Certified Auto Repair of Atlanta

An oasis of honesty in a desert of dubiousness, and I just love these guys. For 10 years I've relied on them--and why not? They helped me get through some of the hardest times in my life, when all I had to survive with was a car on its last legs.

Well, those last legs lasted. And it was all because of Victor and Crew doing things for me, and mine, so above and beyond the sturdy excellence they already bring to the game that I got to survive, then thrive.

And let's not underspeak the Honesty factor. When I first brought my car to them--and I've never told them this--a mechanic friend set my car up to mimic a problem that could either have been A) a costly, big-time famajama with the thingy in the double-doohicky...or B) a totally inexpensive, sub-10 dollar flick of the loose whatchamacallit.

"Oh here," they said. "It was just this."

"Really? Whew, thanks. How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Just remember us when you REALLY need something."

Sold, I tell you.

And you should be too.

Certified Auto Repair has saved my bacon more than once. But this most recent time was outstanding - just above and beyond the call.

My dad recommended Certified to me after hearing the Car Talk Guys on NPR give their seal of approval, and it also doesn't hurt that the place is literally a walk from where my current apartment is either.

So on Sunday, on my way to the grocery store, I left the apartment turned onto Clairmont Rd and my power steering gave out along with the battery light coming on. Not good, not good at all. Especially on a Sunday.

So after calling AAA Towing and assessing with the help of my dad that the drive belt had slipped off and torn, I was towed up to Certified. Now, Certified doesn't work on the weekends (they're just a little garage), but someone up above was looking out for me because lo and behold, one of the mechanics, Chris was there working on a boat. Alleluia!

I explained to him what I thought the problem was and he came out to give the engine a once over and make sure that's all that was wrong. It wasn't. Another wrinkle was that one of the drive belt's tensioners (no, I didn't make that up - I'm not imaginative enough) was misaligned (aka: broken). Nuts. The bright spot was that Autozone had both a drive belt and tensioner in stock.

Chris said he was getting ready to leave but if I could get the parts and then drop the key they could get to it first thing the next morning (8:00 AM) - my distress at not having a way to get to work short of renting a car pulled at his heart strings, I guess.

So I got the parts due to my friend - my "knight in a shining Acura," left them and the keys at Certified and hoped I'd done all I could. This morning I called to make sure they were aware of the situation as soon as they opened and at about 8:45 I received a call from Chris saying he was done.

He drove down in my car, picked me up, took me back to Certified and explained that everything had gone smoothly, took one last look under the hood while I paid (a very reasonable sum, I might add) and sent me on my way with a wave.

These guys are fantastic. Not only was it a stroke of good fortune that he happened to be there on Sunday to tell me I also needed a new tensioner (never would have known that otherwise), but he was true to his word and got me mobile again in less than an hour.

I made it to work only an hour and half late. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic! I will always give them my business.

I had a battery replaced here last year, and thought they were pretty good guys. However, my battery died 4 times--for no reason--since then. When I had to get it replaced this week, the technician told me I had the wrong battery in my car. The certified auto people put the wrong kind and size of battery in my car, and never let me know.
Beware.

I have been going to Certified Automotive for years. Victor & his crew do great work at a fair price. They are also very honest about what you do & don't need. You don't often find that these days
From oil changes to major repairs they can handle it all.

Take your car there with the utmost confidence.

Great results with oil change and tune up. The Crown Vic is ready to go. I enjoy having a great resource right here in the neighborhood. I don't miss the dealership at all. Normally I set an appointment with Vic and drop the car of while I go to work. Then after work, all settled and done. Works perfectly for me.

Took my car in for an oil change, which their website advertises with a free brake & safety inspection for $26.99. But when I picked my car up, they charged me $27 for labor and $26.50 for parts. When I asked about the price on the website, he says 'We haven't updated that in a while. The price of oil's gone up.' If they don't have enough integrity to stand by their advertised price for something as simple as an oil change, I definitely won't trust them for anything more serious in the future.

These guys are wonderful. Today was one of those odd things where the car would mysteriously not turn over. IT was not the battery. We had it towed . They checked it all out and it started right up for them . They looked at everything and ran a diagnostic on it . Still nothing. IT sometimes is a wee valve that will get stuck. They showed me a trick. Now get this everyone....NO Charge.

Received great service at a great price! Vic and his crew worked on the car for several days, gave me a ride back to my house when my car was being repaired, and charged a very reasonable price for the entire service. I would definitely go back to them again and recommend them without any hesitancy.

I had a litany of general maintenance work done on a 2006 Sienna including "a brake job" before a road trip. 2 months or so after the service, I started having the tell tale shuddering in the front end associated with warped rotors. I returned to the shop and asked the owner if it was unusual to have a customer return for a brake job so quickly, and described the issue. He looked at the brakes (well, with a flashlight as it was parked) and said that they hadn't touched the rotors. Huh? I questioned that omission and his response was that they weren't In the habit of selling unnecessary parts and labor. I have never heard of a brake job that didn't include either machining or replacing the rotors, so my next question was how much he'd charge to put on rotors that I've already purchased. $100 for a 15 minute job that should have been done right the fist time. Not going back.