10/26/2026
We wanted to share this gem! Saving the day is our jam!
*****
I virtually never write reviews, but my experience at Dave's garage was too compelling! I'm from MN and was staying in Traverse City on vacation with my family. On labor day we found that we were leaking transmission fluid from our SUV and I thought our road trip was done for! I searched for a shop on google and came across Dave's. In desperation, I called ON LABOR DAY and fully intended on leaving a voicemail... someone picked up the phone!! It was Jamie and he reassured me that they would do everything they can to get me and my family back on the road. He told me to bring my car by first thing in the morning even through they had a 2-week backlog.
While they looked at my car, I sat in the waiting room and watched the staff as the interacted with each customer that came in. They were all so warm and professional and appeared to make no effort to up-sell. Jamie himself was running interference and helping out some other walk-ins to keep their day's schedule intact. I literally watched one of the techs show a guy his air filter and he said, "I know you said you wanted me to replace this but this thing looks good as new. I don't think you need to replace it yet." WHO DOES THAT?!
They came out and told me that, after they cleaned up the transmission fluid on the bottom of my car, they cannot find any active leak. I was totally prepared to start throwing money at the problem and was almost begging them to just replace the pan and gasket "just in case." They said they don't feel good about replacing parts if there's not any issue. We eventually came to the conclusion that the fluid had been overfilled by a different shop and "burped" out the overflow port and there was no other issue. They confirmed my fluid level was perfect and charged me a modest amount for their time and sent me on my way. Now, a month later, I can confirm that they were right, there's no leak of any kind.
This shop absolutely had the opportunity to take advantage of a weary traveler who just wanted the problem to go away. They could have at least charged me triple for the "emergency service". They did neither! My only complaint is that they don't have a location my area in MN. Someday, I hope to find a shop like this near me!
