Auto Clinic of Maryland - Caton Auto Clinic

Great pricing, awesome inspection, and great service.
Apr 7th, 2024

Chris is very generous, kind and helpful! He has a customer for forever now!!!!
Mar 30th, 2024

TL;DR they seem more honest with locals than with semi-locals who need warranty work. Chris is rude. Detail: I broke down on 695 and had to have my truck towed to Caton. It's important to note that I am NOT local, as I suspect they treat locals better than they have treated me. I ended up needing a new clutch which cost about $2,500. Sixish months later, the clutch was having problems and my home mechanic said to take it back to Caton because they need to replace it. I took my truck back to Caton and dropped it off. The next day Caton insisted they were unable to replicate the issue and I said I wouldn't be able to keep getting a ride an hour one way just to fit their schedule so Deana told me to call when I am nearby and experiencing the issue and they'll find someone to jump in and do a test drive with me and I agreed. Something changed after they had my truck because the symptoms were different, but maybe it was just a magical intervention. Now I'm having a grinding issue which is driveable but inconsistent. Caton texted me to check on the year anniversary of the clutch replacement and I told them I'm still having issues. Made an 8 am appt to drop it off and do a test drive with them. When I called the day of the appt AT THE TIME OF OPENING 7:30 am to say that with traffic I'd be there around 9/9:30 and should I reschedule the test drive, the rude man, Chris, who answered put me on hold ten minutes then said I'd have to arrive at 8 to do a test drive no exceptions. I could go into further detail about how rude Chris was, but I'll just say that if I could give negative stars then I would. I ended the call and spoke with another customer of theirs who is local. I also looked at the documents from prior visit. Both the other customer and my paperwork confirmed that test drives are done sporadically through the day. So I called, spoke with Deana (one of apparently only two women working there) and she explained staffing issues with having a tech do a test drive. I explained I don't care who rides with me but I do need them to acknowledge the issue and start the warranty work. With communication, we arranged a 9 am test drive and have now accomplished replicating the issue. It is not fixed, and I am very anxious that it never will be. If I were reviewing Deana it would be five stars but if I were reviewing Chris and the "foreman" I would give negative stars so I settled on a 2 star rating and a long explanation. I am still aggravated and my gears are LITERALLY GRINDING.
Apr 3rd, 2024

-10/10 do not recommend, not a good place to get a MD state inspection for your vehicle unless you want to get charged luxury dealership fees for a non-luxury car. Had the MD inspection, failed . The canton auto clinic mechanic wanted to charge 3700+ for replacing front struts, front stabilizer links, 2 tires, and inner axel cv boot leaking; all need to be REPLACED. The mechanic added the alignment failed but with no stats of the machine assessment alignment but failed it based it off an "visual alignment but needs alignment after front suspension work". So I showed a retired mechanic friend and he laughed, said to go ahead order the parts. I went ahead got the parts, friend did the work. He said shops do this on a routine basis just to get paid extra, especially if you're a woman with no auto mechanic background. I would've unfortunately be at the mercy of the obsence fees and parts if I hadn't had a reputable mechanic friend. He charged a reasonable rate, replaced all with new parts exception of the 2 tires which were used but still good. I thought hey, maybe Canton Auto Clinic isn't bad... Took it back for re-inspection and was told the "nothing change still have same issues". I asked why since all parts but the tires are brand new. The reply was "oh whoever you took it to installed it wrong and the struts are falling off. Plus you're over 1k miles so you have to get it reinspected". Upset, I rescheduled but asked my retired mechanic friend what to do, he said this place is running a game and referred me to another reputable shop. Guess what? I passed! I wasted $120 +tax for the MD inspection but so glad to not get skiffed by this business. Save yourself time and money, not a friendly neighborhood auto ship to do business with.
Mar 30th, 2024

Mar 28th, 2024