Cardinal Express Care

I was looking for a place to have my vehicles, which are no longer under warranty, serviced since after my last experience at Bill Black Chevrolet I don’t expect to return there. I considered other dealers but none are particularly convenient and I think the wait times are normally extended to encourage you to leave your vehicle. I pass by the repair location of this business quite often and decided to make some inquiries and received good comments so I decided to try it as both vehicles needed inspection and serviced. I was told that those items were done at the Inman Rd location which is still convenient.
I called about getting an appointment and learned that they don’t do appointments but that the normal wait time was about an hour. So I decided to give it a try. I took along my tablet computer to make my wait time productive. When I arrived they were able to take the vehicle in immediately and started working on it. After a few minutes the manager came to see me and explain what I had expected, I would be needing new tires. I was okay for inspection but should change them out within the next couple of thousand miles. He then gave me what appears to be a reasonable quote. By the time we finished discussing the tires my vehicle was finished, less than 40 minutes total. So I took my vehicle home and got Mary’s car and took it out to be inspected and serviced.
I knew there was no problem with her car except for a driver’s side rear light bulb being burned out. Again when I arrived the car was taken in immediately. I went into the waiting room, again with my tablet in hand, and got into a conversation with another retired military guy. We talked for a while until he was told his car was done. I then opened the tablet and started to log on when the service manager came to tell me my car was done as well, about 35 minutes. I paid the bill and went on my merry way. Later that evening, Mary told me that the turn signal was still not working properly, flashing on the dashboard very fast which is an indicator that a bulb is burned out. I went to check it out and lo and behold it had not been repaired, I checked the bill and it was not showing on there. I must admit I didn’t say anything to the shop because they are supposed to check the lights to make sure they are working as a part of the NC safety inspection process.
The next day I took the vehicle back but there was a different manager on duty, one of the owners I think, and I explained, in not too friendly a tone, about bringing the vehicle in the prior day and how they missed a very basic element of the safety inspection. He apologized and took the car into the shop and in a few minutes was back saying they replaced the bulb and made sure all the other lights were working. When I asked for my bill he said there was no charge. I then told him that that was not acceptable, I would not accept the needed repair at no cost. He didn’t want to take anything for it but soon realized I wasn’t leaving without paying so he agreed to let me pay for the bulb since the time would have been covered with what I paid the day before.
If it had not been for this incident this would have been a 5-​star review but to miss a very basic item like that in a safety inspection when the shop isn’t particularly busy makes me wonder about the oversight given to the work being performed. I did appreciate that they vacuum out the vehicles and clean your windows when they service your vehicle, that is a nice touch. But they are also not the low price guys on the block either for service and inspection. I don’t mind paying a higher price for good service done in a very timely manner, but the quality of the service has to be right. And right now I have some questions about this component. I will take the vehicles there for the next service to see what happens and I will be more observant about what they are doing while they are doing it to see whether they continue to get my business. Stand by for an update in about 3 months.

I would highly recommend this place for anyone looking for a high level of service and integrity. A little know fact is that they have a repair show in New Garden Village that they often move the cars between at no charge to the customer.
What really keeps me coming back is their honesty. I take two cars (a Ford and a Volkswagen Beetle) to them and they have always been upfront about costs as well as being concerned for my safety and wallet.
Case in point they quoted me one price and charged me less because they realized they didn’t need the part, so they didn’t charge me for it even though I was originally quoted higher. There are some places that would definitely pocket the difference. It is for this act that I will continue coming back to them for my repair needs.

Have been taking our cars here for oil changes, inspections and tire rotations for years. Always quick, friendly and trustworthy. We could probably get the same service somewhere else cheaper but we trust the owners here and it’s a convenient location.

My oil change place. Convenient to my work. They get busy and you can end up waiting so go early. They’re busy for a reason though, they do nice work at a reasonable price.