Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care

My check engine light came on while I was in the area with my young son today. Being a female, I was concerned about stopping at a shop I did not know, but it was hot and I didn’t want to risk a breakdown. I walked in, but the man at the desk seemed like he had had a long day already. He half heartedly greeted us and I told him what the problem was. He simply said «ok» and made a call. While he was on the phone, a coworker stuck his head around the corner and told him to give him five minutes. I only heard this by accident. Without a word to me, the front desk person resumed doing something on the computer. Although there was waiting area seating, he left me standing there with no idea how long it would be or what was going on. Needless to say, after 5 minutes of this I left, which he barely acknowledged with a bored «Have a good day». We felt so unwelcome.

We’ve taken a couple of cars to Cottman over the years. On a recent trip through the Gorge, we started having issues with the transmission on our 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. We got it into Cottman the next day, and they had us up and running again by the following day. We have always gotten 5-​star service and treatment from them, and though we don’t live terribly close anymore (about a 45 minute drive), we are willing to make the drive when it comes to transmission problems.

OUTSTANDING.
I had the dreaded check engine light on Sunday evening just following my suspicions my vehicle was misfiring or worse.
They were able to accept me on immediate notice Monday morning with an accommodating complement of staff. After check-​in with the overly-​pleasant and knowledgeable Becca at the desk, a mechanic was test driving my vehicle within five minutes. Full diagnostics were competed free-​of-​charge and a credible and honest well-​explained estimate provided by Kevin (I’m no dummy to autos) who was clearly disinterested in overcharging in any way assigned the exact work necessary (in fact found a discount).
Repair was quick with necessary parts delivered within ten minutes.
I was back on the street running brand new before I could get through all my email.
This business is very professional, honest, and efficient. I spent about 50% of a dealers quote, spent about 25% of the time, and had none of the stress. In fact, virtually the same work on a different but similar vehicle at a dealership proved it.
Highly recommended — and thanks to Kevin and Becca (and many behind the scenes) for providing a stress-​free morning.

I had a TERRIBLE experience at this place!
Cottman’s was the closest place to my house to repair my car… Having never been to Cottman’s before I was nervous, as I usually am with new auto mechanics, but I told them what my car was doing and the position I was in budget-​wise (waiting on my licensing in order to be able to work) and that I needed just a quick fix to get me on the road until I was able to get a job. They had my car for four days… FOUR DAYS… and by the end of those four days they came back to me with a $ 700 cost just to get it back on the road. Now, they had told me that the $ 150 dollars I paid to get my car checked out, would come off of the told repair cost so when they gave me this quote I asked them to break it down in itemization for me. First they said they had to call me back… okay. When they did, I wrote it all down, totaled it up and the number I came up with was less than their quote, before any $ 150 knock off for the trouble shooting they did. I called them back, they wrote a couple of bogus reasons for the difference, said the $ 150 had come off from somewhere else before they quoted me (but they couldn’t tell me from where) and I started to get a very uneasy feeling about them. I decided to take my car home and look elsewhere for a second opinion.
Unilocal led me to Andrew Grant. (You can also read my review of his work. He’s THE BEST!) Just as I had explained to Cottman’s, I explained to Andrew, my situation… Low budget! He said not to worry, he usually just needs to get his eyes on the car and we’d go from there. Andrew looked at my car for free and in under 10 minutes he had found and FIXED the problem… a problem never once quoted or mentioned by Cottman’s in all the repair itemizations… A hose from my vacuum harness assembly had come off and the suction was all wrong. All he had to do was stick it back on and my car was golden again! Now, I don’t think I really need to say here that Cottman’s four day inspection and ultimate conclusion and price quote was sooooo off base that I was LIVID. I called them and told them what had happened and since Andrew had walked me through exactly what he did, I knew what and where and how to fix the hose on my own. It took him so little time that he didn’t even want to charge me for fixing the hose… I teared up with joy at finding such a good, honest, trustworthy mechanic, and paid him anyway! He deserved it! Cottman’s, on the other hand, I had paid $ 150 to, for nothing, which is what I told them when I called to share my experience difference between the two places. The next morning Cottman’s called me to say that if I could bring in my car and show them exactly what Andrew had done (thank God I had been paying attention!) that they would refund my money. That’s exactly what happened, and exactly what I did. Despite this fairly satisfactory ending of me getting my money back, I still would never ever, under any circumstances, take my car back to Cottman’s. In fact, I have since moved into Portland, and even though Andrew Grant is out in Beaverton and alternately Vancouver, WA as well, I still take my car to him for any and all of my car needs. After many, many experiences with him I can honestly say, this is the car mechanic that every man, and especially women, dream of!

Even tho leo told me up front he couldn’t fix my car, he recommend me to someone who might be able to. That’s good service! It makes me keep that place in mind down the road!