Ron Gates / Checkpoint Automotive LLC

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  M Mischief
5 years ago
I have known Ron about ten years. I was an auto parts delivery person for 7years and i serviced 40 of the premier auto repair facilities in Lane county. During those years I learned a great deal about all of them. Today Ron is doing a valve adjust on my honda Element. I'm still friends with 10-15 of these shops and I'm trusting my vehicle to Ron because I've witnessed his professional behavior and attention to detail over and over through the years.

  Amber Shireman
5 years ago
We have been taking our 3 vehicles to Checkpoint for 5-6 years now and have had great experiences. We have never had a single problem with their work or prices. I call Ron with a list of maintenance that is due or any problems I've noticed. He's usually booked 2-3 weeks out so we set up an appointment and he makes a list of what we need done. When I show up with the vehicle he makes it his priority. He works on my car while I walk the block over to Fred Meyer and do my shopping or sit and have a coffee. He calls me as soon as he's done or if he finds a problem. I always ask him to give our vehicles a once-over in case there's something additional that needs fixing. He usually doesn't find any more problems, but he calls me to let me know if he does. That way I don't have an unexpected repair to pay for. He lets me bring my own parts like windshield wipers and oil/oil filters if I can get them on sale at Bi-Mart, so he only charges me for labor for some things.Regarding another review, I highly doubt Ron would return a vehicle to someone in poor condition unless it came to him that way and the owner was not willing to pay for necessary repairs. He's very easy to communicate with. Just ask him to give you an estimate and he will. He has never surprised us with expensive repairs that we didn't know about in advance.Another thing I really like is that he tells me the truth about what needs to be repaired/replaced and what doesn't. On a couple occasions, the Toyota dealership has told us that we need to have certain maintenance performed. He double-checks for me when my car is in his shop, and tells me to disregard most of the dealership's recommendations. Also we take our vehicles to Les Schwab on a regular basis for tire rotations, and while I really like Les Schwab for their tire warranty, free rotations, free flat repair, and free brake inspections, they often tell me I need to replace my brakes and/or my shocks and struts (shocks/struts are a $1000 repair.) Every time I ask Ron for a second opinion he takes a look for free and tells me what he really thinks. Almost without fail he says I do not need to have the work done. When my brakes actually do need replacement, he does it for less than Les Schwab quotes me. I think it really says something about him that he could tell me all the work needs to be done and get my business by just charging me less, but usually he tells me it doesn't need to be done. I trust him to do the right thing with our vehicles and give us a straight answer about what actually needs to be done. He's saved us a ton of money and helped us avoid a lot of premature part replacement.Another example of why I trust him: my A/C light started flashing a couple months ago and I couldn't get the air conditioning to work anymore. I didn't know what the problem was but I was worried that it would be an expensive repair (recharge the air conditioning system, replace some electronic components, whatever.) When I called and asked him to check it out at our next appointment, he asked if I had Googled the problem. He didn't know the answer off the top of his head but if I couldn't find an answer he'd take a look while the car was in the shop. I looked it up online and replaced the cabin air filter myself. That did the trick--it wasn't due to be replaced yet, but when I pulled it out it was filthy. It must have been blocking proper air flow and causing a problem somewhere in the system. It was like a $5 part and I did it myself in 10 minutes. Again, he could have waited until the car was in his shop and then billed me for research time, labor, parts, etc. but instead he gave me some advice and it cost me almost nothing to fix it myself.I wouldn't want to take any of our vehicles anywhere else. It's worth the drive all the way across town to have our vehicles worked on at Checkpoint instead of somewhere more convenient. Ron does the right thing and that's worth a lot to us. I highly recommend this place.

  Stephen Wade
3 years ago
Great guy ...was alot of help..fast . Professional..and gave us a great price ...will definitely be going back to him for any of my VW problems

  Hope Boyd
6 years ago
took my car there and got it back with exchanged parts costed me $1700 in parts my car came back to me with fans not working water pump frozen timing tensioner broken sensors not wofking dent in oil pan and leaking yah real great place to go

  David Funk
4 years ago
Ron has taken great care of our Eurovans for years

  Lani Ruggiero
4 years ago
Great place to have your VW worked on. Very fair pricing

  James W Phillips
4 years ago
An honest mechanic that appreciates doing quality work. Ron is honest.

  Carrie Heth
4 years ago
Amazing