Art of Maintenance

They are thorough and provide excellent customer service. They are also repairing mistakes made by previous mechanics. Pros: excellent customer service more

Trustworthy, efficient and good quality work. Pros: Trustworthy, efficient... more

So far, just routine maintenance. Also a list of 'to do' projects with a helpful priority timeline and cost estimate. Friendly, professional service. Pros: Friendly, professional service more

My experience was good. The staff was honest and friendly and the repairs were done in a timely fashion Pros: Honest and friendly more

They are endorsed by the Automobile Association, they guarantee their work for 36,000 miles, they have up to date equipment and technicians, and, they are close to home. Pros: they guarantee their work more

Definitely GO!...... Pros: Definitely GO! more

The staff is courteous, informative, and, while I can't judge detailed quality of work, I know my Chrysler's problems are solved in a timely way. It is a busy shop so they must have repeat customers and I also see commercial vehicles there. Pros: problems are solved in a timely way more

My car has a tricky electrical problem that happens infrequently. While they couldn't pinpoint the problem with certainty they made sure that everything was working properly (i.e. no problems with the alternator, battery, etc.) They did suggest a potential source of the problem (related to the door locks) to which they suggested a potential solution (when locking the door make sure the key is in the vertical position). So far this seems to be working. \r \r Anyway, get this, because they couldn't say that they definitively fixed my problem they charged me NOTHING. \r \r Given their excellent level of service when I paid nothing, I'm excited to go back to them and see what happens when I pay for a service. Pros: Fair, attentive, fast. more

THIS IN RESPONSE TO THE REVIEW BY ""Riedman"". \r \r Fortunately, Shane Riedman had the integrity to use his real name. I appreciate this, as it allowed me the opportunity to contact him to discuss the issue. Other negative reviewers have made false claims and hidden behind false names, so I have no way to research their claims or respond to them.\r \r I discussed the issue with him and with my Service Manager, Stan. As best I can determine, Stan informed Mr. Riedman up front that there would be a diagnostic charge to find out why his van failed DEQ. After the diagnosis, Mr. Riedman was told that the repair portion of the bill would be approximately $255.00, but was not reminded of the diagnosis charge. There was nothing added on after-the-fact; it was simply poor communication.\r \r Mr. Riedman returned to Art of Maintenance the next day, and I refunded the $94.93 diagnosis fee. We also discussed his noisy fan belts and I had a technician adjust them at no charge (Mr. Riedman did offer to pay for that, but I declined). Mr. Riedman told me on the phone and face-to-face that he had changed his mind about our shop and would amend his review. (I guess the check is still in the mail on that one.)\r \r Now, to correct 3 fallacies:\r \r 1. You can get cheap quality converters for some vehicles for $75.00, but the one for his van is a high capacity converter, for which we charged $153.30. The price was clearly printed on his invoice.\r \r 2. DEQ will ""test"" your vehicle to determine whether or not it will pass. DEQ does not perform any kind of ""diagnosis"" to determine what has failed or the underlying cause for that failure. This must be done at a DEQ certified repair facility.\r \r 3. For anyone to believe that DEQ does anything for ""free"" is profoundly naive. Unless the building and equipment miraculously appeared, the employees are all volunteering their time, and the tooth fairy is taking care of all the ongoing upkeep, it is not free! You and I (and everyone else that sets foot in the state) are already paying for it. To be shocked that we would charge a diagnosis fee to have one of my employees spend an hour diagnosing someone's vehicle is beyond absurd. Everyone deserves to be paid for the work they do. Then again, if I had unlimited power to legally confiscate your money, and had employees who carried guns to make sure that I got the money, I would probably do it for ""free"" too.\r \r Bill Davis\r President\r Art of Maintenance\r \r P.S. For an unbiased review of our shop, check with AAA. We are a AAA Approved Auto Repair facility with 97.5% approval rating. more

