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    Rio Grande Automotive

    4.0 (51 reviews)
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    Services - Rio Grande Automotive

    Auto battery or electrical system repair

    Auto brake repair

    Auto engine repair

    Rio Grande Automotive Photos

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    Recommended Reviews - Rio Grande Automotive

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    Reviews With Photos

    Wendy A.

    Man, I was really hoping to give these guys 5 stars, but I found them maybe too disinterested in comprehensive care and their sense of urgency to be lacking. Seriously, you canNOT wait until 15 minutes before closing to tell a customer they won't be getting their car back until the next day. Many do not have the luxury of an extra vehicle in the garage. I had a trans oil leak and took the wheels there to get fixed, based on a buddy's rave recommendation. The next day I picked it up but received no great details about what they did or on recommended care/maintenance. Instead, I pressed: "Isn't trans oil supposed to be reddish-brown?" "Yes, exactly." "But mine is black..." "Yes." "Should I be thinking about a trans oil flush or something?" "Yeah, probably..." When Firestone changed my motor oil a month later, they wouldn't touch my transmission oil because they said they still saw it leaking. So I took it back RGA to have it double-checked, dropping it off by appointment at 9am, having fully explained the situation... Need a flush, and need you to double-check that leak you fixed. By 3:30 (1.5 hours before close), they hadn't checked in. I called for an update and was on hold for over 5 minutes before tech XYZ tells me they hadn't even looked at it yet. By 4:30 (30 minutes before close), no update. I call, no answer. Leave a message, no call back. At 4:45 I call back "Dude, what's going on? I need to arrange a ride there and stuff. And you close in like 15 minutes..." He tells me they got a late start, he's really sorry, they have to keep it overnight, but they'll get it pushed out first thing tomorrow morning. I'm extreeeeeeemely annoyed to have wasted my entire day off sitting at home without a vehicle because it sat in their lot unattended all day long, and frustrated that I have to arrange alternative transport for my kids at the last minute. I could've just taken it there the next day! I finally got a call the next afternoon - wiggly doohickeys may have been problematic, but they replaced them at no charge. So here's the thing. I don't think they're bad mechanics; oversight happens sometimes, I get it. They seem pretty honest and fair; their prices were reasonable, and they didn't try to sell me on a ton of additional services. But I think they prioritize their good ol' buddies (like my buddy who referred them) who've taken all their cars there for years and walk in to "Hey Man! Good to see you! How's it going today?" Can't say that I blame them, but it makes us outside the clique feel a little like rote business rather than valued customers.

    Brian H.

    I was traveling through ABQ pulling a large 5th wheel. My brakes were squealing so I went to Johnny 5 based on Yelp reviews. He confirmed the back brakes only needed new pads soon but he couldn't get to them until next week. He recommended Rio Grande. Although VERY busy Billy at Rio Grande got me in first thing the next morning. Price was very fair and after going to breakfast at Garcia's Kitchen soon after we were back on the road. I would highly recommend Rio Grande as an honest and competent auto repair business!

    Is this not your shop Billy? Proof that I went to the right one.
    Vitamin D.

    This place is absolute garbage! I do not understand how others on here are rating this place so high! This place must be buying reviews or they are very sneaky and the customers on here haven't noticed that they were scammed. I love cars and I have been working on cars for many years. I rarely take my car to the mechanic because I believe that most mechanics are liars and scammers. The reason I came to this place was because of the high reviews on here. I had a car that was making a weird knock noise every time I shifted gears, made sharp turns, or made a quick stop. It seemed that a quick change in motion was causing this knocking noise. I needed to find out what it was because it could of been something possibly bad but I was feeling lazy that day so I took it to this place. When I brought it in, they looked at my car and tried to find the cause of it. It was free of charge which was awesome since most places charge to make a diagnoses. They told me it was my strut and that it was leaking and needed to be replaced for a total cost of $300 plus labor. I did not want to pay that much and it sounded like an easy fix that I could do myself. I take my car back to my garage, lift the car up, take the wheel off, take the strut off and I inspect it. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.... I go to the other side of my car and inspect the other strut... nothing wrong again. What was this mechanic talking about?? I was standing next to my car that was on the lift when I noticed leaking from the engine area. Turns out that one of the hoses that runs coolant through the engine wasn't connected and it was wobbling around hitting everything as I drove, causing the knocking noise. Once I fixed that I never heard the knocking noise ever again. NO PARTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, JUST A DISCONNECTED HOSE. DO NOT GO HERE. EDIT: Billy, I am 100% sure this was the right shop. You guys are the only "Rio Grande Automotive" in Albuquerque... how can I possibly get you mixed up with some other garage? Maybe I will post an update review if I ever go there again and you guys actually diagnose my car CORRECTLY. EDIT 2: Billy, you are just trying to justify yourself by saying, "you got the wrong shop", "people confuse us with the wrong shop all the time", "if we checked your car there would have been a charge for that", "you got a guess, not a diagnosis".... Be a professional and own up to the fact that you guys either tried to scam me, or can not make a simple diagnosis of a disconnect coolant hose. Stop lying and making excuses Billy.

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    10 years ago

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    14 years ago

    Great friendly service. I would recommend it to anyone. I know many people who are repeat customers there too.

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    11 years ago

    Picked Rio Grande because of all the good reviews and was not disappointed. Will definitely use them again.

