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January 2024 by Christopher S.
Good honest service from Ray here. had a small issue and Ben Nielson fixed it quickly day of. Love that small business professionalism and easy recommendation.
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January 2024 by Marsha W.
I've trusted Ben Neilsen( *) and his staff for years with my old car. Anything that gets fixed gets fixed right the first time. I love their pickup and drop off service, although now I can walk to their new location on Henry Street. You get pictures of the work they're doing on your car while they're doing it and everything is very transparent. They are friendly and responsive. Frequent coupons have helped to reduce the cost of some jobs and my 2008 Honda CRV is still rolling along. It should be made clear that the reviews answered by "Emma" is for a different business than Ben's.
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November 2023 by Kelly B.
We just arrived in Alexandria from out of town when our car began overheating. We were close by Ben Nielsen's Alexandria location so we called late on a Saturday afternoon. The manager, Pat Hanson, was still in the shop and told us to come over - he checked out the car to make sure nothing major was happening and filled us up with coolant. Pat was a huge help, and he was very nice and kind to us during our time of need! Would happily recommend this place to anyone and wish we lived closer so we could use them all the time!
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July 2023 by Sarah O.
I went to Ben Nielsen's Alexandria for a pre-inspection of a used vehicle. They were so thorough! I used the information and quote they provided to make sure the car I bought was at the best price and was a good car. I made sure that anything they found was fixed by the dealership. Katie was awesome and very responsive. I trusted them and would definitely return.
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July 2023 by Abobakr Radwan ..
Their response was very quick - still evaluating my request - one says need more info but didn say wha he need's.
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May 2023 by David W.
I had a "meh" experience here. I'm giving any stars because the service was apparently done. My issues is with the questionable ethics or lack of communication, not sure how you'd label it. I initially brought my car here to get the AC checked out. I knew it needed the AC lines vacuumed and refilled, and thanks to GMs weird system on 2017 Camaros, I just didn't have the tools to do it myself because I live in an apartment now, so I have no space. I have previous bad experience with dealerships around here, and since the car is not under warranty anymore I figured I'd take it somewhere else. This place (on the surface) seemed to have good review, so I brought it here. Long story short, my car spent about 2 weeks out of commission (either sitting at the shop, or I had to go and get it and bring it back home because I didn't want it sitting outside for days while waiting for a part to come in or something). After refilling the a/c lines, it was determined the compressor belt had snapped. Then a special tool was needed, then the original belt that was ordered snapped, then had to wait for a new one. This part really rubbed me the wrong way. They called and told me the part was in, and then called 25 minutes later saying the car was good but I was going to be charged extra for more labor hours, and I said for what,it's been 20 minutes since I was called and told the part was received and then put on and I'm getting charged for a couple hours? Somehow, I ended up about $600 away from my original estimate after only being asked for confirmation on a $50 piece. I'm assuming I ended up footing the bill for the broken belt, the shipping, the tool, and the headache. Unfortunately, all my bill said was "labor" along with a $4 hazmat fee, shop fee, etc. I honestly would've just preferred knowing all the costs beforehand because I would've bought the equipment to do it myself in the future instead. In all fairness, my car is a high performance car that has lots of components not on a typical car and the work was eventually done. If you have a normal car, I'm sure this place is fine.
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March 2023 by Charlotte S.
The guys did a great job. And Jennifer's customer service is impeccable! She was very informative and made me feel at ease about everything. I felt like I was in great, trustworthy hands. The vehicle pickup and Uber transportation provided is a huge help.
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March 2023 by John J.
Jenifer is very good at customer service, won me over real quick. Tech seem to be just as good sent pictures and photos of what needs to be corrected an pictures of everything good. Work has started an tech seems to be good. Got discounts hope all are honored. Thanks Mrs Jenifer!! Don't forget my part discount on block.
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February 2023 by Micki D.
