AK Auto

This morning I called AK auto and asked for a quote for power steering fluid flushing. The guy answering the call told me $ 150. I am shocked. Early this year, my friend told me that the total cost was around $ 70. The store wants to take advantage of first-​time customers. Be careful!

I’m really happy that I found this repair shop. Like all the other Unilocalers said, this place is very honest and does not try to scam you for more money. I personally don’t know a lot about cars, so when it comes to car inspections/​services, I always get headaches. After reading all the reviews, I decided to try them for oil change and 60k interval service, both experiences were wonderful. Compared with all the other places I’ve been to, AK charges much lower prices and they always explain what they’re going to do with your car before they do it. I appreciate their honesty and great work! Definitely recommend to all other car owners who don’t know a lot about cars and are looking for a decent and honest auto shop in this area.

Really appreciate this spot. They’ve been reliable over the years, but we had started taking our cars to a new spot because we moved. Well, I think we are back to AK! Straight shooters and good problem solvers. We took our near-​death Mazda MPV to them recently and they were able to get it back up and running. Hopefully we will get another 6 months of use out of it and really appreciate AK giving us a range of repair options given the age of the car.

THIS IS A HONEST SHOP! We took our car here after we went to Wiygul, Reston and were told we needed thousands of dollars in repairs. AK gave us a second opinion and said there was nothing wrong; didn’t even charge us a diagnostic charge. An honest mechanic is worth their weight in gold! Take your car to AK Auto.

Brought the van in and it was running rough. They diagnosed it and said it had 6 potential problems that came up on the test but that we could probably get by with just 2 to get it back running good again so that is what we did and it runs great. Reasonably priced too! Thanks!

My 2010 Honda Insight started making loud squeaking & grinding noises. I took it Bill Page Honda but couldn’t get in without an appointment. I drive by AK at the corner of Nutley and Rt 50 every day on my way to work and I remembered their sign saying they specialize in Japanese. and European cars, so I decided to try them. I walked in and explained the problem to the owner who immediately took my keys to go for a drive. He traveled no more than 10 feet before diagnosing the issue — a problem with the little part that measures break wear inside the wheels. «Not a big deal» he said. «How much to fix it» I asked. «Not much» he replied. I left the car, hung out at Starbucks and Baja Grill across the street, then returned a few hours later. The car was fixed for what I consider a very reasonable price — under $ 400 for the repair and an oil change and a new battery I had them install at the same time. Very refreshing to know there are still honest car repair shops around. I know where to go for all my Honda maintenance in the future.

I wanted to give them a shot due to all the high ratings.
I went in for an oil change… came out with a belt repair and new tensioner. I don’t doubt i needed it. But I quickly discovered the tensioner and repair was not done properly, the belts became very badly worn because of this. The wrong bolts were used and it cost me $ 200 plus dollars to fix this repair. Sorry… can’t recommend this place. I should have gone back and made them fix it. Unfortunately, when the next mechanic was undoing all the bad repairs… I had no faith that AK would actually fix it properly.

I had a pre-​purchase inspection done at AK Auto, based on the strength of the Unilocal reviews it had received. I was very pleased with the service and the price. AK Auto had a surprising amount of sophisticated equipment they used to test the 2011 BMW that I brought in. The BMW turned out to be in good shape, and AK Auto charged me less than the already reasonable amount they had quoted me– they said the inspection was «too easy» to charge me full price, given the condition of the vehicle. Based on my experience with them thus far, I will plan on driving from Germantown MD to Fairfax to get my scheduled maintenance done here. They have earned the chance to be my go-​to mechanic.

I’m continuing the 5-​star trend for AK Auto.
So, last Saturday my car began overheating in Fairfax, which is of course is what I wanted to have happen on a Saturday when I am 20 miles from home.
After filling the car with coolant I noticed that it began gushing out of the radiator, I wasn’t sure if it was a hose or a wrecked radiator. Thankfully I my wife noticed the AK Auto was open across and we drove it there. Technically Abe and crew were already closed, but they took a look anyway and took my car in. This was important because i couldn’t drive the car home and wasn’t sure what shop I could take it to and drop it off. Waiting another hour for a tow truck would have been a drag too.
So I left the car with Abe and hopped home on the Metro. In addition to turning the car around quickly, I had asked to look at the tranny dipstick that I thought needed to be repaired and he said «no, that’s fine, see?» That’s a few $$ saved.

When my car decided to nap out on me I decided to hit up AK because of all of the positive reviews seen on Unilocal.
My review is based on friendliness/​professionalism of service over any actual repairs because after checking out my car for a couple of days I was informed that both the transmission and hybrid battery needed to be replaced. (OUCH!)
Welp the obvious solution is to get a new car so I slapped down my $ 50 evaluation fee –which I’d consider fair for a couple days diagnosing the battery and transmission– and went home to cry over the grave of my car.
I only deduct a star because it was difficult to get in touch with Abe in the two days that they had my car. It’s a very small operation and I can see how they’d be busy with their tasks out in the garage and miss a couple of calls. I’ll definitely be back next time I haveany (hopefully less serious) car issues.

I went to Abe a few weeks ago with my car, was making noise in the rear left wheel area from inside the car going over 55+mph (seemed like a wheel bearing issue).
I called a couple Subaru dealerships and got responses ranging from «bring it in, we’ll do an assessment, sounds like an AWD maintenance issue, could cost over $ 1000 dollars» to «have you done our 60,000 mile maintenance? it costs $ 900, schedule it during the week»…and pretty much had enough of that.
This was my first time to AK Auto, went purely on the reviews and the fact that it’s walking distance to my house.
1. He did a great job and gave me an honest assessment of the problem. Wheel bearing issue in the rear left wheel, no problems with AWD system as far as he can see. Replaced the wheel bearing in 4 hours for $ 300.
2. He did a great job of explaining the issues, explaining what he found, and gave me potential risks I could run into in the future.
3. He just wants to do a good job at his job. I appreciate that.
Understandably it’s only been a few weeks and it could not have solved the entire problem, but I’m happy to go back to Abe and get his assessment on the issue.
Highly recommended mechanic in an industry where it’s very hard to trust mechanics.

Happy to have had for the past two years a car care specialist who has always given me prompt detailed (via email and phone) explanations of repairs and estimates. Great staff, always courteous.

Helped me fix my engine oil leak and the clicking sounds in my left front tire within a day for $ 300.
Very satisfied with the honest service. Unlike the folks in Merchant Tire and Auto Center that tried to change my front struts (estimated 30 man hours) for $ 1000.

AK is the BEST! Absolutely honest, reasonable, reliable, dependable, and effective!
I even got to the point where I trusted Abe, the owner, with helping me make the decision to get rid of a problematic Chevy Blazer. After several visits for random things he told me, it was time for the Blazer to go.
I asked him for his recommendation on replacement and what he thought of Hyundai. He said, «I don’t see many Hyundai… So that should tell you they are very dependable. Get a Hyundai.». GREAT ADVICE!
In the meantime, after several trips with my Blazer and a couple with my 150k mile Highlander, Abe and Keith are the best. Go here for work!
They are honest and quick. If there is an issue, Keith with give you a call to talk it over and he actually gives you options!
Highly recommended… And when my hyundai needs something, I will take it to AK.

I have used them several times for my Landcruiser and Honda. They are honest, friendly and very reasonable. They were recommended by a friend of our son-​in-​law who has an old Landcruiser.