Big thumbs up for Prime Auto from a long-time customer. After dancing with with several "stealerships" over the years, I don't let anyone touch my cars (BMW 3 and 5 series, both manual transmission) except Vanna and his team. As a result, I have had no recurring problems and everything stays humming. My brother recommended Vanna to me back in 2005 and since then, they have done a lot of work on both vehicles including preventative maintenance (oil changes, tires, and shocks) as well as the occasional emergency repairs (radiator replacement, water pumps). I have a rough work schedule but everytime I need work done, Vanna is always able to accommodate and the turnaround is terrific. I've had vehicles towed to the shop during off-hours and Vanna has always been able to come to the rescue. In addition, Prime Auto was *very* helpful to me in doing a thorough check on a pre-owned 5-series that I was considering - he found several key and expensive to replace items so I brought the manifest to the dealer who repaired/replaced the items before I agreed to buy the vehicle. That same car is running great today and I attribute that to Vanna's excellent customer care and professional attention to detail. Forgive the pun, but Prime Auto has never steered me wrong - I recommend this place very highly. read more

Back in the day, the Rt 1 South corridor was littered with small auto shops and dealerships. Then the mighty dollar stepped in and now we have 10-story apartment buildings, a yoga studio, Starbucks, and LA Boxing. Although I'm glad the neighborhood is slowly becoming more resident-friendly (folks can now enjoy their venti half-caf no whip light soy Americano's between doing some sun salutations and light sparring), it's good to see that Prime Auto is still surviving. I used to just go places with names like "Spiffy Lube" or "The Muffler Monkey" to get routine work done, but I've never had more than a two star experience at those chain places. Luckily I decided to try out Prime Auto a few years ago and haven't looked back. Vanna, the shop owner, immediately makes you feel like a long-time customer. The prices are competitive, the work is good, and they never try to up sell you on additional parts or services. My typical visit is for an oil change, which only takes them around 25 minutes. However, I have had some of my manufacturer's routine services done there. The waiting room is not nearly as nice as some of the chain places, but if your appointment is going to take hours and hours, Old Town is just a few blocks away. They will also give you a ride to the Metro if you need one, but because you have a car you probably hate Metro so I'd stick with supporting Old Town's businesses while you wait. read more

Just called and was quoted $115 for an oil change and manual transmission oil drain and re-fill. I then found review for Pennzoil Ten Minute Oil Change and was quoted $60 for the exact same service. The service was quick, to the point, no hassles. Perfect! This place appears to be on the expensive side for service. read more

The Beatles said, "All ya need is love." If you truly love your car, All ya need is Wayne. My long time mechanic and the only one I trust with my Miata. When I talk about him to friends, my friends often say, "Wow, my mechanic doesn't do that". I simply say, "Shoulda gone to Wayne. He's all ya need." read more

I am a very picky girl who has a hard time trusting people and I found a great place where I can be worry free when it comes to my car repairs! I've recently bought a pre-owned Lexus and I was looking for a place to have my car serviced other than dealing with the hassles of the auto dealers. Not only that I found a place where their price was competitive, but a place where a I get great customer service. My co-workers had recommended me to this little gem in the heart of Old Town Alexandria. Vanna, the shop owner was very friendly the moment I met him. I brought my car in for a full inspection and maintenance just to re-assure that my new car was in good condition and worry free. Vanna took the time to explained to me on what is needed for my scheduled maintenance. He also compared the cost between the dealers and show me how much I'd saved with them. They specialized in Lexus, but they also worked on other high end brands! I wished I've knew about this place before I sold my old Acura. They would probably keep it running until this day. Either way, I know that I am in good hands and that my new car will be keep in good shape. I highly recommend this place. They are quick and friendly. What's even better, I've saved money and I can do my shopping while getting my car serviced. Easy, nice, affordable place and most of all trustworthy! BTW, I'm not sure why some people had negative experiences, especially "nicey b." review -- but with that language, she sounded like she's hard to please no matter what it may be. read more

