Capitol Hill Auto

Reviews 4

EM

Emily Becker

Really skeptical about the service I received here. Basically, my car would not start one day and I had to find a mechanic near by to tow my car and diagnose it. Look a little while to figure out what was wrong but eventually told it was some sensor that needed to be replaced for a whopping $258 (called my regular mechanic back home who said this price is pretty high for a crank shaft position sensor replacement). When the woman on the phone told me what the problem was she said this might be the beginning of other issues so I make sure that she knows I DONT WANT TO PUT MORE THAN $300 into my 20 year old car. She says we are confident the main problem is the sensor for $258. I say OK fine fix it as they basically have my car hostage and I have no choice because my car cant even drive off of their lot. I am called and told the car is fixed and ready to go. Literally 2 minutes after driving away from the shop giant plumes of smoke start coming out of my exhaust. Lovely. Upon returning my car to the shop and asking if it was ever test driven before It was given back to me the repair man in the shop started to get angry and defensive with me because he felt I was accusing him of not driving it before giving it back to me. He says "well all of this smoke wasnt coming out of the car when we had it here"...ok sir but obviously something is wrong and what is the insinuation by saying that wasnt happing when the car was at the shop? Did I somehow break the car two seconds away from the shop? I dont think so. Anyways my gut feeling is telling me that the shop ran diagnostics on my car...saw that it was an expensive fix..tried to fix what they can for cheap so that they can steal $300+ (repair plus $75 tow) from me knowing that the car would DRIVE but that it wasnt actually fixed and was not 100% safe to drive. Driving with all of the smoke coming out of my exhaust could have caused an accident and my car should never have left that lot if it wasnt safe. I have a huge issue with my fuel regulator and fuel injectors now, that they quoted $900 to fix in addition to the $258 I had already paid them. This is a far cry from the original small fix they thought it was. I will be getting a second opinion on this and will update this post when I do. A 1998 Lexus does not typically have a million things break down at once, it is a very reliable car. If this shop had been honest with me as far as the extent of the repairs I would have just gotten rid of my car and never would I have paid them to repair a small part of a much larger problem. I also hope this shop does not try to take advantage of women because they think we know less about cars and also because I was from a big city out of town. Bottom line BE HONEST WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS AND DONT MAKE THEM FEEL BAD FOR ASKING QUESTIONS. If its a big problem to fix just be honest and dont rip people off. Maybe this shop is good with smaller car problems but dont take your car here if you are not sure the scope of the issue you have with your car.

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BR

Bruce Lewis

Initially I gave this shop 5 stars but am now dropping the rating to 2 stars after a failure of both parts that were replaced on my car by the shop. I will not return here again. The staff was friendly and the price was low, but I shouldve been more skeptical. Both of my front axles (Subaru) were replaced here after one of the CV joints failed. The axles had about 70K miles on them. Odometer read about 253k miles at the time of service. Anyway, both front axles were replaced and I was told they would be replaced with Subaru OEM axles. Service took about 3 days. When I picked it up, everything seemed fine. So heres the kicker, 2K miles later (odometer reads 254,900) and both of the axles that were installed have shredded or torn inner CV boots - See photos. Also, both of the axles they installed were missing the dust protection rings for the transmission. This wouldve eventually led to premature failure of the transmission seals had the boots not failed so dramatically first. Attached photos can say more than Ill ever be able to. Make of them what you will. Why 2 stars instead of 1? Because, like I said, the shop was friendly and it was a low price. I also dont believe they had any sort of intention for these to fail. So for their incompetence, they lost 3 stars, but for being friendly, they get to keep 2. If youre considering this place for basic service, Im sure theyre fine, but for anything more complex than an oil change, look somewhere else.

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ME

Megan Widhalm

AMAZING place! I called them in a panic after my car started shaking and making a horrible grinding, scraping noise. The man on the phone was very nice and calm and told me to come right on over and they would take a look. When I got there, they had my car up in the air and diagnosed within 10 minutes. One of my engine mounts had cracked and my engine had been literally scraping on the ground. They told me it would be about 3 hours of labor but only about $30 for the part and they would call me the next day since I came so late in the day. Everyone I spoke to was incredibly nice, offered me a ride home and chatted with me. My car was done midday the next day and when I got there, Rick explained that he had to go to the dealership for the part and that it ended up being $195. Now, instead of just saying "Sucks to be you", Rick told me that since he had quoted me around $350, he only charged me for half of the labor and $190 for the part, therefore I paid $360. Any other mechanic would have taken my money and ran but they stood by what they had quoted me and were incredibly kind as well? I will absolutely never go anywhere else after my amazing, wonderful experience here. THANK YOU CAPITOL HILL AUTO!! I will be back!

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A

A Private User

I dont usually write reviews but these guys are AWESOME. My 1st experience with them was by accident, a couple years ago. My tire blew out when I was driving late at night (like 1 AM) and I couldnt drive anywhere because I was riding on the rim. This station happened to be across the st. so I drove car to their lot and left it there with a note on the windshield to please change the tire and call me in the morning. (then I called a cab to get home). They did exactly that.and called to say the car was all ready to go. I had no way to get there without calling a taxi again and the guy offered to drive the car to my house, then let me take him back to the station. WOW! Yesterday I needed a new headlight and tail light ASAP cause I was planning to drive to the mtns that day. I called a couple shops and they said they were backed up and couldnt get me in that day. Then I thought to call these guys. The mgr said "come on over bro, well make time for you." And they did. The shop had a whole bunch of cars lined up for repairs but the mechanic came out and had me fixed up in minutes. They even checked my tire pressure and put air in my tires (no charge). Where can you get service like this anymore??? These guys ROCK.

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