What clients say about Dan's Auto Repair in Prior Lake (MN)
**Avoid Dan’s Shop at All Costs.**
I’ve tried supporting local businesses, which is why I brought my car to Dan’s a couple of times. Big mistake.
First visit: oil leak—$600. a day later, I drive to Shakopee and my oil pressure drops. I open the hood and find a pool of oil on top of my motor, Turns out a screw “vanished,” creating a new leak. That cost me another couple hundred. Already annoyed, but I let it slide.
More recently, my heater core was leaking. Dan said fixing it would cost $800, which I couldn’t swing, so he said he’d bypass it by connecting the hoses. Cool. I go to pick it up, and the car is running like absolute garbage. I thought maybe it needed to warm up, but I ended up limping it home.
I called him and said, “Hey, my car didn’t run like this when I brought it to you.” His response? He denies doing anything wrong. I told him again, calmly, that the car ran great before—now it’s barely drivable.
He *loses it*. Starts yelling, says it's not his fault and shoves my keys off the counter onto the floor, and says he has a short fuse because someone else blamed him for something earlier that day. Then one of his workers comes in and *joins* the yelling, trying to intimidate me. At that point, Dan tells me he won’t even look at the car and tells me to get the hell out of his shop.
And all I could think was—what if I were a woman? Or an elderly person? That behavior is straight-up hostile and unprofessional.
I called a couple of other shops afterward and mentioned Dan’s. They literally *laughed* and said they’re always fixing the disasters that come out of there.
If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, I don’t know what will. Save yourself the time, money, and headache. Don’t go to Dan’s.
Fast, accurate, complete customer service and vehicle care! From the short notice initial call, appointment scheduling, and the appointment itself, it took less than 3 hours from start to finish for Dan and his guy to give my highly fearful mind respite from the thought of a major breakdown/accident on the road, and his cost was very reasonable too! I’ll be going back there for all of my car care needs!
Dan and his team did a fantastic job of diagnosing and repairing a suspension issue I was having. I his prices were very reasonable and they took care of me very quickly. Highly recommend
Whenever we have something break that my husband doesn't want to deal with, we go to Dan's. They do very good work for a fair price. More than that they do whatever they can to get us back on the road as soon as possible.
Bought new Wheel bearing and spindle online and took them here for Dan to press in. Did a walk in and they were very professional. If not for the wrong snap ring from the online wheel bearing kit that I've bought, they would have finished in a day for me but that's okay it was the manufacturer's fault. Dan's Auto is the only place in Prior Lake willing to press in wheel bearing for you, just drop it off and they will call you when its done!
If 0 stars was an option I would do that. On my 3 and a half hour drive down to Prior Lake to visit my girlfriend and I noticed my transmission was acting out of wack the last half hour/45 minutes or so. Brought it to Dans Auto and they told me I have 3 options: buy a new transmission, buy a rebuilt transmission, or try and fix the one I had. All options not cheap of course. I was in college then, and I went through absolute hell (to say the least) to get it towed back home to have someone I trust take a look at it. 20-30 minutes later it was fixed for $20.00.....yeah, 20 bucks! It has been almost 4-5 years since then, and I have had no problems with the car since (knock on wood). Do NOT trust Dan's Auto. They couldn't care less about your car. All they want is money.
43 years ago, Dan Sr. Helped me out as I stood by our car on the side of the highway hoping for an angel! He got our car towed to his garage, made sure I had a place to sit and something to drink - I was pregnant at the time. We have continued to have cars serviced by these guys - now led by Dan Jr. - good workers and happy to consider them as friends. We have relied on them over the years.
My husband and I were looking for a mechanic to get some break work done, check for possibly torn cv boot and a few other items. We are preparing to move back to Texas this week. As always, I called around to get estimates. I truly expected to be told that both cv boots were torn, that the rotors and calipers were shot and figured we would get a last minute price over $1,500!
Very much to my surprise, we got out for under $700! I don’t have much hope for honesty in folks these days. Dan Jr. was who I dealt with. He could have taken me to the cleaners, but his honesty and integrity was so surprising that I just had to leave a review. He told my husband that there was something that would need to be fixed, but that it wasn’t an emergency and just wanted us to know. He was honest and said we only needed to replace the break pads and not the rotors! He checked everything for us. We paid a small charge for a road safety check and he flushed the transmission system.
Ladies, I know how intimidating it can be taking your car in for anything!! I’m fortunate that I grew up around cars and I used to enjoy doing my own repairs, but most women don’t. I say this because I feel like you can call Dan Jr or anyone at his shop and you’re going to get honest to goodness old fashioned service at a fair price!
Highly recommend these folks! Thanks Dan!
Waste of time ! my car was in there all afternoon and they didn’t do anything with it and I had to call just before they closed cause they didn’t even bother calling me back when they briefly looked at it! And did nothing!
Took my van in after several dash lights came on and stayed on for 3-4days with no other obvious issues. After 2 days, they charged me $180 for diagnosis and said it was the battery which they could replace for another$160. Said no to battery ($75 at AutoZone which they installed with excellent customer service). When I picked up the car I asked how they could diagnose it as the battery when there was never loss of power or any charging or starting issues. They told me that if the battery didn't have enough power it wouldn't be able to run everything and the lights would come on. I am a mature woman who knows a little about cars and knew this was total BS. Either they are completely clueless or just liars . The best part, I got in the car, googled the problem and FIXED IT MYSELF BEFORE LEAVING THIER PARKING LOT. Note to self:google it first and NEVER go to Dan's Auto!!
Very good service, particularly for military vehicles. I had a rebuilt engine from Dan's installed in my 1954 M38A1 Army Jeep two years ago. It still runs like new. In Oct, 2016, I again shipped my jeep from Kentucky to Prior Lake for transmission and clutch problems. Dan serviced the transmission and transfer case, installed a new clutch and replaced wheel bearings that probably hadn't been serviced in 50 years--very important as the bearings had become dangerous and I could not find a local shop to make the necessary repairs. It is well worth the shipping charges to get my vehicle to a shop that knows what they are doing. Excellent work at a reasonable charge. I won't hesitate to ship my vehicle to Dan if the need arises. Dan treats antique military vehicles with the respect that they have earned.
Fantastic service. Car problems while on a weekend getaway. Dan was able to look and fix the car in less than a day. Also able to direct us to a towing company he uses and didn't have to call around looking for a place.
Had our daughters car towed there for repairs as they were the closest repair shop to where the car stopped working. They told us they would be able to help and after they had the car a week, with ZERO communication initiated by them, they inform us they are unable to fix the car. My husband had to call them constantly to ask for any updates and they finally said they are unable to help (or maybe unwilling is more like it). We now have to pay a fortune to have the car towed to a different shop. I will never use this shop again and will tell all friends and family to stay away from them and use a better more qualified repair shop that actually takes time for their paying customers.
These guys did a great job fixing my truck transmission and they have a military discount. Classic family owned business, the staff is friendly and while I waited I hung out and fed their old hunting dog treats! Truck runs like it did when it was new. Will recommend them to anyone.
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