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thisoneisnotasbad t1_irjaubz wrote

It’s not just you. That is one of the spots some garages use. I have tried to get my car alignment done at VT Tire probably 6 times. Every time I needed a ball joint. I stopped trying and found a guy who was more honest. He said, may need a new one in a few years but you are fine now.

It’s hard to find an honest mechanic in general and Vermont strict laws make it easier for mechanics to take advantage of people. If you manage to find one I suggest you treat them well.

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TwoStepsTooFar OP t1_irje5rs wrote

I appreciate hearing about your experience. As you mention, all I want is honesty, that’s all I’m asking.

My family had one of these mechanics that was the absolute model for integrity in the business. We had an older Audi, which as you can imagine needed a lot over time, but it never felt like we were being ripped off. Simple things like the owner saying “you could replace this now, but you’ll be fine for X miles or X time” helped us as a customer prioritize and tackle what was important.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_irjj6n5 wrote

A bit of a drive for you but I’ve had good experiences at Dona’s in Hardwick. (Also with Auto Shaman in Woodbury though I don’t know if they do inspections.)

Edit: which does inspections

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_irjlwq6 wrote

Yes Dona's Car Store is great decent honest folks and Bear does really good alignments. One of the few for sure.

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TwoStepsTooFar OP t1_irjnplx wrote

Thank you so much for the recommendation. I’ll try Dona’s next time.

Not too bad of a drive, and I’d go farther to find a solid shop! Love the Hardwick area too.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_irjp2a9 wrote

It’s not within walking distance of downtown. The Taco Truck there is great. Best of luck. Hope you leave feeling like you got a fair deal. Never hurts to bring ‘em some fresh baked brownies or a good joke.

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blutbad_buddy t1_irmznyy wrote

Auto Shaman is doing inspections now? That's good news if true! Scot does all my repairs that aren't covered by warranty and he is a straight shooter who has never tried to up sell me and has even recommended less expensive options when he didn't need to. I see him working on allot of RVs lately, I assume because he is HVAC certified now.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_irmzwub wrote

I didn’t mean to imply he is doing inspections. Oops. Only meant to say I trust him 100%. My mistake for not communicating clearly. Thank you. Will edit.

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blutbad_buddy t1_irn3wf7 wrote

LOL Now my weekend is ruined, and Sunday morning started out with such a cool high note only to be dashed within minutes.

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ZebraDonkey66 t1_irkwh3w wrote

Every few years (over the last two decades) I give VT Tire another chance (for convenience sake) and every single time it's an upsale.

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cpujockey t1_irmaiv3 wrote

You needed a ball joint because it wiggles laterally. That means it's not good. You really trust your ball joint to hold up when a skinny white dude wiggles it and sees more than a half inch of play?

Give yer balls joints a tug.

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thisoneisnotasbad t1_irmlxa7 wrote

No, I didn’t need a ball joint. I have in other cars. And tie rod ends. In this case VT tire just wanted money. Had a coworker bring their 8 month old Subaru there for work. They were told they needed front suspension parts. VT Tire uses Montpelier’s ignorant white collar population as an easy target to upsell

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