I want to preface this by saying that I rarely rarely write reviews. If I do it is because the service/product is either awful or fantastic, nothing mediocre. Chico and the guys at CR Auto fall under the fantastic category and I highly recommend them for any issue with your car, mechanical or cosmetic.
My USAA insurance agent recommended I use ABBRA to repair some front end damage to my 2008 Camry. The itemized list of repairs included some absolutely fraudulent work which added up to an amount that USAA felt was not worth repairing, declaring my vehicle a total loss. I was livid, I was only going around 15 mph when I rear ended this poor lady. This did not warrant almost $9,000 in parts and labor. So I picked out the simplest repair on the list so that I could ask the agent, who knew very little about cars, to explain the charges. They quoted me $55 to "repair" the 5 inch Toyota emblem on the front bumper. She told me that they remove the emblem (which snaps off in roughly 3 to 5 seconds but was billed for 30 minutes of labor at roughly $25 an hour) and send it off to get polished. TO GET POLISHED?!? The emblem had fallen off a few months earlier and I purchased a replacement from the dealership for around $20. Her reply to this was that this is something standard that they do on all vehicles. What a rip off and this was the simplest, most minor of the charges. It got a lot worse but I will spare you the details. Also let me say that I have worked on cars since I was 12 with my dad so I have a respectable knowledge of them. ABRA is a huge scam and I will never use them again.
Totaling my car out was not acceptable so I went to the all knowing and powerful Google where I found Chico and CR Auto. I took my car to him and explained what happened. He informed me that that is how ABRA does business and that he has many people come to him with similar stories as mine. So I left my car with him and he dealt with the insurance company, I didn't lift a finger. I wasn't sure if they would accept his quote as they had already paid ABRA roughly $1,500 for the time they took to rack up BS repairs and for housing my car for four days. Well USAA approved the repairs and my car was ready 5 business days later. This was a huge relief as I was dreading having to shop for another car and was going to be given a significantly less amount of money then I had spent 7 months earlier when I purchased the vehicle.
The repairs were perfect and you couldn't tell it had ever been in a wreck. The body work lined up perfectly and the paint was spot on even though it had been slightly lightened due to sun exposure. A week after getting my car back I was made aware of both tail lights being out. This is something everybody missed, probably due to the fact that all the damage was in the front. Chico told me to bring the car in anytime and he would take care of it. Due to a busy schedule and being overworked I didn't make it to him until a month or so later. This wasn't a problem and I was in and out in less than 20 minutes at no additional charge.
A common fear among car owners is that your local car guy is going to rip you off and you will be clueless because most people do not know anything about cars. Rest assured that if you go to Chico you will receive an honest quote and quality work. I highly recommend them for any repairs you need and would also steer clear of ABRA. Also, if your deductible is substantial then Chico might be able to help you out and get it lowered but I don't know if this is the case with everybody. This shop is now my go to for anything I will hopefully never need in the future. Thanks Chico and the rest of the guys at CR Auto, job well done! read more