Leonard's Garage, Inc - First

03/27/09

Awesome Exhaust Guru

by 1967barracuda at Citysearch

Dear Mr. Johnson,

I am writing to you today to express my gratitude to you and your fine automobile repair establishment. I am the very proud owner of a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda. I have owned this car for about fifteen years and have recently been able to finally get it on the road. I have done all of the restoration of this vehicle myself as I am very particular when it comes to “my baby”. I searched a long while to find a local company to install a duel exhaust system on this vehicle. After much discussion with other enthusiast I decided to have your shop on South First Street do the work.

I called on several occasions and spoke to Travis. He was most helpful and answered all my questions and was honest in his opinions. The day came when I trailered my beloved car to your shop for the exhaust system installation. I was met with a smile and attitude not common in the auto repair industry. Not knowing what was best for my application I spoke to your exhaust guru Julio Valdez. He was most helpful in helping me decide on what components to use and also offered his own advice as to the look and sound I was looking for.

I left my car in Julio’s hands and went home and waited. At about a quarter to three I called to inquire about my car. The man on the phone (I can’t remember his name) told me that Julio was just finishing the work. I arrived at 3 o’clock and there was Julio putting the finishing touches on my ride. He took me on a tour of the newly installed duel exhaust system. Words cannot describe the beauty of this custom system. Julio is an artist with a welder and bending machine. The look of the entire system is truly a thing to behold. Julio then lowered the vehicle down and asked me to “fire it up”.

I turned the key and WOW!!! I was shocked as it came to life. My wife also was shocked as the engine purred and the low rumble of a new born Muscle Car emerged. The sound is awesome and the workmanship is flawless. I now know that I made the right choice in choosing your establishment. I am so grateful to Mr. Julio Valdez for his vision and artistry in regards to my custom fabricated exhaust system. He truly knows how to listen to his customers and then provide them with the most beautiful sound a man can hear. The low note rumble of a very satisfied customer driving away in his Hotrod.

To add to this I drove my car around to the front to settle the bill and another customer commented “man that sounds good”. I will always refer your shop to any and all that ask me “Hey where did you get your killer exhaust done”. I will without hesitation say

“The only place to go is Leonard’s Garage”. And talk to the master artist Julio Valdez!

• Pros: Artistry with exhaust systems
• Cons: I did not go soonner

08/26/09

Coupon worthless

by agent94 at Citysearch

Online coupon is just a marketing tool to get you into the shop. 'Free' service actually cost over $100, when presenting coupon they said to hold on to it.

• Pros: Freindly on the phone
• Cons: Coupon worthless

04/17/09

Not so reasonably priced

by L2 at Citysearch

This place is as expensive as taking it to the dealer. And just like the dealer, they found more than one thing to fix.

The only difference so far is that I was in and out on the same day. They also drove me home to wait for the repair to be completed and picked me up when the repair was completed.

Hopefully the repair will hold up.

01/30/09

unneeded repair for $90 more than if I needed it

by lonewolf12345 at Citysearch

Was told I needed front brakes at $250. Skeptical, I went to Lugnuts for another opinion. Brakes have 30 percent left--that is, they are fine. Were I to do them anyway, $160. I'm afraid I won't be going to Leonard's any more.

11/19/08

Wonderful customer service and workmanship

by mloveingenue at Citysearch

This was my first "official" visit to Leonard's. (I'd been there two previous times with very small problems that they fixed for free.) I had to be towed to their garage because a battery that an Autozone employee installed in my car started sparking and almost started a fire in my car.

The manager went through what happened with me and called Autozone himself to complain about the incompetent service I'd received and the danger that could have occurred. He arranged for them to pay for a brand-new, safe battery for me, as well as the labor to fix the damage from the sparks. All-in-all, I'm very grateful for the exceptional service that the staff at Leonard's provided me with on that scary day. I'll definitely go back to them with any future problems or repairs for my car.

• Pros: Thumbs up!

11/11/08

Sadly things are changing here! :(

by Hona36 at Citysearch

I have been a loyal customer of Leonard's for quite a few years. Recently Lamb's sold their company and Mr. Lamb, Jr. has taken over the GM position of Leonard's (at least this is what I have been told by an employee). With these staff changes come customer appreciation changes, also. Their motto, "Our answer will always be Yes!" is no longer valid. They are no longer letting you use mutiple customer loyalty discounts, as they have always done in the past. I mean if they are going to send them to you they should let you use them. And for myself, as a single parent with one income, all the little things make a huge difference in the long run.

