American Foreign Car Service

Went in for a flat tire patch, oil change and headlight replacement.
The owner is nice guy but clearly need to learn how to delegate & return customer calls. I personally am uneasy when a mechanic hangs on to my car without giving me an estimate of the cost BEFORE i pick it up, to confirm that I’m ok with them making the repairs. As it stands today, they clearly have more business than they can handle because of their incredibly convenient location.
I never received a call from them the whole 3 ½ days they had my car, despite repeated promises that I would– because I got nervous and called after more than 2 days. When I went to pick it up, despite assurances from the owner (when I called for the 2^nd time) that it had already been patched, the guy working on my car didn’t even know he was SUPPOSED to patch a flat and hadn’t taken the spare off the car. Not confidence-​inspiring. To be fair, he patched it on the fly while I waited–
Again, they seem like perfectly nice people and I like to see a small business owner succeed, but for me it’s not worth the stress of not knowing what work they’re doing on my car for how much money and when it will be done, in advance– & being able to believe the person with my car, when they say they’ll get in touch.

Having recently moved to the area, I was looking for a new mechanic. One of my coworkers recommended this shop, and I’m glad they did. I had a little trouble reaching them by phone, but they fit me in quickly, didn’t charge a crazy amount, and did a nice job. I’ll definitely be going back and am happy to support a local business.

Definition of a local business. These guys are awesome. I have been bringing my car here for the last two years in DC. I am not a car person whatsoever and I always feel like these guys are honest and helpful and don’t take advantage. The other thing is that they can always fit me into their schedule and take both cash and cc. I’ve had everything done here from a patched tire to oil changes to new wipers and always have been satisfied.

Fast, professional, and friendly service. I came here for a tire repair and left very content! :)

Excellent service — I highly recommend American Foreign Car Service. I took my car in this morning to have the convertible top fixed and it was done the same day. The whole process was pleasant and professional and the price very fair.

Over the last few years, we have trusted Pedro with our smart car for various issues — and he’s always come through for us (even for a last minute drop-​off when half of our car’s electrical systems were suddenly malfunctioning, leaving the convertible top down on a 22 degree day!). We find that he’s honest, trustworthy, and gets the job done, and that he doesn’t take advantage of us — his pricing seems. There’s nothing more I can ask of a mechanic than these traits!

This place is great! They fixed my tire that was flat and didn’t charge an insane amount. I also needed an oil change and they were great! I will be going to Pedro shop from now on!

I’ve been using this mechanic for a couple years on my old mercedes. I thought they were pretty decent, but after the same issues continued to arise I got a second opinion from another mechanic. all the repairs they said they would complete were done, but cheap aftermarket parts were used and they have fallen apart and need to be replaced. i’d stay far far away if you can.

I’ve now dealt with this place twice, and I can no longer recommend it. The recordkeeping and customer service is very poor. I called on a Friday morning and asked Pedro to order a window to replace one that was broken in a smash-​and-​grab. During the ensuing process, they:
–Forgot to place the order
–Kept no record of my order
–Of course, they don’t keep any hours on saturday, making harder to follow through without taking time off work
–Forgot to place the order again on Monday, or call me to confirm, when I asked them to order it again…
Because of their bungling, I am now facing the prospect of driving 3.5 hours with a missing window, so that I’m not stuck in DC until 6 PM or later on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas, Pedro.

I have a 10 year old BMW and I have been taking it to this shop for about a year. Overall I am happy with the service and the prices. I’m always skeptical of mechanics and think they’re trying to put one over on me. But anytime Pedro has given me information, and I’ve gone to do my own research (either on the issue or on the price he quoted me), whatever he’s told me always checks out. If the weather is bad, they’ll give me a ride to work (about a mile away). Pros: Reliable information, trustworthy, fair prices.
As others have mentioned, you definitely have to call them to find out what the diagnosis is, and then call again to find out if they’re finished. Also, while dropping my car off for a bigger issue, I have mentioned smaller issues that I wanted them to look into and they always seem to forget to look at the smaller issues. But overall, these are small issues to have as mechanics go.

