What clients say about Great Lakes Truck & Auto Repair L.L.C. in Benton Harbor (MI)
I always tell my kids that there are three types of people that you need to have a good, trusting, relationship with: people who cut your hair, people who cook your food, and people that fix your car. There are stories behind each of them.
We have been using Great Lakes Truck & Auto for close to 15 years now. They are honest and straightforward. I have had a number of occasions when my vehicle needed repairs beyond what we could afford at the time and they helped prioritize the repairs.
Scheduling is a breeze, Ron and Jim are great to work with. The quality of the work is top notch and priced fairly.
Look no further if you are searching for a repair shop to build a long term trusting relationship with.
This is one of those places you find that you would expect to see in Mayberry, a small town shop with high-tech technicians
We had our tow rigged serviced there and a year later we had our wheel bearings repacked on the trailer .
Recently, we even had to have some suspension work done .
Jim Elston and staff are very friendly, knowledgeable and they sell you what you need they don't keep trying to upsell you a whole bunch of stuff that's not necessary and this is why I like going there .
I would give it six stars if they would let me
Keith
Broke down while traveling through to Tennessee. A mechanic from church recommended we come here. Limped into town and they were able to figure out what was going on and get it fixed within 24 hrs. They even gave us a ride to a local hotel for the night and offered to come puck us up when the truck was ready. Great service! Thanks for getting us on the road quickly
I love the service, honesty, and the fact that I can go to a local owned repair shop and not be ripped off. They are great people providing great service and decent prices.
I had an engine issue that left me stuck on the side of the highway in an area I wasn't familiar with. After calling around to many dealerships and other shops in the area, all of which were booked several days out, I finally found Great Lakes who said they would try to look at my car that day. My car was towed to their shop and I waited in their waiting room for a few hours. In those few hours, many local customers and salesman visited, often greeting the staff by name, hanging out in the waiting room, and chatting. You could tell that people in the area trusted and relied on them. I passed several, what could have been gruelingly dull hours, in the waiting room having fun and chatting with the front desk manager and another customer about old movies and old stories. The service staff were able to look at my car within a few hours and were upfront with me about what they thought the problem was. After trying to fix the car by replacing the spark plugs and coils, they determined that there was a larger issue with the engine that they wouldn't be able to fix. They didn't charge me for the service they performed and gave me advice on what I should do next, and honestly wanted to help me. While I'm still dealing with car trouble, I feel much more confident in trying to resolve the issue and exceedingly thankful that I ended up at Great Lakes. I was really scared about being in a place I didn't know with a problem I didn't know how to solve, but the guys at Great Lakes were looking out for me. What could have been a stressful day ended up fun and even relaxing. I highly recommend!
Top notch customer service, repair work and pricing. Jim the owner is remarkably fair and honest, easy to talk to and explains issues in an easy to understand manner. Ron the manager at the front desk has amazing customer service and is an all star. He recently came out in the freezing cold to do what I thought was going to be a super expensive repair on our windshield wipers and fixed the issue in minutes, tipped his hat and walked back inside…no charge. We’ve been taking our cars here for 7+ years and I wouldn’t consider going anywhere else. Thanks guys for all your help throughout the years!
I'll have to update later. Waiting on new tires to arrive from their supplier.
Recommended to me by 'the guys' at my local American Legion. Ordered tires that turned out to not be available until next year. I was promptly given a call and offered alternatives. So far I like how they communicate and don't pressure me -- just give me options to make my own descision.
Awesome place, the staff goes above & beyond for the customer. They helped one of our customers out while they were traveling and were able to take care of them quickly.
Brought my powerstroke here for the first time. First ever diesel ive owned and my usual mechanic would not work on it. Was recommended to give these boys a shot and glad i did. Super nice and had my truck done quickly.
Starter broke down today they were able to squeeze me in and get me back on the road within a reasonable amount of time.
Reasonably priced friendly staff knowledgeable staff highly recommend would use again in the future thanks guys I appreciate it
Dropped my 2018 Ford Edge off this morning with an engine problem. I was back in the car by lunch time with the issue resolved! Fair price and easy to do business with!
Jim Elston and his team are super easy to work with. have great knowledge of ALL vehicles, PLUS semi trucks and trailers! Great prices, local family owned company. could not be happier with them! Been using this place since they opened. Highly suggest giving them a try!
