Auto Buff

My work schedule conflicted with Auto Buff’s hour of operation so Rico stayed late to give me an estimate. I chose to go with Auto Buff mostly for that and I’m not sorry I did. My repairs were done flawlessly and in less time than predicted, plus the final charges ended up being a small amount less than estimated and they washed and vacuumed out my car.

This review is about a collision repair done by auto buff.
I really wanted love this place. I did my research and disregarded the bad reviews that I did read. To their credit they were super friendly and helpful dealing with the insurance claims process and did resolve one issue with replacement part that was defective. But the repair which involved replacing my front bumper and headlight/​fog light and some trim pieces just lacked an attention to detail. When I got the car back I noticed that several small screws around the wheel liner had not been replaced and that a trim piece they replaced seemed a little loose but shrugged it off. Two weeks later that trim piece flew off the car while driving on the freeway. When I contacted the shop, they said it wasn’t their problem. Several months later I noticed the fog light was not seated properly. Upon further inspection, they had just used the old fog light which had a crack in the housing and it was just glued together. Mind you, insurance was paying for all parts and repairs. I feel deceived that the shop didn’t order that part and did not inform me they had put a broken part back on the car. Looking further, they simply glued the wheel liner where screws were supposed to go. So if you do have repairs done here, make sure you look over the car thoroughly to make sure you are satisfied before driving off.

I went to Rico for front end body work a few years ago and had a good experience. Nice guy, quick, and fair priced. When I bought a used vehicle a few months back, it seemed an easy decision to take it to Auto Buff for a professional detail. I payed for the works. What I received was, wax splattered all over everything on the exterior, a dash that looked almost worse than when I dropped it off, and the same coffee stains in the seat (the reason I took it in!). All in all, it looked like they were half done and gave it back to me anyway. I won’t be going back again.

I just wanted to say how much I appreciated not getting a call back after reporting my vehicle wasn’t fixed correctly. I have now learned a valuable lesson in how not to trust so called experts that my car would be taken care of. Next time I will be sure to waste additional time getting multiple estimates and using a whiteboard marker to clearly point out the damage that was missed by your shop.

Rico and team are the best. They did a great job fixing my Volvo after an accident and also went above and beyond to deal with an issue that only surfaced later. They were flexible on timing, courteous and very friendly. I would certainly take my car there again if needed.

Very pleased with a full auto detail (inside and out) a few months ago. My 2004 was looking shiny and new. Professional level cleaning that lasts… this is the type of cleaning I like to do going into winter and heading out. A nice deep clean and wax that will make things easier to maintain moving forward. They also ordered and replaced a piece of weather stripping at my request for a very reasonable price.
And when Jiffy Lube got oil all over my passenger seat and door, Auto Buff told me to head on over, that they would be happy to fit me in, and they washed the whole seat and door while I waited for $ 27 and sent me on my way.

Pre-​7 am + no coffee + rushed + narrow garage = broken passenger side mirror. My experience getting it replaced, however, could not have gone more smoothly! Car looks good as new, work was done quickly, prices are reasonable. Rico and his wife Jolene are very pleasant and easy to work with, too. Great local business.

Kind of dissapointing to read some of the negative reviews because I only give reviews if/​when the service was that good or that poor, and this place was absolutely phenomenal. When getting quotes for any kind of auto service, we always want someone honest who operates with integrity, and that’s Rico at AutoBuff for sure. He had plenty of ways to overcharge me for my work required, but was able to salvage all my original parts and only charge me for the labor to re-​attach them. I am no car guru so I wouldn’t have known if I needed new parts, but now I know I can trust Rico to help steer me in the right direction, thus I would absolutely recommend AutoBuff.

Other than being in the same family of color, the paint job on my repair was a color match to only someone color blind. Additionally, I received no information regarding proposed repairs until work was «complete.» Repair was released to me incomplete and with a dead battery.
Called shop and was offered a second paint job. While a marked improvement, still not a match. Several repair items remain outstanding. Also, I was not provided a completion time. Had to call shop several times to coordinate. Initially, requested quotes on a handful of unrelated items and received nothing.
Seattle is full of qualified body shops. Be advised, you may want to seek out another. Overall, I had a pretty poor experience.

