Lake & Thatcher Auto Repair

This is the best auto repair place I have ever used, hands down. Compared to dealership, other local places, even AAA doesn’t come close. They are smart, honest, superb diagnosticians, efficient, keep me totally well informed about what is happening, and to top it off they are courteous, articulate, and kind. Thank you PETE most recently for finding a very weird problem with my car — misdiagnosed by others — and fixing it quickly, efficiently and at a reasonable cost. They are a little more expensive than another local shop I have tried, but then I don’t have to have things fixed twice, or feel that the wrong thing was fixed. Too many bad experiences elsewhere have taught me to come back to Lake & Thatcher and I always will. This is really a local gem and I am glad to have found them.

I use L&T for more serious car needs (outside Oil Changes or Tire Rotations) and while the Owner always leaves me more than satisfied… it is his «right hand» man, Pete, I want to spotlight. My son was home from College over Christmas Break, experiencing car problems and on time constraints. Pete not only got the car in the day I called but it was ready the following. No small feat considering the Winter we are experiencing. He made it a priority and my son says it is now running great! The reason I’m taking the time to write a favorable review is for the EXTRA touch… my son told me that Pete took the time (without charge) to fix the latch on the trunk. I love when people go above and beyond. Thanks for great work.

I have been going to Lake and Thatcher for more than a decade and can highly recommend them for their reliability. I have referred many friends over the years, who remain very satisfied with the repair work they have received. What I like the most is that the mechanics are knowledgeable, honest and reliable. They take the time to explain things to me, to problem solve at the most reasonable cost, and to make good on what they promise! For instance, I took in my fairly new car yesterday for an oil change and asked about a clear coat issue. They took time to pursue options with addressing this issue and did not charge me for this consultation. In addition, auto safety and reliability are huge concerns for me, which Lake and Thatcher delivers on. I would not take my car anywhere else!

We recently had our car serviced here for a standard oil change and such. Oil change went fine, but they they alerted us that they found a few issues with the car that should be fixed. They said the car needed the tires rotated, and that the car was leaking transmission fluid and antifreeze that would require fixing two parts. The total estimated cost would be $ 500-​$ 700 (as the repairs were supposedly outside the warranty). Given the size of that expense we sought a second opinion.
I took our car to the dealer today for a «general check up» and purposefully avoided telling them about the specific issues cited by Lake and Thatcher. They also suggested the oil change– charged me $ 25 for it. They found one of the same leaks and made the repair– no cost as it’s covered within our warranty. They found no other issue. I then specifically asked them about the other cited leak and needed repair per Lake & Thatcher (they said we needed a new water pump). The dealer said they had checked it and it was perfectly fine.
So, by NOT going to Lake & Thatcher, we saved $ 500+. Suffice it to say we won’t be servicing our car at Lake & Thatcher anymore.

I work nights. I had to work the July 4^th holiday weekend.
Coming home from work Monday morning, I had the misfortune to have not one, but 2 flat tires. My normal place was closed because of the holiday observance. So, I had to look for someone near my apartment that was not only open, but could complete the work in time for me to go back to work later that night.
Sadly, that led me to Lake and Thatcher.
I do want to emphasize, they did successfully patch one of my tires, while the other was beyond repair. So they did that… at a cost of $ 59.
And…they gave me the option of having a new tire put on the next day, at a cost of over $ 150. I passed on that.
So, my gripe isn’t with the work that they did, it’s with the extortion charge for what’s normally a pretty simple and cheap procedure. I could have had the work done for far less money and time had my normal place not been closed.
This place gets 2 stars out of 5 from me mostly because of the amount of time and because of the insane charge for a simple fix. Maybe it’d be worth it if I drove a higher-​end vehicle, but for my car, no way.