Personal Auto Care Service Center

I’m not sure what the deal is with some of the other reviews, but I have only had good experiences at Personal Auto Care. I began going to them first for my regular emissions testing. Then I had very pleasant experiences with them when they came out for my various AAA calls over the years (unlocking doors when I got the keys locked in, flat tires, dead batteries, etc.). Finally, when my independent mechanic retired, I had to find a new place for my maintenance and repairs. Because I was always treated courteously and waited on promptly at Personal Auto Care, I decided to give them a try. I’ve had oil changes, tire rebalancing, brake work, and I’m sure some other things that I’m forgetting about, and I’ve never had a single problem.
All of their workers are friendly and professional. The mechanics and their work area is neat and clean, and this instills an additional layer to the confidence I already have in them. Sometimes I stay and wait for the work to be done, and they have a nice clean waiting area where you can watch t.v. or read a magazine and have a fresh cup of coffee. Other times, when the work is more involved, they’ll shuttle me home or to work and fetch me later when the work is complete. This is very convenient.
I’m not one to nickel-​and-​dime on my auto maintenance, so the professionalism, kindness, and special little touches more than make up for it if the tab is a couple of bucks more than somebody else.

I wouldn’t bring a matchbox here, the mechanics don’t know what there doing at all and come to find out non of them are ASE certified. This place is crooked and so are the people that work there. Worst auto care place AROUND. Don’t bring anything here

Very bad experience. I went in because I needed an emissions test done for out of state. On the phone, they said they could do a test for my state. Everything was fine until I handed over my payment, and confirmed that my test results would be valid out of state. At this point I was told that the test was ONLY good for Connecticut. I asked for a refund, and they refused.
I later spoke to the manager on the phone, whose childlike attitude made the people I had dealt with earlier look like saints. He hung up on me before I could even explain the situation.
Would not recommend this place to anybody, there are plenty of better mechanics around who aren’t looking to manipulate their customers.

TERRIBLE. STAY AWAY! They tried to take advantage of my daughter who brough her car here for a flat repair. When she told me the price, I directed her to another repair shop in order to saver her $ 47. They had just brought her vehicle in and had on the lift and I told them to stop. They responded by cracking her passenger side mirror, smearing the windshield and cup holders with grease and throwing her keys at her. This place is as bad as it gets!

If you need emissions done, this is the place,
They’ll do it for cheap at a very quick pace,
Repairs may cost a bit more here,
But the service is fine; always lots of cheer.
I got emissions done here when I first moved to Middletown. For this service you cannot make an appointment. They took my car right in, I was able to watch it on a small monitor from the waiting room, and I was out of there in 10 minutes.
A few months later I went back to get my snow tires put on. I had an appointment but it still took over one and a half hours. Alright, whatever. They had to mount the tires which takes a bit longer. The price was higher than other places I’ve had the service done. However, the lady at the front desk made a fresh pot of coffee while I was waiting, which cheered me up a bit.
The waiting room has comfy couches and the place is in a convenient location. I’ll still scope out my other options in the area given the cost and the time to get work done. 3 stars for the good emissions experience.

I’ve heard horror stories about this place, so i refuse to bring my car here for service, but they do get dispatched quite a bit when i call AAA, and their tow drivers are always knowledgeable and courteous.

Do NOT go here for anything more complicated than an oil change.
I took my car here because it came recommended to me by couple of my friends. I have had my car serviced here twice, and both times, they tried to rip me off.
First, I was getting a 60,000 mile service done. Everything was going ok until the mechanic told me that I needed to change my tires. This sounded reasonable, as my two front ones were kind of worn out. However, they tried to convince me that you can’t just change TWO, that you needed to always change FOUR on my make/​model of car. Otherwise, the car «will become unbalanced.» Who the hell says that? I felt like because I was a girl, they just assumed that I was an idiot when it came to cars.
Second, I brought my car here after it overheated. I told them the usual – it could be the thermostat, the radiator, etc. They told me there’s nothing wrong with those things or the engine, that the car should not be overheating (um…hello? it’s why I brought the car in in the first place…), but that the problem was the brakes (see the other guy’s review down below – this appears to be their default answer or something). True, my car had some brake problems, but hello, my car was OVERHEATING, which usually does not concern brakes. They refused to listen to me, and they showed me what was wrong with the brakes. The brakes certainly needed work, so I decided to give them a chance. Sure enough, after paying 900 for the brakes and picking up my car, my car overheated after driving 3 miles. They hadn’t fixed ANYTHING. Plus, 900 for a brake job anywhere is completely OVERPRICED.
Bottom line: The customer service may be nice, but the mechanics here are IDIOTS.

I’m torn on this place. Allow me to explain:
First off, the tow truck guys at this place are tremendous. I’ve dealt with two of them (I’m not sure how many they have on staff), and they were both personable, helpful, and very friendly. Had this been the only criterion which this review was written, it would be five stars hands down. Their mechanical staff (I dealt with «Dave» mostly) was very professional, and even though my car broke down 120 miles from my house and I couldn’t get to it for two weeks, they didn’t charge me any storage fees and only charged me a nominal $ 40+ diagnosis fee. That was very fair and as another reviewer pointed out, that’s the right way to do business.
However, one key component to any successful professional is competency, getting your job right. Personal Auto Care failed at this, and failed in a big way. My car had caught fire several weeks ago. When they assessed my car they looked only at the brakes, yet any mechanic would have noticed that the brake lines were not burnt (being made of rubber, they would not have survived long had they been), and that the fire had originated from the middle of the rear of the car, whereas the brakes are on the sides. Working strictly off of their expert diagnosis, I had the brakes completely replaced, only to find out about 100 feet from the repair shop that it was the transmission, not the brakes, that caught fire. The car was worthless. Had I known this, I could have saved myself the $ 500+ in brake work I had just done.
I would have preferred they be rude and gotten the diagnosis correct. 2 ½ stars.

ok, ive only been here for 2x my mandated emissions testing but had a chance to look around the shop — talked to some of the guys behind the counter and they were friendly, got a quote for some work i need done in the near future and they were helpful figuring that out. ive heard good things from people who bring their cars in. nobody in the waiting area was unhappy.