My friend had recommended this shop for a relatively minor repair, or perhaps I should I say for car maintenance, so I followed his advice not knowing it’d be a total disappointment. And, honestly, I wish I could say anything positive about this shop, but that would not help potential clients have a clear idea of this business’s practices.
After many visits due to their incompetence and almost $ 1,500.00 cost, and being forced to take my car to 2 other shops, I found out I had been overcharged for unnecessary parts and labor as well. They tried to sell me parts my vehicle does not even use (!) and performed work that was not needed in order to inflate or justify their charges.
The owner himself, Pedro, had asked me for cash, I told him a check was necessary for my records; the invoice I was given after the work was «done» did not properly specify or itemized the work they performed; forget tax. So after exhausting my pleads and patience, and having no other alternative, I had to resort to legal means. They had to pay me back a refund for the money I spent at another shop to take care of my car which was only a fraction of the total. Needles to say: this was an expensive, time-​consuming experience, and a headache, all unnecessary if American Foreign Car Service were really efficient at their work and were really honest as they claimed to be so many times.

So close to the metro, and was impressed with Pedro’s honest approach. I had a scratch along one side of my car, and it looked like it was gonna cost a pretty penny to get it fixed. I talked to Pedro for a while and he explained that if it required a paint job it would be in the hundreds. He came out to see the scratch and after assessing said perhaps a buff would do the trick and would cost much less. Others may have tried to fleece me for the paint job, but he didn’t. He had his guys do it by hand so they could be extra careful and when he factored in how much time the guys actually spent on it, he charged me below his initial quote. The car looked amazing — you couldn’t even tell there was a scratch there– and I was blown away by the honesty and good customer service.

Back when I lived up in Boston, I used to take my car to my best friends shop. I totally trusted him and he took great care of me. Finding a local mechanic seemed daunting until I met Pedro and his crew. They do great work, are honest, and have fair pricing. I was referred by a friend, and now I’m referring mine. It does help to check in on your car if you don’t hear from them :).

Someone hit my bumper and I opted to have my insurance pay them to install a new one. Everything went smoothly at the time.
Fast forward to a few months ago, someone else ruined my bumper (this is what happens when you live on a busy residential street in DC). So I go to another shop (Arlington Collision).As the guy is inspecting the damage he asks me if I had ever had damage to my bumper. So I explain to him that yes it was replaced once before. Long story short, he tells me that the folks at this here establishment didnt replace my bumper. They patched the old one up using what he described as spackle.
So I paid my insurance a $ 200 deductible, my insurance paid this shop over $ 600 and they basically glued my car back together.
Never ever ever will I ever come back here.
Dishonest and horrible.

Affordable, reliable, trustworthy, and gets the job done.

Pedro is a honest businessman and I highly recommend his shop. The guys do a good job explaining what is going on with your vehicle. I always feel like they are givig me a great deal. (I’ve had some pretty expensive work done elsewhere so I have a good comparison)
While they say they will call in the afternoon once you car is done, sometimes they get too busy to call. I don’t mind just checking in to see if it is done. Every time I call they say it is all done. To me that is a minor thing and I don’t mind calling.

Got some great service for a great price, and it’s right next to the metro. Can’t beat it in NW, highly recommended.

The last time I brought the car in was for a tune-​up and general examination before taking the car on a long road trip (as I explained when I brought it in). This cost me $ 350, for I’m-not-exactly-sure-what.
Whatever it was, they apparently didn’t detect that my car needed new transmission fluid or, more importantly, that there were cracks in the sidewalls of the tires that seriously threatened a blowout. Both these things needed to be fixed in the middle of our road trip, making me wonder what the point of my so-​called tune-​up was.

I love Pedro and the rest of the guys at American Foreign Car Service. I’ve gone there three times. Once for an oil change, the other times to get my wheel fixed and new brake pads. Every time I felt very well taken care of and my car wasn’t in the shop for days. When you go in there he fixes exactly what it is you want him to fix and doesn’t go fishing for «things you need done.» It’s also nice to know that I don’t feel like I’m getting jerked around because I’m a girl!
You really can trust Pedro with your car he’s a real honest guy and and been in DC for over years! I’m so happy I found such a great car repair place in DC!

Pedro and Miguel are brothers that have run this auto repair shop since ’84. I had an oil leak repaired shortly after I moved to the neighborhood, and now they wave hello to me every day. They recognized my car and called the police on the guy who smashed my window in the middle of the afternoon while I was at work one day. They fixed my broken window and the window frame where the brick had bent it, using cheap glass from the junkyard to save me money and fixing in within hours so that I could take the weekend road trip I had planned.
They fixed my friend’s brakes and rotors for a couple hundred dollars less than her quote from Midas. They have consistently been trustworthy and affordable for all my car repairs, which is important for a girl that knows little to nothing about cars. They also BBQ on sunny Saturdays outside the shop.
For all these reasons, I adore them and highly highly recommend you patronize the business!