First of all, let me just say that I HATE car repair shops. I am a small woman who looks about sixteen, and "Will I be taken advantage of and screwed out of all my money?!" is always running through my head when my car does something stupid. I try to take my car to places that, through word-of-mouth, I've heard are relatively honest - problem is, those are also relatively expensive and usually VERY far from a convenient location.
A couple weeks ago, I was trying to get home from work and my car decided to crap out. Strange lights were coming on and a rather frightening burning smell started coming out of the engine, so we pulled into a gas station in Kirkland. Luckily, I was with my boyfriend and a carpooler (Microsoft carpool alias, you rock!) who belongs to AAA. He called and arranged for them to tow my car somewhere, and then we spent an hour sitting in my freezing-cold car, drinking beer out of paper bags.
The AAA towing guy came and dropped my car off at a predetermined location, Autologic. Apparently, AAA will tow you for free if it's within five miles, so I told them to find somewhere within that radius, and they chose Autologic. I was a little nervous because, although the place is obviously AAA approved, I'd never heard of them and I knew nothing about them beyond what I could sort-of read on Yelp, via my boyfriend's iPhone.
I dropped off my keys and everything, and the next morning, I recieved a number of calls from Jim at Autologic. I was at work - and rather busy - so I wasn't able to answer my phone. It was a little irritating to be called FOUR times, but I actually sort of appreciate that they took the effort to get a hold of me - especially because I'd MUCH rather talk to people before any repairs are made. We finally connected and long story short, it was my alternator (which I'd suspected) and my belts were slightly crappy. They offered to replace the belts for no additional labor costs, because they'd already be in there messing with the alternator, so I agreed - I needed new belts anyway. They did try to upsell me on a few things, but the surprising part was, THEY ARE ALL THINGS I KNEW NEEDED FIXING (my headlights are really cloudy, my keys are bent out of shape, I'm coming up on oil-change time). I opted out of all those extras and there was no issue on their end. Jim even told me he had called the Nissan dealership to ask how much it would cost for me to go get a new key ($20) - I appreciated that quite a bit because it saved me the effort of doing that myself.
Their website offers discounts for Boeing, AAA, and Microsoft, and I figured I'd use my boyfriend's Prime Card (Microsoft discount card). I told them I wanted the Microsoft discount, dragged my poor boyfriend to Bellevue to pay for my car, and they didn't even ask for proof - sweet! Now, don't all go screwing them over or anything! They also offer the same discount for Microsoft contractors and vendors (it's 10% off, up to $100, and I think the AAA is 10% off up to $50 or something... not sure about Boeing). The total cost was "only" $571, which I hear is a pretty good deal for all I had done (diagnosis, new alternator, new belts, and all the labor).
Unfortunately, my car has been squealing, so I called them yesterday to say I thought the belts needed adjusting. All I had to say was, "My name is Krystin T. and I came in a couple weeks ago..." and the guy on the phone said, "Right! The Altima!" I brought my car back in, the guy was very friendly and acted like he knew me, and they checked and adjusted the belts for free. I had to sit in the waiting room, but it was actually not that bad - they had magazines people might actually WANT to read (yes, this is important to me!) and a huge spread of coffee/tea/hot chocolate drinks (sure, it's all instant, but better than nothing, right?).
They tried to upsell me again, but they still weren't creepy or douchey about it. I have a two-year warranty on the work they did, and it's semi-close to my work as well. I definitely recommend Autologic (which for some reason I still keep thinking of as "Autolegend") and will be taking my car here in the future. read more