Distad’s BP

$ 670 for brake pads and rotors, which is absurdly overpriced. Not sure why this place is so highly rated. Could have gotten the same work done at Monroe for half the cost and with a lifetime warranty on the pads.

Love these guys/​gals. They know their business they are honest and respectful and the $ is just right. They are the most reliable mechanics in the city that i have discovered and i manage a fleet of work trucks that get dogged all the time.

I have always been happy with their honesty and quality of work. Their prices might be a little higher for some things than going to a large chain like say a Merchant’s or a Midas, but some things it may be better to go to places like Distad’s because you know they will not cheat you and you know the work will be done right. Large chains always try and up-​sell you, but Distad’s never recommends anything that isn’t really needed. I have had good experiences and bad experiences at chain mechanics, but Distad’s has always done right by me. Their customer service depends on who you get when you go and how busy they are at the time. Sometimes it’s great and sometimes its meh. They are busy, very busy and some of them just don’t have the time or patience to deal with much beyond getting the cars in, fixing them and getting them out. But with that said, I’m not going there for tea time, and crumpets, I’m going to get my car fixed and at that they do well.
5 stars for honesty
5 stars for reliability
5 stars for doing the work correctly
4 stars for their prices

Nice guys and their work was reasonably priced — but the window motor they installed died less than a year later. So I think here might be a quality problem on the parts…

Known Distad’s for 13 years. They’ve always been straightforward and honest with me. Even found me ways to save money when it came time to replace my tires. They were recommended to me 13 years ago by someone who had lived here for 15 years, and now I recommend them. Old school mechanics.

I have been going here for 30 years. Really good people and fair and honest service. Never try to sell you something that you don’t need. Willing to search for parts to find the best price.

Top of the line customer service, excellent workmanship, fair and honest appraisals and pricing. What more can you ask for?

John from Distad’s met my high level of expectations. Oil change, wheel balance and rotation, and a fair estimate on replacing my catalytic converter. They’re my new GoTo garage for service.

I’ve brought my car to Distad’s several times over the years for a variety of issues and basic maintenance, and they continue to earn my trust and customer loyalty. Their prices are always reasonable. They have never tried to up-​sell me on suspicious, seemingly unnecessary services or products. In fact, quite the opposite — at times, they’ve fixed a fairly basic issue and indicated that a more expensive fix was not needed at that time. Services over the years have included investigating and solving a mysterious electrical problem that caused my car to lose power while driving for no apparent reason; tire replacement; oil changes; A/​C recharging; etc. When they recently recharged my A/​C with freon, it still didn’t feel very cold. They acknowledged that before any prompting from me and charged it up with more freon again, until it was blowing as cold as it should.
Most recently, I had a bit of a problem there in that, after they finished servicing my vehicle, they parked it on the street, and in the day or so before I was able to come pick it up, my car was broken into and the stereo was stolen. Fortunately, as soon as they were told about the incident, Distad’s said they would repair the broken window and (although a downgrade from what I had) install a basic manufacturer-​grade stereo, free of charge. Fortunately, they were able to find the necessary parts from a used-​auto-​parts source. For my very old car, this was sufficient for my purposes. It was quite a relief that they took care of this issue without any persuading or cajoling on my part. I hope they know that it was appreciated and that it was a good business move on their part, as they have earned my continued customer loyalty for years to come as a result. I will continue to recommend Distad’s to others.

I have been taking my car to Distad’s for 7 years. They are a family-​owned operation, with the daughter working the counter and dad running the shop. They are also good, honest mechanics, sincerely interested in helping their customers. If they can’t fix something, they will tell you that up front. And simple problems that don’t require them to take the car into the garage they won’t charge me for.
It’s also close to the metro, which makes drop-​off convenient. I typically drop my car in the morning, jump on the metro and go to work, then metro back at the end of the day. It couldn’t be easier.

I have been recommending Distad’s to my friends for years. Decided today to do it publicly after yet another amazing experience. They are prompt, professional, very skilled and will take care of you. As someone who knows nothing about cars or how they work, they explain what’s wrong with my car and don’t take advantage of my ignorance. Any time I call in for a repair they give me an appointment asap. It’s not always that day, but if it is an emergency it will be. They are a busy shop, they take the time to provide excellent customer service.

If you live/​work on Capitol Hill, this is where you take your car. I’ve been going here for years and they always great. John and other mechanics always look for ways to make your repairs as affordable as possible (they’ve saved me a ton of money over the years) and never try to upsell you.
This place gets crowded for a reason. Be sure to call in advance for bigger things.

