Daves Car Care Center - Lafayette Somerset Greer: TLDR short version: Avoid Daves Car Care on Pinhook at all costs. My experience suggests that they are, by a large margin, the most unethical business Ive ever dealt with.
Full version: This past week, late July, 2025, I dropped my car off at Daves one afternoon so they could do some routine brake work the following morning. As expected, a technician called me the next day to describe the work and tell me the cost, and I agreed. The brake pads and rotors were done in about an hour.
When I went to pick up my car and pay, I was told an alarming story about how my CV axle boots were leaking grease all over the place -- and that I should have both axles replaced immediately. No one had mentioned this when checking the brakes earlier that day. I was having no symptoms of CV axle joint damage while driving. I had also not seen any such damage when I checked under the car for potential problems before taking it to Daves. As such, this information caught me totally by surprise. I paid for the brake work, declined the axle replacement, and took the car home to see what was going on.
What I found surprised me even more. My driver-side CV axle boot (behind the wheel) had been totally opened all the way around the boot in a smooth separation -- as if with a knife. There was no tear or ragged opening to suggest damage from wear. On the passenger-side boot, grease had been smeared around one of the seals as if to simulate a leak. (See photos.) When I wiped the grease off the passenger-side boot, I found no damage or leak of any kind. There was no grease flung on the wheels or undercarriage as would be expected with a huge tear in a CV axle boot.
Alarmed, I did not drive the car for several days before taking it to another shop for evaluation. There, the mechanic told me they had never seen a clean total opening like this on a damaged CV axle boot before. They also pointed out that dust was wiped away around the driver-side boot next to the opening -- as if someone had slid their finger around the boot to guide a cutting tool.
The conclusion I must draw here is that an unscrupulous technician at Daves opened my driver-side boot on purpose to sell me a costly CV axle replacement. I did end up replacing the driver-side axle as a result of this damage -- at significant expense and with great frustration. Im also just sad that my beloved car, which has taken me on so many wonderful journeys, was treated this way by someone claiming to be a repairman.
I will be reporting Daves Car Care on Pinhook to the BBB and filing a consumer protection complaint with the Louisiana Attorney Generals office. It appears that this business -- an auto *repair* shop -- caused significant, potentially dangerous damage to my car for personal gain. If you value your own safety and peace of mind, take your car elsewhere for repairs. I have never encountered such bad business behavior in my life.
