Woodie's Auto Service & Repair Centers - Mallard Crossing
I had a very concerning experience with Woodie’s that involved both the quality of the repair and what I believe was a serious failure to properly recheck their own work.
I originally brought my car in to have a wheel stud repaired and paid approximately $520. Immediately after leaving the shop, I noticed a new sound and vibration/feeling from the car on the left driver side. I had not even made it to the first light before realizing something was wrong, so I brought the car right back. Cameron said “to be fair we only drove it in the parking lot. ” (like what? A test drive in a parking lot? For stud work?)
I then had to take my car on a test drive with one of their technicians (they didn’t know how to drive stick) so they could hear and feel exactly what I was experiencing. We waited for a while after. Cameron came into the waiting room very dramatically and said words to the effect of, “Oh my God, I kid you not this has happened to us three other times this week” — someone brings a car in for one issue and then leaves with a completely new issue. We were then told that my axle was the problem and that I should not drive the vehicle.
I called my dad so take a look at it when he could and had my partner drive us home in his car. What he found out was that
THE LUG NUTS WERE LOOSE. So loose you didn’t even need a tool to twist them off. You can just use your hands.
Once the lug nuts were properly tightened, the sound and vibration disappeared. So after being told not to drive it because of the axle, the actual problem was directly in the area Woodie’s had just worked on. That is extremely concerning to me.
When I later raised the issue with Woodie’s, Cameron told us there was “no way” the lug nuts were loose . My partner was present and heard this conversation as well.
Cameron also was not the person who rode with us during the test drive, yet he was telling us that the axle was the problem. The technician who actually rode in the car with us did not personally explain that diagnosis to us.
I was also told during an in-person conversation with Cameron that the vehicle had only been driven in the busy shop parking lot as part of their recheck rather than being road-tested at normal driving speeds. That makes even less sense to me because the problem became noticeable around 25 mph. If the car was only driven around the parking lot, I do not understand how they could have adequately checked that the vehicle was returned in a safe state.
The biggest issue here is safety.
Loose lug nuts after wheel-related service are not a minor inconvenience. I trusted this shop to return my vehicle in safe driving condition. I left their shop, immediately noticed something was wrong, returned and gave them another opportunity to inspect the vehicle, and they STILL apparently failed to identify the loose lug nuts.
Instead, I was given an entirely different diagnosis involving my axle and advised not to drive the vehicle.
Had I accepted that diagnosis, I could have spent additional money repairing something that was not causing the problem while the actual safety issue remained overlooked.
I have requested the documentation from their recheck because I want to know exactly what was inspected, what testing was performed, and how they reached the axle diagnosis.
Mistakes can happen. What matters is whether a business thoroughly investigates the mistake and takes accountability for it. What bothers me most is that I RETURNED immediately after the repair because I knew something was wrong, giving them an opportunity to catch it, and somehow the loose lug nuts were still missed.
I have completely lost confidence in this location. I would not trust this location with my vehicle again.
Dear Alecxia, thank you for bringing this to our attention. Ensuring a safe experience is our top priority, and we deeply apologize for the concerns you encountered. We appreciate your detailed account, which will help us address the issues you faced. We take your feedback seriously, and we are investigating this matter to prevent any similar occurrences in the future. Please expect a follow-up from our management team to address your concerns further.
- Woodie's Auto Service & Repair Centers - Mallard Crossing