Central Avenue Automotive

I have at least three major complaints against Central Avenue Automotive (CAA).

1. They falsely recommended and attempted to charge for repairs for which there is no reasonable basis. They claimed all four engine mounts on my car were broken and needed to be replaced at a cost of $4,617.88. I got a second opinion from a certified service dealer who told me the engine mounts were not broken at all.

2. Work was performed on the vehicle before I received a written price estimate for the repairs. I was obligated to pay for services I would have declined. By the time I received the estimate I was already obligated for nearly $1,000 of service.

3. I never received a response from CAA regarding my complaints. I returned in person to speak with the service manager Mark with my concerns about the engine mounts. He said he would look into it and talk with the owner and he'd call me the next day. He never did. I filed a complaint with Consumer Protection Agency of Washington and CAA never responded to the complaint.

I want my community to be made aware of their unfair practices. CAA is untrustworthy and unresponsive.

After taking my car back to the dealer that sold it to me and having them tell me they could not find anything wrong, I was referred to Central Avenue Automotive for a second opinion. I was told again that nothing appeared to be wrong but a mechanic volunteered to ride in the car with me so I could show him what I was hearing. Once he was able to hear it himself he concluded it was my belt. Excellent service and a short wait time was my experience. Great handling of warranties and I drove away feeling well taken care of.

These guys rock My car breaks down on my way to work they got me in right away they gave me a ride to train station called me a few hours later with the fix and picked me up that night. They turned a bad situation as good as it can be. Thank you!

This place is is dishonest in their dealings. I brought a car in for repairs. they were supposed to put dye in the air conditioner and find a leak. They couldn't find it. it was empty in less than a day. So I got a can of refridgerant with dye at walmart, installed it, and noticed the compressoer was leaking around the pully. It must have been hard to see I was outside in my front yard with no light - they were inside a lighted shop building.

The next part was a transmission replace. Low quote and high quote after calling for a price while I stood there $1100 - $1700 when I went to pay it was $2300.

Intake manifold gasket replace. the high end price quote was $600 less than what they billed me for.

Power steering pump hose was replaced when they were told not to perform the function. I was told it was leaking. I advised them that the line has a drip in it but I never added a drop to the reservoir in 4 years and it's still full. In addition to replacement they charged the full labor rate even though they had to disconnect the line to remove the transmission. $300.

when I went to pickup the care the bill was around $4500 my quote was about $2800 with the power steering repair which they were asked not to do. So actually the high end repair should have been about $2450 total. They called and advised the price was $600 higher on the transmission and also the manifold gasket. The manifold gasket was another $600? I could have bought a complete engines gasket set for $200at customers rates from a dealer.

So I should have paid $3700 max.

I will give the guy credit he smiled right in my face when he said he would give me a credit for the $400 worth of repairs he wasn't authorized to do. Like I would ever use them again. I wasn't angry I just wanted to show my wife how dishonest those folks were and gee it wasn't hard.

Also a long time friend worked there at the time so I didn't want to put him in an akward situation. He later left because he noticed vehicles from friends having repairs performed that they didn't need. One friend was there a week after a break inspection by my friend, he told them no need to worry over 80% of the pad on the front and about 70% on the back or about 40,000 miles left on them. The slick sales manager up front had them in the following week for a brake job.

I bindly took my 2005 Tahoe for a new transmission. They did a great job, were speedy and super friendly. I would reccomend them for all types of service and feel good about bringing my car back for other repairs.