Duffus Auto Center

I’ll let you be the judge of my experience.
I took my very old (1998, but only 150k) car in to have tires changed from winter to summer. I know there’s some issues with exhaust, some clunky noises, so I asked the mechanic to also take a look at the exhaust, since he’s going to have it up on the lift anyway.
When I dropped the car off I left a note inside, because I remembered the engine light was on (for an unrelated issue) and I didn’t want it run on the computer. I said again «please just give me an estimate for any repairs».
Two days later, I get a call: «Yeah, your muffler was no good so we replaced it»
(What?!)
«Really cheap one, don’t worry, only 87 $, crappy muffler but you needed one.»
(I’m still not impressed, I didn’t WANT a repair, I wanted an estimate)
«Ok, I’ll give you discount on the tire change, only 20 not 25»
Oh boy, 5 $ off a 200 $ repair that I didn’t want. And then he said, «Look it was just a muffler, if it had been a $ 700 – 800 repair I would have called you first».
Now I’m kind of mad, because I didn’t want any repairs, just the tires changed and an estimate. I said I’d come and see him.
Next day — he repeats that the muffler I had was no good and that’s why he changed it. So I asked him, Do you think it will pass inspection now? he says, surprised, No no, that car would never pass. So I said, Why did you put a brand new muffler on a broken old car that wont pass an inspection due in 3 weeks? — No answer.
Thing is, he knew the inspection was due, he confirmed that it was the end of the month. And he knew the car was needing a lot of repair… but he still put a new muffler on anyway without asking (also overcharging me, I checked online, non-​crappy new mufflers for my car are like 60 $).
Ok, he says, Fine. I’ll take it off. Now he seems annoyed, which is frustrating since its his fault the damn muffler is on there in the first place.
A week goes by, no word from him. I drop by after work and check — oh he took his muffler off, but didn’t put the old one back on! I can’t drive the car without a muffler.
So I call him the next morning, leave a message. No return call. I call again the next day and get him on the phone. Oh sorry, he says, I lost your number (!!!). I told him I checked, saw that my muffler isn’t back on my car — how much longer? He says «your muffler was no good, I don’t have it anymore» so I said, «I drove my car in there just fine, with a muffler that may or may not have been useless. I don’t know because you didn’t take the time to show me. Then you replaced it without asking me. And now I have no muffler at all. I lost my car for a week and a half, and now I cant even drive it out of your parking lot. You need to fix this.»
He says, Ok pick it up tomorrow morning. And then he all but hung up on me.
Next day I paid the 25 $ for the tire change and drove away with a muffler on the car. No conversation, just paid and left.
I don’t know if he did anything else to the car. I don’t think so, although the car is just as loud as it was before and inside does smell like exhaust now when it didn’t before.
Is he an honest mechanic? Well, he eventually righted the mistake he made.
Did he try to snow me with an expensive repair without asking — unfortunately it seems that way.
I won’t be going back there and I wouldn’t recommend it, unless unasked for repairs are something you appreciate (hey, to the right person that might be awesome).

I was previously going to a shop who always identified every possible thing that could go wrong with my vehicles. After summing up the total I spent on repairs I decided it was time to change. I started asking around and DUFFUS auto ranked #1. A shop named Duffus Auto (although pronounced duh-​fus — not much better) that is still in business MUST have something going for it — because the name certainly isn’t. Well, let me tell you: they are efficient, they don’t fix anything unless it really needs fixing, the repairs they do are done right and affordably, they will help you out in a pinch. Need I say they are honest? George runs the operation and appears to be all business — if that is how you like it, it will stay that way. But if you take a few minutes, you can get him talking — he is very friendly. Hands down the best mechanic I have ever had.

Never having had the experience of owning a vehicle that wasn’t 10+ years old, I have had my fair share of car repairs to deal with. When I moved to Halifax 3 years ago, I asked around for a good mechanic. My landlord had recommended a place in Bayer’s Lake that was out of the way and very expensive. The day I got the car back, I noticed that they had accidentally disconnected a wire that was necessary for the air conditioning to work. When I called back, they were rude and visibly annoyed, so obviously I wouldn’t be going back to them anytime soon!!!
Enter…Duffus Auto.
After several recommendations by 2 friends and 3 different Cab Drivers around the city, I decided to take my car to Duffus Auto on the corner of Duffus and Agricola Streets. While the outside is shabby as heck and often looks like it was caught in a sandstorm (nevermind the inside, which is literred in faded car posters + gas adverts from the 70s), the service is no-​nonsense and prompt.
Duffus Auto reminds me of that greasy spoon of a diner that is in everybody’s back pocket. «Serves the best pancakes south of the river!» But instead of pancakes, of course, Duffus Auto serves up reliable fixes at decent prices.
The owner is fast and tells-​it-​like-​it-​is. Best part is that he puts pride in his work and has told me several times to bring it back if I find something wrong with the repair — he’ll look at it for free.
I must say, 3 years later, I still go to him every time there’s a problem.

I think we can all agree that car repairs SUCK. What’s even worse is when you don’t know much about cars, so you constantly feel like you’re maybe being (pardon the pun) taken for a ride when you go to any mechanic.
Recently what– in my lack of mechanical knowledge mind– should have been a quick fix job turned out to be a hefty (read expensive) endeavor. A week before Christmas.
The place I had been taking my car seemed legit enough, but when you’re faced with a bill that big, you’re going to panic a bit and get a second opinion.
I did some asking around and these guys were recommended to me by a co-​worker. With nothing to lose, I figured I’d give them a shot.
The shop is nothing to look at, it is all business. The owner is not one for small talk, but he does know his stuff. Their second opinion revealed more stuff that needed to be fixed, but a much lower price tag. After considering paying a random and sketchy dude on Kijiji to fix my car and risk possible death, I decided to do the adult thing and suck it up.
Duffus Auto was quick and efficient and made this totally painful experience a little less traumatic.
I got my car back and it smelled vaguely like cigarettes and motor oil, but if ever anything goes wrong again, I will waste no time in heading back to these guys!