Harrah’s Automotive Service and Machine

Customer service at its finest! Rick and Ron are two of the sweetest guys. And, quite frankly, they don’t need another good review on their Unilocal page — their work stands for itself. They have over 5,000 regular customers and fix up about 45 cars a week. It’s safe to say that they aren’t hurting for business which means they won’t pressure you about more work on your car. They do work ethically and in a timely manner. Trust the Harrah’s touch!

My car was making a strange noise and it seemed to be missing some power, I took it into Harrah’s and Rick and Ron came out to listen under the hood, within seconds they identified the issue, they called and ordered a part and within 1 hour the part had arrived, they installed it and I was back on the road. Great service and I would highly recommend them to all.

Today I stopped into Harrah’s asking about a check engine light. They graciously walked me through money saving options that might be covered under warranty when I was ready to spend money if needed! Should my issue prove not to be covered under manufacturer warranty, I’ll certainly bring my business their way for being so helpful. No wonder a neighbor said they’ve been going here for years.

I’m old, 52 years old.
I’m done with bullshit.
Harrah’s is the place for me and my vehicles.
:)

This is a small independent shop, run by two brothers. They seem honest and competent. As a cash-​only business, they are well-​priced too.

Super friendly staff! They actually show you the problem and tell you what needs to be done, hard to find honesty with a low price

I highly recommend Harrah’s Automotive! Rick and Ron are friendly, honest, and genuine. They truly care about their customer’s and go above and beyond to help them. I have taken my car to them twice now and both times have been blown away with their customer service, knowledge, and generosity. No matter your car knowledge they speak to you like a competent person and take the time to explain what is happening. The first time I walked away with a whopping bill of $ 20 and today they refused my money. Granted both times there were minor things wrong with my car, but they still took 20 minutes of their time to solve my problem and I left with a much smaller bill than I have ever received from a mechanic. I am so grateful for their generosity and kindness, and will always use them in the future and recommend them to everyone I know.

Rick and Ron are truly amazing! They are extremely nice and make you feel comfortable even in the situation when you need your car fixed. On top of that, the prices are reasonable and they work fast and inform you about every step.
I rarely recommend anyone this passionately, but they are without any doubt the best experience I had in Seattle.

Due to the good reviews, I made an appointment to get the «beast» a much needed tune-​up. The husband dropped the car off the next morning and shot the bull with Ron, the owner, to the extent he was almost late for work. Both owners are extremely friendly, very knowledgeable and the car has NEVER run so good.
The only reason I’m not giving Harrah’s a five star review, is that we told them we only wanted to spend $ 300, and to do what they could for that amount. When we picked up the car the bill came to $ 550 and they claimed they must have misunderstood. OK, somewhat understandable, but I’m sure glad we had the extra CASH. And make sure you have cash, because they don’t take credit or debit cards.
We will keep taking our car here for maintenance because they are so great at what they do… but next time I’ll make sure to get the price in writing beforehand.

I called to see if they would be open on a Saturday, and Ron said «sure, I can be if you make an appointment.» Sure, I’ll do that.
I rolled in with massively bad sounding brakes. Metal on metal. Ugh. He called an hour later to let me know that I’d torn through the rotors. Double ugh. But the price he quoted was really good, probably $ 150 less than I would’ve gotten elsewhere (I know this since my boss just had to get his rotors replaced), and he made sure that my rotors had a sensor on them so if I ate through the brake pads again, I’d know right away. He even kept the rotors that he’d removed to show me. Yep, they were pretty shot. I got in at 10:00am on a saturday, left with a much happier car at 12:30. Sweet.
Downside — I had to pay in cash (or money order or cashier’s check) since it was my first visit. Next time I can pay with check. No plastic.

We walked in thinking we had a couple jobs for these guys, and walked out with a real understanding of the situation, no working needing to be done right now, and just feeling good about the whole experience!
Definitely taking the car back in when we need some maintenance! Highly suggest rolling into this shop.
Thanks guys!

An unexpected gem!
Something fell off my car today so I just called up the closest place (Harrah’s) and now I’m totally in love. They were able to help me same-​day and finished even earlier than they’d estimated. When I went to pick up the car Ron explained to me exactly what was wrong and what he’d done to fix it, without using complicated terms that I don’t understand (I’m not a car person). I’m 29 and this is the first time I’ve felt like a mechanic was a real person giving me the straight story, not pulling something over on me or talking down to me. The guys even hung around and chatted with me afterwards and it was actually fun! Who’d’ve thought?! I will definitely be back.