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    10 years ago

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Rio Grande Automotive

    Review Highlights - Rio Grande Automotive

    Billy and the great folks at Rio Grande Automotive have been servicing my autos for nearly a decade.

    Mentioned in 12 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    Car Crafters - Car was repaired and returned to me with a horrible marks from buffing. Also slightly pushed in still where repair was made.

    Car Crafters

    (98 reviews)

    Business Parkway/Academy Acres

    Where did these bad reviews come from?…read more Without using self driving I managed to put a major scrape and dent in my new Tesla. (My son told me if I had been using self driving it wouldn't have happened and he was right.) After looking around I decided to use Car Crafters. I read Yelp reviews and Google reviews. Thank goodness I read the Google reviews! I have no idea how Car Crafters earned such terrible reviews! Our experience was superior. First we took it in for an estimate which they did while I waited (I brought my iPad so I could read while waiting). Then we waited until we got the call from them that all the parts were in stock from Tesla - and that took less than a week. They estimated it would take a week and a half to do the complete repair. They were exactly on time. Car Crafters motto is something like "make it look like it never happened" And boy that is true. I cannot tell that anything happened at all! Also, everyone there was polite and reassuring. They explained exactly what they would do and why it would take more than a week. (Exacting standards for paint matching among other things.) We have car insurance so the value to us was superior.

    Horrible experience, rude and disrespectful employee's as soon as you walk in they act like you owe…read morethem something for doing their job , They got extremely upset because I dropped off the car and then tried to pick it up the next day to drop off at another shop. jacqueline gutierrez Unlawfully tried to keep my key and vehicle and was trying to force me to pay for a tow company , while the car was obviously drivable since I drove it all the way from Colorado . Then the shop kept trying to unlawfully keep my vehicle which is my personal property that I had to drive it off with my spare key . Then I attempted to go back in the store to get the original key and out of pity jacqueline gutierrez throw it away. After that she kept lying and changing the story saying she left it on top of the car and that I lost it myself .meanwhile the whole time it was at her office or thrown away out of pity.

    Old Town Tire & Automotive - October 2024

    Old Town Tire & Automotive

    (37 reviews)

    Old Town

    Amazing and quick service! My vehicle needed an alternator, we purchased the part from Autozone and…read morethey did the rest. Valerie at the front desk and the rest of the staff were so helpful and treated us like family! I will definitely be taking my vehicles there from now on. They had my vehicle within the next business day and I hardly had to wait! That's what I call service! Thank you Old Town Tire & Automotive! #supportlocal

    Came back to update my review after having a nearly identical set of circumstances with totally…read moredifferent outcome. Went into a different shop when check engine came on - now at the end of our cross country trip I'm in CO - asked if the shop could quickly check the code for me. The mechanic kind of begrudgingly did, but he did it quickly and then honestly told me what the issue was, reset the code and sent me on my way. $0 dollars. Old town automotive should be avoided at all costs. Not trustworthy. I asked them if they could quickly check the code. She told me how much a full diagnostic was ($200) I should have left then. After the "full diagnostic" When I asked if they would charge me a "partial diagnostic" she said no. I asked for the Yelp check in discount $10 or $20 maybe? no. AAA discount ? No. After asking if the was anything she could do to help me out she finally caved and gave me the aaa discount because she "doesn't even subscribe to Yelp and can't understand them on the phone half the time." I don't know if it's worth noting... THE ONLY REASON I WAS THERE WAS BECAUSE OF YELP, It was 10 or $20 discount and they were already ripping me off... I regret letting my anxiety get the better of me at the start of the trip. This situation was easily avoidable. I should have just left. Still waiting for that full diagnosis btw. Boo this garage.

    Jiffy Lube

    Jiffy Lube

    (23 reviews)

    Midtown/University

    Sheldon is really nice and helpful! He was able to get my car serviced rather quickly. He found my…read moreaccount info using the company iPad and got me checked in for an oil change and tire rotation. He handed me off to William and he that quickly got started on my car's needs. Transparent and easy service. I'm really glad I stopped here for my car needs. Thanks all!

    My regular Jiffy Lube had a six car back up when I got there so I decided to come to this location…read moreinstead. I had a pre-purchased certificate for an oil change that was all inclusive, except for incidental supplies (there was a specific term the certificate used but because it's been redeemed I can't access it anymore so I can't quote it exactly) and taxes. When I went to checkout, they wanted to charge me an extra $20. It took three of them and me refusing to back down for them to say "oh the problem is we accidentally signed you up for a gold service" (or some similar term). They took that charge off and lo and behold, my excess cost was $3.87, which I was happy to pay. So, perfectly adequate oil change to my knowledge, for the first time ever they didn't try to upsell me on some sort of filter. I have no idea if they actually refilled my windshield washer solution, or aired up my tires as is supposed to be included in my certificate. So, the service was very fast, the lobby was clean, and had the soda fountain and popcorn like every Jiffy Lube, and they found and corrected the problem with pressure. But you need to be careful because they tried to cheat me. I think the gentleman checking me out was truly surprised. Frankly, I think it was the guy who checked me in who was sketchy. It makes me wonder if they get a commission on upselling to a higher level of service. I'm not saying don't go there, I am saying make darn sure you understand exactly what they're charging you.

    Rio Grande Automotive - autorepair - Updated September 2026

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