We love reading through reviews of Openbay, and reviews of the auto-repair shops where users are having their vehicles repaired. Here’s a story from Lauri, a first-time Openbay user, who explains why she’s been referring the online marketplace to friends.
Where do you live and what do you drive?
I live in Chicago, Illinois, and I have a 2010 Honda CR-V with about 96,000 miles on it. I love it. It’s my second CR-V, and I’d had the other car for six years. I drive more than most people because of my job – I’m a regional manager with a 6-state region, and I tend to drive a lot in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.
How did you find Openbay?
Since I have so many miles on my car, my dad’s been telling me that I’d needed to get my timing chain checked. I’d been putting it off. Then, at about 11:30pm, I remembered I had to try to find a mechanic, so I Googled “auto repair shops near me” and found Openbay.
I downloaded the app, described the problem and submitted the request. I was literally falling asleep in bed when it dawned on me that I needed a mechanic. And the request only took about five minutes. I couldn’t believe it.
By 11am the next morning, the appointment was confirmed with a place right down the street from me. It was really fast, and they were able to accommodate an appointment on the only day that week when I didn’t need the car.
I wanted to pick the shop based on how close it was to me and how easy it was to take public transportation. The one I chose hadn’t come up as the least expensive, but I knew I needed to be able to take a bus. In the end, they drove me to and from the shop, which was so sweet.
It’s made life so much easier because in the city, how do you choose a shop, knowing nothing about cars. I’ve already sent Openbay over to my girlfriends. It’s hard for all of us to find a good mechanic, and I liked how it did everything, all the way down to processing the payment.
How’d it go at the shop?
I’ve been to a million different repair shops, and being a woman, I always feel like an idiot walking in. They usually ask what service I need done, and I say, “I don’t know, it’s making a weird noise.” How do I know what needs to be done?
The owner’s name is Joe; they call him “Uncle Joe,” and he was super nice. I told him my dad was concerned about the timing chain, and that the car was sputtering when it started.
They did an inspection while I waited, and then he came back and said “There’s nothing wrong with the timing chain. It doesn’t need to be replaced.” But I’d needed a flush, because the fuel injectors were causing the sputtering.
I’d been putting off preventative maintenance, but they have me a super fair quote, threw in a free oil change, and even gave me a 10% new-customer discount.
The next day, I picked up the car. They’d even washed the inside and outside of the car. I got in and was shocked. They were super sweet, gave me a very fair price. And I like that, even though I was asking for a particular service, they didn’t do it because I didn’t need it. That was amazing.
When you first heard about it, what attracted you about Openbay?
It was 11:30 at night, I hadn’t scheduled a service, and it was so easy to get quotations, just like that. I love using mobile apps, especially ones that work very well.
Has Openbay delivered, as you had expected?
It over-delivered. It was so nice, at that time of night, for me to be able to get the request going, and it worked so well.
Would you book with the same mechanic again, and if so, would you do it through Openbay?
I’m going to be moving soon, out of the city of Chicago. I’m excited to have the app. I plan on keeping my car until it explodes or disintegrates. So I’ll definitely use it again, once I move.
Where I plan to move, the only place I could find to get an oil change was a Wal Mart and they weren’t even able to shut of the oil-change light. I hope Openbay will help me find a qualified mechanic near my new home.