While searching for a new mechanic recently, I saw this listing and remembered that I never wrote a review for it after our experience here about a year ago. Yes, I took way too long to write it, and its outdated. Maybe the service has changed, just keep in mind that this is my husband and my experience that has kept us far, far away from Prime Auto Care ever since. A year ago? Yeah, well we still cringe at the sight of it. We decided to take our SUV to Prime Auto care after reading a few good reviews on other sites too. All the other mechanics were booked up so we gave it a try. Before heading out, we called and explained our problem, the check engine light was on. We asked how much it would cost to get it checked out, (usually a diagnostic costs..) and was surprised to have the man say he would check it out for free. Free? Must be too good to be true...but we took it to him anyway, thinking we were getting a good deal. When we met Vanna, we were kind of excited to meet another Cambodian. My husband is Cambodian, and felt a sense of "home," when he met Vanna. We thought that there's no doubt he would take care of us, because surely he could understand that we were new to the East Coast, and had no family here at all. Its complicating to explain, but we felt like we could relate to him and he would be sure to be honest with us,--or so he made us believe. We left it there for about an hour and half one early weekday morning for him to "check out." Vanna called us back in to discuss what the issue was. He pulls out a big long list on paper and explains that our gasket needs to be replaced, and its a costly job. BTW, you should get a tune up. yada yada yada. My husband asked him if we could specify what the tune up was, and said he wanted to skip the little stuff like coolant, air filter, windshield washing fluids, since we're a REALLY young couple trying to make it day by day, and those weren't necessary as we refill them all the time. Vanna told us "no problem!" We ask about the quote and he says 950, but I'll try to work something out with you.. WTF. So my husband and I decide to call the other mechanics we were potentially going to see, to get an estimate with all the work Vanna wanted to do on our car. After all, he was giving us a courtesy diagnostic for free, right? Other local mechanics were quoting us over $200 less than Prime Auto was, but we would have to leave it an extra two days because they were booked for the next two days. We decided 200 bucks was worth it to save so we told Vanna we think we'll pass, we're getting better quotes elsewhere. So he tells us, "no problem" then hands us our bill of 85 bucks. WTF is the $85 for? He says "because I checked it for you." I said, "What the hell are you talking about? You said you would check it for free." I said. He says, "Yes, I check for free if you have me work on it. You want to get it fixed somewhere else, its no problem. But I have to charge you for the diagnostic if you drive it off my lot." Oh hell no. I was pissed. I told my husband 85 mother f*cking dollars your ass might as well get this sh*t fixed with this dumb*ss because you're only saving a little over a bill elsewhere plus you'll have to wait. So we let him fix it, thinking he understood our agreement with all the extra fluids n crap. ...We come back when the car is ready and he informs us our grand total is now 858.41. Yay, about $100 savings, right? Of course he sweet talks us trying to make us "thankful" for him working out a deal with us, from his already extremely overpriced deal. Yeah, no not really. He discusses it with my husband and my husband sees that he has charged us 24.56 for an air filter. "I don't need this air filter though," my husband says, "we JUST bought a new one special ordered! I told you that." "Oh, well my technician said it was bad and needed replacement. Sorry." Vanna says. "Okay but what did you do with my new air filter?" my husband asks. "We took it out. You want it? I'll give it to you." so Vanna goes to get the air filter and gives it to my husband, adding in that the air filter is bad and needs replacement--despite it being less than a week old from brand new. We still had to pay him for this bull sh*t.. In addition, we were charged $17.78 for coolant. Even though we requested for it not to be done. Oh yeah and to properly throw away the crap that they wanted to take out? $37.78 more. Our total was some change shy of $860. Furious, we wanted to get the hell out of there. F*ck this place they're a f*cking rip off. They perform things without telling you, go against your word, lie, and then charge you for everything and then some. I get sick at the sight of Prime Auto Care every time we pass it on Henry St. I don't know what Prime Auto all these other people are reviewing. We will NEVER be back again. I wish someone warned me of this crap when we first moved here. Now that I'm a more experienced Yelper, I know better. You should too read more

