When we moved to Columbia from Wethersfield a few years ago, some of the conveniences one tends to take for granted when living in a big-city metro area became a little less convenient. We no longer had 24-hour grocery stores just a few miles in any direction (they close at 9 or 10 out here in the sticks). No neighborhood pizza joint or butcher shop just a short walk away. Nope...Columbia is essentially a lake surrounded by houses, with a town green straight out of a Normal Rockwell painting. Okay, so there is a 7-11, a gun shop, and a package store, and even a place an aerospace contractor's manufacturing facility (odd) but that's pretty much it (I don't count the Dunkin Donuts. No one should).
Some would argue that a packy, a 7-11, a gun shop, and the occasional tofu is all anyone really needs. But when you live in a place where you have to drive just to get to your freakin' mailbox, you also need a good auto mechanic.
After buying two new Hyundai's from Key Hyundai in Manchester, we got sucked into their service agreement nightmare. It seemed like I was back there every couple of weeks for "Service A" or "Service D" -- either way, I felt, uh...serviced. And not in a good way. When we moved to Columbia (about 30 miles east of Hartford) it only got worse. Every appointment with Key was a logistical nightmare.
One day, while gassing up the Santa Fe at the Columbia 7-11, I noticed that the quickie-mart shared a building with an auto mechanic, Certified Auto Repair, and a marina store (the gun shop is out back -- talk about convenience!). It looked like a decent little place, with three repair bays, so I stopped in and talked to the owner, Josh, about taking over the scheduled maintenance on our vehicles. No prob, he said. Korean, American, hybrid...he worked on them all. Awesome, as this place is less than five minutes from our house. No more 35-minute drives to Manchester amidst Hartford morning commuter traffic!
It turned out to be ideal. Josh and his crew are fantastic! I quite honestly have never met a group of mechanics so attentive and great to work with. I even dealt with one repair -- I can't remember what it was for, specifically -- where I was told to just bring the car home and drive it for a couple of days BEFORE I EVEN PAID THEM, and then come back; if I was satisfied that they'd done it right, pay them then, otherwise they'd keep working on it until I was happy. Seriously. When the last time you've seen ANY business do that for you? They'll even drive the car to my house when the repairs are finished!
Since then we've relied on Josh and CAR (heh heh...get it?) for all of our auto repairs and maintenance, major or minor. If you're anywhere nearby, like Willi or Coventry/Mansfield, you can't do better. Five stars all the way! read more