Advanced Auto

Dominic is incredible. I live in Manayunk, and I will always go to him to get my car fixed.
My car broke down near Broad & Washington. I had initially towed my car to Pep Boys on Broad Street, as you can get a $ 20 tow by using their rewards program, but Pep Boys was unable to determine what was wrong with my car. First, they told me that they don’t do «internal work.» When I went in to get my car, they then told me that it had multiple significant problems, and that it was just time to scrap it and get a new one. That’s when I found Dominic on Unilocal,and he sincerely saved me several thousand dollars. After what seemed like only a 5 minute diagnostic, he was able to determine that my car needed a new fuel pressure regulator because the diaphragm was punctured. Once he replaced that part, the car ran better than it did before it broke down.
I am a graduate student who was very negatively impacted by what Pep Boys was trying to tell me about my car. I am so thankful for Dominic, and I highly suggest him to everyone. He is so knowledgeable and will explain the issue to you until you understand the problem, and he will work with you to get the job done.
He is honestly the best mechanic that I have ever dealt with.

As a new driver, I’ve had my fair share of bad experiences w repair shops — poor service, overcharging, misinformation, etc. But after going to Advanced Auto and working w Dominic and his team, I feel like I’ve found the light at the end of the tunnel. Great attitudes, excellent customer service, fast service, fair pricing, honesty — all words that describe my experience at Advanced Auto. This is the only place I’m taking my car to if anything happens to it from this point forward.

I’ve been servicing my car here for the last 4 years and a review was overdue. Finding an honest, quality mechanic can be a difficult task. Dominic and the staff at Advanced Auto are consummate professionals. He is extremely knowledgeable, thorough and a great communicator.
Advanced Auto goes above and beyond exceptions on a consistent basis and provides customers with honest, quality work.

I never thought I would go to a mechanic and be so inspired to come home and write a 5 star review about my experience – that was until I met Dominic!
Our 2007 Honda Fit was idling hard, sputtering, and just approaching 85K miles. It was tine for a tune up – and then some.
Upon recommendation of a friend, I brought her over to Advanced Auto. I called Dominic, left a message and he promptly got back to me. he was unusually booked up that week so I made an appointment for Thursday (it was Monday).
Dominic’s shop says a lot about the type of service you are going to get. It is CLEAN, organized, and lovingly cared for. Clearly someone who takes pride in their work!
Dominic could not have been more friendly. He was polite, explained things to me to make sure I understood what he was saying, and was SO honest about everything from start to finish.
He called within an hour of having my car at the shop to go over with me his findings and the costs. He needed to replace the spark plugs and said – worst case scenario – possibly a coil (but he wouldn’t know until the new plugs were in). He was up front about all the potential costs and was SO SO polite.
He called back a couple hours later to tell me that unfortunately one of the coils was bad – but made sure to tell me that there was no additional charge for labor – since replacing the coil and spark plugs is one action. (I knew this from watching a youtube video when I thought maybe I could do this myself). Let me just say – I like Dominic so much that I will bring my car to him for EVERYTHING from now on! Support your small, local, family owned business! He just earned a life-​long customer!

I’ve been taking my car there for a few years and these guys are super nice and very honest. Highly recommend them to everyone who lives in the area. Sadly, I’ve since moved to the burbs, but I still plan to drive down to South Philly to get my car repaired/​inspected, to me its totally worth the trip. I’ve never felt taken advantage of there, like so many other shops I’ve been to. Once you find a good, honest mechanic, hang on to them.

I was really impressed by the professionalism, friendliness, and how quick they were to inspect my car. Even though the shop is on the other side of the city, I’ll definitely take my car there for service:-)

I recently purchased my 06 Lancer from a dealership in NJ and they told me that my car was guaranteed to pass inspection but I had to take it to Advanced Auto. I was nervous that they would just slap some inspection stickers on my car without really looking at it since they were working with the dealer. To my surprise they failed my car!
The guys at Advanced Auto noticed that I was missing a bracket to hold my brake fluid line in place they put a temporary fix in place so I could safely drive back to the dealer to have my car fixed. Very honest mechanic and I would keep going to him if he wasn’t so far from me.

I just got my car inspected here and it was a great experience. Dominic and Tony were super fast, friendly and explained everything. I was late for my appointment and they made is seem like it was no big deal. Being new to Philly it is good to find an honest place to get work done on your car! I will be back when I need an oil change…

Dominic is honest, charges only what’s fair, will treat your car well, and will treat you well. He is the first mechanic I’ve ever dealt with who actually talked to me about my car, instead of my husband, and I appreciate being treated with respect.

I have taken my Tercel to Dominic a few times now. He has excellent customer service skills and as far as I know was reasonably priced for the work. I never had a problem with him being too busy… in fact he has worked with me since my car broke down and I haven’t had the money right away to fix it.

It took 5 visits, three of which I left my car for the day, to get my inspection stickers. Major hang-​up: Dominic was too busy with other customers. Only problem with that excuse: he’d made an apt with me every single time.
I believe that the work done here is good and that Donnie won’t rip you off. However, there is no valid excuse for the lack of professionalism I experienced.
I do not recommend Advanced Auto.
I unfortunately have to alternate to recommend (other than PepBoys and a good car book).

With our Jetta’s coolant warning light on and having sadly moved 3K miles away from our trusted mechanic in Oakland, CA, I did what any other red-​blooded American would do– I jumped on Unilocal to see who my fellow Unilocalers recommended.
Sean G’s review was dead-​on. Dominic at Advanced Auto was busy, but not not too busy for an emergency on Thanksgiving weekend. He quickly determined that the water pump was broken and gave us a quote which our Oakland mechanic confirmed was absolutely reasonable.
Like a good dentist, a good mechanic is one of life’s necessities.
Hopefully our car won’t run into any major problems in the near future, but if it does, its nice to know we’ve found our go-​to guy.