The five stars I gave were well earned. This particular shop carries on a legacy that goes all the way back to nearly the founding of the city of Merriam itself. When the Macek family started this business some six or seven decades ago, it was a local mechanic shop that fixed cars for the neighborhood. One of my churchgoing friends used to tell me that when she went to her sunrise service weekday mornings, it was good to see her electrician, her plumber, and her mechanic all there with her every day. The mechanic she mentioned, was of course, the owner of this shop at that time.
I took my car in to this shop for the first time around the year 2007, and I got exceptional service back then. Everything that the shop did was fixed completely, and specialty items, like welding mufflers that the shop didn't do had good recommendations for competent and economical neighborhood experts. It's no wonder that when you went in to the parking lot to make an appointment or drop off your car, you often had to park a few blocks away & walk in--the parking lot was almost always overflowing. The shop had built an impeccable reputation for great service.
I have since moved to the east side of town and for a while lost touch with the Maceks and this shop. So a few months ago when my thirty-five-year-old Chevy was having problems, I took it into my local mechanic, who shook his head and told me he really didn't care to even try to fix it. It was an old car that had too many problems and he really didn't think it was worth his trouble -- or mine, so he recommended that I scrap it and buy a new one. I wasn't ready to give up on my old car because it still got great mileage and aside from the recent problems, it had been fairly reliable.
I looked up the website for this shop just because I remembered how good they were all those years ago and found it had changed hands. Somehow I had a feeling that the family that owned the old shop wouldn't just sell it to just anyone, but to someone that would be honest in their service.
I was very pleasantly surprised, because this new crew went above and beyond the call of duty when they diagnosed and fixed my car. First of all, they gave me the complete story of my car's problems. It turns out my other mechanic had simplified things a bit for brevity and the problems were little bit trickier than I was led to believe. Secondly, they were able to lay out a repair plan and told me what they planned to replace and what kind of labor needed to be done before they began. Everything was written out before they started, so there was no question about any detail. They meant to fix the car, period.
Finally they set about fixing the car. They replaced parts and fluids, they made adjustments, and they tested everything when they were done. The guarantee they give is something you can take to the bank, because, at least in my case, they didn't stop until the car was right. It wasn't just fixed, the new parts engaged correctly, ran evenly and disengaged smoothly. I couldn't be happier, especially since this was a difficult repair.
I'm convinced that the current owners of this shop are very worthy heirs of the Macek legacy because they were able to ferret out and fix problems that other mechanics wouldn't touch. I'd have to say -- if you need your car fixed you might want to hurry up and get your car down to them. Word is getting out that these guys are good and their parking lot is filling up! read more