(continued from below) As for the testing fee, his facts are incorrect again. DEQ DOES NOT TEST TO FIND OUT WHAT THE PROBLEM IS THAT IS CAUSING A VEHICLE TO FAIL AN EXHAUST GAS TEST. They merely don’t charge if a vehicle fails. They stick a probe in the tail pipe of pre ’96 vehicles to test for excessive gasses. They have no idea why a particular vehicle does not pass an exhaust gas test. All they know is that it didn’t pass. That is where the repair shop comes into play by inspecting & testing all emission related systems to come up with a diagnoses of a needed repair/repairs. Time is money & all shops charge a fee for their time spent on diagnostics. It sounds by the amount indicated that probably a little over an hour was spent diagnosing the problem with the van, which again is not out of line. Maybe they spent more time than that, but only charged him for what they felt was fair. This happens all the time. As for this Stan guy & any misunderstanding about the price, he is probably juggling 15-30 cars a day while trying to remember which car belongs to who & which one needs what & trying to please each customer along the way. Being a service manager is a very stressful & time consuming job to do. I know because I have been in those shoes. This customer should be thankful that the shop took the time to inspect his entire vehicle to find any potential issues & to make him aware of those issues to keep it safe & reliable for him, even if he doesn’t want to repair any of those issues. All good repair shops do these type of inspections at no charge to the customer. And finally, to the folks over there at Art of Maintenance, my hat is off to you guys for putting up with a crybaby like that. Don’t let it get you down. ALL repair shops get customers with this mentality & it is just something that we all have to deal with. Some are keepers & many others are not. Sounds like that one isn’t. We all learn from experiences like that. This guy is most likely a failure in his life & tries to find imperfections in others to take the spotlight off of his own insecurities & failures. He is also most likely the type that thinks everyone in this world owes him something. I gave these guys a five star rating because I have been in this business for all of my adult life & from the sounds of things, they were right on track the whole time. Keep up the good work guys & hold your heads high! more

\r I am a 25 year ASE Certified professional auto repair technician who works for a prominent repair shop in SE. I have made auto repair my life & career. I was surfing around looking at reviews of my fellow repair shops when I found this review from a previous customer of & concerning the Art of Maintenance, & his feeble attempt to discredit them publicly. All I could do is laugh at his lack of knowledge & steady ignorance! It is obvious to me that this guy is nothing more than a mere know it all & has no clue what is involved in any aspect of auto repair.\r \r First of all, not all catalytic converters are manufactured the same due to epa requirements for a particular vehicle, & exhaust system design. They can range in price anywhere from $175.00 to as much as $1200.00 or more installed depending on the vehicle. The substrate material inside catalytic converters is treated with a precious metal coating that when exposed to exhaust heat goes through a catalyst effect that super heats the unit allowing it to burn off unwanted levels of CO, NOX, & HC, which are byproducts found in the exhaust gasses of all internal combustion engines including both gasoline & diesel. Catalytic converters are cataloged according to a vehicle’s engine size as well as curb weight. In laymans terms, a converter for a 4 cylinder Honda Civic is not the same as for an 8 cylinder Ford F250. A heavier weight larger engine vehicle will require a catalytic converter that is loaded heavier with the quantity of these precious metals therefore making it more expensive. Many factors influence a catalytic converter’s efficiency & longevity. Some of those factors include but are not limited to the condition of tune up components, base engine condition & wear, engine oil usage, condition of engine oil, engine coolant usage, function of the egr system, function of the a.i.r system, function of the carburetor or fuel injection system, weather the engine has any vacuum leaks, etc. These plus other issues can affect a vehicles performance at an exhaust emission test allowing it to pass or not, especially on an ’82 pos van. It is not impossible that this ‘82 van may need a converter that is loaded heavier with precious metals than what it is cataloged for just to keep these unwanted gasses in check, indicating that this cheap $75.00 converter he mentioned would not do the job. Would he rather a cheap converter be installed on his van just to find out at the DEQ testing station that his van still doesn’t pass? That would just make him whine even louder! It is obvious this guy has never had a converter replaced at Midas, Meineke, or any other specialty shop or independent shop, or else he would know that the price was fair & on track. Maybe he should go spend $5,000.00 on a gas analyzer, $700.00 for a quality welder & supplies, go to school to learn all of the knowledge needed, spend years perfecting all he has learned, then practice with all of the equipment for as long as it takes to perfect all of the techniques involved? Or maybe he should trade his old ’82 van in on a new vehicle that has a warranty just to find out from the dealership that his needed engine repair is not warrantable due to him not changing the engine oil on schedule & having proper documentation? Or maybe he should give up gasoline powered vehicles all together & just go with a bicycle? (more to come on this) \r more

I dealt with these folks A LOT! I inherited my grandpa's 89 Caddy from Minnesota. Unfortunately, there was a lot wrong with it. The folks at Art of Maintence are so great! There were even a couple of times that they waved labor fees. Maybe this was because I was a regular. Either way, they are very trust worthy. As a woman I really appreciated they staff who were never condescending or patronizing in any way. Pros: Just about everything Cons: can't think of any more