Sup All,

Looking for any trusted Indy Tech's that work in the Baltimore, MD area.

Any member names or contact info would be great

Thanks!!

 

Maybe I'm a little slow, but assuming Indy = Independent, I'd be interested in this information as well.

If it means something else, please disregard my message :-)

 

Yep, U got it right, Independent shops or Acura / Honda Technicians that do work on the side.

From the lack of responses, assuming not many around.....

 

I posted a similar request for Baltimore area and did not get any responses. Accurate in Annapolis seems to be the closest Honda/Acura indy that people highly recommend. I might be trying Hollendhades in Towson, and if I do, I will let you know what my experience is like.

 

Never heard of Hollendhades, but a couple members have recommended Accurate Auto and have had positive experiences.

How many miles do you have? and what type of work is needed?

 

There's J&D Auto in Catonsville, they're Honda/Acura tech's. Pretty good rep in the area.

 

Sorry for the delay in responding. I just wanted to follow-up on Hollenshades. I did not end-up taking my car in to them. My car has 48,xxx miles on it. The work I was doing included installing the vibration damper, changing 3rd and 4th gear pressure switches in the AT and installing a Progress RSB. Decided to pop for the jack and stands. Did them myself this weekend (thanks to AZ DIYs). Still interested if someone has first hand experiences with a good indy in the Baltimore area.

 

I took my car to J&D Auto in Catonsville for the first time recently. My experience was positive. The owner has a pleasant disposition and he seemed pretty honest.

Pricing
The pricing is a little more than your typical Mr. Tire / Jiffy lube, but it's cheaper than the dealership. I changed my front and rear brakes (using the aspec pads I bought), oil change, transmission fluid change for about $350.

Other Customers' experience
I got the opportunity to talk to the customers that were coming in. The average customer I spoke to had been coming there for about 5 years. The one with the longest running experience with the shop had been coming there for about 12 years IIRC.

I asked them all why they continued to come back. Some quote price as the reason they come there. But, almost everyone I spoke with said that they felt they were treated fairly and honestly every time.

The Extra Mile
One thing I was very pleased with was that they offered to check my transmission fluid for free and various other points on my car visually. The dealership charges 50-100 dollars just to look over your car which I find to be ridiculous. It turned out that my transmission fluid was filthy. Once my fluid was replaced, I felt that my transmission was switching gears much more smoothly. It was something that bothered me for a while, but I came to accept thinking it was normal.

Conclusion
I'm going to reserve overall judgement at this point, but based on what others have told me and my first experience, I would go back. Once I get 2-3 more repairs done with them, I'll be able to say for sure whether I can whole-heartedly recommend them or not. I encourage you all to try them out if you are looking for a place to take your car.

 

Mode

Thanks for the write up on your experience at J&D Automotive, the shop is close to my office.

So it sounds like you can bring your own parts in for installation?

I'm keeping them on my list for alternative dealership options

 

They told me very specifically that they can't guarantee the part that I brought in. But, I figure, it's was an OEM part, so it was worth it to me.

 

Great info about J&D. Thanks

 

I used to go to J&D when I had my Legend Coupe. Paul is extremely pleasant to deal with and as stated, the prices are not the cheapest, but less than the dealership.
Now, my only issue with the shop/Paul is that I had a problem with one of the springs that Paul missed diagnosing. A member of Acura-Legend.com (craigerd) and I had a look and figured it out. I bought a used strut assembly and had a shop near the parts supplier install it. Problem solved. Well when Paul realized what I had done, he seemed to have an attitude and told me he could no longer service my car because he couldn't guarantee it after I had taken it else where. I thought that was pretty petty especially in light of the fact that he missed the problem all together after I explained it in detail and he took it for a test drive. J&D failure on that one. No biggie to me, I'm not pressed to spend my money where it's not wanted.
Despite that, I still recommend them as a shop for maintenance. And Paul is still cool. I actually bumped into him in the casino in Delaware a few weeks ago.