CMD Automotive

I came here last week looking for a shop that could service my (aging) Subaru. I called the shop and the guy everyone is talking about, Steve, answered quickly. I explained that I was hearing a noise and he guessed both the cause and the solution. This seems to be a guy that knows his stuff.
I brought the car in and also told him about a mystery noise that two other shops (including the dealer) had not been able to resolve. Steve drove the car that night but couldn’t hear it, so he took an hour with me to drive the car around, which worked.
Steve is the mythical mechanic who is both honest and affordable, a vibe that you pick up immediately. I’m glad that I gave him a shot at our car. We’ll be recommending him to our family and friends and coming back for a long time.

CMD Automotive (or «Chief Mechanic Dexter’s Automotive», as I’ve decided to call it) is wonderful. Dexter, an awesome lab-​poodle mixed dog, who seems to run the office, employs a fantastic, friendly, and (most importantly) HONEST mechanic named Steve. Steve MAY be the actual owner. In my 15 or so years of car ownership/​maintenance, this is the first time that a mechanic advised against extra work that I arrived prepared to do. With a 110k miles on my clutch, I was prepared to replace it, but he told me that it had about 50% left and thus, not to worry about it. Then, he advised and explained exactly what my car needed, which was really quite minimal, logical, and fairly priced (brake pads and belts, which had never been replaced, plus a couple of missing shifter bolts). I fixed these essential issues and decided to hold off on the less urgent repairs – Steve really helped me to decipher the difference between these categories.
This is my first ever Unilocal review, by the way – that’s the impact of the great impression that Dexter and Steve made on me!
CMD Automotive doesn’t appear to market or promote itself at all, so I felt that it was important to write this review. People (especially women who feel clueless or helpless about cars) should know about this shop, both for their benefit of a great mechanic and for CMD to succeed.

I’ve brought my car to Steve twice now, partially because he’s literally right up the street from my house, but he’s also a great mechanic. Honest, courteous and dependable. Coming from the East Coast where I could barely get a mechanic to look me in the eye when I’d walk into the shop looking for help, it’s a relief to find a business that happily takes a look at your car and gives you the straight story without wasted time or unnecessary extra charges in between. Highly recommended shop if you live in the Englewood/​S. Denver area and need a mechanic.

Steve seems to be the owner of this little shop and I absolutely had a great experience. He let me play around with his dog and was very friendly. I had some other questions about my car and he was really great about answering my questions honestly.
As a female I get a lot of shop guys who seem to want to convince me to buy things and replace this or that, even though my car is a 2012 and only has 30,000 on it. So it was super refreshing to be treated with kindness and respect while getting my oil changed.
The price was really fair, I think JiffyLube has charge me almost $ 20 more than CMD Auto did and I will 100% return to Steve at CMD Auto when I need my next oil change or if I need any other car services in the near future.
Can’t go wrong here… I suggest making an appointment just to make sure that he is available. I made at appt on Tuesday and was seen by Friday. No wait. No muss, no fuss.
Thank you!

STEVE SNYDER FOR PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD. I’m so happy with my experience this morning.
Story: I am an idiot and tore off the bottom of my car. I called a different shop that I had been to before, and they told me that because they’d have to lift my car, they’d have to do XYZ processes … Whatever. I would basically have to pay my $ 500 deductible and have Geico cover whatever else. Fortunately, I have a friend who knows more about cars than I do, and he recommended Steve at CMD.
I seriously cannot begin to express how grateful I am for the quick, thorough and HONEST service I just received. I called yesterday, and had an appointment first thing this morning. I sat in the office for maybe 30 minutes (and got to hang out with an adorable dog!) while Steve took a look at my car. I was told about the work that was done to my car and was offered some suggestions to consider, and was on my way.
I definitely know where I’m going whenever I have car troubles — and I’m definitely recommending CMD to everyone within earshot.

