Advanced Automotive

Jim and Gary are great guys who do a great job with whatever task they get handed. They are always very fast with there work and fair with there pricing. I have never had to bring my vehicle back for a re-​do after advanced worked on it. Very fortunate for Jim and Gary over the years.

Gary and the other guys here have taken such great care of me and my Honda Pilot 2009. It has 220,000 miles on it and the most recent 6,000 I owe all to these guys. Especially today, my engine light went on yesterday afternoon and even on a holiday he stayed late in order to ensure me a safe ride back to North Carolina on Saturday morning. They get the job done and they are stand up guys, can’t thank them enough!

I took my 2011 Honda Accord to this place on Apr 3^rd for an inspection. The car is in good shape. Everything was working but the windshield had a crack. 10 minutes into the inspection the mechanic (a young kid) comes over to me: «Your wipers are no good. I have to reject it for this reason. But! If you buy the wipers from us you pass». And he shows me a whole rack of shitty wipers available for purchase at a premium price. «No, thanks. Reject is Ok for now. I’ll get my wipers elsewhere.» — «That’s fine, sir. Actually, your car cannot pass anyway because your windshield has a crack». WOW! How interesting! I had hectic two months, so only yesterday I went to this place for a recheck (June 3^rd). «Oh, you might be late by one day. If it’s so we have to charge you again» — «Ok, if you have to charge I will go somewhere else, if not please place the sticker where it belongs now» — «No, I cannot do this. You must agree to pay first before I check anything». I walked out. This shop is DISGUSTING. Stay away. PS. The rejected wipers were not that bad, actually. I’ve seen much worse. Some streaking yes but I drove all winter with these wipers without an issue. I had to go through all this bullshit, plus must have now another inspection done for $ 35 because these guys are in the business of selling shitty wipers.

I’ve been going to Advanced Automotive on Woburn Street in Wilmington, Ma since they opened, I’ve always been satisfied with the service and prices.
Prior to Gary opening in this location, I used his services on Main Street in Wilmington, (I think it was a Gulf Gas Station).
Gary and all his employees are very pleasant to work with, and his son Jim is following in his fathers footsteps, quality work at a fair price.
I feel very comfortable recommending Advanced Automotive, I’ve never had any problems.
Roy

Came by to get my car inspected during my lunch break a little while back. I was told that the plastic dealer rim around my rear license plate was not legal in Massachusetts. While I’m sure they weren’t lying to me about that, I was given the option to either leave, remove the piece myself, and then return (not possible given my time restraint, especially because I’d have to wait my turn again) or to have them remove the piece for an additional labor cost of $ 15. I found the additional charge to not properly represent the additional work required (removing two screws from a piece of plastic), and I have been to several other automotive shops that would have performed the service free of charge (maybe a future warning at most). I’ve since decided to get work done at places that won’t nickel and dime me.

These guys run a nice shop here. They have fair prices and do high quality work.

I’ve used Advanced Auto several times for inspections and tire work. Nothing much more involved yet because if it’s not something they can do while I’m at work I have to go closer to home. I do most of my own mechanic work when I can. When I can’t I use these guys when I can. They answer my questions, quote me up front and the prices are reasonable for doing things I just can’t do. It galls me to pay for something I COULD do myself, but I just can’t store and buy all the tools to use them once every 4 years. So when I need a garage I think of these guys first.
For all you folks out there who bust on garages for poor customer service and not calling when your car is ready. You have to take responsibility for yourself. These guys are busy working hard so they can keep their rates low. If you want all the bells and whistles and receptionists go to a dealership and pay for the overhead. If you want your car fixed at a fair rate by guys that work hard — this is a good garage for that.

I’ve been bringing my cars to Gary at Advanced Auto for over 15 years. Now Jim is taking the reigns and continuing his father’s high level of quality service. I know I can count on Advanced Auto to provide an accurate assessment of needed repairs. Sometimes they’ll tell me a repair is important, other times it can wait or there may be a cheaper interim fix. They tailor the service to my needs and expectations — just what I want from an auto repair shop.

I have paid $ 428+ for spark plugs and oil change. I also had a rattling heat-​shield which he charged me $ 92.50 to fix (which what he claims is an hour worth of work to put a single clamp on the heat shield…) The heat shield started rattling again a week later. When returned about 4 weeks later due to the rattling — Gary claimed that this rattling comes from the other side of the heat shield and he will charge me now only $ 35. When confronted and asked why the price gap he claimed that the $ 92.50 was for also deleting a «check-​engine» code (which takes less than 3 minutes to do… Get it right, it comes to $ 57 bucks to check an error code and delete — A service which is free anywhere else…)
Do not go there, they are expensive and do not guarantee their own work for a even a month. Avoid wasting your money.

