Atlas Automotive

The most important thing you should know is that this place is one of the few auto shops open in Grand Junction on a Sunday — a lifesaver for us as we were driving to Utah and had our Jeep break on I-​70, Saturday night. We stayed in a motel and the next morning got to Atlas (it’s a small gas station/​auto shop) right 9 a.m. when they opened. They serviced us right away (correctly diagnosing the problem), ordered the part (they are a Napa Auto Parts affiliate), had it installed, and got us back on the road in about an hour-​and-​a-​half. Very friendly the whole way, and there’s a school, playground, park behind the building where we could hang out and walk the dogs as we waited. It helped save our camping trip!

I’d give Rick’s shop 10 stars if I could. A few weeks ago, I was traveling from Crawford, CO back to Denver on a Saturday afternoon. Around 12:30pm, my serpentine belt fell apart on Hwy 50, 30 miles south of Grand Junction. Unfamiliar with the area, I called my insurance company and a few shops to see about a tow and a replacement belt. Fortunately, Napa in GC had ONE remaining belt for my ’01 Eurovan. And when I asked if they could recommend someone to install it? They said «Call Atlas» without hesitation. I talked to Rick and he agreed to try and work me in that day. So a few hours later, I arrived at the shop with my van in tow. At first sight, I thought to myself, «Oh man… this will be interesting.» Atlas is a modest shop, attached to a small convenience store and gas station. I know the Eurovan’s VR6 can be a pain in the butt for the uninitiated, so I was starting to have doubts about getting out of GC before Monday…
That all changed as soon as I met Rick. With 20 minutes of arriving, he had the serp belt AND the broken tensioner pulley that caused the problem out of the van. He came over and showed me exactly what happened with the part and started work calling around for parts. We had the belt, but the pulley was a surprise. Rick’s a certified Napa shop, so they delivered a pulley within about 10 minutes of the first request. But unfortunately, it wasn’t the right part. So Rick went back to the drawing board and started thinking through the issue. He realized that the Jetta carried the same engine as my van, and although the bolt pattern in the tension was slightly different, there was a high likelihood that the pulley would be the same. 5 minutes later, Napa arrived with the part, and sure enough — the pulley was a perfect fit. I was back on the road, Denver-​bound, by 5:30.
And the best part? I was the perfect candidate to get gouged on price. He could have charged me double what he did, and I would have had no choice but to pay up. But he charged a price that was fair (probably generous!), and wished us luck on the rest of our trip. If you’re a Grand Junction resident, or having car trouble while passing through, you’d be crazy NOT to take your car to Atlas.