I am not a “car” girl. I love a good-looking car, but I have no desire to get under the hood. My brain doesn’t totally get all the moving parts and I don’t have the bandwidth to learn. Back when I was younger and cars had carburetors and I drove used beaters, I knew a lot. Today’s cars are more complicated and intimidating if I am honest.
My husband is the car guy. He works on them, he enjoys them. He also works full-time. As a family of six with an aging minivan, maintenance has to be a priority. And since I’m the one at home, that job has fallen to me. 
Our van is approaching 65,000 miles and needed the battery checked as we were seeing what I refer to as electrical gremlins (random weird lights, outages, etc.) and it possibly needed brakes. As it was May and we were prepping for the first of many road trips, I was thrilled when HEART Certified Auto Care, formerly Duxler Complete Auto Car, reached out to see if I was interested in seeing their updated facility and what makes them different from others.
HEART Certified Auto care stands for: Helping Everyone Achieve Reliable Transportation. They believe in building trust through transparency, which is a refreshing in a business where it can be easy to feel taken advantage of. HEART Certified Auto combines old-fashioned service with state of the art facilities, expert mechanical care and premium customer service.
My biggest issue with auto maintenance is that there is just so much. What to do, and when to do it, varies by who you talk to, and it’s just so much to sift through. I mean I have four kids and have to keep up with who needs appointments for what and when, and I need a spreadsheet for that! What I really loved about my visit to HEART was how simple and easy they made the process so I knew what I needed to do, and when.
The first thing that happens at an appointment is a full HEART Standard Inspection. They checked all the systems and parts. It took about 40 minutes to perform, and the technician came out with a full HEART roadmap to go over the results. The inspection includes removing all the wheels to inspect the tires, brakes, steering and suspension. All belts and hoses are checked for wear, and fluids are checked and topped-off as necessary. The results were printed and emailed to me so I could forward them to my husband at work and we could discuss all the results before deciding what to do.
This handy little printout was a game changer for me. It not only was easy to understand — green signified good, yellow meant an area was starting to wear, orange defined what should be changed, and red means you must fix before leaving — it came with pictures and video, and I could share it with my husband in real-time. The center has WiFi and we were able to chat online about what we wanted to do. My technician was also able to get on the phone with my husband to clarify a few things before we made the final decision on what to fix. It was great! I felt like I totally understood what needed to be done and why. One of the issues was a rodent (mouse and/or chipmunk) that had decided the warm engine of my car made it the perfect spot to set up house. The technicians not only shared the horrifying pictures with me via text, he walked me back to show me the issues in the car itself and how they would change it.
The whole visit with inspection, consultation, and repair took only a few hours. I chose to hang out and work using the free WiFi. Loaner cars are also available if you need to run errands or leave. The facility is stocked with comfy chairs, never-ending coffee and water as well as children’s play area and a popcorn machine. It’s also conveniently located near shopping.
From start to finish, every person I encountered was polite, smiling and professional. The facilities were clean and bright. If you could call car maintenance an enjoyable experience, my afternoon at HEART was very enjoyable. When all was done, the cost and pricing was easily laid out and understandable. Never once while I was at HEART did I feel like I was being talked down to, or trying to have services or worked pushed on me. I think we have found a maintenance home for life with HEART Certified Auto Care.
HEART Certified Auto Care has three locations: Evanston, Wilmette, and Northbrook, and performs all types of service for all vehicle makes and models. Contact them today for an appointment.
HEART Certified Auto Care – Northbook
280 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook, IL 60062 | (847) 450-7863
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Don’t just take my word for it; you can also read other people’s reviews on their website.
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Disclosure: HEART Auto Care provided me with a $300 credit towards service to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Interested in having us check out your business? Contact us here.
Nice. It looks like the diagnostic sheet is very well explained and detailed.