Hard to get into but it was also when everyone got theur taxes back so that played a big part in getting in but once we got in they were Fast and did an amazing job 👏 😀 we are very happy with our vehicle.
So now that I’ve used this company twice here’s what I have to say. Most recently, I wanted to drop my car off for a simple inspection, the A/C makes a weird sound when you turn it on. Called them, they said drop it off when we open, well I dropped it off the night before, called them about 9am, “no we haven’t gotten to it yet.” Called them again at 10am they still hadn’t looked at it, I asked if he could give me an estimate on when they might look at it and he said “I’m not sure we’ll get to it.” I’m sorry that is extremely disorganized and unprofessional, I can’t drop my car off in the morning and just leave it all day waiting for you to get around to it. If you didn’t have the time to look at it you could have just said that and not have wasted my time. You didn’t even need to turn a wrench on my car, simply turn on the a/c and tell me what the whining sound is. Had some work done a while back as well, my heater core went out, same thing, couldn’t give me an estimated pick up just drop it off and we’ll call you, AND THEN THEY PUT THE WRONG PART ON THE FIRST TIME (antifreeze was leaking into my floorboard much faster than it had been before the work was done) AND MADE ME WAIT OVER A WEEK TO BRING IT BACK TO FIX THEIR MISTAKE. 0/10 do not recommend. Would not go back if it were the only shop southwest Michigan.
Don't go here! I wish I could give 0 stars. They didn't even do the alignment because you could CLEARLY tell it was not done. Wish I could add a picture but the tires were still VERY crooked. Not only that, we got the vehicle back with a FLAT tire. And when I say flat, I don't mean it was leaking air. It was flat to the rim, a brand new tire we just bought that day before we brought it into them. Seriously don't use them if you care about your vehicle and don't want to waste your money.
Not gonna lie, i'm pretty dissatisfied with this auto shop. I brought in my truck for a simple alignment, which i had an appointment for. I brought it in around 7:30 am and was not told how long the wait was gonna be. I decided to walk to walmart to wait, and after nearly 7 hours of waiting I finally was notified that my truck was ready to be picked up. For those who don't know, an alignment usually takes about an hour. When i arrived to pick up and pay, they did not provide an alignment sheet with the measurements before and after the alignment which seemed odd to me. After receiving my truck I noticed that it pulled hard to the right; i know for safety reasons your vehicle is supposed to pull SLIGHTLY to the right. But this was far from slightly; I had to basically fight the vehicle. Not to mention, the camber seemed off and the passenger tire had significant toe-out. It almost seems like they made it worse. I had aligned it myself the previous day using simple hand tools and a camber tool so I could at least get it to the shop for a more precise alignment. For a shop with glowing reviews and higher prices, i expected higher quality work. I will not go back to get it realigned, simply because I do not want to wait another 7 hours. On the bright side, the people are friendly and the decor in the office is amazing.
Great Lakes is my go to for mechanical work. They have always been reliable, honest, and fair with me. On my last trip, they straighten out a problem on my Volvo caused by another shop who claims to specialize in european car repair..
I've used these guys for two repairs now, and they're priced fairly and do great work. I'm the kind of person who will look up the job I need for my car to get an idea of what to expect it to cost, and both times, they were priced more or less exactly what I was expecting. Highly recommend!
I have been coming here for over 2 years, I have a 2004 Yukon with over 300,000 miles so it needs a few things done here and there. They always get me in within a few days and are always calling with updates on what's going on. Very friendly people and prices are fair. Won't go anywhere else.
My car had been running really loud and slow recently so I brought it here. They got it back to me the next day at a fair price and now my car rides like butter. So happy!! They seem like very nice people here.
This establishment is outstanding. My husband and I were traveling cross country with our two dogs and our car broke down. We were desperate to find someone to help us. They told us they would look at our car right away, they ordered a part which was delivered in two hours and we were on our way back to Arizona. They also let us bring our two dogs into their office while waiting for repairs. They were friendly and very reasonable.
They are honest, do great work and extremely helpful. This is the place to go to get your vehicle repaired. Hard to find a place that doest rip you off. Truely a rare find these days.
Thanks fellas you guys are great!!!
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