I went to Mavis in Lakeland Florida to fix a sound that I was told was a mount. I am a repeat…read morecustomer of Mavis (Tire Kingdom) on South Florida Ave by the Outback Plaza. The young man that took my information was told that I needed brakes, shocks, and flushing of all fluids which would cost well over a thousand dollars. I refused and said just fix the mount please. It was about 20 min later, the manager came over and said that I needed brakes and the shocks were all 90% gone front and back. I refused again and said just fix the mount. The 3rd time, the manager took me to the service department. The mechanic had all the wheels off, and the manager then said, "Legally maam I have to show you the brakes and that you badly need brakes. I cannot be legally liable if you get in an accident." He scared me so bad, that I said just do the front ones. He said he would take $100 off if I had all of them done. I said ok if it's really that bad. He then gave me a bill of $900.00 with an itemized list of all the things wrong with this car. I then took my car to another establishment to see if in fact I do need shocks. The new establishment (Mr. Carburetor) on Pipken, said absolutely not. Your shocks are fine. Does Mavis in Lakeland do this to everyone that is a senior. Scare them to death to do mechanical work? I would like a refund.

They used to be a good shop and we have used them first years, but something is wrong this year…read more First issue - In January we brought in a Ford Fusion that was having shaking issues with the engine misfiring. They convinced us the car was fine but that it needed a used engine, which we put in. They didn't reset the mileage, so it still reads and counts up from the old issue miles, so not sure which engine miles we actually got. It was still shaking a bit - they told us that's normal for a Ford Fusion to do, and they wished the shaking would have stopped more than it did but that it was part of that car model and that it may need new struts down the road, but didn't need to worry about it for now. They said beneath the engine rods had broken and shook the engine apart a bit, so we had all that rebuilt and the engine changed out. Fast forward a few months, shaking resumes and serious errors overnight. Bring it to them and they said the transmission is bad, and has been showing as bad with the results of the oil and shavings, and that they apparently didn't check it in January (that should be part of a full diagnosis) --- and they also did a tune-up last year that was expensive on this same car, and they didn't notice then either. Am annoyed to say the least, but figured maybe it was an error or perhaps a coincidence. Tried in May since we've had such good experience for years with a second car where the alternator had been changed out but the engine driving rough. (A friend mechanic changed the alternator and replaced some hoses :/......) They said this car, which was inherited from my aunt and is a classic, was in good shape and that the alternator was not plugged in correctly. They said we had to have a tune up and that was why it's now riding rough, that the alternator change may have made it more noticeable. They said engine and transmission great, that it just needs a small tune up , some "TLC" - ended up changing out the two ignition coils, 8 spark plugs, two spark plug panels, and the diagnostic test (they didn't deduct the diagnostic fee after we did work there) and charged 1,210 for this. Get a call on Saturday that they test drove it a few times and its driving great and ready. Few minutes later we get a call saying the catalyst converter is glowing red and it's driving horrible, that it needs changed out. We go up there and it's popping, driving awful, the catalyst converter on the driver's right side is now bad (they didn't notice before ???), and that we have to find a specialty shop somewhere. Says car cannot be driven much without risking the head gasket. But they couldn't find this and convinced us to do 1200 tune up work with a car we still can't drive?? Definitely our last chance we are giving Tuffy's. Not sure what happened to this shop.