior. When starting the car in park or neutral, the starter starts the car normally but would not disengage with the engine. So the starter would run as fast as the engine which it is obviously not good for the starter. The tech at Tuffy called the place who installed the remote start on our car to tell them there was a problem with the wiring. These guys put remote starters on our 3 kids cars with no issues. They did not believe it was their work causing the problem but did tell the tech how to disconnect some fuses so the remote start could be disabled. Once they did that. the starter worked as it should. Sue called & said it was the remote start which was now disconnected but the starter has been replaced & the car starts normally now. She suggested I approach the remote start company for at least the cost of the starter. I kind of think they owe me for the tow, labor & the starter but I am a reasonable person. I picked up the car after hours the next day & when I starterd it up it did the same thing/noise as before. Of course I was disappointed but I thought there must be something else wrong that didnt show up while they were working on it. I called Tuffy the next day to explain what happened the night before. They could not believe it was doing the same thing but said they would bring it back in & see what is hapening now. After another hour of trying different things, they could not get the starter to act up for them. But believed me that it did it to me the night before. The tech mechanic decided to tilt the steering wheel up & down & start the car in different positions of the steering wheel column. Sure enough! With the steering wheel in the upmost position the starter would stay engaged while the engine was running! Move the column down a couple notches & it would be fine. Sue called the remote start company again & asked if they connected to &/or ran wiring in the steering column-they said YES but said they wanted to see & repair the wiring if thats what was causing the starter to act up. Sue had the car driven over to the remote start place quite far away so they could repair the wiring (which was pinching & shorting out in the column when it was in the higher position). They re-connected the remote start, tested it & all was fine. The car was driven back to Tuffy & Sue called us again to say it is all ok now. We have not had another problem since. The bill from Tuffy was a lot less than I expected. They charged us for one fourth of the time they actually spent on diagnosing the problem & did not charge us to take the car back & forth to the remote start dealer. This could have been really expensive but Sue & Chuck from Tuffy in Lockport were more than fair & went way past the level of customer service I have received from similar businesses.

SU

Susan Kase

After purchasing a used vehicle from a local resident, I thought I had made a great decision as it ran good and looked decent for the price they were asking. Afterwards, I drove straight to Tuffy in Lockport. I had had work done before at Tuffy in Lockport and have come to expect the forthright, straight service they specialize in. It is why I return to them for all my automotive needs and recommend them to my friends and family. A good honest automotive repair service is hard to find so I stick to Tuffy time and time again. Upon inspection of my new treasure, Paul, the service manager took me aside and asked if I had already paid for the vehicle or was just bringing it them for a once over before purchase. I said I had indeed paid for it and he then proceeded to take me to my vehicle where they had inspected it and went through it point by point as to what had been found and what their recommendations were, thankfully most of them minor. At one point tho, he looked at me and asked if I had ever seen a certain appearance of a part we were looking at. When I said no, he said to me, “I am curious about the condition of this because the only time I have ever seen it look like this was when the vehicle had experienced (this) to it.” I told him the seller had not mentioned anything that serious before the sale. I thanked him for his inspection and thought about the comparison he had told me about. I drove directly over to the seller’s place and in a round-about way asked about what repairs had been done to this part. When he started hem hawing around and then mentioned one of the key phrases Paul had used in describing the mishap, I knew Paul’s suspicions were correct. I asked for my money back and the seller didnt hesitate one bit. A huge sigh of relief was heard, knowing I had taken good looks over good performance and repairs. Paul’s respect and professionalism for my purchase and pride are just two of the many reasons for what is going to keep me coming back to Tuffy. The owners, Susan and Chuck, are great people and try to provide only the best of service professionals like Paul and deserve our business. In a world where women are not always as vehicle savvy as we should be, it’s nice to know a local company has my back. Thanks Paul, Susan and Chuck for looking out for me.

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Sharon Poage

My windshield wiper stopped during a blizzard while I was driving to buy tires for my car. Tuffy was a block away. I pulled in and asked them to check my fuse. They said it was probably the motor, but it could be a few things. They asked me to sign a paper allowing them to charge me $50+ dollars every half hour to find the prob. I said please just check the fuse. After I signed the paper because i could not drive out of there without wipers in a snow storm, they put my car up on the lift. I asked them y they were doing this and they told me they would be with me momentarily. Over an hour later they told me the good news was it was a fuse and it would only be $54 to change and the bad news is I have over $7000 In engine issues. So could I just sign a different paper authorizing the ordering of over $4000 in parts so they could schedule the work. I was flabbergasted and looked at the 2 pages of work that was flagged to be done immediately. One problem stated oil was spilling into my turbo. I asked them what made them do all this checking when all I needed was a fuse. They said my engine light was on. Yes it was on, and I already had that checked by my regular mechanic who told me my catalytic converter was going and the part was $250.00 but assured me the car was safe to drive until I saw him in 2 weeks. My car is 12 years old and has 180K miles. Its not even worth $7000. The guy behind the desk expected me to sign that paper. When I said no I could not sign the paper, he tried to pressure me into just buying tires since mine were so bad. Why would I spend so much on tires for a car that is ready for the bone yard? The guy just mumbled an answer i did not understand. I told him to put my spare on the worst tire and got out of there. The next day I went and got tires, but when the tire guy went to put my spare back under my car he said the parts to keep my spare under the car were missing. Really!?!?!??!?!?! Thanks again Tuffy! Its a month later, my car is driving fine without the $7000+ they told me was emergent in nature. The only problem I have, is the rolling spare in my hutch because I do not have the parts Tuffy took off to replace the spare. I do not recommend this establishment for anything. Delete review

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