Words of advice if you want to tap into an aspect of living an easier life:
"If you find a mechanic you're happy with, hold onto them for as long as you can."
This is the place I've sent every vehicle I've ever owned, and it all started with a much needed tune up. Initially, I believed it was some sort of catastrophic transmission issue. My car suddenly lost power, it felt like I lost a couple of gears and made me feel helpless; furthermore, I dreaded the idea of how much a transmission repair would cost. I somehow made it home and decided to look up possible mechanics for getting my car fixed. The next day, not wanting to call a tow truck, I risked even further damage to my vehicle, by chugging my 1998 Mistubishi Mirage all the way from home over to Grant Road Auto Service after only a brisk look over of just a few auto garages that seemed worth looking at the previous night. I live all the way on the south side of town just where Valencia Rd. and I-10 meet, so the location is much farther away as opposed to the broad selection of mechanics nearby who I could have gone to. For whatever reason, I didn't settle for that. I wanted to come specifically to this place, even though at the time there was only one positive review I could make judgment from, but figured, "What the heck, if this place sucks, I'll give them the chance but never come back." Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice.
So why here? There are dozens upon dozens of mechanics to go to, especially in this town, not to mention the supposed friends of friends I'm sure we all know who happen know someone that does some sort of automotive work on the side, and for cheap. My problem is, I'm not into that. I've been there before, and that gets sketchy. I wanted professional work done but wasn't entirely sure if this garage might be the place to get it. I really didn't know what to expect. Upon taking my car in, I met Gerry, a pretty stoic sort of guy who I can only imagine, just by looking at him from first glance and impressions, had seen just about everything. His eyes, and the way he composed himself, told it all. I explained what was going on with my car and decided to hang out while the work was being done, I showed up relatively early so I imagine I was queued up pretty close to being one of the first cars the shop would start working on. Previous experiences with garages is that you're often stuck there for a quarter of your day, and depending on the severity of your issue, that's understandable. But in my experience, I'm talking about having wheels rotated... and finally getting serviced FIVE. HOURS. LATER. I can assure you, that won't happen here, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
About ten, maybe fifteen minutes in, Gerry comes up to the front and I'm already expecting the worst with him telling me it's the transmission. He politely explains to me that I was just getting misfires because of bad spark plugs and old wires. A tune up! That's the best news compared to a costly transmission repair, and at this point, I didn't care what the cost would be since it's just replacing wires and spark plugs. I was still expecting a somewhat unreasonable bill, and so Gerry disappears into the garage and gets to work. Not even an hour later he returns, says he's done, and I'm already cashing out. It was a ballpark figure of $175 to get the work done, maybe even less than that, it's been years since that first time. I was happy my car was running, and the '98 Mirage felt like it had a whole new lease on life with it. Not that long after, give or take a month or two, I decide to take my then-fiancee's 1995 Honda Accord there. I believe it was tires, or even brakes, but the experience was relatively the same. I showed up, addressed the issue, Gerry got to work on it with his guys and sooner than I thought, the car would be done. And at a price I really didn't and couldn't argue with. I was happy! I was getting pretty comfortable with the fact that, "Hey, maybe I actually found a guy to take my cars to. A real life mechanic worth trusting, how cool is that?"
Another month later or so, I come back with my '98 Mirage. I needed work done on my brakes, oh they were bad. REAL bad. Metal on metal contact, I was ashamed I even let it get that bad. I walk into the shop, I see Gerry again, and unexpectedly he goes, "Hey, Arthur! What's happening!" I was stunned. This was the first time I had ever gone to a mechanic in less than a handful of visits, and for whatever reason, he remembered my name. At that point I knew this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. And since then, you name it: replacing dying catalytic converters caught by failed emissions tests at the MVD, random check engine light warnings, brakes, tune ups, oil changes, tire rotations and replacement, tire repair, alignment, as well as so many more unsaid problems that may arise in a not too distant future, if I want something on my vehicles done, I take it to Grant Road Auto Service. read more