Swedish Imports

I have owned Saabs since 1984 and have often loved my Saab dealers. But Swedish Imports is the best. They are profoundly honest and helpful and friendly. I trust them implicitly and drive 40 minutes to them from my home for servicing.

When my car developed a head scratcher for everybody else (okay at least two other mechanics), Swedish Imports said no problem and fixed it right up!
They are the only mechanic shop now for my good old Volvo!
Thanks, guys!

What can’t I say about JJ and the crew over at Swedish Imports? They have been taking care of my vehicles (from Volvos to Saabs), for longer than I can remember. I have been able to hand down cars to my children to drive knowing they are safe and well maintained because of Swedish Imports.
They have a great drop off service. I know that when they look at my car whether it is for regular scheduled maintenance or, a specific problem, they are going to call me before they do anything if it is not something we discussed prior to okay the work. We take very good care of our cars. Having people working on them that you trust is so important. They know me when I come in there, I know them, and I have a firm trust that they do not want me driving cars with or without my children involved, that are on safe! I bought Swedish cars for the way they were designed and their safety specifications, but I stayed with them because of Swedish Imports!

I called to get a quote and JJ ended up talking through a diagnostic process on the phone rather than having me bring the car in. That kind of customer service goes a long way in my book! I’ll be using them for service in the future.
Thanks!

DO NOT BRING YOUR CAR HERE!!!
My 86 year old Mother came up from Florida to spend the holidays with us here in Durham, while she was here, she wanted to have her Grandson’s car repaired of all problems he was having with it, he had a Saab, after reviewing the car for over an hour JJ sat down with us to give us the low down. He said the car needed a new turbo and it would cost $ 1700, the window needed new rollers, about $ 100, and he was going to pull off a headlight from a salvage vehicle in his lot. We gave him the go’head. Next day we get a call, the car needed another repair, $ 300, the next day another call, another $ 600, next day, another $ 500!
$ 3300 later, the car is ready for pick up on New Years Eve, my son goes out to Raleigh that night and is calling me that the car is still smoking, the car never ran right from the moment we drove it off their lot, One week after handing them that check for $ 3,300 my Son called me late that evening to come get him, the car broke down. We had it towed late that night back to Swedish Imports, next morning JJ calls my Son telling him the engine is done and the car is undriveable. Really? They ended up just refunding us $ 1500 of what we paid because he said we had to pay the labor costs, I don’t know why, obviously, the labor repaired nothing! JJ just kept padding that bill each day, how could you not see all those repairs were pointless?

I’ve been coming here for years, first w/​my Saab, now w/​my Volvo and I am never put off or disappointed. They try to keep the price low, do only what you want, don’t pad the bill and treat the customers well. I was in the car business for 10 years and I have seen up close and personal how … shall we say, tricky? car repairs can be. No need to worry at Swedish Imports. Now they service Subarus as well. I trust JJ and I trusted his dad before him. I read the one negative vote on this site and … what a wiener! They didn’t take any of that person’s money, used up the shop time and still he trashes them. Give. me. a. Break! It must be frustrating, being honest & still be trashed on the internet. Sheeesh!

Went to the Chapel Hill Tire in Carrboro, which I had been going to for months after initially going to Auto Logic in Carrboro. Both of the previous places started out awesome. Cheap bills for regular service. Then they started piling up whopping bills. I don’t know if this is how these businesses are run, and I certainly don’t know if this is the case at Swedish Imports (yet). What I DO know is that service was super friendly, the bill was low, and the mechanic opted for the cheaper option instead of the more expensive one and explained why. Instead of paying $ 2600 like I would have at my previous place, I only paid $ 350. One drawback is that you have to drive or take the bus to get here, or have someone drop you off, but if the service and price continue to be right, I’ll keep coming back!

The guys in the service department at Swedish Imports are tremendous. I drive an old Volvo that I love and these guys keep it running in top condition. A couple of days ago I was out of town and a CD got stuck in the CD player. I got back into Durham late last night and just happened to be driving by SI so I wheeled in and explained my strange problem. One of the guys went out and extracted the CD and told me what I could do if it happened again. Took about 10 minutes from the time I got out of the car until I was on my way again. No charge. These folks also tell me when I need something done, if it can wait or even things that I don’t need (like, «you got about 20,000 miles left on your brake pads.) I wouldn’t take my car anywhere else. Too bad my wife drives a Chevy and has to go elsewhere!

So, anyone that makes a joke that females cannot drive backwards… was probably talking about me. When I lived in Texas, I backed my car out of my garage after someone else parked it in there, and didn’t notice that I was a wee bit too close to the left hand side. CRUNCH went my side view mirror! I called around for quotes on fixing it (the cover popped off), and to my surprise, it was going to cost upwards of $ 350 to fix the side mirror on my Volvo. Darn those pricey parts from dealerships!
Fast forward a few months and a move to NC — I spied this little store off of 15 – 501 and called to get a quote on fixing it up. They took a look, and instead of getting me to replace the entire thing, helped me order a cover and light, that was all I really needed to fix it — and SCORE! It only cost about $ 80.
I went to them again this morning to get my oil changed — and not only did they get me out of there in 40 minutes, but they also had an office for customers to work from, and a wireless network running so I could get work done! I had almost zero downtime this morning, which is amazing to me. The staff is courteous and fun — and I was also informed that i wouldn’t have to bring my car in until another 10,000 miles because they use pure synthetic oil. Now, I’m too paranoid to wait more than the Volvo-​recommended 7500 miles, but its good to know!