I'm sure I will still go to Leonard's simply because I "trust" my mechanic, but it is very upsetting to see a wonderful family company leaning toward the more corporate ways of some garages. To go from a "yes we can" opperation to a "sorry we can't do that anymore" place of business just really stinks. Hey Mr. G.M. bring back the help and appreciation to the customers, please!!!

• Pros: Trustworthy mechanics that are quick and efficient
• Cons: customer appreciation by the higher ups going out the window

10/07/08

Simply fantastic work, and great customer service.

by JJ131 at Citysearch

The person below didnt take into considerstion that if they had taken their car to the place that would charge them "less" they would have been dissappointed to see a bill around the same price if not more, not to metion they would have gotten sloppy work compared to the great work Leonard's does. I have taken my car to Leonard's many times and they are very fair on prices and do much better work than any other shop I have been to. Do yourself a favor, take it to Leonard's and be done with it. You dont want to take it somewhere else and have to take it back the next week cause they did not do the job correctly.

• Pros: Everything.... The nice staff made me feel welcome
• Cons: None

04/30/08

No remorse for overcharging their customers!

by melsol999 at Citysearch

I had my car towed to Leonards since it was close by and needed to have my fuel pump and fuel filter replaced. I asked for the breakdown and bascially they were charging me about $550.00 JUST for the fuel pump. I called around to other shops and got rates about $250.00 cheaper for the fuel pump. I brought it to their attention and they had no remorse about what they wanted to charge me. I would never ever take my car to get serviced there again. PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF MONEY AND TIME BY TAKING IT SOMEWHERE ELSE.

03/19/08

Quick, friendly, professional service at a good price

by Arnoldez at Citysearch

I took my Civic in for an inspection, and to my surprise, I had a leak in my exhaust system. I was really stressed out about it, because I knew that this had happened to my brother's Jeep some months back, and it took him several tries to finally pass his inspection after several fixes. I figured it was going to be a costly fix, and that I was going to have to leave my car at the shop for a few days, which I really didn't want to do over Easter Break. I called a mechanic, who didn't work on exhaust systems, but he referred me to Leonard's. He said it was the cheapest place around. I figured it was going to be a dumpy place, but would get my car pass the inspection. I don't know much about my exhaust system, so I also assumed they were going to try to rip me off, but I hoped I could get myself through it as I know at least a little bit about cars.

So I called Leonard's a few days later, and a cheerful voice answered the phone. I was already looking forward to the experience. The man, named Brian, offered me a free estimate of the work, and upon bringing my car in about twenty minutes later, he did just so. He told me the exact cost of replacing my muffler and tailpipe, which came out to a whopping...$110. I was excited to hear it was going to be so cheap (I was afraid I would be spending a lot more), but I wasn't able to get rid of my car for the next few days... As it turns out, this was no problem. It took them about thirty minutes to install the new muffler, and I was on my way. They even gave me a free bottled water and all the Hershey's Kisses I could eat in the lobby (and coffee was offered too, I just don't drink it). Just as I got up to check out, I was then greeted by a woman who until then had been in the back of the office. She introduced herself as Leonard's wife, who I later realized was of course the owner of the store. She was very courteous, and I didn't expect that at all.

• Pros: great service, three convenient locations, quality parts, good prices, fast work, free bottled water in lobby
• Cons: umm... the snack machine is tempting? closed on sundays, but so is everyone else

09/18/07

Fast & friendly, even at 5:00 in the evening

by squims at Citysearch

When I found out my alternator was going out, I was fully prepared to drop my car off after work and pick it up in a few days. I had called around, but Leonard's had the best price (even the dealer's coupons couldn't beat them!), and my husband remembered them doing honest, good work for him years ago. So I headed over after work, gathered up everything I didn't want to leave in the care overnight, and walked in. But when I handed in my keys at 5:00 on a Monday evening, the guy at the desk told me the might be able to complete the repair that same day. After a few phone calls to make sure parts were available, they got to work. He even made a quick run to pick up a belt I needed replaced, and an hour and a half later, I was driving away in my fully operable car.

I would expect this kind of service from a dealer if I were driving a still-under-warranty Mercedes, but for an older car taken to an independent shop so late in the business day? With service like this, I can't imagine ever going to another shop.

• Pros: Fast, friendly service no matter how late in the day; good work; honest
• Cons: none!