Look no further you found a good trust worthy local mechanic. Guys like John are hard to find these days. Always looking for ways to make your repair cheaper.
Make sure you call ahead and confirm availability. It’s a crowded parking lot but you can’t expect much given the location. Needless to say, I recommend this place to all my friends and family.

Wow. I mean WOW! I do nearly all of my own work on my car and find most places either over priced or under-​skilled. Distad’s, while they «don’t work on saabs» were willing to take a look at the suspension, steering, and brakes on my 1994 Saab 900.
I’d recently taken this car to a LeDroit park (unnamed) shop that charged me $ 70 to incorrectly balance a wheel and look my car over to let me know what might be wrong with it (30 minutes of work).
Distad’s on the other hand, took that same wheel, balanced it correctly, and set my car up on their alignment system only to find that it’s not align-​able without some frame straightening and new tierods — for which they charged me only ~$ 15 to balance the one wheel.
THEY’RE SAINTS!
Honest and reasonably priced.
Thank you Distad’s — please stay in business and keep up the good work.

I gave this place a shot after reading these Unilocal reviews. I found the company to be honest, reasonably priced, and quick. They explained to me what was wrong (my break pads were loose so I didn’t need new breaks like I thought). I was charged one hour of labor (around $ 100 plus tax). I’ve been to several other places in DC, and I am confident everywhere else would have charged me much more.

Blew out my tire a few days ago. After getting my car to Distad’s I left my keys with the cashier since it was after hours. Left a note requesting a new tire and a 25k factory recommended tune up since i was due for one anyway. Everything was done the next day in the early afternoon just like that and at a very fair price. Will definitely take my car back at the 30k check up.

This place is absolutely excellent. Even better than my small town roots in NC. It is family owned and they NEVER have charged me what they quoted (always has been lower) and they never make you waste money. I rarely recommend anything, but I bet on Distads.

Not what I was expecting after reading all the reviews. First of all, do not expect good customer service here. I found the guy working the front counter rude and condescending (perhaps because I’m a girl) with every encounter I had. I understand people have bad days, but I sense this is consistent.
I went here to get my oil changed, and they botched it up. (Not to mention they charged around 40 dollars — 20 for the oil change 20 for labor. What a crock.) They didn’t replace the oil filter correctly so oil was leaking out of my car. When I returned it to have them fix it — 1) they didn’t replace the oil 2) they didn’t clean it up, so there is still some left overs leaking.
Not ever going here again. I suggest Capitol Hill Auto Service for car maintenance on the hill. Their garage is smaller, but better overall quality, and they won’t cheat you.

I am really torn over this review, but based on a few visits, here is what I’ve found:
The good:
They do fairly-​priced work and will not try and up-​sell you, even when you give them a chance to. My last auto shop in NOVA suggested that I needed all of my fluids replaced as they were all dirty. When I moved to DC, I went into Distad’s for normal service and asked them to take a look at the fluids — A-​OK they say! That’s a $ 500 savings right there. On my second visit, we needed the breaks checked as I knew we had warped rotors and it had been an issue for a while. This gave them a golden opportunity to sell me on a whole break job, but instead, they said that just the rotors needed to be replaced — another $ 200+ in savings.
The bad:
The customer service is seriously lacking; I guess they figure that they can be as rude as they please since they’re the defacto auto shop on the hill. They never call to advise when the car is ready to be picked up and the last time I called to schedule an appointment to get in for an oil change, the guy who picked up sounded genuinely annoyed that I had called for just an oil change. He let out the biggest sigh when I asked him to put me on the schedule — it really put a bad taste in my mouth.
For me, customer service is always #1 when working in any business, which is why my grade is so low for this place. However — for the convenience and trust that I’m not going to be ripped off, I am reluctantly going to keep giving these guys my business. Such a shame — this place could be amazing, if they just knew how to talk to people.

Clearly the wonderful people these previous reviewers encountered all left this winter…
Didn’t even want to speak to me until I pulled ALL the way up to their garage door. Literally told me this while I was driving up to the door. Minus 1 star. Gave me a look and sarcasm for wanting a battery. Minus another star. Didn’t tell me how much a battery would be and was going to put the more expensive one in. Minus another star. Maybe I should only give them one star but I’d feel bad about myself. I’m almost afraid they’re going to screw it up as I wait for them to put it in.
Too bad cuz I was expecting great service just by the person who answered the phone who was nice and courteous. Where are you phone man? I’d rather talk to you than an @$$hole mechanic who looks at me and thinks I’m a silly little girl. Too bad I needed it asap, I’d just wait and take it to the Jiffy Lube in the ghetto. At least while they’re being DC nice (more like bipolar) they won’t charge me an arm and leg.
After all the «service» was over they were markedly more polite to me. Too late…