Dave Mays Automotive

They not only upsold and overcharged me for my brakes, they messed up my cruise control, making it impossible to turn off on the highway — a life threatening situation that I was lucky to have survived. Under no circumstances do I recommend.

Mind you, I’m giving Dave Mays a 5 star review, having never had my car serviced there. I should explain. My MINI Cooper S broke down in Gainesville, first day of my vacation/​mother visit. By suggestion of one of my mother’s friends, we towed to Dave Mays Auto. They were extremely professional with some amazing customer service. They looked over the car and the power steering went out, also took the alternator and melted some wiring harnesses. They quoted $ 3000, and said it would easily escalate from there. We discovered that this was a known issue with my make/​model and that MINI had an extended warranty for that part (so they could avoid a recall, I assume). They admitted that the work would have to be done at a MINI dealer to be covered under the extended warranty. They charged me nothing to look over the car, and even helped me load it onto a U-​Haul tow-​dolly so I could tow it myself to Jacksonville for repair. (Gainesville’s BMW dealer doesn’t do MINI service…(???). They were just great at Dave Mays though, and even with out of state tags, they didn’t charge me for diagnosis, and they could have. They were straightforward about everything/​costs and where I could/​should go to get the appropriate repairs. Honest. It’s nice to see a business operate honestly, and in their business, reputation is key. They’re building a good reputation that way, and how they handled my situation. Plus it was a great excuse to hit up #Satchels Pizza, as they are just around the corner! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to others on my experience (with their customer service).

I use Dave Mays for all my major repairs. They have always been fair and honest. A little far for where I live but I make the trip when I need a professional opinion.

Excellent, honest service! I am in Florida for winters and have been bringing my vehicles to them for years and highly recommend this shop. They work to keep costs to a minimum and won’t sell you something you don’t need.

It pains me to give Dave Mays anything but five stars. Honestly! I’ve recommended EVERYONE I know to them and have been happy with the service and prices they offer in the past. Recently (6÷6÷11) we dropped 490 $ for a replaced alternator and battery. They originally quoted us a price over the phone (450 $) but when my husband called to pay over the phone, the price magically increased to 550 $. After much discussion, they did lower the price a bit. We were, however, also quite disappointed to see that we were charged over 90 $ for a replacement battery and they only installed a generic one. Kinda bummed out and now we will likely be searching for another mechanic.

Dave Mays Automotive was recommended to me by a co-​worker. What a great and reliable place. Dan, thank you for repairing my car quickly. I am glad that the problem was so minor; it truly made my day today. I will be back if my car would need any future repairs.

The best auto repair shop in Gainesville, mostly because they are honest and will stand by their repairs. They once made a mistake on my car and when I told them about it, they fixed it, no questions asked.