Trusted Auto Repair at Auto Lab: One Family's Story

From a GTI to a Civic, We've Handled it All

When Gail Jones needed some maintenance done on her VW Passat station wagon, she had the usual two choices: choose a mechanic shop like Auto Lab or head to the dealership. The dealer had already given her a price on the work, which she found to be rather expensive. To look for alternatives, she went to Angie’s List and found that Auto Lab had a number of 5-star reviews.“He [Sherman] gave me a very good price on the work he was going to do," Gail recalls. "I kept going to him for service after that."

Auto Repair: You Get What You Pay For

When Gail replaced the Passat with a VW Jetta,* she brought it to Auto Lab for service. Later, the family added their son's Honda Civic into the mix and referred Gail's niece to Auto Lab.“Auto Lab is family owned,” Gail says. “Sherman and his dad work together. They’ve been around for a while. They’ve gotten to know us. We’ve gotten to know them. We trust what they say. They’ve never steered us wrong.”In the case of Gail’s niece, the niece felt the estimate for the part was high. She thought she could get it somewhere else cheaper. But then, Gail says, her niece realized the cheaper part somewhere else would not have been as quality. She ended up having the repair done at Auto Lab.“I know they’re probably not the cheapest,” Gail says. “You could probably take some things to a muffler shop or an oil change place, but at Auto Lab they’re not going to try to sell you something else you don’t need. And you know you’re going to get a good quality product from them – not something cheap.”

Openness about When It's Time to Get Rid of a Car

One of the things Gail and her family have appreciated about Auto Lab is the solid advice they've received when one of their vehicles needed extensive repairs. "Sherman's always been good about saying what was worth fixing and what wasn't worth fixing," Gail say. "He was always very honest."On one occasion, the family had a VW GTI with a lot of miles on it, some modifications from previous owners and some modifications from Gail's husband, Steve. "I didn't have time to work on it," Steve says. "I got in over my head on emissions problems. Auto Lab was good about wheeling it in and fixing it. But Sherman gave me a couple of options. He said, 'We can replace this completely or we can repair it. The latter is a little less expensive...But you should decide what you're going to do with the car [keep it for a long time or get rid of it].'"In this case, the family decided not to repair the vehicle because it also needed a new transmission pan. Steve didn't think the car was worth the extra time, money or effort at that point.

Trusted Auto Repair Experiences

While Gail says everything Sherman has told them through the years has been “spot on,” Steve adds that he really likes how knowledgeable we are. When he was younger, Steve worked for a gas station with a mechanic’s bay, and it gave him an extensive background in how cars work.Steve didn’t mention his background to anyone and still had a good experience. "I liked what they had to say,” Steve says. “They were very forthright about what was wrong with the car. If they couldn’t figure out what the problem was, they would tell me. At no point did they try to railroad me into making repairs that we didn’t need. The trust issue was very, very important.”Another point that earns the Jones' loyalty is our help with rides and loaner cars. "These guys are very, very helpful about transportation back to my house if my car is going to be there for awhile," Steve says. "This is absolutely very, very important. With our busy schedules, it's difficult to arrange for [our own] transportation. If they need our car for several days, we have the ability to set up a loaner car...They’re very helpful – they’re go-to guys. I try to send them as much business that way as I can.”(*Note: Although Gail waited until after the warranty on the Jetta ended, we could have serviced the car even while it was under warranty.)