Migeli's Foreign Car Svc

Unfortunately, we had a less than positive experience.



I went in because coolant was leaking from my car. They told me that some fan was bad, which was causing a buildup of pressure and the cap to the coolant tank wasn't tight enough so that was causing the leak. They also mentioned a tube got leaked on and was a little old and might cause problems in the future but not now, so I denied to get that fixed at this time. I paid $511 for them to fix the fan. I took the car home and the next morning I noticed an even LARGER puddle of coolant under the car. I took it back and they guy said well, all I can find is that tube... Long story short, he made up the fan story (or it wasn't really an issue but made a lot more money than replacing a cheap tube). We has some arguments and in the whole thing they never apologized and never took any responsibility or made ANY effort to have even acceptable customer service.



I won't go back. Especially, since I've had great mechanics in the past two places I lived and I know what I can expect. This place falls well short of any decent level of professionalism but it is one of the only places in Tulsa that specialized in VWs? Maybe that is why the bad service, they know they'll have clients either way. Don't be a sucker go somewhere else.

When I bought my VW Jetta TDI, I decided to stay with the shop that had been working on the car for years. My first experience was lovely. I went in for an oil change, and the people were nice and friendly.



I've had the car for five months and recently started having problems with the transmission. My roommate's family owns a local body shop, and he offered to have one of the guys take a look at it because it sounded like it just needed a little transmission fluid. They ended up being too busy that day, so he took it to a shop that they work very closely with.



When the mechanic got under the hood, he found two problems: 1.) It had the wrong transmission fluid. 2.) The transmission filter was the wrong size. To correct this, they flushed the transmission, put in the correct fluid and put on the correct filter. When they were done, the car ran much better. It still slipped in second gear, but it was 90% better than it was.



The mechanic explained that once the fluid cycled through, we might need to flush it and replace the fluid again, which would have cost me another $200. Worst case scenario, I was looking at having to change the valve body - a part that Migeli's had replaced in April of 2010, and I was later assured by two of their mechanics that a valve body wouldn't be worn out this quickly - or replace my transmission.



After spending $200 on a transmission flush and filter, I made a trip to Migel's to express my concern about the situation. I was assured that there was no way they would have used the wrong transmission fluid and filter. They asked if I had had anyone else look at the car, and I responded not until I began having problems with the transmission and only out of necessity.



They asked if the transmission flush and filter change had fixed the problem, and I said that it was 90% better. They were very quick to jump on that and told me that if it had been the transmission fluid and filter that it would have fixed the problem entirely. They basically told me that this very reputable mechanic didn't know what he was talking about because, aside from the dealership, Migeli's is the only shop is Tulsa that specializes in VW. They went on to say that they've been around since 1985, and claimed that they don't make those kinds of mistakes.



I don't care who you are or long you've been in business. Everyone has a bad day once in a while, and everyone makes mistakes. VWs are not the only cars they work on. Someone could have mixed up the transmission fluid and filter. As for them being the only shop that specializes in VW in Tulsa, that is an out and out lie. Rennsport Werkstatt, Mike's Autohaus, and Der German all work on VW.



I suggested that maybe the people who sold me the car had taken it somewhere else to have the transmission serviced before the sale, and I was assured that previous owner never would have taken it to another shop.



The way I see it, there are two options. Either the shop messed up, or the person I bought the car from did. I wouldn't have been upset had they been more customer friendly. I had valid concerns, and they made me feel as though the problem with the transmission was somehow my fault. After all that, they tried to get me to bring the car in for a diagnostic. Not likely. The car had already been diagnosed and the fluid and filter were incorrect.



Oddly enough, having the transmission flushed and replacing the fluid and filter with the correct ones fixed the problem. After a week, the Jetta had no more problems with gear slippage. I'm happy to say that, thanks to Josh at K J & E Automotive, my transmission is back to normal and is running more smoothly than it has in the five months that I have owned the car.



After this experience, I wouldn't recommend Migeli's to anyone.