Central Auto Service

I just needed new windshield wipers. The folks were nice, and helped me promptly. The right wiper is great, but the one on the left is almost worse than the one I had originally; it leaves streak marks and the rubber isn’t sitting well. They were pretty expensive, too — though it was helpful that they could help immediately, not worth the money.

I came in on Christmas Eve scared that I wouldn’t be able to replace my tires before my drive home to New York but they were open! The receptionist was so sweet and ‘Papi’ was very knowledgeable when it came to cars. Was a little pricey but for the customer service alone, they are worth it.

I recently found this place and I’m please to say that the owner (which I could never get he’s name right so I won’t even try) was honest and straightforward. I did a transmission fluid change with gasket and filter, for 150,00 $ + fluid and parts. It came out to 187.41 $ I looked at other places including jiffy lubes and they don’t even change parts, they only vacuum the fluid for 170,00.
Central Auto Service, was the best option at the bat price
He gave me a free computer diagnostic that is usually 40 bucks. Jose the mechanic who helps him is very efficient and fast. At least this was my experience here I would definitely recommend it. The prices are a little it on the higher side but at least the guy does the work right and gives three months guarantee. Some times is better to pay a little more but get it right!

I brought my car in during holiday weekend thinking changing a light bulb wouldn’t take long, but turned out my car had a bigger problem with the motherboard, so I had to drop it off. Even though they close on Monday-​Labor Day, the man who did the fix on my car still worked and called me to update the situation and asked me to come in to choose the solutions he had for it. I picked my car up today (Tuesday) and very happy with the result. They’re very nice and the price is reasonable for what they offer! I would totally come back there for further service in the future!

If you are looking for a honest person, you have found your place. We have been to this shop multiple times and every time our car was repaired for significantly less compared to the quote provided by other repair shops.
Until now we have got our state inspection done, oil changed and mirror replaced from this shop. Every time we got amazing customer service. Moreover, the owner even told us to buy the mirror for cheap online rather than spending a fortune at local dealers. The price for everything is reasonable and I see no reason why we will take our car to any other place but this.
We have also recommended this shop to our friends, and all of them are mighty satisfied with this place. I highly recommend it for everything.

Some of the best service I’ve ever had, they figured our the problem was a catalytic converter and then gave me the option to purchase on my own for cheaper and they will do the labor. They work on the taxi and police cars in west Philadelphia and have a great reputation in the neighborhood. Very approachable if you feel something went wrong and will do everything to correct any errors. As long as I’m in the area I will continue coming here.

I will never go here AGAIN. From the first interaction I had with the mechanic I should have known better. I arrived on January 8, 2014 at 4:30p (an hour and a half before they closed) and hunked the horn for assistance. No one came to help. I waited a minute and got out of the car to see if there was anyone in the garage. There I saw the mechanic at a computer. I had to scream excuse me 3 times to get his attention. Finally, he turned towards me and I asked if he could do an oil change. No abruptly said no. So I walked back to my car. Just as I was about to drive away a lady came out and screamed «he can do it, he can do it!» I told her he told me he couldn’t and she said it was because he was finishing up an inspection on another car. I brushed the mechanic and I first encounter under the rug. Boy, am I sorry I did. Smh. It took him the promised 15 mins to complete my oil change. I paid the lady and went back to my car. As soon as I get in I notice my oil indicator had not been changed. *rolls eyes* of course!!! I head back in and notify the lady that he didn’t change my oil. She looked so surprised, told him what happened and he got right on it. It took him a good 10 mins to figure out how to reset it. You’re probably thinking ok good end of story. Nope. As I drive away guess what I smell… OIL. The moron forgot to put my fuel cap back on. Of course I didn’t know that until today (Saturday) when I let my dad look at my car because my check engine light came on. Never ever EVER again.

Wonderful, very friendly, prices are affordable, and they do a great job and are super nice! I just moved to Philadelphia and I am so glad I found a wonderful car mechanic from the start!

We took our car here for a state inspection on a Saturday. It was one of the only places in the area open at the weekend. In addition to the state inspection, we also wanted them to take a look at our brakes because they were making shrieking sounds. The mechanics were totally professional and upfront about the cost of everything. They showed us one damaged brake rotor and priced the cost of parts and labor for us.

I took my car in for inspection 2 weeks back and they got to work right away and passed me — the owner was very nice and explained the break pads were low but still good.
I took the car back today to replace break pads and he remembered me — again quickly started work on my car. Rotated the wheels for free and rates were reasonable.
My BMW will be going back to him from now on.

I brought my car here after reading so many great reviews on Unilocal.And it’s conveniently located near where I live. I had been hearing a slight grinding sound when I’d turn my wheel occasionally. When I brought my car in, the lady who runs the place was incredibly warm and friendly! She instantly had the mechanic take my car for a drive, and when he couldn’t hear anything wrong with it, they put it on the lift anyway just to be thorough and make sure nothing was going on. They checked out the tires, suspension, brakes… etc. And it turns out the car was fine.
The best part is, they didn’t charge me anything for checking it out! I’ll definitely be bringing my car back in the next month or so to get the heat fixed. And I’m spreading the word to my family, friends, and coworkers. I’d recommend it to anyone, but especially if you live in West Philly I’ve been to a few mechanics in the area, and this one by far seems to have really fair prices and a great staff!

