Advanced Auto Tech

"Always great service. They were able to squeeze me in while appointment slots were slim. This is my second year getting a vehicle inspection done here and I’ll continue coming as long as we live in this area."

"The actual work they did was excellent. The pricing for the work I got done was very reasonable, especially given the high quality, and they give a good military discount. However, some of the pricing for work I opted against was very high--they lumped a transmission flush, a brake flush and a coolant flush together under a quote they termed "fluids" that was $724. When I asked Will why it was so high, I didn't really get a straight answer. I decided to get those services done elsewhere. If I were just rating these aspects of service, I'd probably go with 4 stars. My customer service experience, however, was not great. I made an appointment for 11:30am to get an oil change and an inspection while I waited, figuring that with an appointment I'd be done around 1pm, 1:30 at the latest. When I arrived, I was told they had me down as leaving in--which is fine, mistakes happen--but when I said (politely--no yelling or unreasonable demands) that I had planned to wait, the guy (named John iirc) laughed at me and said, "You can wait if you want, but my guys are going to lunch." I was told my car would not be ready until 2pm. My husband ended up having to leave work to come get me so that I wouldn't miss a 2pm meeting. (I probably should have just left and gone somewhere else.) They didn't actually finish the work until 2:30. They ended up keeping the car overnight to replace two of the tires, which were still the original tires on my 2013 Civic, so not a huge surprise. When I called the next day at 1:30pm to find out if my car was ready yet, I was told not yet, because the tire delivery was delayed (which again is fine, stuff happens), and work would start once "the guys" were back from lunch. (So...these guys get two hour lunches? Can I work there too?) I called again at 3pm, figuring replacing 1.5 hours was a reasonable amount of time to mount and balance tires, and I was told my car would be ready at 4pm. They still weren't done when I arrived at about 4:10, and I ended up waiting for another 30 minutes before it was finally done. I do understand that I'm not the only customer, and that sometimes work runs behind, and all kinds of stuff can come up. That's all ok. But I do have other obligations, and it makes my day more stressful when I can't get an accurate estimate of when I'll have my car back, and it was frustrating that no one was willing to communicate with me about it or seemed to care about the inconvenience to me and to my husband (who had come home from work early because I had thought my car would be ready much earlier). The weirdest thing about it is that the person I mostly interacted with (John?) gave me the impression that he personally disliked me. I don't know if that's how he treats everyone, or just women, or just people who are socially awkward and don't make eye contact (I'm autistic). Or maybe he was just having a bad couple days for unrelated reasons. I don't know. But the way he was treating me actually made me wonder--perhaps unfairly--if my tire work wouldn't be so delayed if I were someone else, and no customer goes back to a place that made them feel that way."

"My tire dashboard light went on for a year, and I tried to have it fixed by the dealer. And I had to take my car to the dealer many many times, but they could not figure it out. Luckily, I found this place and dropped my car off for half a day; they fixed the issue completely. I appreciate their knowledge and expertise, and have to mention that they are very polite. I already recommended them to my coworkers."

"I was extremely disappointed with my experience with this place. I took my car for, among other things, a state inspection. I was told I had to change my brakes for it to pass. I changed these same supposedly failing brakes not long ago. I expressed that concern and was told over the phone my brakes were “metal on metal.” I felt that the estimate for changing the brakes was pretty high, so I told them to hold off. They failed my car’s inspection in the meantime. I then went to another mechanic and that mechanic said—as I expected—I didn’t need to change my brakes, but, to not risk it, I changed them anyway and for a much lower price! All told? I am not coming back here because I can’t trust what they tell me in the future. For this mechanic to fail my car’s inspection because of the brakes, I would expect the other mechanic to tell me they are not in a good condition. He did not."

"The guys at the front desk were friendly and helpful and calmly answered all my questions. I was a new resident of Virginia so I had quite a few questions. The emissions testing and inspection seemed to be done efficiently. I will be returning the next time those services are needed."