When I was in a car accident a few weeks ago I told my tow truck driver to take me to whatever body shop was closest. The driver recommended Auto Stiegler, although they were further away he told me that they generally offer really good deals and had great customer service. He certainly didn't mislead me.
When my car was first brought in the staff were all friendly and helpful. They offered me a ride home and said they would keep me up to date on any progress with the insurance companies. The owners of the truck that hit me as well as their insurance company took an irritatingly long time to even come and look at my car, but one of the mechanics at Auto Stiegler called me to tell me that my car was most likely going to be a total loss (the damage wasn't too severe, but my car is a '98 Toyota Corolla so almost any body damage would result in a total loss by the insurance company). Although there wasn't much I could do at that point I was glad that they let me know so I could at least start looking for a new car.
Unfortunately the insurance company claimed that since there was no conclusive proof that I wasn't at fault for the accident they were not responsible for any damages, so I would be completely responsible for any financial burden incurred because of the accident. I called Auto Stiegler and spoke with Carlos, informing him of the situation. He asked if I was certain that the insurance company wasn't going to give me anything, because the insurance had taken so long to examine my car that by this point I had accrued a pretty significant bill for the storage alone (we're talking over $1,000 at this point). When I said I was sure that I was the one who had to foot the bill he said that he would see what he could do to help me out and give me a discount. When we got off the phone I assumed he meant he could get me a discount of ten, maybe twenty percent. About half an hour later I got a call back offering to reduce my bill by HALF.
Shortly after that call I went to go pay my bill and take a few more pictures of the damage to my car. When I got there Carlos told me that he already had quite a few pictures of the car and would be happy to e-mail them to me. When we went out to look at my car I inquired as to why the car was a total loss, as the damage seemed to me mostly cosmetic other than a busted tire. He told me that there didn't appear to be any damage to my wheel other than the tire, and that if I wanted he could look into getting me a used tire and potentially get the car driving again. I decided that it was worth a shot and went for it. I made that decision at about 9:30 in the morning, and Carlos called me at 1:00 o'clock that day to tell me that the car was ready and that I only owed $30 for the cost of the tire. He also had some cosmetic repairs done to the car FREE OF CHARGE. My car was literally hit by a Mack truck, there was damage to the bumper, front panel, and wheel, but I left the body shop with a barely noticeable dent and a few scratches in the paint.
Honestly, when I first arrived at Auto Stiegler I was worried that I might get the brush off. They repair a lot of high-end, newer vehicles, so I figured that they wouldn't want to waste their time on a 15 year old car. I couldn't have been more wrong. The entire staff (especially Carlos) were as helpful and understanding as they could have been, and most other mechanics wouldn't have bothered to help me even half as much as they did. As upset as I was to get nothing from the insurance company, I'm thrilled beyond belief to get my car back for just a few hundred dollars when I was expecting to have to buy a new car. Auto Stiegler was really the silver lining in the black cloud of my whole situation. I'm so glad that I followed the advice of my tow truck driver, and I'm so glad that I found a trustworthy and fair mechanic to take my car to from here on out. read more