Great customer service!!! I took my Jeep Wrangler in because the water pump died. They had me fixed in a few hours. The owner was even kind enough to drive me back home until the work was completed!!! The staff was very professional and did great work. Also, the cost for labor wasn’t bad at all. I will definitely come back here again if i have anymore issues. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Cliff notes: these people don’t know the state inspection laws or requirements!
I chose to take my car to get it inspected here because of the great reviews it got on Unilocal.I’ve lived in Philly for a few years but am just getting a PA license and registration because I’m no longer a student. So i go into the shop (which is completely empty– first bad sign) and they’re very nice and can help me right away. It only takes about half an hour, and the mechanic calls me over to come look at my break pads, which he says are low, and a break light in the back dashboard which he says is out, and so they fail me and tell me I have to come back tomorrow to get the work done and get my sticker. It’ll be $ 208.
Well that seems strange, so I call my boyfriend who is a mechanic in Delaware, and he says he wants to look at everything so I shouldn’t get anything done yet. The lady at the desk is adamant that per PA law I HAVE to get whatever they found wrong with my car done there. Umm, no. So I politely tell her that that seems like a conflict of interest and wouldn’t all these shops just fail people for things so they could make some money? So I refuse, and she finally says fine, have your boyfriend look at it.
So I get home and he looks up the PA law which CLEARLY says that the customer has the right to get the work done on their car anywhere they would like. Furthermore, he found the minimum break pad measurement and measured my break pads and they were twice what they needed to be to pass.
When he took the car back the next day, the woman tried to fight him about the law. She tried to say that they didn’t «feel» that my car (a honda civic. the safest car around) was safe. They based their inspection off of a feeling, and not the state laws and specifications. Fortunately, my boyfriend brought the laws and showed them, and they STILL didn’t believe him.
Basically, this place doesn’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know the law. They don’t know the requirements. They’ll fail you on a feeling and charge you extra money just because they can.

Very nice and professional. They did good work on my car for a reasonable price. I was having some trouble with brakes/​suspension they were able to get the work done within a few hours and did not try to upsell me for parts I did not need. Highly recommended.

Update: I downgraded this to four stars. I also moved to a different mechanic, though that’s more related to distance than anything else.
I still think the people here are honest and they have pretty low prices, but I became somewhat doubtful of their expertise on a number of occasions. I’ve had a couple of times when I’ve had to go to them repeatedly, and they’ve kept the car for a couple of days for what should have been an easy fix. There were parts that didn’t fit, for example, and I understand mistakes can happen sometimes. They just seemed to happen all the time. (But I haven’t had much better luck with my new mechanic, so if Central Auto Service are in your area, you should probably give it a shot). Below is my original review.
My axle boot had been bad for a while, and the axle rusted and got a little deformed as they were replacing the boot; this made the new boot not fit well on the broken axle, and the car was making a faint rattling noise, which made me go back for a check. Although it wasn’t really their fault (they’re not guilty for the rust), they offered to come in on a Sunday to fix the car, and when that didn’t work out because they couldn’t find the part (a new axle), they fixed it by early Monday, and didn’t charge me for either the part or labor. They also didn’t charge me the storage fee because I couldn’t pick it up until Tuesday morning.
The other work I’ve done with them was fast and fairly priced. I’ll be going there again.

Not what you would expect! The area seems pretty sketchy, but this place is amazing.
My friend got a flat tire after brunch at Sabrina’s. We slowly rolled on in and were taken care of promptly. The shop owners turned on their electric fireplace (!!!) and we huddled for warmth in their lobby. While we waited we went across the street for a donut to eat while the friendly serviceman put the donut on the car.

Kind, respectful, honest, and thoughtful: Not qualities I usually associate with an auto shop.
I’ve been searching for a decent, respectable auto place for a good long time now. I usually feel like dealing with an auto shop and medical insurance companies are one in the same; just looking for ways to screw over the «customer.»
But not Central. The woman behind the desk is very nice and pleasant to talk to. She spells it out that customer service and honesty are their top priority, and they proved it by not charging me extra to lift the car up & check the alignment when I said the steering wheel was shaky (after a state inspection). The mechanic said that the wheel ware was probably causing the problem. They accepted a wheel shipment from an on-​line tire company and installed the tires right away.
The rates seemed more than reasonable, and the added niceties made it so much easier to give money and support to a local business like Central.

Central Auto Service was great. They have thier own lot, and if they need to hold your vehicle it’s gated. Furthermore, if you don’t have time to run back and get your car and you leqave it there, the lot fee is a whopping $ 15? Awesome. I live next door though so that’s not necessary.
Walk in inspections are 3 – 5 M-​F, but they’ll have you out in 35 minutes. You can call and arrange a morning inspection by appointment. They also have tons of signs posted with their rates for different services, so nothing will surprise you. The folks in the shop are helpful and don’t charge you extra for something silly (I had something hanging off my muffler and he just said «It will be no big deal for me to get that off, don’t worry about it, it’s not hurting anything.») I think they also did me a solid and switched off my check engine light without the fee. But another nice thing is that they have signs everywhere telling you to be upfront about it if you’re car-​dumb, basically. «IF YOUR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON, IT WILL FAIL INSPECTION. TELL US TO CHECK YOUR ENGINE AHEAD OF TIME.» Thank you for the tip.
They were perfectly reasonable, charge fractionally for hours, and very sweet. I walked in and before I could sit down to start filling out my info, they were driving my car into the bay. Awesome, efficient, timely. Thanks :)

Hannah and her team of guys are really wonderful: they took my car in immediately and within minutes saw the problem my BMW mechanic missed a week ago. Really pleasant, affordable and expert service. Highly recommended.

Very knowledgeable, friendly &reliable and you can drop off your car early in the morning. They have hi-​tech alignment equipment and can diagnose problems quickly.
Unlike a lot of places in the area they have 4 car bays to raise the car up so that they can work on it. Also cars are not left out on the road at night but stay protected inside their gates.
These folks have been in business for many years.