My car broke down outside of my work late in the afternoon in SODO and not even a jump would get it started. Two of us on Smartphones were looking up auto shops where I could possibly take the car to get it checked out, and Harrah’s came up as one of the choices where we were looking to take it in West Seattle. The shop is owned by brothers Rick and Ron, who said to bring the car on in, even though it was practically 5 PM and most places are closing down by then. Since I needed a tow, they also recommended a tow company that they use, and allowed me to bill the towing through the shop so I could pay one tab at the end.
The tow truck came within a half hour, as quoted. When we got to Harrah’s, I was able to leave the keys with Rick since he was still there when we arrived, now close to 6 PM. Though he wasn’t going to look at the car until the next day, he spent time talking with us about the car and some of the symptoms he had experienced with Saturns and what we had noticed in the days prior to it breaking down. He said he would look into it in the morning and should have an idea by noon. The next day we called to check in, and he was in the process of evaluating what was wrong. We had suspected the battery was drained, and sure enough he said that the car was running right then, charging up the battery that was drained. After checking all other possible causes, he recommended getting a new battery due to the fact that mine was at least 4 – 5 years old. Instead of having me spend $ 100+ on the battery from his shop, he sent me to Costo to get one for $ 70 instead. I much appreciated the tip, as Harrah’s doesn’t take credit (only cash or checks) and I was already out for the towing and diagnostics (both very fairly priced).
When I went to pick my car up later that day, I spend some time chatting with Ron, who took a genuine interest in my situation, and even offered me a water/​soda when I mentioned I was thirsty. I thought that was really thoughtful, and ended up chatting with him a while until Rick was ready with the bill. Overall, these guys know their stuff. They are super friendly and willing to provide awesome service and for a fair price. I didn’t feel like they were going to try to push extra services on me, just told me exactly what needed to be done to make everything right. As someone trying to save money and not invest a lot in my 17 year old car, I really appreciated this aspect of their service. The only drawback is them not taking credit cards, but even that doesn’t warrant less than 5 stars. I will definitely be back (though I hope not soon). :)

I had high hopes after reading the other reviews.
I will start off by saying that these guys are nice and that I do believe they are honest. I also thought their prices were reasonable. They did the work they said they would do but they didn’t fix my problem.
I later fixed my problem myself and believe it was something they should have caught, which would have saved me hundreds on parts. They also made some statements that were just plain wrong. Initially, I was going to have them perform several items of work on my car, but the more I talked to them, the less I believed they knew (at least about the highly technical issues), so I retracted and decided to do the rest of the work on my car myself. If the car manual calls the part a «widget», Napa, Schucks, and the dealer call it a «widget», its a «widget» not a «gizmo» guys.
Also, a couple things to note, they don’t accept credit cards, which nobody told me until payment time so I had to run to the bank and get cash. They also are not on the State Dept of Ecology approved list of emissions repair specialists.
I will end in saying that I would have no problem having these guys perform routine work on my car, but I do all that stuff myself.

Okay, so I didn’t use their services, but my brother did after I did a search for a neighborhood mechanic.
Thursday before Labor Day weekend and my brother’s car poops out on him on Admiral Way after work. He walks the rest of the way home and makes a call late in the afternoon to Harrah’s (after reading the Unilocal reviews). Harrah’s says he can drop the car off that night (Thursday), but it might not get seen until the following week, Tuesday. This means he would be without his ride over Labor Day weekend which would not be in his best interest, but since it was close and he really didn’t have any other options he went with Harrah’s.
Good thing he did! He dropped the car off on the Thursday night and talked to the man (don’t know who). The guy says it’s probably the alternator and that’s why the car died. Cut to Friday at 3:00pm and my brother gets the call that his car is ready to go!
Needless (or maybe needful, in this case) to say the car is still running, problem solved. Excellent service and fixed the car with a quicker-​than-​advised turnaround time; that deserves a couple of stars in my book. Finding a mechanic is always a pain, but since it all worked out for the brother, I would not hesitate to drop my car off at Harrah’s also… and I’m super picky about who looks at my ride.
Cheers!

Hurrah for Harrahs! I found this business on Unilocal yesterday and today I can say: Harrahs is right up my alley. Almost literally, mostly figuratively. It is as other reviewers say. The small scale of this business is uncommon and made getting my run problem fixed almost… fun. Not that you need to be there but if you are curious, everything is explained while you watch. Cars can be expensive buggers. If yours needs a lot of work or just a little… you’ll feel better about paying these guys than some faceless chain. They were ready for me on time and Ron and Rick were on task and spot on. They are more than fair and capable. They have stayed in business for 30 years… for good reason.

