I had my 1994 Dodge Caravan towed to All Tune and Lube on a Saturday and since it arrived at the end of the day, they started working on it on their next available work day, which was Monday. Upon talking to them on the phone they told me it should cost $300 (at this time we were unaware that I would need my half shaft replaced. It was replaced 40,000 miles ago, which is not the usual shelf life of a axle, so I'm suspect to their diagnoses). The parts I needed were the Axle half shaft for the drivers side, a hub assembly, wheel bearing and output shaft seal.
After speaking to them Monday they told me it would cost me $829. I could not afford it, so I checked around and decided I'd just buy the parts myself, I could get them all new for around $200, and the work would probably take me a few hours. So I decided to go about it that way, and upon telling them of my idea, they told me that they had a disassembly fee, and with the $45 dollar towing it would cost me $110 to get my van back. Due to the distance from home (30+ miles), gas, a dolly and the inconvenience was not worth it and I decided to let them take care of it. By this time they said they could do it for $450.
That was with them welding the problem and just jerry rigging the thing. When I drove off with my van I was appeased, the problems were seemingly gone. Once I hit the freeway, however, they reared their ugly heads once again. So I called a junk yard, bought the part they replaced for $45 bucks, and replaced it myself. I found that they stripped 2 nuts, and forgot to put a seal in which prevents air from getting into/onto the wheel bearing and hub assembly.
I was a fool in allowing someone else to work on my vehicle. Their entire plan was to get my van in their shop so that they could beat anyones deal by utilizing the $110 towing/disassembly fee. I feel cheated, and although it was my fault that this happened to me, based on my experiences I can say with confidence that this is an untrustworthy and uncouth company. So hopefully if you're reading this, you'll heed my warning and avoid ever doing any business with All tune and Lube.
Wali
Lincoln Park, Michigan
U.S.A.