Teele Sq. Auto

Teele Square Auto is the only mechanic I have brought my vehicles to since moving to the area in 2008. The crew is efficient, honest, and through several repairs, they keep me running. Even after moving out of the immediate area, I bring my vehicle to them and only to them. Very grateful for their work and for keeping me confident that I can take on another cross-​country drive.

Just stopped in to get gas and I have to say the employee who works at night is very friendly!
Rain snow or shine he always does my windows and asks me to check my oil! I hope this worker is well compensated for the great job he does. And most importantly he speaks and understands English!!!

I’ve been going in to Teele Sq. for around 15 years (at least) now. Eli is honest, straight forward and direct. He has quoted me for jobs and when the work got more involved/​complicated he’s not charged me over the estimate EVER. His employees are loyal and honest too. They develop a relationship with the customer and will do whatever it takes to help you. They’ve even offered me rides home (I live in W. Medford) but it’s only a few miles so I usually walk. I can’t say enough about them as professionals and as human beings. My whole family utilizes their services (stickers and gasoline) too!

Dennis is the best– just an all around honest guy. He goes above and beyond; he’ll wash my windshield without being asked when I fill up and offer car advice even when his guys aren’t set up to provide the service or if he thinks it’s something I can do myself. He’s made me a loyal customer.

I stop in here after work for my gas. I go out of my way because I live in the Revere area but the guy who works in the evening I think his name is Dennis he’s the friendliest gas attendant I’ve come across. Not only is he very fast but he always cleans my windows. Workers Like him are a hard find. I hope he is well compensated for his hard work!!!

This establishment should be closed down. I had a complete exhaust system replaced (catalytic converter, et al) about 3 years ago that cost me over $ 1,000. I continued to have problems after the replacement and ended up bringing Eli to Small Claims Court, only to trust him one more time and I got screwed again by believing that I needed one more part to correct the problem. Three years later, I am driving home yesterday on the Xway, my car was stalling, and became very dangerous driving it. My new mechanic told me I needed a new exhaust system that will cost me another $ 1000.
ELI, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. I HOPE THAT YOU REALIZE THE HORROR THAT YOU BROUGHT TO YOUR FORMER CUSTOMERS. IF I COULD TELL THE WORLD TO NEVER CONSIDER GOING TO YOUR GARAGE I WOULD.

Very good service. We moved near here 2 years ago and we have gone to him for most of our state inspections and some repair work. They are swift and professional. They treat you with respect and don’t find extra defects in your car so they can make some extra $$.

This service station is nuts… as in bad nuts.
They did three pieces of work for me, one at the Teele Square location, and two others at their Broadway station, in Arlington.
The first job they did was on my Volvo V70 brakes, at Teele Square. I thought the work was well done at the time, and so gave them two more pieces of work
We had a 1999 Honda Odyssey that needed 1) a tune up, and 2) a new timing belt. The tuned it up, but I had to take it back multiple times before they got it right. Then they did the timing belt work but left some electronic sending unit dangling in the engine compartment (ie. forgot to put the two anchoring screws on it). We could hear some strange sound from under the hood. The unit was dangling onto a fan belt pulley, which wore the plastic casing away on it. They wrapped tape around it and secured it properly.
The above was on the order of $ 800 worth of work, both jobs done badly.
At that time I decided this place was a bit shoddy, and I asked the owner Eli if he could «make it right», maybe giving me a discount, or … who knows what he could offer. I just asked him for some help. He said he could give me free oil with an oil change. So not the labor, but just the oil. I found that laughable. (It reminded me of that scene from the movie «The Jerk», where Steve Martin is running a shooting gallery /​amusement game, and is showing a customer what she will win if she wins the game… and Steve points to the smallest item on the shelves.) It was hardly any compensation, and why would I let them touch my car again if that was the best the owner could do for my troubles!
So I never went back.
Then just last week the first brake job they did on my Volvo V70 came back to haunt me. I just tried to post the following on the web form on their their «Contact Us» page
However, when I submitted the form there was an error that showed that the form has never worked correctly. Here is the error:
«Sorry, We are unable to send your message at this time. Please try again later. ERROR: Invalid Send Parameters:
Missing TO email address»
So I am posting that message here, in the hope that maybe Eli will respond… although I doubt he will… who knows.
Here is the message.
«Eli,
I brought my 1998 Volvo V70 for you a few years ago, when the right rear brake line failed. You fixed it. Just last week the same brake line failed again. The garage that fixed it this time took me under the car and showed me that a compression coupling, which you had put into the line to repair it last time, had failed. They also told me that is illegal to put a compression coupling into a brake line. So I had to pay $ 200 to have your work fixed again, and it was done illegally the first time? Please advise.
Thank you.»
So that’s my story.
I suggest no-​one should have work done by either Teele Square or their Highland Avenue, Arlington garage.
Josh

I live right around the corner from this place and go to them with all my auto needs. I have an ’07 Honda Fit and I go here for my inspections, oil changes and gas. The guys that work here are great and help me out whenever they can, they’re very kind and friendly. I recommend all my friends that live nearby to go here!

