Auto Craftsmen

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It?s very rare to find a mechanic who really has the best interest at heart.  There is a lot of maintenance work with my civic and my car has a 6000 miles on it and it runs like a watch.  It was really good.  I have a discount membership because I use them all the time.  There?s a certain percentage of the bill which they don?t charge me.  It?s a membership thing and I think you pay $80 a year then you get a discount for all your works that year.  

However they are pricey but it?s worth it.  If you really want not to have anxieties about your car, then that?s the place you have to go.  I?m willing to pay extra for that.   

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determined the problem and made the repair.

My last contact with them was also good - I called to get information on their used car sales/guarantee programs, and they gave me a lot of useful information for making a buying decision, free of charge.

It didn't, as they won't fix older cars.

When we moved to Vermont, quite possibly one of the toughest things to leave behind other than family and friends was our mechanic. He was a long-time friend of the family, and someone that we could always trust to treat us fairly. After trying another place in Waterbury for a while that was OK, but a bit expensive and mainly just convenient for me to get to when at work, I decided to go with Auto Craftsmen after reading so many great reviews.
This review isn't just for this service, but for the entire experience of going there for car maintenance. First of all, the aforementioned and quot;Car Care Club Cardand quot; is a great buy. For $119, you get five oil changes, a state inspection and a slew of other discounts. It is money well spent.
Secondly, their service is appropriate to the level of car. We mainly take my wife's 2004 Honda Civic with 200,000+ miles on it to them. They know that we aren't going to have this car for another 10 years, so unless it is a major safety issue, they are willing to do a and quot;good enoughand quot; fix at a fair price to keep us going. Obviously if it is a real issue, they will fully fix it, but there have been two times when they could have gouged us with a much bigger repair, but didn't. One time I had even approved an estimate that was in the range of $600 and when they found a faster way of doing the repair, rather than keep to the estimate, they passed along the labor savings and the cost came in at around $450.
They are as honest, reputable as you can get, and they do great work that has never given us an issue.

Awesome-cost 1/4 of what I expected

They made recommendations but let me make the final decision on the work to be completed. They called after diagnosis and before doing any work rather than just doing a whole bunch and me being stuck with a huge and unexpected bill. They told me what ought to be taken care of right away (safety-related) and what could be pushed off to a later date. I appreciated that.

Smoothly, easily--Auto Craftmen have been servicing all our family cars for about 10 years. The work is of exceptional quality, and also more expensive--you get what you pay for. They stand behind everything they do, and they will also custom-purchase a used car or truck through the auctions, recondition and repair, and sell with a warranty.

They are the best auto place I have been to! They donate 10% of their profits to charity. Everyone there is so personable and helpful. The fees are really reasonable and they explain everything to you.

Very professional and friendly, as well as honest. The services they did on my car cost less than their estimate. They also let me use a loaner car for a day, which was a piece of crap but it did get me from point A to point B! Thankfully the work they did on my car was top notch!

The recent repair work was done competently. We were given a loaner car and picked the car up at the time promised. Eight years ago I purchased a used Mazda 626 from Auto Craftsmen and there was an issue with the check engine light coming on all the time. They replaced the O2 sensor, which appeared to be the problem according to the codes, but every now and then it continued to come on. They serviced the car at no charge well beyond the warranty, and after about a year we agreed that the light was not indicating a problem since the car was reliable and always ran well. When I brought it in for routine maintenance, they'd turn the light off, but as soon as the engine warmed up it came on again. I never felt any worry because I knew they had checked the car thoroughly and I never had any problems with this car. My ex bought my son a used Nissan Maxima, and I took it to Auto Craftsmen because it was not inspected by a mechanic before it was purchased. They helped me prioritize the work the car needed--safety first--and I was able to spread out the cost of making the car useful and reliable over several months. They provide in-town shuttle service for people who work in downtown Montpelier in the morning and again at the end of the day. There will provide a loaner on a first-come first-serve basis. This is an excellent repair and maintenance business. I prefer to pay more to them because they stand behind their work and want to prevent problems.

They are the best company in Vermont. I walked out to my car and I noticed the head of a large nail stuck in my tire. It was a relatively new tire and I knew that if I pulled it out it would start leaking. I drove it directly to their place and they put it in the lift and 5 minutes later they pulled it down and told me no charge. They had done all the work and did not charge me because the nail head did not go completely in the tire. I have gone to other places that would have charged me for this. The lady who owns this is actively involved with charity all of the time. She will give us big discounts if we bring in cans of food for the homeless. I would not go anywhere else.

In every effort they have done, I have always felt that I was treated honestly and fairly. Even when I did not know what was wrong and they could have charged much more, they were honest and charged only the actual cost of the repair. I had a flashing warning light on my 2006 Highlander Hybrid - an expensive car to work on and repair. The light could have meant anything. They traced it to a loose wire on a sensor and charged me nothing at all. Another time, I took a car in for a trip inspection and they discovered that I had a wheel bearing about to go out. If it had failed on the trip, it could have caused a major accident. I asked for a wash and wax and interior vac. during one visit. The price of $50 was very competitive but what I got was a cleaning and detailing job that would cost $250 or more at any other shop. They stripped the interior down to the metal and deep cleaned EVERY nook and cranny in and under the car, cleaned the carpets (steam cleaned?) and put it all back so it looked and smelled like a new car. When I asked them for work on the Hybrid system, they referred me to the local dealer - admitting that they were not qualified or trained to do the work. They have since sent one of their mechanics to a special school to get certified in hybrid vehicles. They offer coupons and discounts all the time that have saved me lots of money and put their prices in the very competitive range for being such high quality. The owner is very involved in local charities and contributes a lot of time and money to them. They will sell cars for their customers but only if they have maintained them so that they can honestly vouch for the quality and condition of the car. It is rare to find a car dealer and repair service that you can really and honestly trust to deal with you in a fair and forthright manner. I have owned more than 50 cars in my life in all parts of the country and have used car repair and service businesses hundreds of times. I can count the times I have felt like I was dealing with an honest auto repair business on one hand - the rest left me thinking that they were exclusively out to make a profit at my expense. If you live in Vermont or are traveling up here and need car repairs or maintenance, I would recommend a call or visit to Auto Craftsmen in Montpelier. If they can help you, they will and if not, they will refer you to someone that you can trust.