A1 Auto Service Center

Trustworthy, reliable, good quality work. I am very appreciative of the reasonable pricing and proper diagnosis of my Honda after two different dealerships tried their best to make money selling me on work that didn’t need to be done. Use this mechanic… you won’t be sorry.

SHORT REVIEW: Untrustworthy, Unreliable, Incompetent
DETAILED REVIEW:
My young adult daughter lives out of state from me and had a problem with her car not starting. She asked for my assistance with getting her car repaired. Road side service was not able to jump start the car and it had a brand new battery, so that was clearly not the problem. Her car was towed to A1 and they took it in on a Saturday afternoon. By Monday afternoon, they still had not conclusively diagnosed the problem, but believed the car needed a new starter.
PROBLEM #1: No communication from A1. We had to call each time for an update, they did not call us to tell us what was going on.
On Tuesday, they replaced the starter but that did not solve the problem. When I asked the manager, Greg, how that could be since they had diagnosed the starter as the problem. I told him I was confused about that. He became condescending and rude retorting, «What’s so confusing about it?»
PROBLEM #2: Rude, sarcastic communication from staff.
I spoke to the owner, Tony, who assured me they would get to the bottom of things. They supposedly determined that a «connector wire» was bent and once straightened out, the car started again repeatedly with the old starter. On Wednesday, the car was released with a clean bill of health. Minimal charge for labor, and no new starter needed. It seemed too good to be true, and it was.
Two days later, the car failed to start, showing the exact same symptoms as before. Car was towed back to A1 on a Friday afternoon. I spoke to Tony again, but he was «with a customer» and could not talk to me. I asked him to call me back when he had time to talk. He called me back a short while later and told me he’d «figure out what went wrong, OK?» I told him it really wasn’t OK and that we needed to figure out where the diagnostic went wrong in the first place. I explained that it concerned me greatly that the owner of a business was not more bothered that his shop had possession of a vehicle for four days without solving the problem. Furthermore, my daughter was stranded, again, with a car that wouldn’t start and was forced to obtain a rental car for the second time in a week. His response was to tell me that he didn’t have the vehicle for four days, that it was really only two business days.
PROBLEM #3: The owner of the business was insufficiently concerned about the mistakes made by his staff to properly diagnose and repair the car.
On Saturday morning, the manager, Greg, called me to tell me they were going to replace the starter. When I expressed my confusion about why they would replace the starter when they had already done that earlier in the week without positive results, he retorted, «Do you want to come down here and diagnose the problem yourself?» At that point, I must confess that I lost my composure. I told him we’d have the car towed to a different shop and not to do anything further with it.
PROBLEM #4: More rude, sarcastic behavior from the manager coupled with a complete disregard to correct a problem they failed to correctly assess the first time.
Bottom line: There seems to be no integrity or pride to stand behind their work. When one adds in offensive behavior, I wonder how they stay in business at all.

Back in the Spring of ’15 my starter was going bad and I was taking a risk holding it off and driving around. One day going to work, my car wouldn’t start and I was sad. I had to leave it in front of my apartment complex where I would also risk getting a parking ticket for parking over 1.5 hours. It was there for 3 days. Fortunately, no ticket! In that time, I was looking for a shop that does excellent work with a reasonable and fair price and these guys popped up. Requested an appointment after hours and was emailed back late evening saying that they ordered my part and was in the shop 2 days later. (Could have been next day, but I was carpooling to work) These guys were great, efficient, nice and friendly. They got the work done in about 3 hours and my car has been running like new ever since.
The only thing I would say is that while they were swapping out the starter, they spilled some of my coolant and replaced it with a generic coolant. My car takes a specific coolant and I don’t like mixing fluids, so that kind of upset me… but since I’m easygoing, I let it go.
The positives by far outweigh that one negative. I can trust these guys and would return in the future if anything else happens.

