Aspen Total Automotive — Local services in Four Corners States

I made it back to North Carolina....

I was in desperate need of help when the head gasket decided to go in my Mazda 626. My girlfriend and I were on a cross country road trip. We were headed up to Leadville to camp for the last stop of our trip. Long story short, I made it home.

I wouldn't of been able to make it home if it wasn't for the amazing help from James. He diagnosed my problem did everything he could to try and fix my car up. He was so kind to stay after closing hours on his own time and help me, a stranger, someone he's never seen before get back on the road and home to Andrews, NC. With people like James working at Aspen Total Automotive, you know you can trust them with your car. You can trust they'll fix what's wrong without selling you things you don't need.

James, if you're reading this, here's how my trip home went. We made it back to down to Glenwood Springs just fine after leaving the shop that night. The car started running just a bit hot when we got to a hotel there. The next morning I added almost a gallon of water and then we headed eastbound 70 to try and begin our journey home. I didn't push my car hard at all going home. I just needed to make it home. We climbed slowly up the mountain with all the truckers. About the top of Vail summit, the car started running a bit hot again and I added about a half a gallon of water. We climbed up over the tunnel and down into Denver, on the other side of Denver the car started to run a bit hot again, but this time it took even less water. Slowly but surely the aluminum and copper worked it's way through the system and slowly repaired the gasket enough to make it home. We never really went over 65 the whole time. We had to run with the heat on going over the mountains and for the first bit of the trip, Denver and Kansas were miserable as you can imagine... Toward the end of the trip we actually ran the AC and it did fine. I'm so glad I made it back man, the whole drive back was like playing Russian roulette with my engine. It's sweet I made it. Now, time for an engine rebuild. Peace James and to everyone at Aspen Total Automotive. Y'all...

If you are in or near Aspen, and your car needs some help, take it to John at Aspen Total Automotive. There are many, many shops that can fix your car. Some cost more than others, and some do better work than others. As far as cost and quality, Aspen Total Automotive does fine work.

However, John (the owner) provided something I have never gotten from another small business. He provided a piece of himself to help my family, and saw to it that we were taken care of, at no small cost to himself in terms of time and money. I won't go into the details of what we experienced, but my wife and daughter experienced some strange car issues on a road trip, and I was in another city. John personally took care of them, made sure they were safe, and essentially acted like they were his own. He went so far beyond what would be reasonably expected of even a close friend, that I will never be able to repay my debt of gratitude.

All I can say is that John is a truly enlightened person that happens to run an auto repair shop. Go there for help without...

I have been living out of my car traveling this summer, and I took my car in to Aspen Total Automotive for an oil change because I couldn't find anywhere else between Buena Vista and Aspen that would service it in the next two weeks. John and his staff took care of it right away and told me I needed to replace my alternator, power steering, and a/c belts, and he said they could do it that afternoon. Since I'm female, I'm very accustomed to mechanics making assumptions about my lack of mechanical knowledge. I asked him to show me the belts which looked cracked and old. I did some homework, and to my surprise, he was being honest and not exploitive! That's incredibly rare for mechanics in this situation. Despite the apparent constant chaotic state of the shop, John and his staff busted their butts to get my car done by the end of the day. I highly recommend this crew, and I will absolutely be back the next time I'm in the area and in need of...