Dunn Loring Service Center

I believe my entire family has taken our cars to Frank for easily the past 15 years. He has always been honest to us. Since we are mechanically inclined it might be the nature of being honest to us but they’ve always been good to us on jobs we didn’t have time to do.
I have referred him to others and he’s been honest to them too. It sucks a lot of mechanics try to swindle you instead of being honest.
One thing they can improve upon is knowing each others schedule. Nothing worth getting upset about but Frank’s schedule is sometimes a moving target to get the guy who answers the phone to find him.

This place is top notch, I take all of my vehicles here for emissions and state inspection. The inspector is friendly and knowledgeable and the repair rates are very fair. A good shop run by great people. Bob G. has owned this shop since at least the late 1970’s, I know, I grew up in the neighborhood and I have been taking my cars here for at least that long.

Buyer beware! This place quoted a fee for a simple job and charged me 3x the quoted amount (without asking me beforehand, even though I was waiting outside!). When I came to check on my service, this guy was sitting around, but charged me for the labor of course. Total crook!

I just went there to refill my AC on my BMW. Guy named Ali originally quoted me $ 108 flat fee to refill it. I asked several times if that would the maximum I would pay. He assured me that it will be $ 108 plus tax. When I took my car there, he charged me $ 108 plus 3 hour labor. It took him 3 hours, what usually takes 20 minutes. He was pretty much just sitting in the front and I kept asking myself why is it taking so long. Later on after he gave me his receipt for his «labor», I have realized his strategy.
This place is crooked! I would not do business with these people if I were you!

Just to close the loop on my review of 2÷13÷2014. I spoke with BJ from Dunn Loring Service Center, and it turns out that I would not get a «full refund» of the roughly $ 800 I spent. He offered to refund the cost of the alternator ($ 594) but would charge me labor to replace the new part with the old part. And the previous costs for labor also would remain. So I would be out-​of-​pocket around $ 400 and I’d have a bad part in my car. Now why on earth would I or anyone do that?
I just want to make it clear to all Unilocal users that I did not get anything close to a full refund.

Great place for an inspection for your car. The inside of the place was a little run down though and they were missing items for sale inside.

I just had my first repair done here for a tire I damaged on a wicked pothole. The service was quick and friendly. Price was reasonable.
If you have wheel locks for your tires, the repairman who fixed my tire mentioned that they have a master key set. This is good to know in case your key is lost. ;)

Go elsewhere for your inspection/​emissions. I’ve been taking all my family vehicles there over 15 years. The service is no longer the same as it was. Short story, my inspector left to go have lunch in the middle of my inspection! All of a sudden he was no where to be seen. Claims he told me he was leaving. Then blamed the line of 2 cars for my long wait. His garage buddy was equally curt in manner. The inspector invited me to try another station as he new I was upset. I plan to take him up on that. Plenty of other stations might appreciate my business. I have despised the whole emissions/​inspection routine ever since a teenager. Just do your job and be polite about it. Geez. Also, the gentlemen was a chain smoker working in a gas station garage. Really? Frank, if you are reading this I always thought highly of you. But the rudeness has run a muck.
BJ, regarding your silly comment below about lunch being unacceptable, let me help you out a little. How about a sign that clearly states the hours of operation to include lunch. How about extending the waiting customer the courtesy of telling them I need to eat lunch so that they might come back or seek service elsewhere. How about not driving the customers car into the bay and then disappearing (lunch in between customers not during one). How about educating your service folk not to be rude when asked a question (a common theme here with your poor reviews). How about addressing a poor review with a more intelligent response. Your running a business. Try being professional about it.

I had been going there for years, taken both my cars and my husband’s car. We just took my husband’s car to another mechanic who is a childhood friend because I had a terrible experience last time I went to Dunn Loring. The mechanic lost my wheel lock keys. Then when I called to ask about it. the mechanic said and I quote «honey, I don’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday and you expect me to know where your wheel lock key is?» First of all, do not call me honey, it is degrading. Secondly, I had to get a whole new wheel lock key set from the dealer. Third, our childhood friend said that whoever fixed the arm on my husband’s car, put cheap parts in and we had to replace the whole arm again! Another $ 1000.00!!! This place has really gone downhill.

Came to them with a list of items from the Honda dealer service center in Tyson’s. They identified several of the issues as unnecessary and charged about the 1/3−½ the price as the dealer wanted. Authorized work Saturday afternoon, picked up on Monday afternoon (car was ready after about ½ day – but I left it there since I was out of town). Friendly, quick service.

