Discovery Automotive — Attraction in Cary

---UPDATED--- *This review was originally from three years prior to this date ~2018-19

This is a PARTS and Labor shop. This means you cannot bring parts (which you purchased from a different vendor, online, etc) because these guys will NOT install them.

TLDR: Please offer a Book Time, Labor Only option

I actually do understand the risks associated with installing Customer-supplied parts. However, a LABOR-ONLY policy is straight forward and not new.

A no-Customer-provided-parts policy has far (FAR) less to do with repairing a car "safely without any problems" than it does to do with revenue risk (contention with a Customer who comes back and complains about a repair. And... I get it. It sucks to be in the situation where you performed a quality repair, in good faith, with Customer-supplied parts, only to have that Customer return and demand more labor (that you have to pay for), a refund, or even damages/additional-labor.

It sucks.

On "safety": It should go without saying.. but I will spell it out to be obvious: If you authentically believe installing a part (ANY part, no matter the origin), or making a repair, will make the vehicle LESS SAFE then it is YOUR DUTY as The Mechanic to not install that part or make that repair, and notify the Customer of the situation. And these situations will occur; that is just part of the responsibility of being a real, quality mechanic.

The fact remains:

Mechanics who care about their Customers, who actually want a relationship with their Customers, will develop a great reputation. Caring about your Customers means that sometimes you install THEIR parts. It also means you need to be clear/honest/open/transparent with them in the case that a problem is not resolved by using their parts or when their parts make the problem worse. It also means that you tell them straight up: labor-only repairs are charged at full book time, because you (as the business operator) are here to make a profit, and often that profit occurs through the provision (resale) of parts along with the labor. Customers will rarely complain about costs when you are upfront, honest (with integrity) and forthright about your policy and why it exists.

Providing clear "no warranty for parts" agreements has been around as long as cars have been.

This is why "Book labor" exists. Every car approved for the road in America has book price estimates for labor... for doing the brakes, fixing engines or transmissions, suspension, etc. Book price is VERY conservative; meaning that often (though not always) book time is almost always greater than actual time (if the shop has the right equipment, tools, and talent). For example, if the book lists your brake job as a three hour maintenance endeavor, it is highly likely a talented mechanic, with airtools and a lift, can knock that job out in 45minutes (or less). But

Given the challenge in obtaining parts for out-of-production cars (particularly since this shop appears to specialize in Land Rovers), or of securing parts from specific brands (which the shop may not carry) or simply that you may have obtained a dramatically better price than "list/retail/factory-original" (especially true of Land Rovers). this is a huge hole in the plan.

Very disappointing.

I recommend the Flying Circus, over in Durham (though the wait list is...

I just picked up my 2008 RR Sport HSE from Dave and Tracy and the guys at Discovery. As I have come to expect over the last ten years of doing business at Disco, even after extensive repairs and performance upgrades my truck was delivered in perfect condition...and this was after having the entire transmission, exhaust system and rear differential removed and replaced!

Dave personally drives every car after every repair...he hands over the keys confident the job has been performed correctly. I have restored, raced and owned European brands, and primarily British marques, since the mid-70's and now rely solely on Dave and Tracy's advice whether it is an oil change or outright engine replacement. Over the last decade Dave and Tracy have been the exclusive 'one-stop' solution for minor service to near-restoration on my cars which included Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover/Range Rover, BMW...and even Alfa Romeo (yes, a perfect valve job and suspension upgrade on an Alfa Romeo Spider Quadrifoglio...) vehicles.

Dave always make the service situation clear, and he isn't afraid to give the hard advice when he thinks the repairs may not be the right dollars-and-cents approach. But if my decision is to "Go ahead Dave...I like the car and want it to be right." (...this happens often with British cars you love!) the car enthusiasts within Dave, Tracy and their technicians take over and you would swear you just handed the keys over to an heirloom Ferrari.

I've been a Disco customer since the 'Germantown Road' days when there was room for two Rovers end to end and little else (...the exact opposite of the new facility on Maynard Road!) and often think about why this husband-and-wife team have been so successful and the business has grown so dramatically. It was probably summed up best by a friend who I recommended take his own BMW's to Discovery; he said it was first the accurate diagnostics, then repair options clearly laid out regarding what must be done to repair the vehicle. Next, suggestions provided on what should be done in time, and the vehicle returned on time every time. And finally, NEVER needing to return because the job wasn't done right.

I agree...my very frugal nephew had neglected his 2.0T Passat for several years. A foreign car shop in the Pinehurst area actually told him to 'give it up for dead' but Dave and his VW specialist (...Disco is careful to have technicians schooled in the makes they specialize in repairing) asked to take a look at it. A long story short, the Passat is alive and well for a fraction of what other shops had quoted, and even after the entire front end of the car as well as most of the engine ancillaries having to be removed, it has never been back to Disco once despite significant repair. Well, except for oil changes.

Frankly, I couldn't justify owning the vehicles that I chose to drive were it not for Dave, Tracy and the Disco team. The key to Rovers and Jags is maintenance and upkeep performed by an honest and skilled team of technicians you can depend upon. I certainly recommend taking your vehicles to Dave and Tracy. See what it's like to work with automotive enthusiasts again, like it was in days gone past. And NEVER buy any of the makes on the used car market in which Disco specializes without Dave looking it over...

A good mechanic is like a good family doctor or a good barber, once you find one you don't let them go. They are very well informed, concise in how they relate to you and full of good common sense. I found a great mechanic at a place that I have been taking my Discovery to for over two years now, "Discovery Automotive." I have had everything from head gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, O2 sensors, belts and cooling hoses replaced to the simple oil change and tire rotate. Dave may not always say what you want to hear, but, in my opinion, he tells you what he has to do to make your car or truck function correctly, drive safe and benefit you in expense and utility over the long term with the repair. Being a long standing customer there is much more than I can share in a simple review. However, one of my biggest dilemmas involved the seal at the crank shaft pulley which apparently had been damaged at the perimeter by a careless mechanic at a dealership in Vienna, VA. amidst their raping me for a complete overhaul of the engine. When I came to the Raleigh area another garage was unable to resolve the problem and insisted upon difficult repairs, finding the perfect part, a needle in the haystack ordeal according to them, and to a hefty fee as well, yet the oil spewed forth from my undercarriage. Now I'm not so foolish as to believe that the holy grail of non-leakage will ever grace my path in the future, because I've come to believe that if there is oil under it then there is oil in it according to one LR owner motto. However, I had a very straight forward discussion with a knowledgeable man named Dave who told me frankly what the problem was; the solution and he fixed it. I may be jinxing myself by talking about it, go out to my Disco having marked the driveway, but that is the nature of ownership and I would risk it to tell this story and share my opinion about what a wonderful garage I have found in "Discovery Automotive." Dave as a doctor, Naw, he'd probably want to refill with 40 weight instead of type A, and as a barber he'd probably finish up the neck trim with the same 40 weight hair style, because that is not where his talent and skill resides. He is a mechanic and one of the very few mechanics you can trust, absolutely golden in my opinion. So, having read this please take your cars elsewhere for repairs so I can have them to myself, have a great personal mechanic, make convenient appointments, enjoy a rental vehicle now and then, etc. As a matter of fact don’t read this, I’m going to keep this quiet and I’m going...