University Auto Center — Local services in Ellensburg

This is regarding the service and mechanic shop only. Buying rigs here is easy and have had good experiences a total of 3 rigs purchased. BUT this last experience with the service shop was a true NIGHTMARE!! Our truck (which we bought brand new from them) so they are the only place to do any and all services and regular maintenance. They had our truck over 8 weeks in total!! Which I depend on my truck for daily/weekly use. We brought our truck in for an oil change, which they informed us our rig needed new glow plugs. No worries, going into winter let’s do it. They quoted us $400 for the parts and labor… brought it back Monday for the job to be done… didn’t call us till Wednesday to inform us that THEY BROKE our glow plug off in our head of the truck. And that it was now going to cost US $10,000 dollars to fix. Fix something that THEY broke. needless to say after a bunch of back and forth with them, they kindly got the cost down to $5500 for US to fix their mistake. We’ve been very loyal to UAC. Purchased many rigs and have a relationship with some of the owners and their families. I felt this very personally. They quoted us 45 hours to fix it, the truck was in there over 6 weeks before they told us it was ready for pick up. Meanwhile never offering a replacement rig of any sorts. I was borrowing trucks to transport my horses and family. My husband picked up the truck and broke down on the way home. They had to tow it back and fix something with the fuel lines. Took 4 more days. Than informed us it was ready, I went to pick up the truck before picking my kids up afterschool and heading to Yakima for my sons first basketball game. I went to push start it, it wouldn’t start, only to show the check engine light was on. I drove it over to the maintenance shop, informed them of this. They told me the mechanic wouldn’t be in till Monday. To bring it back Monday. This was a Thursday. I asked if it would break down on me, my husband was out of town, and I needed to get kids and go to Yakima. He informed me he didn’t know. Asked if I had time to hook it up to diagnostics. I didn’t really, but needed to know if I’d be broken down on the side of the freeway with my kids. So he hooked it up, read me off some code it read. I asked if he knew what that meant. Told me he wasn’t sure but that I should be fine and to bring back Monday. So of course I jumped in my truck, in a hurry to pick kids up, called our buddy who is a professional mechanic for Papé, told him the code it read, he relayed it was my DEF system. So make them give me a loner rig. Meanwhile UAC was calling on the other line. They offered me a lover rig, thank goodness. Called me the next morning, truck was ready for pick up. I went to pick it up, later that evening, while idling, I noticed a ticking noise.. recorded the noise, sent it to our mechanic friend, asked me to bring the truck over so he could look at it for me, (husband still gone hunting) brought it over, he climbed under and informed me that it was an exhaust leak and they didn’t even bolt the motor mounts and that one bolt they had stripped was welded on. I asked that he took pictures. So of course this was a Saturday the next day which the service dept was closed, but I called and left a message that they needed to fix the truck again. They informed me they are confused with what I was hearing, and that nothing seemed wrong. We than sent the video and photos. took another 4-5 more days to fix. got our truck back again, my husband found that the wiring harness has been broken. Waiting on that to get fixed. Needless to say I am SO disappointed in UAC. After buying many rigs, being very loyal, we have been so mistreated. And I feel like as a women, if I wasn’t somewhat mechanically inclined, it would have been broken down on the side of the rode with my children or horses and trailer. So we paid $5500 for something they broke to experience nothing but problems over and over again when we bought this truck brand new from them a few years ago. Very...

My wife and I went through our first car-buying process here and were very (positively) surprised! Matt Lueder reached out to me via email after my online inquiry into a 2014 Honda CR-V, and we setup a time to meet after I got off work. We got there around 5:50 (didn't realize they closed at 6pm) but neither Matt nor Holly, their Finance Manager, mentioned anything about having to stay late for us, but did everything to serve us well.

When we got there, Matt greeted us at the door and took us to check out the car, which he had already washed and parked inside their garage showroom so that we could see it under the light and in warm conditions, rather than a dark, 20-degree parking lot. We noticed a long crack in the windshield, but Matt went to talk with his boss and they agreed to take care of that for us - we're now scheduled for a replacement appointment next week that they already arranged and paid for!

While taking it out for a test drive, Matt was very personable and far from "salesy." In fact, I had told my wife beforehand "even if you like it, just pretend to be very disinterested and not impressed" but when Matt when inside to grab the keys she said "this is hard - he's just so nice, I don't want to be mean to him!"

After we got back, we went straight back to Holly to talk through financing and payment. I did not like how she presented the information - rather than laying it all out and saying "here's the cost, this is the Credit Union we got you approved for, and this is the APR" it was presented to us piece by piece as we signed, which didn't give us really any chance to negotiate on price. However...every time we got information it was actually better than I expected! She got us a great credit union at a great rate, the car was what I believe to be very reasonably priced, and I couldn't be more pleased with it!

After closing the deal, Matt walked us out to the car, congratulated us, and said "I typically like to fill up my customer's gas tank before they drive off, but since I didn't have time to do that tonight, there is $40 cash in the center console for you guys." What a great piece of customer service!

Anyway, this turned out to be a much longer review than I planned, but I was a very very big fan of our experience, and hope that others check this place out before deciding on any other lots.

Thanks...

Update : I have been contacted by the service manager and he is taking care of this situation. Looking forward to working with them in the future. Extremely Disappointed – Not the Experience I Expected After Spending $70K+ I bought a brand-new 2025 Dodge Ram Rebel from University Auto Center (UAC), largely because of the incredible service and follow-through from a salesperson named Connor. He was honest about the pros and cons of the vehicle, followed up after the sale, and delivered top-tier customer service. Unfortunately, Connor is no longer with the dealership—and apparently, he took all the decent customer service with him. I recently brought my truck in for its first oil change (which, by the way, many dealerships include for free when you buy a new vehicle—UAC does not). During the visit, they told me the tires needed to be rotated due to uneven wear. When I asked how that was possible after only 2,600 miles and zero towing, they suggested maybe I caused it, then charged me $25 for a tire rotation on a truck I bought brand new from them just 6 months ago. A $70,000+ truck. A short distance later the tire warning lights came on telling me the tire pressure on the fronts were way under inflated. Yes I took a picture for proof. When I expressed surprise that tie rotation wasn’t included, the service rep’s only response was, “I don’t set the prices.” There was zero effort to make things right or show any level of care or appreciation for my business. Tire shops rotate tires for free all the time—and yet this dealership nickel-and-dimes a loyal customer who spent $70K+ and hasn’t even hit their first year of ownership? Disgraceful. Bottom line: If you’re expecting premium service to match a premium purchase, don’t go to UAC. Once the sale is done, so is their interest in treating you with any sort of respect or care. I...