I’ve been working with Gary and Jim for 9 years now, they’re the only garage I use unless I’m forced to go to the dealer for something real specific. I’ve never had an issue with pricing or quality of work. I’ve even done the «blank check» visit on 2 high mile cars asking them to go over it and let me know what it needs. Both time, they focused on the major issues only and didn’t try to nickel and dime me.

Incompetent, not reliable, poor customer service. I have used this automotive place several times, and have been disappointed time after time… everytime they say they’re going to call me to get my car they «forget» until I call them 15 minutes before they close. No real customer service – everyone is just another customer, and we can all be replaced. I never understand the explanations they give me, which makes me question whether they understand the problems themselves or whether they’re being honest. Not the worst mechanic I’ve ever been to, but certainly not the best. There are other great mechanics in town I’d recommend over this one.

I’ve had 6 or 7 oil changes and wheel balancing done here over the past couple years. They’ve always been able to take me the same day and they seem pretty well organized. Obviously this is simple stuff but so far so good… not like the time NTB left my lug nuts undone and my wheel fell off.

As the daughter of a former auto parts store owner, I grew up accustomed to my Dad taking my car fixed for me without having to lift a finger. I always knew, even if he wasn’t doing the work himself, that my car would be well-​maintained and that all necessary repairs were done expertly.
My Dad passed away just over 11 years ago. Since around that time, as I worked just up the street in Woburn, I started bringing my car to Advanced Automotive for oil changes. Over time, as minor issues would come up with my car (and my husband’s) we would drop off to Gary and his team. We have come to rely on Advanced Automotive as our go-​to guys. They are extraordinarily communicative — super responsive — and have GREAT prices — and they are just the nicest folks you can imagine. If you can’t have your Dad take care of your car for you — take it here — it’s the next best thing!
I now live in Somerville and work in Boston, but I still take my car to Advanced Automotive.
Just this past week, my car just wasn’t driving like it normally does. None of my Dad’s gear-​headedness rubbed off on me so I had no idea how to describe it to the guys at Advanced Automotive so they promised to take it for a spin and call me with a diagnosis. Gary explained that the culprit was a bearing — and since the required labor would be nearby my brake pads (which were nearing the end of their lifespan but not yet causing problems) he would be able to replace both in one fell swoop of labor, thereby saving me money on future labor to replace the brake pads — which would have been no more than 6 months down the line.
I could tell you more stories like this one but I have never been let down by these guys and the bill when I pick up is generally spot on or a little less than Gary’s initial estimate — which is always a good thing.

Great place. I took my 01′ BMW in for some general repairs. The owner, Gary, was super responsive. He provided me with a cost estimate over the phone, before I brought my car in. The work got done on time and under budget and he was nice enough to drive over and pick me up at the end of the day

I“ve been bringing my car to Advanced Auto for years and would never go any where else. They always call with an estimate before doing work and are friendly and honest. There have been many times I’ve brought my car in without an idea what was wrong with it, or even thinking I needed new brakes. I’ve been pleasantly surprised when they call me with what turned out to be a minor repair or even letting me know that i still have a lot of life left in my brakes.
They aren’t expensive, but they aren’t the cheapest. They are an honest group of people that work very hard.

Advanced Automotive is a wonderful garage for general auto repairs. What they don’t do in-​house, they will take it for you to get it done — like tires. I started going there because they are convenient to my workplace. I have stayed because:
a) they always call you when your car is ready
b) they keep in touch, letting you know if they find other things, or if the bill will go up. They are very conscious of your bill, always making sure you’re OK with whatever work they will do.
c) They are very friendly and don’t ever make me feel stupid even though I don’t know a lot about cars.
Today I really got to experience how full service they are! I had taken my car in for a burnt-​out clutch. Not only did they replace it and a few other things that had broken as a result. When I came to pick up my car, the owner asked to go for a ride with me. He identified what I was doing wrong when driving. Then he took over the wheel and gave me a driving lesson! I never formally learned stick, so I had a few areas where I was doing it wrong. He said he wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be back there in 5 years for another clutch.
Another cold day, he and his wife offered me a ride back to my office. Now, I could have walked but I appreciated that. Most car places make you beg for a ride, or you have to call a taxi.

i’ve used this garage a number of times for simple to moderately complex repairs (oil change, burnt out headlights, changing belts, new brake pads, etc) and have always been happy with the service and price. the guys who work there are very nice and trustworthy — i tested them by asking if i needed new brake pads when i knew they weren’t fully worn and they said they were fine. they also gave me a free tow when my car died a half mile from their garage and one of the main mechanics gave me a ride to get my rental car later that evening.
i don’t know if they can handle really complex repairs well but they certainly have my trust that they wouldn’t milk the job for all they could and would be honest and easy to work with.