AJ's Auto Repair Inc
About us
AJ's Auto Repair is committed to excellent customer service and quality automotive repair and maintenance. We are a full service facility in Salem, Oregon providing service for your car, truck, SUV, Minivan or RV. We also are experts in hybrid and electric cars. Have your vehicle repaired right the first time; bring it in to AJ's Auto Repair!
Business highlights
53 years of experience
Services we offer
Battery, brakes, clutch repair, cooling system, engine, exhaust system, exterior lighting, fluid leaks, fuel delivery, heater, horn, interior, shocks, starter, steering, suspension, tires, towing & car rental., transmission, wheel bearings
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Reviews
4.740 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 78% | ||
| 10% | ||
| 8% | ||
| 3% | ||
| 0% |
Showing 1-25 of 40 reviews
Sharon L.
Aug 2017
It was referred to me by a friend. They were real good; they gave us a senior discount. They said that they got everything fixed. We have a Hyundai. They even called the Hyundai guy to come and he had to do something to it that they could only do. They had to call him and have him come and do it. They said they got it fixed, and it didn't get fixed. In the meantime, I had a whole bad year, last year, where I was in and out of the hospital, broken bones and everything else. We never got to take it back and have them re-do it. We can drive it the way it is. It is nothing that is going to hurt the driving. It just bothers me, if you know what I mean. They charged $800.00 dollars. We bought new tires, they put new tires on, and they said that was a $100.00. So actually for what they did to the car it was $700.00. But, it didn't get fixed and the Hyundai guy that they called in said it was fixed. It just didn't do it; it didn't get it. It was a over a year ago, probably a year and a half ago. If we would have taken it back within the year, they would have checked it and fixed it for nothing. We never got it back there because I was still so sick. So, that is just the way it is. They were very friendly and very nice. They thought they had it fixed. They were very nice. They thought they had it done. I should probably give them A's. I don't even know if it was actually their fault. The Hyundai guy was supposed to come in with a special piece of equipment or something that he was supposed to do that only the Hyundai people can do. We didn't know it at the time. He told them he got it fixed. So they thought it was, so it is really not their fault. I should probably give them A's. I hate to be mean to people. He was very friendly and he did give us a senior discount.
Paul C.
Aug 2017
They used to do great work. However, recently I have had trouble. The problems would persist after I took the car in, and the prices were high. One time they told me it would be a few days, as they did not have the part. I said I NEEDED the car repaired that day, so I said I was going to come pick it up and try another place. When I arrived, the part had been installed and the car was ready. That really made me question them. Also, I tend to have oil leaks after going to them, but not at other auto service places. Many times the car has not been ready when they said it would be. I am trying to find another garage to look at my car.
Cynthia T.
Aug 2017
.
Randy S.
Apr 2017
Work was done promptly. Information provided was clear.
Tammy V.
Jan 2017
They have been great.
Marky D.
Sep 2016
unknown
Gayle M.
Oct 2015
unknown
Susan S.
Feb 2015
I had to replace one part. It's very convenient. They're good, they do a good job and they're not too expensive. And they don't keep you waiting a long time.
Richard W.
Feb 2015
Way below what we thought the estimate would be. I will continue to take my vehicles there.
CAROL D.
Dec 2014
It went well.
David I.
Jun 2014
“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong”.
~ Donald Porter
This adage is especially true if a business confidently claims, as AJ’s
Auto does, that “You get what you pay for.” They say this on another review site as a justification for charging notably higher prices than the competition.
Putting profit and hubris ahead of quality customer service and a quality product you can stand behind is never a good policy.
This is my conclusion after giving AJ’s the benefit of the doubt regarding several issues for the last five years.
Do yourself a favor: Take your car to one of the other well-reviewed
garages in Salem. It will be substantially cheaper, your vehicle will
be just as fixed, and the garage might actually stand behind its work if
the repairs are faulty.
~ Donald Porter
This adage is especially true if a business confidently claims, as AJ’s
Auto does, that “You get what you pay for.” They say this on another review site as a justification for charging notably higher prices than the competition.
Putting profit and hubris ahead of quality customer service and a quality product you can stand behind is never a good policy.
This is my conclusion after giving AJ’s the benefit of the doubt regarding several issues for the last five years.
