Portland Automotive — Local services in Portland

It's only eh, okay now. They now have tons of business so it seems speed is more important than quality repairs. I guess if you have a car they like or you can afford to go to the repair shop on a regular basis they have MUCH more appreciation for you, but I'm poor and my car is old with no value so only go when there's no choice. My last two repairs were super expensive (book rates) without that decent QUALITY repair that made me feel satisfied or confident that the job had been done well and deserved to fetch a first-quality price. The first lousy repair happened as a result of a reasonable repair.... I needed replacement of my heater core (labor intensive, so a fairly costly repair).They had to remove the glove box to replace the heater core and despite laying down a courtesy paper mat on the driver's side (which was unnecessary fluff), when the repair was finished they never bothered to reattach the cable/clip on the side of the glove box. I discovered this when I opened the glove box and the contents spilled out onto the passenger floor. Menial and stupid? Yeah. But I couldn't get that stupid clip to reattach so I wound up having to request that to be fixed when I brought it back for my last repair. My last repair cost as much as my month's rent for replacing one small section of straight, unbent exhaust pipe and muffler; the car has had exhaust fumes in the cabin ever since. For that expensive a repair I should never have had to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning but I'll continue to crack open the windows until the car dies before I go back there again. And it's getting loud again. Definitely not a tight fit there. So to all of you gents there at Portland Automotive: you go on soaking those with no experience or knowledge of what needs to be done to actually do a repair (i.e. NOT a grease monkey); keep fleecing the WOMEN who THINK they can trust you. You won't get one more penny of my hard-earned money. I struggle but am more than willing to pay a PROFESSIONAL for QUALITY work. I definitely don't appreciate a half- hearted repair at the full good-quality repair price. I'm female but NOT STUPID; thank you. Soooooo.... These days I would only refer people there that I don't like who can afford to pay top dollar for mediocre...

Very passionate and good equipment for diagnosing issues. However they seem a bit too comfortable just dropping $3k repair suggestions. Mine was a supposed suspension issue, which if they checked the alignment and ruled that out as well, i would've felt more comfortable with the suggestion. They said it'd be extra and not part of the diagnosis. I worked in at toyota as a service advisor for 4 years. It takes less than 5 minutes to check the alignment. To me they should have ruled out an alignment issue before suggesting rear suspension work, regardless of what was heard on the chassis ears. This made the diag feel a bit vague and almost pointless. Hopefully their wheel bearing diag was correct. The write up also contained phrases like "I think" and "I wasnt sure". Having a write up like this while suggestion over $3k in repairs isn't comforting. Shop Rate was a bit higher than I expected for a non dealer as well. $160 after taxes for the diag. Just moved to the area and this place was almosy twice what I paid at the local shop where I lived previously, and this was just a year ago, not pre-covid pricing. My feeling is, if you have the money for this place, then sure go ahead, but at that rate check the labor rate of your local dealer. If it's the same or close I'd just get the work done at the dealer. Also be cautious if they just call and suggest a list of high price repairs. To me it was a bit too casual, like they were eager for the big sale. Just really rubbed me the wrong way. I liked these when I was advising also because commission, but I always took my customers wallets in consideration also. A lot of people don't just have $3k lying around, especially in this state of the economy. Not that I'd be giving things away for free, but it would be a serious discussion.

Update after second opinion: I'm reducing down to one star because of how wildly off their diagnosis was. The wheel with the odd wear just had an alignment issue. Had I just authorized the repair I would have had over $3k in unnecessary work done. If mechanic leans weren't a thing I'd just deny the charge on my card because really $160 for a wrong diagnosis is absurd. If they suggest a big repair like this DO...

Called to get a labor-only quote to replace a water pump on my GMC Savana. I already had the OEM pump from the dealer — just needed someone with the tools to break the fan clutch nut loose and do the job. I even told them GMC quoted me 3 hours of labor at 189.99/h.

Dude on the phone says $750 for labor only — no coolant, no extras. I let him know that’s more than the dealership and asked if there was any room to work with me. That’s when he says this: “We charge $250/hr if the customer brings parts.” I was respectful and said no problem, “I’ll just return my part back to GMC and buy yours” — thinking it’d help. Dead silence. I asked again if he could budge on the hourly. “Nope.” Just attitude like I was wasting his time.

I get it’s Friday and maybe you were itching to crack a cold one, but damn — act like you actually want business. Smaller shops are supposed to beat dealer pricing, not charge more and give you a hard time for asking.

And since I’m being honest — who the hell picked the building colors? It looks like an inverted NAPA store. Bright, clashing colors slapped on like they lost a bet with Sherwin-Williams. I’ve seen gas stations with more taste. If you’re gonna charge $250 an hour, at least make your shop look like it wasn’t designed by a six-year-old.

I was able to speak to Belltown Motors. They gave me a better price and are willing to use my supplied part. I’ll definitely be bringing my company and personal vehicles there.

If you like being overcharged and talked down to, this might be your spot. As for me, i’ll take my vehicle and my money somewhere that actually...