Ben Nielsen'S 10Th Street Automotive Reviews

I permanently lost our beloved silver Hyundai Elantra, one day after I dropped my car key to Ben Nielsen's 10th Street Automotive on August 25, 2023 morning. What a sad and awful experience to a Canadian family with two young kids on a vacation trip to the US capital city! After a long road trip, we arrived in Washington DC on August 23, 2023, Wednesday. We enjoyed the sight-seeings in DC, and had planned for our returning trip on August 25, Friday. However, I found my engine light was on in the evening of August 24, Thursday. The engine light was off on Friday early morning, but to ensure a safe returning, I still drove it to the parking lot of Ben Nielsen's 10th Street Automotive at 7:15am to have it checked. I told them I came because of their good google reviews, and because they open on Saturday as I could not afford to stay in DC to next Monday. They told me they would try their best to check and fix my car by the end of Saturday, even they are very busy, and they would give me a phone call to follow up. I thanked them and left my car key to them, and replanned for one more day staying in DC. In the whole day of Friday, I did not receive their phone call. I called them twice at 11:34am and 4:02pm that day, and both times they told me they had not had a chance to look at my car, but would call me back as soon as they start to check my car. On August 26, Saturday morning I called them again at 8:52am, and I got the same answer as on Friday afternoon. At 9:27am, I finally receive their phone call. What I heard in that phone call! They told me that my car was vandalized by thieves during the night, one window was smashed, the igition part of the car was damaged and it was totally undrivable. I was extremely shocked, and asked them how this could happen, and their answer was "well, this is a common problem in Downtown DC". They asked me to come to their place as soon as possible. When I arrived at the scene, I found the car was not in their parking lot where I parked one day ago, but had been moved by them to the road side near the intersection of 9 ST NE and F ST NE, about 1 minute walking distance to their garage. I was told it was a common practice because they do not have a big parking lot. I would never forget the miserable scene when I saw my car being vandalized. I asked them if this happened to them before, they said it was the first time for them, but it is a very common problem in DC, and that it was all due to my bad luck. I spent the whole Saturday to deal with the unexpected loss of my car: calling the police, calling the insurance company, calling to find a tow truck company and a Hyundai dealer to trade-in my damaged car. My two young kids had to stay with mom for the whole day in one place because of lack of mobility. When I tried to talk to Ben Nielsen's 10th Street Automotive about their responsibility for moving the car, they looked so indifferent and did not want to talk to me anymore. After leaving my damaged car to a Hyundai dealer, I had to book a flight for our family and returned to Canada on August 27, Sunday morning. Still, our US trip awarded us many warm and beautiful memories. But our experience with Ben Nielsen's 10th Street Automotive was really a nightmare to us. Service: Auto engine diagnostic

Normally great service was missing this time around. Service took longer than expected, no communication. I was on a deadline and had to track down my car only to find out it was finished. When I came to pick it up you guys recommended an additional $1000 in service. This happens every time I come in. Granted, I have an older car, so I expect it to need service. But some care could be taken in communicating to your customers. I want to believe the best, but it’s hard not to feel gouged.