I wish I could give this place negative stars. I took my car in for inspection and was told it would cost over $2000 to fix everything the car needed to pass. One of the services they said I needed was a tail light wiring problem that I had paid them over $200 to fix two months ago and some work on the breaks among other things. I took it to another garage (Old Town AutoBody) who quoted me only $200 to fix a few minor things including 2 new tires. I specifically asked them about the brakes and they said they were perfectly fine and not to worry. As a woman I'm always worried that I will be taken advantage of by mechanics who assume I don't know anything about my car and will just pay what they ask and I am certain that Prime Auto Care was trying to do just that. read more

Came into the shop to get the starter replaced. Starter was okay but would not work occasionally after shutting the car off. Car got even worse after two weeks and had to get it looked at (used a different shop next time) because the mechanic from this shop did not seem interested in helping/did not want to spend time discussing the issue or how to move forward with a fix. Waste of a $500+ read more

I was referred by a friend who knew Vanna the mechanic. I've been taking my car and brother's car there since over the years. Vanna won't cut corners. His quotes are pretty competitive from other shops and dealers. He was willing to work out a price for my power steering pump, he quoted me $450 while the dealership quoted me $575 and Merchant Tires quoted me $485 for the same job, steering power fluid flush, parts, and labor. read more

I have to say, I'm really surprised to see all the negative reviews for Prime Auto. I've been taking my car there for about 5 years now-- even since having switched jobs and it's now out of my way to go to Old Town. I've always found them trustworthy, speedy, and reliable. If the prices are a bit higher than other places, I think it's justified. Old Town is not cheap, and this is a small, independent business--not a chain. As a woman (with admittedly meager auto repair knowledge), it's important to me to find a place that I feel like I can trust. I'm sure there have been countless opportunities to upsell me or talk me into unnecessary repairs, and it's never happened. I usually deal with the owner, Vanna, who is both frank and welcoming, and I've always been fairly treated. read more

The folks at Prime Auto Care are always friendly, helpful, and do quality work at a reasonable price. I am very happy with their service and would recommend them to others. read more

I went to Prime Auto for 4 years with a CRV until I moved out of the area to Greenbelt (I use Rising Sun Motors now). Prime is high-quality, fast service with cheaper overall costs than I've had at other shops and dealers. They've got a very convenient drop-off and pick up policy that lets you take care of things before and after business hours. Vanna is great. He and his team are really communicative and prompt. I'm actually surprised by the negative reviews. I'd say, as is the case with any shop, you just need to be very clear about what you want and don't want done. Make sure it's in writing, so they have a record of it. I always gave Prime a written list of what I wanted to done, in case I wasn't going with everything they'd recommended. They'll print off a recommendation - if picking and choosing services, it's probably a good practice to mark exactly what you want done. The diagnostic is free if you complete your service with them. It's not if you don't. That's pretty standard. Dealers cost upwards of $100 for diagnostics, usually applied to the bill. I've paid up to $250, also applied to the bill. Prime works the same way. I'd definitely use Prime Auto again. They're great. read more

These guys are great! They have fixed several things for me and are always responsive and fair with their pricing. They work hard and are real car guys. Highly suggest doing buisness with them. read more

A friend of mine introduced me to Prime Auto Care. I reached out to the dealership for a quote to replace the timing belt, water pump, and spark plugs to my 2004 Camry with 160000 miles. I was way overdue for a tune up. None was ever done to my vehicle The dealership quoted me for $1200+. I reached out to Prime Auto Care and they quoted me for $600. Wow what a steal. I dropped my Camry off Friday night and picked it up Saturday afternooon. The bill came out to be $640+, but this is expected and still much better then the dealer's price. It is running great now. I was glad that I decided to go with Prime Auto Care. I usually don't rate anyone, but I felt Prime Auto Care deserves my recognition for a job well done. read more