I saw a people love us Unilocal sticker on the front door and had to put up an immediate review. Well after seeing the sticker I tried to open the door and realized its locked. It’s 4 pm on a Saturday. I wanted to prepay cash but can’t since there is no one working during normal business hours. Ok have to pay by credit. Took me 10 minutes to pump gas in my car because the damn pump isn’t working right. I’m sitting here writing this review and my gas is still pumping. Screw this place. Where’s the employee?
Comment from Bagher G. of Dunn Loring Service Center 5÷19÷2013 «Hide
Today is Sunday the 19^th. We are closed on Sundays and our hours are clearly marked indicating that we are closed on Sundays. I’m sorry the outdoor credit machine was not working right for you.
Hey Bagher. can you read? My review says saturday. Not Sunday. Saturday. Maybe you thought Saturday was Sunday, but it wasn’t. Saturday.

They may be great in person, but I’ll never find out. I called on a Saturday to find out if I needed to make an appointment for the service I needed. The person who answers the phone answered my question with «That’s not today.» When I asked him to clarify, he barked that he wasn’t taking any more cars today, because they were about to close (this was close to two hours before closing time– if they already had a full slate for the day, that’s perfectly understandable, but he made it sound like they were closing imminently and he was irritated that I’d even bother calling). I started to ask if I could make an appointment, but I didn’t manage to finish my question, because he *hung up on me*. No «thanks for calling,» no «goodbye,» just a click in the middle of my question. How rude.

I called in to get some information about emissions testing and the guy starting yelling at me. I called back wanting to speak to a manager in order to give them the benefit of the doubt, and he said he was the manager and to stop calling. I told him I was going to have to post a review on Unilocal because of the way he was acting toward me and he said fine and hung up on me. Extremely rude!

I’m usually hesitant in reviewing businesses because up till now, I really haven’t had a bad experience.
Took my car to get inspected and failed, giving me a rejection sticker. I just moved here to VA from CA so the whole inspection thing is new to me and asked for an explanation. The mechanic who just changed my oil said they wont pass it because my drivers side tie rod is bad. I’m no mechanic, but my dad is. After calling him and he being confused because he had just replaced it, he told me to get a second opinion at a mechanic shop. Took my car to a place off lee highway and was told there’s nothing wrong with my car, in fact they told me most parts of my suspension were practically brand new (which is why my dad was confused, he just changed everything before I drove the car here to VA.)
Secondly a small side complaint, I was waiting inside while I watched the mechanic try to flirt with some girl near the coffee machine. After about ten minutes of this when she finally leaves, he looks over at me and says my cars ready to go and then explains all this to me.
I’m sure people will probably look over my review but at least I wrote it so others who have similar experiences wont feel alone.

Absolutely awesome.
We followed Sovan from a service station that closed on Lee Highway (4 years ago) to this service station. He is incredible; knowledgeable, communicative, and honest. If Sovan says we need it, we do, no questions asked.
. Dunn Loring Service Center’s telephone number is on our refrigerator along with all of the other really important numbers such as the pediatrician, the vet, and the VA power loss of electricity line. It doesn’t get any better than this.

These guys are GREAT! Here you get fast service and honest technicians. You don’t need to be worrying about them searching for ways to break your car so they can «fix» it later and charge you more — which is what I got with several other places. Amazing! Mechanics you can actually TRUST! I definitely recommend taking your car in!

First time there. Very nice and did a great job on my car. Just drive up without an appointment and had my car worked on. I’ll def be going back.

I come here for all of my automotive needs: state and emissions inspections, oil changes, and other mechanical failures.
Everyone here is friendly and helpful.
There’s another Sunoco across the street from this place, but they surprisingly have higher prices, and the people over there are rude.
Free wifi is a plus too!

If you have a foreign car and are tired of being a hostage to the dealership, go to Dunn Loring Service Center. I just had my break pads and some suspension thing replaced and I am very content with the quality of service, attentiveness and price. I am happy that I went here instead of the dealership. I highly recommend it!
I’ve also had inspections done here and the wait time is the best compared to other stations in the area.

I’ve been to this service station many times over the last decade+ and return here whenever I visit to the D.C. area. Dunn Loring Service Center feels like home — the staff is incredibly friendly and the service is amazing. I’ve had my brakes done here and have had many oil changes and inspections done here as well. Even when there is a wait (which is always short), I typically find myself incredibly entertained by scoping out the generally attractive staff.
There truly is nothing better than finding an honest auto mechanic. I refer all my NOVA friends to this place when they have car troubles because I know they will get amazing service at a fair price.
Congratulations, you have found your honest auto mechanic. It’s one more thing to cross off the list of daily worries.