Came here to get the car inspected and brakes done because we found a special online. It would normally be too far to go. They found the axle needed to be replaced– not immediately, but since we have a long trip coming up decided to do it. Paid more than we had hoped since we had to replace an extra part, but the pricing was still fair so in the end we most likely saved money. They seemed to be honest and upfront about everything, and Gary’s customer service was great– he was very friendly, helpful, and patient (even though we and a few others were there past closing time, there was no rush on us to make a decision or push anyone outside). They also showed us the part they replaced and pointed out where it had been damaged and explained the problems with the damage on it.

I was at this auto shop yesterday and had the best experience I have ever had dealing with car trouble. GREG was patient, efficient, knowledgeable, and the best part… HONEST… It is very hard to find a place like this! I will be recommending A1 to all of my friends. Thank you for everything you did for us.

Poor communication between customer and service manager resulted in incomplete sub par workmanship.
After telling the service manger numerous times what work I wanted done to my car. A full week later only a portion of the work (that was repeatedly requested) was completed when I picked up my vehicle.
The final cost was literally 4 times the amount that was quoted. And when I returned the vehicle to them to correct a mistake they made. I was asked to pay up front for the work, to correct their mistake.
I have had problems with them in the past and thought I’d give them another chance to redeem themselves. This was my last mistake with them. I took my to the shop next to theirs to get their mistakes fixed to make my vehicle safe to drive again for a fraction of the cost they asked for to fix their mistake.
Avoid A-​1 auto service.

Less then 1 star. Super upset about choosing this place to take my truck. Brought it in with a ton of problems, they kept my truck for 5 days, said they ran a head gasket test, I had yellow sludge in my oil. There answer was your truck is fine it just needs an oil change. $ 300 later I have to take it somewhere else where a cracked head gasket WAS found, as well as gas leaking into my oil. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a female so they completely just raped me out of $ 300, or if it truly is they have no clue how to work on cars. Please heed my warning and do NOT choose this place for auto repair.

Great customer service! Tony was very friendly. They are very quick, affordable and honest. I would recommend this company to anyone who needs any car work done.

Based on recent reviews these guys know how to do their job. My only complain was the amount of grease stains on my seat from one of the mechanics clothing, plus the sticky greasy feeling on the steering wheel and shift knob. Looks like stains are not coming off easily.

A1 Auto Service has been servicing my vehicles for several years. I’ve always found them to be honest and fair in their dealings. The quality of repairs has always been very good. Whenever there was an issue, they stood behind their work and made it right.
The auto repair business is a very competitive business. I have never found a dealership that I would trust as far as I could throw them. I am convinced that for most repairs for the working person, using a good independent garage is the way to go.
A1 Auto Service fits the bill for my money. You can trust them to charge you fairly and to get the work done properly. What more could you ask from a repair shop.
Tony Cao, the owner is a hard-​working, honest businessman and his technicians are very good. Keep up the good work! America needs more businesses like this!

Great customer service.
Tony was very helpful in diagnosing my car’s issues — which turned out to be a faulty heater auxiliary pump and heater valve. He also offered to try and find the needed parts at a better price than his supplier was offering (since my car was an older model Jag). He wasn’t successful at finding better pricing, so the parts ended up being pretty expensive, but the labor was very fair and reasonable.
This is a no-​frills, get ‘er done, facility. No lattes and croissants in the waiting room; nor washed and vacuumed car upon pick up — but their labor rates are really good and as the other Unilocal reviews have stated, they are fair and honest.
I’ll be back!

A1 is awsome. I brought my car in after overheating issues. Another shop in lake stevens couldnt figure out what was wrong with it. A1 found it to be a water pump issue. They replace the water pump, and timing belt because it was way overdue. They killed 2 birds wtih 1 stone. car runs great. Very fair price. Also they have been doing oil changes for the last 8 months on my car.

Tony was great. Had problems with the power to the engine and could only go 5 – 10 mph. Dropped it off with Tony to do a diagnosis. He called me the next day to let me know what was wrong and how the part worked. He swapped out the part and had some other suggested fixes, to which he and the mechanic explained what they other parts were and what they did.
Car runs great right now!
Thanks guys!

