Caruso's Auto Sales & Repair

In the midst of a couple very busy days, the manager helped me get the repairs necessary in a short amount of time for an excellent value. They worked with my tight schedule and got the job done! Big thanks to Joel and his team!

This is the most honest automotive repair facility I have every had the pleasure of dealing with. The expert advice from professionals you can trust. From the front counter to the auto technicians I cannot find the correct words to say how pleased I have been with all the services performed to my vehicles over the past 6 years. Joel is top notch and always a professional with his customer service.

I went in with concerns of a check engine light a few years ago and they corrected the malfunction for what I considered a very reasonable price, I returned with my Ford Escape SUV and they went above and beyond the diagnostic time to find the answers to my situation. When it came to billing me for the service, they again were incredibly fair and charged me a flat rate which I knew was well below the actual time spent by the tech.

I never question the estimate or if work is needed with this shop. I trust them and their services. Thank You Caruso's, for being an honest, fair and friendly neighborhood repair facility. We are blessed to have you in our community and I wish you all continued successes for many years to come.

Excellent service. I've never come across someone more knowledgeable about auto repair than Joel. I've had to get quite a few repairs over the past couple of years and they've never let me down.

Outstanding/value/price, and workmanship on my GMC water pump. After finishing the job they heard a strange noise in my drive train. After a quick test drive they put my vehicle back on the lift. They then found a rock wedged in my drive train. They removed the rock at no charge. This rock would have caused approx. $1000 in damage if left undiscovered. I can not thank these pro's enough for the extra effort they put into my vehicle. My strongest recommendation for this shop!

While visiting family in Oneonta, the AC system in my old Suburban failed (340kmi!). I spoke with Joel at Caruso's, and he got me in that afternoon. He explained the procedure, came back with the possible/less expensive solution, but clearly said that it may or may not only be a short-term fix. With that understood, repairs were made at an agreeable rate.

Within a few days, I was once again without AC. Joel again got me in that afternoon, they did the diagnosis, obtained the compressor, and I've been in cold air since. As I live in South Dakota, am traveling with a large, hairy puppy, and it's Summer, the need was obvious and urgent. The fellows at Caruso's, spearheaded by Joel, did an outstanding job: from shoehorning me in on short notice, to explaining their approach, to actually fixing the problem and getting it right, to being reasonably priced, to being honest and good folks. I have but one (okay, two) thing left to say: THANKS, GUYS! STILL CHILLIN'! Your mileage may vary, but I doubt it.

I went to Caruso's because they are very highly rated on Angie's List, which they advertise in their waiting room, and because my husband brought his car in prior to purchasing it and felt they did right by him. I brought my car in for a check engine light. I already knew what the code was due to a smartphone app, but I needed to know next steps.

My repair was expensive, largely because the part was expensive because Caruso's told me that they needed to use a car-brand specific part to ensure it would work correctly. They also added that a family member with the same make needed this part and it was very expensive. I just took that statement at face value for probably the first time in my life, rather than doing research of my own, mostly because of their high reviews.

My real issue, however, was that their posted labor rate was $89 and their billed labor rate was $106. The repair took about a half hour, MAYBE 45 minutes (but I was only there about 45 minutes from the time I parked my car), and I was billed for the full hour. I was told that I was also charged for the time it took to run the diagnostic test. I mean. that's not labor.

I can understand needing to charge for time, if that's a clearly stated policy, but that wasn't told to me up front nor was I asked to pay anything when I brought my car in for the check (or told this time would be added to my final labor costs). And, I have not had another shop charge me for diagnostic time before, and I've driven some clunkers.

I acknowledge that I got lazy in this process and also didn't speak up about this at the time. Perhaps they would have rectified the labor cost, perhaps not. Either way, the experience soured me. I have gone to CAPITAL TECH in ALBANY for 8 years prior to this, and I wish I had done so for this need as well. The only reason I did not was because I don't live in Albany anymore, so I thought it would be better to establish a connection with a local business.

In the future, I will make the drive as I was truly impressed by Cap Tech over the years. What did Caruso's do well? They had timely communication and an inviting waiting room with a Keurig, tv, and magazines. To me, that's not worth what I felt was sort of shady dealings. There were Jehovah Witness materials in the waiting room (purposefully, they had their own display). I wasn't offended by it, no one spoke to me about it, but I thought it was kind of weird.

I went here on a recommendation from a coworker when my car was overheating, and all I have to say is they were awesome. They found the problem and fixed it very quickly and safely and then were able to get my inspection in very quickly even though it was the end of the month. The last-minute inspection was partly due to my procrastination and partly due to the fact that some things needed to be fixed before it would pass. They also explain what's going on with your car and what they can do with the price quoted before taxes. I highly recommend them for any of your car needs.