Do yourself a favor: Take your car to one of the other well-reviewed
garages in Salem. It will be substantially cheaper, your vehicle will
be just as fixed, and the garage might actually stand behind its work if
the repairs are faulty.
Marilyn A.
Jun 2014
unknown
Edward C.
Feb 2014
They saved me money in that a competitor of theirs said I had a burned valve and would cost $1500-1800. AJ's told me it was likely just an adjustment. AJ's was right!
Jeff M.
Dec 2013
.
Susan T.
Sep 2013
We have been using AJs for many years, many cars; they are honest, clear, careful, clever and always solve our concerns.
Ronald P.
Sep 2013
Got the car running quickly and now in good shape.
Sarah S.
Sep 2013
After driving around for a week or so with my check engine light on, I finally got it in to AJ's, where we always take our cars. Bad news: engine seals were blown, the timing belt was bad, and some of the parts were going to have to be sent out to be retooled. It would cost about $2400. That's about what the car is worth, so this took a little thought, but I decided to go ahead with it since it was still much cheaper than buying a new car. They said that it would take about a week to get it all done since they had to send parts out for machining. They finished the job in exactly that time frame and for the price they said they would. We're not happy about spending so much on our car, but we're very happy with AJ's professionalism.
Sarah S.
Sep 2013
The previous week, I took my car in because the check engine light was on. It turned out to need major work on the engine (seals, machining...). They said they'd need to have it for a week, and they did. A few days after I got it back, the check engine light came on again. I figured something had wiggled loose, so I took it back...not so! The catalytic converter had failed. The mechanic said the previous problems (which included a bad timing belt) might have contributed to its failure, and it just happened to go right after the other repair. Frustrating, but not, I believe, their fault. AJ's replaced the catalytic converter the same day, and I was on my way. It was expensive, but I'm hoping now to get another 100k miles out of my car.
John H.
Jul 2013
.The transmission in my 1991 Dodge Stealth turbo, of which I am the original owner, had a small leak. I expected the transmission would need to be removed but they were able to fix it without removing it
Amy W.
Jun 2013
I've been going to AJ's for years. My most recent time was only an oil
change, but the great thing about these guys is that if that's all you
need, that's all they do. They don't try to upsell you or convince you
that your car is going to fall apart half way down the block if you
don't dump $500 into it immediately. If something needs fixing they
will tell you, and if they think you have another 10,000 miles before
you need to worry about it they'll tell you that, too. They are honest,
friendly, funny, and make the inconvenience of car maintenance a really
pleasurable experience.
change, but the great thing about these guys is that if that's all you
need, that's all they do. They don't try to upsell you or convince you
that your car is going to fall apart half way down the block if you
don't dump $500 into it immediately. If something needs fixing they
will tell you, and if they think you have another 10,000 miles before
you need to worry about it they'll tell you that, too. They are honest,
friendly, funny, and make the inconvenience of car maintenance a really
pleasurable experience.
Response from AJ's Auto Repair Inc
"Thank you for your review. Very glad you are satisfied, even with the little things!"
Patrick H.
May 2013
Service check engine light displayed for several days w/o turning off. AJs technician did a computer check and found a part needed replacement. part was ordered and replaced. Repared a squeeky rear window (loose nuts) for free.
Response from AJ's Auto Repair Inc
"Glad to hear everything's good and the windows working good too!"
John R.
Apr 2013
Took car in for transmission knocking. Told I needed a rebuilt transmission installed ($2900; but did find a local transmission shop that would rebuild mine for $1900). They said someone had set the computer to hide computer problems. Fixed leak in rear air shocks, replaced parts on front suspension, new brakes, two new rear tires. Front end alignment. Cost of repair around $2500. Driving car home it drove like a dream but did notice steering wheel not straight. Also noticed an accordion file folder that I kept in trunk of car was missing. (in order to repair rear air shocks pump they needed to empty trunk contents to access pump). As I live out of town and this is my car for my work travels it had been difficult to get back to them. Luckily they do have a one year warranty. After about a month I was able to return. I told them about missing item from trunk. I was taken to shop area where the air shocks might have been worked on (this is a huge facility with several shop buildings). I could not find the items.I do believe this was totally an accidental issue and am only disappointed the missing item was not located. I asked about the steering wheel being straightened out. I was told I needed to make an appointment and leave it for the day. I was disappointed they just could not try to accommodate my living out of town and arrange work it while I wait, so I never went back to have problem fixed. I plan to take it to a local tire shop to fix the steering wheel. They seem to be pretty expensive, I think due to having a lot of and quot;extraand quot; staff; but l do believe you get what you pay for. HOWEVER, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND THIS HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL AND SUPER FRIENDLY SHOP TO ANYONE.The inconvenience of using them due to living out of town is the only reason I would have second thoughts of using them unless I needed extensive repair. Because they are so popular I do understand why they need to have the car for the day; just for me as I need it for my job I can't leave it that long without making a lot of advance arrangements. I do think they are the most honest and best shop around despite some minor inconveniences primarily related to my specific issues. They are really a nice group of people with the best reputation within my 50 mile area.
