Benchmark Autoworks

I called at 730a this morning right when they opened after hearing my brakes grinding. I’m greeted by the smiling administrative assistant, get asked to explain my issue, given my timeline on when things will get going and I leave. Not 1 hour later, I get a call from the mechanic himself, not the administrative assistant. Although I would’ve appreciated her call as well, but he’s the expert. He tells me what he did to find the problem was, what he can do to fix it, the cost and time frame. A few hours after that, another call that my car was done. When I picked it up, I spoke to the mechanic and he handed me a detailed copy of what was worked on. I thanked him over and over for such an outstanding job. My car is running and sounds great. Excellent staff. Excellent work. This shop should be proud.

Locally owned and run little gem in downtown Raleigh! It’s very lucky to find a team of car mechanic gurus that are friendly, honest, and affordable. I will always bring my car to Benchmark Autos first, as Lou and team can’t seem to be beat! They are even open on Saturday!

Thanks for the help on the Xterra Benchmark!

It’s hard to find a good, honest auto shop. There are plenty of factors involved: Trustworthiness, communication, turnaround time, etc.
All those things, plus intangibles can be summed up in one question: «Would I send my wife here for repairs?»
It was time for an oil change, and my normal shop is all the way in Coats. They’re booked out two weeks solid, and they only do oil changes first thing in the morning.
I don’t trust the Meinekes, Wal-​Marts and Jiffy Lubes of the world to not strip my drain plug, or leave it out altogether.
So, I went on the hunt for a good mechanic. And I’ve found Angie’s List to be a good place (sorry, Unilocal!– You aren’t quite there yet for businesses besides restaurants and bars).
Benchmark came up, and they were running a special: $ 24.95 for a synthetic blend oil change. ($ 45 or so for full synthetic… not bad at all.)
I booked it, and the folks responded quickly. Good sign. I scheduled an appointment for 2PM, they got my make and model to make sure they had the proper filter on hand.
Arriving a little after two, I grabbed a seat in the waiting room, and they put my car in the bay immediately. Thirty minutes later, they backed the car in.
The guy who checked me out at the counter took the time to run through some codes (minor) in my system, and explain them in detail.
When I asked about a tune up, he took the time to look up the service interval, and give me a brief estimate of the time and costs involved.
At no point did he try the upsell or hustle. Just said that he cleared the codes, and if they were still there at the next oil change, we might want to talk about it.
So would I send my wife here? Without hesitation.
How can I say that based on a single oil change? Because how a business treats a small margin transaction like an oil change says a lot about how they’ll treat an engine or transmission swap.
The next time you have an issue, or that little engine light comes on… I suggest you take your vehicle down to Benchmark. They’ll definitely receive more of my business in future.

They are always helpful… If you want honest service and repairs for your vehicle they are the ones to contact.

These guys are awesome!
As a girl it can be difficult to find a good mechanic. These guys care about your car and you. They have continuously taken care of my car quickly and inexpensively while being incredibly friendly and respectful. These guys are good and honest. I am incredibly grateful to have found Benchmark Auto and plan to return to them for a very long time.

My check engine light came on this morning on the way to works. They did a great job on my car! It’s running like new again. I found my new go to place! I highly recommend this place! Right downtown in walking distance of everything!

Bonehead move: trying to make a tight three-​point turn on a busy street (Boylan) during Friday evening rush hour to parallel park in a space too small for my car.
Turn one: accelerated perhaps a little too hard into a driveway, which was more like a curb, smashing the front end of my Volvo into the pavement. A man walking by dramatically looks back. I’m all like, «Stop being dramatic, I just took a bad angle.» A few minutes later, after the aborted parallel parking job, my car is alerting me to stop ASAP because my coolant is low. I do so, and watch yellow green liquid ooze out from beneath the car and stop. Some sort of casing has come loose.
Fuck.
Sorry Unilocal prudes, this deserves a big cuss word.
Benchmark Autoworks is the closest repair shop nearby, and I slo-​o-​o-​o-​wly drive it a half mile downtown to the shop. It’s about to close, but they promise me, should the parts be available in the area, they will have it ready by close of shop the next day, Saturday (Memorial Day weekend, btw). I breathe a sigh of relief and party like I am the idiot I am.
The car was done, right on the button at 4pm the next day. This place would get 5 stars if they called me (granted, I called them desperately all day Friday, so they probably didn’t think they needed to, but it would be nice to know that things were delayed, which they didn’t do). Also, the didn’t jiggle the coolant detector, so now my car is stuck on «STOP NOW SAFELY ASAP YOUR COOLANT IS LOW.» Oh well. This fixed it in a pinch (for a pretty penny, mind you). Let it be a lesson: no three-​point turn needs to be so quickly maneuvered for the sake of rush hour traffic that causes you to be out a cool 6 hundo. Gah.