We’ve been going to Eli and teele sq auto for the past 3 years and every time he fixes things and suggests relevant repairs for our older cars so we can get more miles out of them. I’ve never felt overcharged at all and everything has worked out great. I’d highly recommend his services to anyone in the area.

Eli is the bomb. He has been fixing my cars for 18 years.

This is from my experience trying to buy a 2001 Legacy Outback that’s been sitting on the property for a few weeks. I’m considering calling the State of MA and the Better Business Bureau actually, as the severity of the fraud that’s happening at this place is unbelievable.
My partner and I noticed the car a few weeks ago and have been in the market for an bigger car for our business of dog walking. This car seemed perfect from the outside for exactly what we needed, so we stopped by to test drive yesterday and were so excited that it only had 120,000 miles on it, had NEVER been in an accident and it was priced at $ 3500, which seemed a little steep, so we took a closer look and found:
One of the lights in the front had recently been replaced with glass instead of plastic to match the other side, the front bumper was busted and hanging a bit and the hood was dented and slightly bent, rust on the body, the brakes don’t engage properly and they grind, the sun roof cover wouldn’t open, it idles like it’s going to die, the steering column shakes like crazy on hard turns, one of the seatbelts in the back had been severed, the leather seats have been covered in the front for some reason, etc.
We didn’t believe the owner, Eli when he told us the car had never been in an accident and that the front damage happened when a tow truck backed into the car, so we ran a Carfax. This car’s been in TWO accidents (three if you count the front end damage), the odometer has also been spun back from 175,000 to their advertised low mileage of 120,000 (!!! WTF !!!) miles and Eli refused to own up to all of the lies he’s telling about this vehicle. He says he bought it from a customer, but the last record of ownership is from Canton and the car was sold at auction. I asked why it’s been sitting on the lot for so long and he explained that it’s because they drive it. He also said the brakes were new, and that he hadn’t noticed the seatbelt in the back until yesterday, but today said it was b/​c the owner had a dog?
Eli tried to make a call to his «friend» about the title so he could prove the mileage, but we were about done at that point. He had no odometer statement from when he bought the car and didn’t seem to know what an ODO Statement is, he’d never heard of carfax before and kept telling us that the «website we’re looking at is lying to us» — We tried to explain where the information in the report (which was extensive on this car for the past 11 years) comes from (title, inspections — it failed several and almost every emissions inspection it had – the registry), but it didn’t matter. He was so twisted and stuck in his own lies that he just kept saying we were wrong.
I’m also assuming that he he saw two girls walk into his shop wanting to test drive the car and thought we’d be pretty easy to take advantage of, but he was wrong.
A friend of ours had the same complaint about this place too when she got her battery changed there and they gave her a used one and then refused to give her money back or change it into a new one when she complained. I won’t be buying gas from them either anymore and I would advise you to do the same. You’ve been warned.
The sad thing is, in today’s economy, when you go that far to screw someone, you’re just disgusting. Eli you should be ashamed of yourself.
SHADY.

These guys are outrageous. They tried to charge me 3x what the actual repairs were worth.
I live less than a block away and decided to take my car in for inspection. I knew it was going to fail because the catalytic converter had been making funny noises and the check engine light was on. They found a host of problems including a tire that didn’t pass (it had been replaced less than 5000 miles ago). I then asked them to run diagnostics on the car to see what was the problem and they said that i needed a new catalytic converter and a new oxygen sensor. Eli, the man who many of you claim to be a great guy, told me over the phone that there are no after-​market part for my vehicle and that it would be an expensive repair. Realy? No after market cars for a ’98? What world are you living on? He quoted me almost $ 3000 for the repairs! The second that I got off the phone I went online and called other places– the highest quote that i got was $ 800 and they told me that I would most likely not need an oxygen sensor because the problem should be resolved with a new catalytic converter.
I got to pick up my car and tell Eli that I found after market parts and that everyone else was charging me a fraction of what he quoted me. All he does is look at me with a dumbfounded face and decides to play stupid pretending he didn’t know. Really?!? Asshat.
Bottom line– these guys are price gougers and trying to cheat people out of their hard earned money. I refuse to even get gas here any more.

