Steve’s Automotive

This is a great place. Enough said.

I want to like this place. I really do. But I’m feeling burned. I know I’m a woman and I’m not supposed to know about cars, but I am NOT a stupid woman and I DO know about cars as I was raised working on them with my dad. This was a simple repair needed on an easy-​to-​install part (not in/​on/​near the engine and had nothing to do with the running of the car), and I had even done my research to know what the part would cost and how to repair it. Called them to make an appointment, told them what the problem was, and dropped my car off the night before. I wait nearly all day, no word whatsoever. I finally called, only to be told «he’s just getting started looking at it and is running diagnostics.» Really? I already told them what the problem was and what needed to be replaced. An HOUR later (and yes, I’m getting billed for that hour for «diagnostic work» that didn’t need to be done) only to be told, hey, it WAS the part I told them was bad, but now it’s too late to get the part, and my car will have to sit there another day while they wait for it. Great. I’m going to spend about $ 150 more for the repair than I should have because of the «diagnostic work» plus losing two days of work, which cost me about $ 800. So a simple, under-​$ 200 repair that should have taken no more than an half hour is now costing me over $ 1100. Thanks a lot.
How they can make it better:
1. Honor appointments and work on cars in that order. Just because I’m not sitting in your waiting room doesn’t mean my time doesn’t matter.
2. Listen to the customer. Don’t assume they don’t know what they are talking about, DESPITE their gender. I explained the diagnostics I did and had already determined what needed to be replaced. I could have been saved a ton of time AND money had you just listened to me.
3. COMMUNICATE. Why did I have to call to find out what was going on with my car? YOU should have called me.
Perhaps Steve’s can’t make any money if they aren’t tacking on some extra costs/​labor somewhere. Or perhaps they have so much business they don’t need mine anymore, since they can’t seem to work on a simple repair without turning it into a two-​day ordeal.

Fast service, straight forward. Found that the problem was less serious than originally thought and didn’t try to rip me off. I would go back.

Great service. Honest, fair and timely in getting your repairs done. These folks came to my rescue as I had to drive to CA and my wipers were not functioning. The supplier sent the wrong parts and because I was in a rush, Steve’s made some of the parts themselves and got me off in time.

We had young friends who were passing through Longmont on a roadtrip who experienced serious brake problems on the way here. They were on a tight budget and the cost of repairs threatened to end their road trip before it really began. A friend who knows the Longmont repair shops recommended Steve’s as honest and very competent. They not only resolved the problem but also went above and beyond to get all the parts and labor covered by the warranty. Our friends are now on their way and needless to say, we will be taking our business to Steves.

I wanted to like this place, but we had an incident. It is rather lengthy but in a nutshell:
We brought our Ford station wagon to a different auto place, Auto Import Doctor (yeah, we’re mad at them too) to get our dead battery replaced. They replaced our battery and then told us how we had all these other problems. Crap. Not what you want to hear. Specifically, they said we had broken coils (typical for Ford wagons) and something else that is escaping me at the moment. They quoted me some obscene price: 1200, maybe. Ack!
So I decided to take it to Steve’s for a second opinion. We specifically told them to look at the coils. They get back to us and let us know that there is NOTHING wrong. Okay. So here I am wondering if Auto Import Doctor is trying to rip us off or if Steve’s is inept. gah.
I get a recommendation for a 3^rd place: a Meineke up on Main. We give them our story, they look at the coils — completely rusted and broken! Even we could see. But the other stuff that Auto Import Doctor said was needing work was apparently fine.
So as it turns out Auto Import Doctor was trying to rip us off AND Steve’s was inept. Awesome!
So yeah, we wouldn’t recommend Steve’s.

Honest with Integrity.