I’ve used A1 Auto service for the past 5 years the service is great. They actually saved me money by not doing need less repairs. I like dealing with straight shooters.

This is the best auto repair shop in town. They’re so honest and nice. I will only trust this place from now on. I promise you won’t regret it.

Listen to my advice! I trust only those who’ve proven themselves. I would NEVER refer another person to have their car worked on, without the safest outcome.
Tony Mike and Dennis remain the foundation to thee safest, most compassionate and professional services I have ever found. Save time and money… and relax in knowing you will leave with a completion of work you can rely on.
My car is a 1984 Chrysler New Yorker 5^th Avenue — with 82k /​original engine… and she purrs like a kitten.

Probably the best auto mechanic experience I have ever had! I brought my vehicle here thinking that all of my breaks and rotors needed to fixed. The quote I got from les schwab was for 800 $. After telling Tony this he said well I will only replace what need it and it still won’t be that much. An hour after I dropped my car off tony called and said that the rear breaks were still 40 percent good and that he will clean them but not replace them. I have never had a mechanic SAVE me money. Tony might of lost 400 $ on my car today but by being honest he just gained a customer for life and I will send everyone I know to A1. No need to quote or compare prices this place is legit

I thought that I was in need of brakes on my car. So I checked out A1 here on Unilocal and the reviews convinced me to stop by. It is only 3 blocks from my house so I drove over.
Tony greeted me promptly and asked what was wrong. I told him and he reassured me that he will call me with the estimate soon. I told him I was there based on the reviews and he said «I’ve been in business too long to make a buck by lying or cheating a customer.» That told me something.
Tony called me telling me that my brakes were actually OK. When was the last time a mechanic said you didn’t need anything done? He explained the noise was due to the glaze on the pads and rotors and offered to do a regular brake job and it would get rid f the noise as well as fresh pads. Told him go ahead and about an hour later, he called me kinda sheepishly. In providing full service, his mechanic was filling the tires to the correct PSI, one of the tire pressure sensors was corroded and blew up! He offered to replace the sensor valve or a regular one. For now, I went with that.
I walked back over to pick up the car and met Ryan who again, promptly greeted me and explained what was done. It was a really good experience with A1 and I will be back for sure!

Brought a car in to get a pre-​sale inspection. They have a great deal for these!
Only took about 30 minutes, if that, and Ryan took his time to explain what was wrong with the car, why he wouldn’t advise me buying it, etc. and then printed it all out for me.
A week later I took another car there, Ryan remembered me and inspected the car. He printed out the details and his recommendation.
When the engine light came on about a month after I bought the car, I immediately called and spoke to Dale. When I brought the car up the next day, the engine light had turned off by itself, but I had some other concerns I wanted them to check. I believe Jeff was the tech who worked on my car, and he spoke to me personally after doing so, and was very thorough with his explanation (essentially that everything was certainly fine, and I was just a scaredy-​cat).
Dale seemed to be a little more flustered and it seemed as if he was new to working at that particular shop, or maybe he just wasn’t used to working in the office.
They certainly have no qualms accommodating anyone or working after they close, and Ryan and the techs who work there are awesome!

A1 Auto has proven time and time again to be the place to take my vehicle.
Really nice guys, incredibly fair prices, excellent work… what more does one look for when looking for a mechanic?
Finding a mechanic is a pain in the butt! Building trust with a mechanic is the hardest part. Taking your car to multiple places to get quotes and to be without your car each day sucks! When getting quotes, make sure to check out A1… and with time, I can almost guarantee you’ll want to continue to build your relationship there.
I’ve seen a couple reviews from people claiming that the work done didn’t fix they problem and they had to return to the shop. From what I’ve found over the years — mechanics can only do their very best to diagnose a problem and fix it — sometimes there is more going on than they can see. With any shop, there is always the occasion where you have to return for further investigation if problems continue to exist. A mechanic only test drives your vehicle, upon repair, briefly. One time I even had a sound that existed when I drove it… and every time the mechanic drove it, nothing! Talk about frustrating for both of us.