I’ve used these folks for over ten years, for all my auto needs. I wouldn’t THINK of going anywhere else. (I know a thing or two about auto repair myself, and as a self employed woodworker, I’m familiar with customer service as well, so having just read a number of negative reviews on Unilocal,I’m seriously wondering what parallel universe these people must occupy?!)
Owner Eli is extremely knowledgeable and accommodating, as are the rest of his staff. I get itemized bills, prices are reasonable, work is performed quickly and efficiently, and mechanical problems are usually resolved immediately, no matter how difficult to diagnose or address. I should mention here that I drive used vehicles, which are by definition older and crankier than new, and require more repair and maintenance and TLC. Teele Square Auto is the main reason I can economically justify this approach to car ownership: they keep me rolling for minimal buckos.
For example: I was just in yesterday to have a VERY low tire inspected. TIre was removed, checked for leaks (none found), taken off rim and reseated, replaced on car. Back on the road in under 20 minutes. Total charge: $ 10. End of story. If cars were movies, these guys would be sweeping the Oscars.
And their gas prices are consistently among the cheapest in Boston.
What’s not to like? Take the word of a bunch of cranks, or check this place out and draw your own conclusions. I certainly have. These guys are worth your consideration.

I’ve been taking my car to Eli for years. He always gives me a fair price for service, and I’ve grown to really trust him. I no longer live in the neighborhood, but I still bring the car there for service.

I got my gas at Teele Sq Auto, and had my car serviced there for YEARS when I lived in Teele Sq. As a woman, I appreciated the service… they never once tried to sell me something I didn’t need, try to tell me I needed something fixed that I didn’t. I recommend the guys at Teele Sq auto for any service you may need!

They have a sign up displaying «cash price» so it’s not so much a bait and switch anymore.

I was treated absolutely horribly by a man working here. It would take me 20 pages to explain everything, but my gut feeling when I left was that he was very sexist or misogynistic, which may or may not have been due to cultural differences. To make a very long story short, I had my car towed there and they replaced the alternator. When I came to pick the car up, I waited for about 5 – 10 minutes by the door while the only employee working pumped gas for a line of cars. Then, when he finished, he waited for a car that was still about 20 feet from the driveway/​/​entrance to pull up to the pumps rather than help me and then started to pump his gas. At that point I assumed he hadn’t even seen me, so I called over to him and asked if I could pick up my car. He was extremely nasty in tone back and yelled at me that I should stand there and wait my turn. He basically just kept refusing to help me and the longer he made me wait/​nastier he spoke to me, the more I raised my voice and returned his tone — something that seemed to infuriate him. He ended up refusing to give me my keys, ordered me to leave, and when I refused to leave without my car, he actually called 911! (he was reprimanded by the 911 operator) The story goes on and on: the owner/​manager, Eli, who I spoke with on the phone, apologized profusely and told me the employee was going to be in big trouble, and assured me he was coming right away from his home in Saugus so that he could get me my car. I left for a bit so I could get away from this man until he Eli arrived. Unfortunately when I came back about 30 minutes later this man had had time with him alone; Eli changed his tune when we were face to face and said that his employee said I was yelling at him, and started actually defended him! He refused to watch the tape from the security camera, though I urged him to so it would show him what I had just endured and what he was defending. He kept saying that this man had only recently come to the United States and was still adjusting to «how things were» here. Regardless of whether this was so, seems to me he missed a prime opportunity for enlightening him with the facts of «how things are» in this country.
My experiences were nightmarish and upset me for days — I was very shaken up and couldn’t even talk about it initially. I hope this review encourages others to think twice before giving them their business; I will never go here again, no matter how cheap their gas might be.

I dropped off my van today for an oil change and a sticker, but forgot to ask for new wipers, which were little more than loose flaps of rubber slapping pointlessly in the rain. But Eli (the owner) changed them anyway, no doubt as part of the inspection.
So, having just read Ka Plow J’s review, I don’t get it. You asked for the inspection, right? Wipers are part of that. How much more annoying would it have been to show up and not have the inspection sticker because Eli needed your approval on the $ 18 first?
I agree with Danielle F. that the cash/​credit for gas thing is a little dodgy. But I’ve noticed that at other stations too. I bet it’s a violation of the credit card terms. But being a bigger fan of Eli than the vultures running Visa/​Mastercard, I say go ahead and stiff the bad guys for the $ 0.04/gal.
As for general repairs, we’ve never had any problems, only good service. We’ve never had any major work done by Eli, since our van isn’t all that old, but, like others in the neighborhood I know, I wouldn’t go anywhere else. I trust Eli. And if the attendants at the pump are sometimes a little crabby, who wouldn’t be, standing there all day in the blazing sun or blasting cold, breathing fumes?

I only have one experience with these guys, but it was fantastic.
I drove over a screw somewhere in Somerville, and had a fast leak in my tire. This was the closest auto place, so I pulled in. They plugged the leak and re-​inflated the tire in less than 10 minutes, and only charged me 10 bucks. They had saved me from being late from an important meeting, and when I tried to tip them an extra $ 20, they refused!