Downtown Everett a mecca for car repairs

What a lucky girl I am. My car recently broke down. That wasn’t lucky, but I had a myriad of repair shops to choose from in downtown Everett.

Make a choice and leave your car. They’ll fix it, usually, before you leave work. A co-worker wondered if I noticed how many shops I had to choose from. He was right.

I now call the heart of downtown Everett the Auto Repair Capital of the World.

That’s not to say a city like Lynnwood doesn’t have a lot of repair shops, but they aren’t wall-to-wall like downtown Everett, roughly between Pacific Avenue and California Street, and W. Marine View Drive and Hoyt Avenue. Lisa Ryba, service writer at Wardell Automotive at 2813 W. Marine View Drive, said not only is there a plethora of shops, almost everyone gets along.

"We talk to the other shops," Ryba said. "Certain shops do certain things."

Wardell cleans and tests fuel injectors along with their service work. Other shops send fuel-injector work to them. They refer transmission work to other nearby shops.

"There seems to be enough business," Ryba said. "Bear Alignment does great work. We send business there. They send business here."

One female Wardell customer gives them all of her automotive business. Her husband prefers to take his car to nearby Everett Auto Clinic.

Ryba said customers go where they feel comfortable.

When my car broke down at a Safeway store, I shifted it into neutral and let it glide out of the parking slot into the middle of the lot. I grabbed my jumper cables, opened the hood on my 1993 Toyota Corolla, then flashed my best come-hither look at passing cars.

That was a lot easier when I was 20.

In middle age now, my best hope was that a bald, elderly stranger in a one-owner l963 Plymouth would take pity.

If it had been a transmission problem, I could have had my car fixed at Aamco Transmissions at 2929 Rucker Ave., which is a door down from Wesco Transmission. Aamco manager Rich Haines said other neighborhood shops send them work.

"Business is really good," Haines said. "We are always busy."

They also do general repair work, he said.

Manager Robert Herbert at Pro/Max Discount Radiator, Muffler and Brake Center at 2801 Rucker Ave. said they get a lot of business from folks who live or work near downtown Everett.

He was welding a catalytic converter on the underside of a Senior Services of Snohomish County rig the day I visited.

Hydraulics and cylinder repair is the specialty for Everett Hydraulics at 2923 Grand Ave. Owner Todd Cudaback said they also work on the propulsion systems for state ferries, which are often seen docked in front of the Navy pier. He takes his car up the street when he needs something fixed, he said.

Watch out for the school bus backing out of Precision Motors at 2931 Grand Ave. Service manager Roy Downes said they do fleet repairs for different organizations and car dealerships. Downes said the shop across the street sends him air-conditioning jobs. He’ll call O.N.B. Automotive at 3002 Grand Ave. with technical questions.

Keeping cars on the road is the job of Bear Alignment at 2902 W. Marine View Drive. They keep wheels aligned, do brake service and do repairs for biggies such as motor homes.

Owner Sherri Bear said e nearby companies send trucks her way, and she sends tire shoppers to Everett Tire and Automotive, a Goodyear dealership at 2828 Hoyt Ave. President Mark Dowdle, who writes the Under the Hood column for our Web site, at www.heraldnet.com, does auto and truck service and repair work. He used to own a gas station. Dowdle said the manager at Everett Auto Clinic used to be his auto parts representative. He mentioned another nearby shop owner who also used to own a service station.

Even though there are so many nearby shops, Dowdle said what keeps customers coming back, more than location, is quality service.

I was interested in getting my broken starter fixed so I could get home from work. The Auto Repair Capital of the World was just what I needed.

Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com