My partner received a $100 gift card in the mail so we used it for an oil change for his diesel truck. They kept it overnight because they didn't have the oil in stock and had to get it from another place, fine no big deal, they paid for his uber home. But when we picked up the truck the next day they charged us an exorbitant amount because apparently we had to pay for the oil, that they did not have, in stock??? He was not told the total before they did this. What should have been about $100 turned out to be $150 WITH THE GIFT CARD APPLIED. We got ripped off, it makes me think these gift cards are a scam. Thinking about it more, I'm not sure if they asked if the truck was diesel but this appointment was literally made two weeks in advance, plenty of time to have gotten the oil. Piss poor planning maybe.
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January 2023 by Oleksandr F.
Had another amazing experience here this past week. Had a flat last Saturday and needed to pick up my in-laws. The team here got me in and out within minutes, fixed the puncture in the tire and made sure it was fully sealed. Thank you again.
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January 2023 by JEREMY G.
This review is a 2 parter First visit was in late summer of 2021. Called in and made an appointment for an oil change, tire rotation, and alignment. Dropped the car off the next day and was told it would be about an hour. Said no problem, gonna go grab lunch. Come back two hours later and car hadn't even been started on. Spent another two hours waiting around for them to finish. Once I got the car, the insides had oily hand and foot prints everywhere. I chalked it up to hiring issues because of the time and Covid and just decided to go on about my way. Fast forward to today. Called in and asked if there was availability for an oil change and tire rotation. They said sure, bring it in in the next hour and they'd have it right back out. I came in within ten minutes and said going to go grab lunch. They said again it would be done in an hour. Came back an hour and a half later and the car, yet again had not been touched. To make it worse, the lady who took my keys and discussed the work acted like she had no clue who I was. Then tried to blame everything on somebody else, and then after all that tried to blame everything on me. And to cap it off, I saw one of the techs vaping in a customer's car. If I could give negative stars I would. Don't bring your car here at all.
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December 2022 by Mark B.
I had an odd error message on my vehicle and decided to try this place as it had (mostly) good reviews. Even though everyone I spoke with were very friendly, I feel that they do not have the best interests at heart for their customers and are only wanting to make as much money as possible after every poor customer. After recieving a $850 bill for a battery and oil change, I found a coupon on their website for "First time customers special" of 20% (up to $100). I called the next day to ask for the discount to be applied. I was told they could not refund the cost and reapply the discount. That tells me that this place is only out to make money and does not have the customer's best interests at heart. They really provide the stereotype of greedy mechanics that will nickel and dime you for every penny. Additionally, my drivers side window power up function no longer works after my visit with this station. I did receive a call from a manager offering to refund the difference of the discount that should have been applied. To date (3 weeks later), there has been no refund. I did recieve another call regarding the situation and was asked to 'come in' to correct it. I work full-time, they have very limited hours, and am not able to take time off of work to have them correct both their mistakes (the lack of refund and the no non-functioning power window). I do NOT recommend this service station. Not only do they charge insane amounts for simple services ($124 for an oil change!), but they apparently do not truly care about their customers and rather only about making money. STAY AWAY FROM HERE if you want to save money and not have additional issues arise! They definitely fit the sterotype of mechanics being greedy and not looking to help the customer, but rather to simply make money.
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November 2022 by H V.
Great service - thorough and they know how to get it done. Gave our car a full diagnostic (we paid for it separately), many updates to include new brakes/rotors, new front axle, throttle body cleaning, filters, and oil change. Overall, great work and the car drives great. We'll give them a five for effort and honesty, but the oil change -- at $152.85 -- almost double the dealership cost, may discourage repeat visits for that particular service. Otherwise, they are great!
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November 2022 by Eric S.
I had a driver's side headlight that was out. They were able to see me first thing in the morning and have me back on the road immediately. Outstanding staff and responsiveness. I will use them again in the future.
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October 2022 by Katie N.
I had a very expensive issue that was diagnosed at the dealership. A friend recommended Alexandria Automotive, and they were so nice and helpful. They didn't charge to look at the car since it was already diagnosed, and they encouraged me to go the route of getting corporate Jeep to pay for the repair in stead of just doing it out of pocket. The woman at the front desk was so friendly and helpful. I would definitely take my car back here. Six stars!