Rico is as good as they come. I feel like famiily when I show up to his shop. I appreciate the way he treats his customers and is a real and genuine caring guy. He takes care of his customers, and will give you a ride home or drop your car off if you are in a pinch. I am a picky, quality type person who belives in quality service. I appreciate Rico’s staff they are all hard workers and don’t fall short on qulity and detail. Rico’s Auto Buff is where you want to take your care for a detail or fender bender. I am really impressed with my recent paint job on my 1983 Toyota Picke up. It was a chore and not many shops will take on the older complete paint jobs. I appreciate his help and taking on my project and much credit to Max his painter. He is a excellent painter and restore guy. I also take all of my cars here for details and they are always sparkling clean. They even installed my stripes on my car and they look awesome!

Rico genuinely cares about his customers and their needs. I had called in the same day to get an appointment for an estimate. He examined my car thorough and even took pictures of the damaged body as a backup for my insurance company. He demonstrated his professionalism and was extremely patient with me answering to all my questions. I didn’t feel pressured but felt pretty comfortable taking some time to think over the cost and work it out with my insurance co. A good business always renders excellent customer service and puts customers first. Auto Buff has it to be the Best. However, the only suggestion I may give is to have it accredited with Best Business Bureau. I will absolutely go back for further car repairs and detailing in the near future.

We took our 2012 Mini Countryman to get the «full detail» earlier this week. Our car was THRASHED. Had only been washed once in the past few months and the interior was suffering from the dirt of a Memorial day camping excursion.
I found the pricing to be fair but what I expected for a true detail shop and not just a place that does car washes.
The car came back flawless with the paint, wheels and tires sparkling and the interior looked brand new. The ENTIRE interior meaning every nook and cranny.
These guys are also super friendly and easy to work with. I would highly recommend them to anyone who cares about their car. You get what you pay for and I’ll definitely be back.

I created a Unilocal account just so I could review these guys! Had the entire interior cleaned. Amazing work! I have two young (very messy) boys. I mean 4 years of chocolate milk/​apple juice on the seats and carpet, that powder that you put down to get those stains out, plus a minor «accident» by one of them last week. I just always thought it would be too spend your I could just do it myself. After the incident last week, I just couldn’t wait anymore. I walked in and they took it right away and pointed towards a kid friendly café just up the street. 2 hours later, the interior looks as good as new! Plus, all of the staff was super nice and helpful.

Some time ago I wrote a review about Auto Buff in West Seattle, but removed it and have replaced it with this review. I first took my 2004 Toyota Tacoma to Rico over at Auto Buff a few years ago, and the service and work were pretty good, so I went back several more times for work on my ex-girlfriend’s Jetta, and then my motorcycle. I’ve also had additional work on the Tacoma since then as well.
Within the last year, work on my Tacoma as well as the motorcycle were not what I expected. I went to great lengths to get the work remedied, and to Rico’s credit, the problems were resolved. My issue here is that for each time I made an agreement to have work done on my motorcycle or truck, the work I hired Rico may have been done satisfactory, but there was always something else that was missed, or new damage that wasn’t there before. Rico was quick to fix the new damage, but instead of just one trip to drop off the vehicle or motorcycle and one trip to pick up, I usually had to make several trips to resolve something that wasn’t done, a new defect, or whatever.
They do a good job, however its inconsistent.

See three negative reviews for Auto Buff and am quite surprised. I wholeheartedly agree with Wendy’s review. I just got my Jaguar back from Auto Buff and am swooning over how gorgeous it looks. I’d had a minor fender bender that knocked out a light and cracked the body. I used that as a perfect opportunity to get all the little dings and scratches fixed. What Rico and Max and the crew did was nothing less than brilliant. My car is back to its former glory. I was so impressed with their work at a very fair price that I took my 1966 MG in for some cleanup (fixing rub marks and spots that had been touched up and not blended correctly). I have the utmost confidence in their work.