Satisfaction with service has been a mixed bag so far. I've visited Prime Auto for 2 significant repairs to this point: So far, I have no complaint with the quality of work. I had car trouble on a Wednesday night, so I called the garage (knowing it was closed) to check their hours for the next day. The answering machine said the garage would open at 7:30 the next morning. I was able to drive the car to the garage and got there at 7:28. I waited until about 8:05 when someone finally arrived. I was told that the answering machine is incorrect, that the garage opens at 8:00 on Thursdays. Vanna recommended a fuel system flush for $287.00. The car had to remain there until Saturday morning. When I called Friday afternoon to ask the earliest time I could retrieve the car Saturday morning, I was told (by a person, not an answering machine) 8:00 AM. I arrived at 8:15, and no one was there. I waited until about 9:15 before someone arrived, and I was told that 8:00 is not the time they open on Saturdays. Adding to the frustration, the car was blocked by the vehicle of an employee who wasn't present. Couldn't push the car out of the way; it was locked. Keys to the car were not in the garage's office even though the car was blocking a customer's car. Already late for the next appointment, I waited longer until the owner of the vehicle, who lived nearby, could get over to the garage and move it. I made it clear that I wasn't satisfied with some of the overall aspects of the service because on 2 separate occasions I couldn't rely on Prime when planning and scheduling other things in the day. I informed Prime that if the owner wanted to discuss the matter with me, he should call me. No call was received. Three days later, on Tuesday morning, the car showed the same symptoms that led to the original work done the previous Thursday, as well as a new, coolant-related malfunction, so with no time to shop around, I had no choice but to have it towed to Prime. The next day, when I returned to pick up the car, I asked for the old part that had to be replaced. It could not be found. I was told that if the customer asks when leaving the car to see the old part after the work is performed, then the mechanics are told to hang onto the old part. When I asked how that policy helps when a customer asks AFTER the work is performed to see the old part, there wasn't a solid answer. I explained that establishing a standard procedure to hold onto an old part, even if for a short period so that the customer has an opportunity to ask for it when picking up the car, is a simple and good idea. I asked why I had been advised to have the fuel system flushed a few days prior and to pay $287 only to see no improvement and spend $783.00 more a little later. I made it clear that I was not entirely satisfied, and it was suggested that I call the next day when the owner would be around. I suggested that the owner should call me instead, paid the $783.00 bill, and left. The car no longer exhibited the symptoms that had originally begun a week earlier, and for a second time, no call from the owner was received. My recommendation is that you make certain the work you are authorizing is actually needed. I'm not convinced there was certain evidence that I needed a fuel system flush. My suspicion is that the fuel system flush was suggested as a "shot-in-the-dark," hoping that the $287.00 of work would yield a cheaper result than the $783.00 work actually needed a few days later. I also recommend that you not rely on being able to schedule something first thing in the morning due to the uncertain business hours. read more

Found this place by accident. It was a wonderful accident. I knew I wasn't going to pass inspection without some repairs, and these guys were great about letting me know what did and didn't need to be fixed to pass inspection verses what should be, and what could be. They put it up on the lift and let me look for myself. They then pointed out what was and was not a problem, taking the time to educate me about the car. The total bill was going to be relatively expensive if i did all the need tos, shoulds and coulds. I wondered out loud if it was time to just get a new car. these guys asked me questions about my driving habits, etc., and advised that I do keep the car (a Toyota) give the number of miles verses the cost of montly car payments. As I was in the waiting room, another woman came in, similar dilema, and he told her, given her driving habits and car, she'd be better off saving repair costs and getting rid of the car. They kept me informed, put all parts back, threw in a detailing for free, and the car runs great. Afterwards, I talked to my brother -- a mechanic in another state who was unavailable pre-repair decision, and he was 100% in agreement with these guys. FANTASTIC place. read more

I love Vanna! I was referred by a friend who has used Prime Auto forever for my dear auto's open heart surgery yesterday, and I wasn't disappointed. I had an estimate from a major chain for a valve and manifold gasket replacement plus tune up for my 1998 Sebring, and was lucky enough to get PA's review before I committed. I ended up getting more work done for a lot less, and I was VERY impressed with the personal interest and great work. They even cleaned my engine! Definitely recommended. read more

So glad I was able to find this auto care shop. The manager was absolutely knowledgeable and helped diagnose my car's issue in a timely and professional manner! Cost was incredibly reasonable considering the issue. Will definitely return my car here for further work in the future. Thanks!! read more