I know NOTHING about cars, and I don’t try to hide it! I can count on Steve to be honest about what needs to be fixed and what that entails. Don’t have to worry about getting screwed over. CMD is awesome

Steve couldn’t be nicer or more helpful. I went in for an oil change because of a coupon, but I’ve had some issues with squeaky brakes and he took the time to drive around with me and listen to the noise I was trying to describe. The best part? He didn’t BS me. He was upfront and said he couldn’t tell what the noise could be, but if I wanted to make an appointment he’d do a thorough check and take off the wheels. As a woman, I appreciate that he didn’t make up a solution off the top of his head and try to sell me on it for an easy bit of money. I’ll definitely be coming back!

Top notch service, fair pricing, on time, honest mechanic. What more can you ask for in a mechanic?

Steve fixed my window for about $ 200 less than a few other places quoted me, and did a great job & quickly. Really friendly & good service! I’ll definitely take my car back if anything else comes up!

I have been a loyal customer to Steve for several years now and would never take my vehicles anywhere else. He is straightforward, honest, personable, and a great mechanic. Recently I brought my car in with a clutch problem. Steve only replaced the parts that needed to be replaced, and went out of his way to get an extremely challenging job done. Awesome!

Steve is a great mechanic and extremely honest. I have a GMC Sierra and brought it in to get the water pump and all of the U joints replaced. I bought the parts and was expecting him to replace each U joint, but he looked it over and told me that I really didn’t need to replace all of them, and that the two in the front were the only real problem. It probably saved me $ 250 in labor and parts.
You really don’t find a lot of mechanics these days who shoot that straight and refrain from doing unneeded repairs in order to save their customers money.
I’ll be bringing my vehicles to him from now on.
KJ

i went here for an oil change and everything seemed fine until i got home and realized that my car was leaking oil. when i called, the guy remembered my car and said that he had noticed something was awry but felt that he had fixed it. he said that someone else messed up my drain plug and he had tried his best to salvage it. when i asked why he didn’t tell me something was wrong, he repeated that he thought he had fixed it and therefore didn’t mention it. he offered to take a look at my car but i didn’t trust him — i’ve had my car for over 11 years and it has never leaked oil. so either one of two things happened — someone else messed up my drain plug and it started leaking only after this guy touched it or he messed it up and tried to fix it but failed. i ended up taking it to another mechanic who fixed it for 60 bucks and said that most likely, the guy at CMD messed up.

Okay, here’s the deal… I’m a chick/​dame/​doll/​girlie-​girl/​Princess. I do not like things like «Great Clips, Grease Monkey, or Comfort Dental.» Maybe those places are all right for you but I’ve never been a lemming and I am not going to start now.
I like… no I NEED personalized service. I like to think I found a secret like I’m on an archaeological dig and I and say, «Ohhhhh, look what I found,» as I motion to put my monocle up to my eye. As a result, I have a few secret places I find and must share with the general public. This is one of those places.
I bought a Groupon to CMD Automotive and when I called to make an appointment the guy on the other end was so jovial, that when I hung up the phone I hoped this wasn’t some cruel joke.
I showed up at the designated time and Steve Synder, the owner suggested I have a seat in the lounge area while he worked on my car. Look… I don’t know what he is doing because I’m a chick remember? He finished before I could answer my email on my lap top, didn’t try to up sell me on anything and even changed out a turn signal light for free! The best part is he explained EVERYTHING like my favorite dentist does to ease the pain and get rid of the ambiguity.
He didn’t have to give this dame a free light and because he did, I will return faithfully AND, AND… I loved his darn dog Dexter. The atmosphere was like I was in my brother’s garage. I will be back in a few months to get my back brakes done and will tell all my friends this guy is the sh*t.

Finally a mechanic that you can actually trust! Pretty much a one man auto shop, so you know who’s going to be working on your car. Steve is the owner and is a very friendly, laid-​back and honest guy. My friend referred me to CMD for the same reasons. His pricing is very reasonable, labor charge is $ 85/​hour for repairs, and he doesn’t upsell you on parts and tells you upfront what parts are going to cost and how long it will take. Doesn’t pressure you into getting stuff you don’t need and gives you a realistic expectation /​advice on possible future maintenence issues.