Pretty disappointed. Rico is a nice guy but I received poor results and I rarely state Do Not Recommend to a fellow small business owner.
1) They ordered the incorrect carpet for my car, installing carpet belonging in a 1960’s vehicle, a loop carpet instead of the pile carpet that goes in mid 1980’s vehicles.
2) When they reinstalled the seat belts, they couldn’t even bother to make sure it was not tangled. It is tangled 3 times over and requires disassembly to correct.
3) They were to realign passengers door. It is now worse.
4) They were to order lug nuts for the wheels. They did not.
5) The passenger door interior lock switch is now gone and missing. I asked for them to look for it as these are discontinued parts. No word on that after two weeks.
6) I provided the hood insulation for them to install. They informed me it does not fit. However, they did not give the wrong part back to me and is now lost. I am now unable to return it and am out more $$.
7) I provided the hood/​engine seal to install. It was not installed but instead, this was lost also. I went over the exact parts with Rico, in the car, upon drop off.
I always give the business owner the opportunity to correct incorrect service or bad product before leaving a review. Rico apologized sincerely and had Max call me. I simply went over this list and no offer was made at correcting the issues and that is where they left it. Rico did offer not to charge some trade dollars on me but that did not interest me as I am out the service, cash for the totally wrong carpet and worse, out the money for the lost parts and now new missing part.
Very disorganized business. Result is a very unhappy customer and no follow up action.

I just the read most recent review by Rebecca E and am so so surprised by her experience. That is not my experience of Rico’s Auto Buff AT ALL. I’m not even sure she has the right Auto Buff, because Rico, Max, Jolene and all the staff have done nothing but go to bat for me and my family.
We just picked up the Mini Cooper this past Friday morning, which got nailed by a first-​time U-​Haul driver — Rico coordinated with Tom’s Automotive and with both insurance companies. The hood of our car needed to be completely painted over & it looks great. When we picked up the car, we asked that a small reflector on the passenger side be tightened up… bodywork guy took care of us before he had his coffee. THAT is service in my book.
I feel very taken care of by Rico’s Auto Buff and the whole staff in place there. I’m pretty shocked by the previous review — it doesn’t sound like the Rico I know & work with at all.

This place is an absolute joke. I was told to go here by an insurance company and reluctantly went. My initial hesitation was spot on. My car came out two different colors, my tail light was reinstalled incorrectly and when they took the tape off around my window it took the clear coat with it.
On top of that, a $ 189 full detail package was purchased and its hands down the worst detail I’ve ever received. There was still a white film all over my car and they forgot to clean my trunk.
I’m not sure if people are aware there are better places out there but please do your research before coming here!
There is not a legitimate paint booth at Rico’s. it’s a garage with a curtain. A legitimate paint booth would be a separate room with proper airflow and would be a clean room so that dirt nibs don’t get in your paint and that has proper temperatures to allow the paint to dry and adhere as its supposed to.
Even worse, after I spoke with Rico to let him know the work done was unacceptable, he called the insurance company to ask for money!!! He told the insurance company I wanted a dent fixed. That’s fraud!
He wouldn’t own up to the fact he did poor work on my vehicle and refused to fix it.
I am now going to a reputable business to have my car repaired and filed a better business bureau complaint on this company.
I would like to add to my review because 12 hours after I posted this «Wendy S.» a weekend employee of this company posted a positive review as an attempt to bring up his rating. She is not a true customer but AN EMPLOYEE! Not only that, Rico has contacted my employer and attempted to affect my job.
This is so incredibly unacceptable and never a way I would treat my clients.

Rico and his crew did an excellent job cleaning my car! I have a yellow lab who sheds, constantly. I am happy to say to all you West Seattle dog owners, that Rico will be able to get your car clean when your friends from out of state come to visit.

Extremely disappointed. This company provides painting services and body work in addition to detailing. So I contacted them when I had a piece of furniture that required an automotive paint finish.
I brought a detailed drawing and material description of a piece to be painted. The owner had provided a verbal quote of $ 370 and I was asked to call prior to dropping the cabinet off. I called last week and left a message and followed up today, after no return call, and was told to bring the piece in.
When I arrived, I inquired as to where I could unload the cabinet. At that time, the owner told me that his painter would come out and look at it. After some hemming and hawing from the painter he told me that the piece would be «too much work» and raised the price to $ 600 (after saying he didn’t really want to do it).
At that point, I went back to speak to the owner and asked why I was quoted a price that they wouldn’t honor. He went to talk to the painter and came back and said that he made a mistake and that he would not do it for less than $ 600.
I am a business owner myself, and I can say that if you quote someone a price, you stick to it. Had he stuck to his price I would have brought him return business and paid the higher rate in the future. Now I know his business model and work ethic and will not be returning.
I checked out the filtered one-​star reviews that they have and have to say after my experience, I am not surprised.