This shop is run by two brothers and has been in business for 30 years. I went in to see about getting a leaking cooling system fixed; expecting it to run me at least a few hundred dollars. I had about an hour before I had to get to work, and I had expected to have to leave my car for the day and rely on the bus to get around.
Ron was there at the shop when I got there, and I explaned my problem and what I thought the problem might be. I had had a similar problem almost exactly a year ago, and I was advised to replace the water pump, serpentine belt, and flush the whole system (roughly $ 700! –and that from the most trustworthy mechanic I’d found since moving to Seattle).
We went out and looked under the hood together, each offering our opinions on what the problem might be. We found a hole in a hose leaking on the engine. Any other shop would have told me they would have to replace the entire heating hoe and tear the unit out and have to order the parts from GM; but Ron went with the most practical, simple and effective fix: cut out the bad part of he hose and couple it with a good piece.
I felt like I was working at home on my car with my dad. Ron explained the whole process and let me get my hands dirty helping him fix the hose. Not many mechanics are willing to be so transparent about their work! I think the patch we came up with is actually stronger than the original design.
The best part, aside from finding a mechanic close to home that I trust, is that I made it out in under an hour, and he was VERY reasonable about his price (under $ 50!). This was a simple problem to fix, and I’m sure some more invasive auto-​surgery would reflect a higher price, but I know I, for one am happy to pay even a high price if I know I’m paying for good, honest work.
I highly recommend Harrahs for whatever problems you might be having with your car, whether you know a thing or two about cars, or nothing at all:)

I highly recommend Harrah’s and the two brothers who own it. Both are honest, friendly, and knowledgeable. Their prices are a lot lower than the big chains like Midas. They always talk to me about what’s going on with my car, what they did to fix it, and offer plenty of advice. I learn a lot every time I go! And my car is running fine, which is the most important thing, after all.

So the whole Cherry battery issue was resolved and things between my Cherry and I were fine until the other day. She started making noises, I related it to how my knees sound when I walk, you get that bone on bone sound going on but with her it was more like metal on metal but only when I turned the steering wheel. I knew something was wrong but what’s a girl to do?
I admit I’m a completely helpless female when it comes to my car and with only two gay boyfriends who don’t have cars, I’m stuck fending for myself when it comes to car issues. My father he’s the same way, only minus the two gay boyfriends, so there was nothing I could have learned from him, I think my mother might know more than my pops. Anyways…
So I knew I had to take her in but where? I wanted some place close to home and on my bus line just in case they needed to keep her over night. I searched Unilocal but it failed me. So I turned to my favorite West Seattle website the West Seattle Blog (
) and three months ago there were questions regarding mechanics and Harrah’s was mentioned a few times. I gave them a call and they said bring her in.
As I pull in they can hear the metal on metal and their first guess without looking at her was the breaks, I knew it wasn’t the breaks only because back in February 2007 I had them all ‘done’ and I didn’t think a year later they’d be broken. They look under her and see the break pads are fine, so we get in to drive it around the block but all I had to do was turn the steering wheel and they knew what was wrong. Something with my power steering thingamabob. I pop the hood and they start looking. He saw it immediately a leaking power steering hose thingy and low power steering fluid. Every step he took he told me what he saw and what he was doing and showed me everything. He tighten the lose thingy and filled the fluids and than proceeded to pressure washed my engine because the belt thingy had the fluid leaked all over it and it needed to be cleaned so the belt thingy didn’t end up ruined.
The place is run by two guys who are extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and if cherry ever breaks again I know where to bring here for an honest opinion as to what’s wrong. I learned that they have been open in West Seattle for almost 29 years and are a bit selective as to what cars they will and won’t work on I’m lucky they decided to help me out, actually my Cherry is lucky. Their garage is small but stocked with more Snap-​On tools than I’ve ever seen, more tools than any other shop I’ve ever been too it was an impressive site even for this helpless female who knows nothing about cars or tools. Since it is a small family own shopped it’s also cash or check only and that would be the only draw back for me if it’s going to be a spendy issue, I may not have the cash on hand. Thankfully for my first visit I only had to pay for an hour of labor + tax ($ 54.50) and with that I received a brief bit of West Seattle knowledge for free. Great guys, good shop, would definitely use them again.