Massimo B.
Apr 2013
Their pricing was quite good. They gave me good parts.
JOHN E.
Mar 2013
First time I used them [based on local newspaper review] they did well but pretty expensive. Third and 4th times they took FAR too long to complete the work, left hood bolts loose so they fell off the next time I opened the hood. Took Suburban to them three times for electical failures before they figured out what was wrong. Charged $90 to try [finding nothing wrong twice], then on third try they finally after four days screwing around, opened the electrical fuse box finding a huge mice nest destroying the connections in the fuse box. FULL charge and left the air filter housing half open with screws fully loose. They're riding too high on past laurels and starting to overcharge and stopped trying hard.
Response from AJ's Auto Repair Inc
"[member name removed], The review that you posted was brought to my attention and since I have owned AJ’s Auto Repair for some 38 years I am always taking notice when a customer is concerned about a repair. I reviewed your vehicle records and at first was confused because in your review you talk about a Suburban and the repairs in question were made on a Yukon. The first time the Yukon was in was on 11/28/2011 and was in for what was described as a periodic problem with parking lights. The battery was also periodically going dead. One of our master certified electrical technicians computer scanned the some 18 different electrical modules on your vehicle and no electrical failures or faults of any sort were coded in any of those modules. Looking at your invoice I can see that none of the periodic problems occurred while your vehicle was here either. I can also see that the vehicle was picked up on the same day it was dropped off and that you were charged $98.95 for that scan. You were told that there was a Technical Service Bulletin released by the manufacture of your vehicle describing a possible ignition switch issue and on your invoice you were ask to return if the failure happened again. The next and only other time that the vehicle was in our shop was on 12/6/2012 or slightly over one year later. At that time the park light failure was happening all of the time or at least often enough to support the notion that previous factory bulletin describing periodic switch failure should be addressed which we did. That was finished on the same day, which was a Friday but for some reason was not picked up that day. The following Monday when we attempted to start the vehicle the battery failed on us for the very first time. In checking for that failure we found that electrical wiring in the under hood junction box had been damaged by mice causing the electrical drain and subsequent dead battery. The closest junction box was in Reno Nevada so unfortunately it did take 3 or 4 days to get it to a distribution center in Portland. Over 90 percent of the cars scheduled into our shop are completed and returned to our customers the same day, however, in some cases we have no control over the parts that might be necessary. If you really think it was unfair of us to charge you to re-scan your vehicle over a year after the initial scan I will refund that amount to you because even if you never come back we still don’t want you to be unhappy with our service. I would only ask that you re-post this review so that readers can see that every one of our customers really do matter to us and that fairness is one of the many guiding principles that AJ’S Auto Repair is built on."
Marilynn L.
Mar 2013
In the past, AJ's Auto Repair Inc. had received awards for customer service. They do a good job, my sister thinks they are quiet expensive but I don't, I have gone to cheaper mechanics in the past and they have not been good. They have been around for a while and they always seem to have cars to work on. They have done good work for and I trust them and I don't mind paying for them to do good work.
Licensing
State Contractor License Requirements
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FAQ
AJ's Auto Repair Inc is currently rated 4.7 overall out of 5.
AJ's Auto Repair Inc accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard
No, AJ's Auto Repair Inc does not offer free project estimates.
No, AJ's Auto Repair Inc does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, AJ's Auto Repair Inc does not offer a senior discount.
No, AJ's Auto Repair Inc does not offer emergency services.
No, AJ's Auto Repair Inc does not offer warranties.