Village Auto & Transmission

Reviews 3

A

Anonymous User

I believe Village Auto is a very overpriced auto repair shop. I brought my wife’s 2001 Hyundai Accent to Village Auto since the windshield wipers were not working. I had initially replaced the wiper motor myself and had purchased one for $65.00 ($90 minus $25 core return) from O’Reilly Auto. Replacing the motor did not solve the problem so I brought the vehicle to Village Auto they next day since it seemed likely that the wiper transmission linkage would have to be replaced. The Village Auto employee contacted me shortly after I had dropped it off and explained that the repair would be around $760 to replace both the motor and transmission which was seized up. He claimed that the motor that I had replaced had burnt out as a result of the seized transmission. My wife needed the car so she could make it back and forth to work, and since it was raining that day, with snow expected for the next day I told him to go ahead and fix it. However, he did not tell me specifically how much parts would be and how much labor would be. I was shocked when I picked up my vehicle and saw that Village Auto had charged me $199.00 for the wiper motor which I had been able to purchase myself the previous day for $65.00. In addition they also charged $299.00 for the wiper transmission. I contacted O’Reilly Auto Parts to see how much they would charge for one and found that it would be around $85. My wife stopped by Village Auto to ask about the cost and the service representative she spoke with claimed that the parts are marked up but not by a large amount. He said that that it is necessary for them to mark them up a little to stay in business. He also said that there are differences in the quality of motors that are used and that it is likely that the motor I had purchased was not the same quality as the ones they use. That may be a valid argument if not for the fact that when we called a Hyundai dealership we found that the price to have the motor and wiper transmission replaced would have been $425 which is almost $335 less than Village Auto. I find it hard to believe that Village Auto is using parts that are of such a high quality compared to the parts used at a Hyundai dealership that it calls for an extra $335. The price at another local repair shop was even lower at $360 which is around $400 less than Village Auto charged to replace the wiper motor and linkage transmission. Such an overcharge on the parts makes me question the labor rates that I was billed as well and also whether or not the washer motor truly was burnt out.

DA

Dan Eckert

In Village A&T web page they refer to being a "dealer alternative" service, and that is where we needed help, realizing some unusual noises coming from back of our minivan(also my wife had panic moment when 2 service lights went on suddenly).We were told come in asap by Dealer & given the big uncertainty about what went wrong in gears/shifting & sounds. The bad news was dealer telling simply"the battery is failing & you need to put in another transmission." Asking about the cause saying, "what really are our options here?"- the response was basically - think it over, it is a big expense(for replacement). Researching more, I found many of this era/model of van had intrinsic flaws in the ATr, and the only fix was another same flawed transmission. Many owners posted having gone thru 2nd/3rd flawed tranmissions from the dealerships; we did not want to be in that situation following dealers only option to us! Id heard someone mention Village A&Ts commitment to quality diagnosis,so that was my 1st call for clarifying our troublesome situation - as we really depended upon Van for daily use. Talking with founder Rich F, helped proceed in steps for initial testing/diagnosis to see what to expect. We decided it best to go ahead to have Jeff (rebuilder) remove the AT. He respectfully walked us through what really was faulty & needing a better rebuild for overhaul. Skeptically I had lots of questions,which in turn were confidently answered ,and soon felt it worth the overhaul. Very grateful then for courteous team of staff, as John (Service Advisor) who took us under van, identifying some other issues (ie damaged wheel bearing) making noise; some leaks & degraded parts. The P&Labor costs were spelled out if we chose the repairs. Appreciated much the process to see & to get understanding of what was faulty for all repair items; also the labor costs discounted ( =big savings$ ) specifically since the cradle/&transmission would be out during the other needed repairs! This helped our family make informed decisions-without pressure; not to mention perks of unexpected Loaner vehicle, & the excellent warranty on top. I found in our Van dilemma a surprisingly rare experience to discover customer focused service/satisfaction & respect a priority at Village - traits truly uncommon in the deceiving cheapest price, low quality, quick-fix market. We hope to continue, & recommend others through earned loyalty, Thank you all.

JO

John Ray

I was visiting friends in St. Paul for the weekend when my truck broke down. I drive an older Ford Ranger with a manual transmission. It was extremely cold (about 10 below), and I went from experiencing some resistance when shifting gears (Saturday evening) to barely being able to shift gears at all (Sunday mid-day). I took it into Village Auto on Monday and they set to work examining the vehicle right away. To summarize my thoughts on this shop: 1. First and foremost this is a quality-focused set of people. As the saying goes, a job worth doing is a job worth doing well. You may pay a marginally higher amount, but its clear that youre getting expertise and a long-term fix. They also back major repairs with a warranty. If you want to try to patch your vehicle up with a quick fix, this may not be the shop for you, but in my mind that is not a negative. Mike, the general manager, and Colin, the specialist who worked on my clutch, are knowledgeable and take pride in their work. 2. Auto mechanics rarely try to explain the technical nature of a problem unless you yourself are a gearhead. I found it refreshing that the staff at Village Auto could give me a concise but informed description of what was broken, what they options were, what they recommended, what they were going to do, and how long it would take. Youre getting more information than is the norm, but it should be understandable to the average person. 3. The service here is definitely higher than what you would typically expect. You can use a Keurig machine in the lobby, with free wifi and free juice. I was located about 1.5 miles from the shop, and when I told them I was just down the road, they offered to drop me off while they diagnosed the vehicle. When it later became clear that they would need to wait for parts (so about 36 hours before repairs would be finished), they gave me a loaner car. All of this is relatively uncommon. Nobody likes waiting for vehicle repairs and Village Auto makes it fairly painless. Mike takes care of his customers. I dont live in St. Paul, but if I did I would come back here to do maintenance on my truck. Its also a relief to find a good mechanic when youre only in town for a visit. Before Village Auto began work, I called my long-time mechanic in my hometown, and in general terms he thought it all checked out. Cant beat that!

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