Have you ever taken your car into the shop for a repair you thought would be simple and inexpensive only to be told by the mechanic that the problem was dangerously more serious and that it would cost something like a kilo of flesh and a liter of blood to fix it? Then it ended up costing you more of each when you picked up your vehicle, which still had the original problem? Of course you have!
Have you ever had a mechanic tell you the problem with your car isn’t as serious as you thought and is going to cost you much less than you expected? 
There’s a real good chance this hasn’t happened to you yet. Not in the U.S. or in Mexico. That is, unless you’ve taken your car to Arizona Auto Service and Repair located behind the Santa Fe market strip center right here in Rocky Point. You can see the building looking down Calle Villa that runs along the north side of Dominos Pizza from Benito Juarez. It has ‘ARIZONA” in big orange letters painted on the side.
Francisco Javier Acuña Andrade, known by his many friends and loyal customers as Chico is is one of those rare mechanics, praised and constantly referred for his honesty.
Chico grew up in Hermosillo and has been around cars since about 1970 when he was just eight years old. That’s because his father and his grandfather were auto mechanics and he was fascinated with how motors worked and how his father and his grandfather could make them run better, run faster, or bring them back to life when they didn’t run at all. Chico knew from that early age that he wanted to follow in their footsteps, and at 18 years old, he became the third generation of Acuñas to become auto mechanics working for his father in Kino Bay.
He later joined his brother in the service department of a Ford dealership in California. After two years his brother, Sergio, opened his own shop in Oxnard and Chico worked with him until moving to Puerto Peñasco in 1997 where he worked for 10 years at Estrella Auto Service until that business closed its doors in 2007.
Chico took advantage of this opportunity to open his own shop five years ago. The name he chose, Arizona Auto Service and Repair (Autoservicios y Refacciones Arizona) was no accident. Chico made a goal to build trust with the Americans living in Rocky Point as well as the visitor market, the majority of which he knew came from Arizona.
That goal was quickly met, and today clearly 40% of Chico’s business is from Americans as repeat customers or word of mouth referrals.
Many folks even make special trips to Rocky Point to have Chico work on their vehicles. He’s known for telling his customers when it is less expensive for them to purchase the parts they need in the U.S. He completes the repair only charging for the labor. He does this even when he has the part in stock if it is better for his customer.
This kind of honesty is rare indeed, but it has been the philosophy of Chico’s family for three generations that providing honest service is rewarded with loyal customers.
Chico is an excellent example of the truth in this moral family philosophy. His oldest son, 19 year old Alonzo, and second son, 15 year old Brandon also plan to carry their family tradition into the fourth generation!
And with 30 solid years of experience, you can rest assured that Chico will know what’s causing that clunk, rattle, whine or whir coming from under your hood. And if he discovers the cause is just a stone lodged in a spring, you won’t be paying for new shocks. He’ll be under your car removing that rock and have you own your merry way pronto!
The Acuña family has added three generations of depth to Lord J. Byrom’s old proverb, “Honesty is the best policy.”
This blog is brought to you by Sonoran Resorts Sales Group, Jim Ringquist, Director of Sales.
I have been going to Chico for 11 years and the above words were never stated better of this man. I refer all my friends to him and he has kept my vehicles tip top at minimal costs. ………..Tom Drzewicki.