Alewife Mobil

Do yourself a huge favor and never let these people work on your car.
First off, the sign on the building says «under new management,» but I walked in today regarding a problem with the brake job they did in August 2013, and they still have the same manager.
In a nutshell, this shop very likely did serious damage to my rear brakes. That’s bad enough by itself, but the fact that they are now being belligerent and dishonest has me livid enough to post a review to warn other people.
You would think a brake job would be relatively simple, but if you drive an Acura, you’d be wrong. It turns out my car requires special tools to replace the rear brakes. Also, unlike most cars, the parking brake is integrated into the rear brake calipers. This last point is critical to understanding why I think this shop caused my problem. And to be clear, I just learned these details today. If I’d known this all along, I would have immediately taken my car to another shop to repair the work that this shop did. But alas.
So… This shop did my rear brakes (pads and rotors) in the summer of 2013. The job took twice as long as estimated, despite no other cars being in the shop. I got a general sense that something was amiss.
The day after they did my rear brakes, my parking brake warning light came on. I immediately called the shop to ask about it. They refused to look at the car and aggressively insisted that this sudden parking brake problem had nothing to do with the brake job. Well, as I noted above, the parking brake is integrated into the rear brake calipers on my car, so this was a convenient bold-​faced lie to tell a customer who didn’t know any better at the time.
It’s now 14 months later, and not only are my rear brakes already shot (after only about 15K miles of driving), I have what appears to be a frozen caliper that has destroyed my driver side rear rotor. While it’s possible that this caliper problem is a random coincidence, the odds are not in this shop’s favor.
I stopped by this shop today to point out the problem in hopes that they would have an honest conversation about the situation and hopefully offer to cover some or all of the cost of repairs. But NOPE. The manager was friendly when I first walked in and explained my concerns, but as soon as he saw the severe damage to my rear rotor, his friendly demeanor evaporated and he gruffly insisted that a seized caliper has nothing to do with the brake job they did. When I pointed out that my parking brake light had come on the day after the brake job, indicating a problem with the brake job, he again insisted that this had nothing to do with their work. Well, as I described above, this is obviously not true. He was essentially trying to bully me into going away, and ultimately, I had no choice but to give up.
Even if this shop does some work well, they clearly don’t know their own limitations, and as soon as something goes wrong, they’ll stonewall you. Why take that risk?

I started bringing my old pickup truck here for service a few months ago. Eli and his crew are wonderful. They take the time to explain their recommendations, always give you choices, and the rates are very reasonable. My new go-​to place. Highly recommended.

New Ownership and Mechanics! Back to good ol’ fashioned Great Customer Service!
Upon the recommendations of a couple of friends, I went back here in early January 2014. Fortunately, this place now has new owners and far better mechanics that actually care about their customers AND about doing a quality job at a decent price.
I brought my ten-​plus year old car here for its first major work since I bought it brand new. Eli is just an awesome guy; up front, knowledgeable and respectful. I know for certain that the work he did for me would have cost at least $ 300 more at my usual mechanics. Forget what the dealer’s garage would have charged me!
He did quality work, promptly. He even got the part I needed cheaper than I was quoted at another place. He gave recommendations as well for work that I’ll need within the next few months to keep my car going strong for another four or five years.
I also see that their gas prices are more in line with other Mobile Stations in the area.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that the previous owner is no longer here. This place is now top notch!

Alewife Mobil is the only place I go for auto service. Douglas, the mechanic is very knowledgeable and great in the garage. Anytime I have an issue with one of my cars, Marc, one of the guys over at Alewife explains it to me in normal terms so I understand. I stopped getting quotes from other places, because they are consistently lower priced than anyone else. They are also really fast with their service. I love it here and highly recommend it.

I cannot believe all the negative reviews these guys are getting. They have been nothing but kind and just all around awesome to me. I recommend their services all the time. Not only do they always give me great quotes (one time a 1000 bucks below the one from Firestone), but they explain everything and pretty much treat me like gold. Seriously, they’re great, and if you go in, tell them Kyle (the girl with the Kia) sent you. :)

I’ve been getting my car repaired here for about 8 years now and they’ve always been great. Recently the place changed hands and, while I’ll really miss the guys who used to run it, the new people have done well by me over the past few months. Their prices are not the lowest, but they’re not nearly the highest either. They’ve also done their best to save me money on many of the things I’ve needed fixed
As to customer service, they’ve always been pretty decent to me and have sometimes gone above and beyond the call for me. The new gent that I’ve been working with, Ely is a friendly guy who takes extra time to explain, show me how things work, and discuss repair options.
Overall, this place is great and I have no plans to change where I go for service to my car.

Took our two cars for oil changes here on a whim. They took us in right away. Only issue I have is that in this cold weather, there’s not much of a place to wait comfortably. They basically have one chair awkwardly positioned in a corner behind the cashier. But hey if you need an oil change and don’t care about looks. This might be the place for you.

Hands down, my new favorite mechanic. Slowly rolled my car into their shop back in October due to my radiator thermostat spiking while on my way out to Western Mass to get married. Needed a new radiator, which they installed (for a great deal!) and had my fiancé and I out the door in two hours. Day before Christmas Eve, front axle and ball joint give way. We have the tow truck driver bring it here. Christmas Eve morning, the guys have my car fixed and ready to go by noon. No problems with the car since then (knock on wood!). Mike, the new manager/​mechanic is great and graciously took the time to show me the issues and explain the options to me.

Very friendly, helpful, and professional. My visit to the Alewife Mobil was convenient and pleasant. I wish there were more places like this around

I wish that we had a chance to take the advice of one of the posters here before we happened upon this local service station. The owners and staff of this gas station are incredibly rude and unprofessional. My wife dropped off our Accord for a routine fix — our alternator was not holding a charge — and they assured my wife that the cost would not go over the approximate quote of $ 270. She called me shortly after dropping it off and was concerned. She said that she had a bad feeling about the shop since they seemed to be trying to pull a fast one, talking to her like she was completely ignorant to the inner workings of a car and that they were a bit overpowering. I would bet money that had I been with her and not at work they would not have spoken to a woman in this way — especially since she was with our young son. The fix took two days longer than expected, yet the shop was clearly very slow and they said it would take no more than 1 – 2 days. In the end the alternator replacement cost us $ 368. With the quote that they provided us in mind and my own common sense I knew that we had been ripped off. It put a sick feeling in my stomach — from the disrespect they showed my wife, to the rude treatment and the confrontational attitude they displayed when we expressed our concern about the price and delays — both in person and on the phone. This was a nightmare. Even worse was that when I told my assistant back at the office about this she was not surprised. She resides in Arlington and avoids this shop altogether. Take my word for it — avoid the regret and awful experience that comes with pulling into Alewife Mobile.

These guys were always friendly and helpful and did everything that needed to be done. I got all my oil changes there and had them do some engine work for a reasonable price when my car broke down. The guys there are friendly and have a good sense of humor.
The only reason I gave them 4 out of 5 is because they failed to forsee a major problem with my breakpads and rotors, maybe it’s my fault, I never asked them to check them. But it seems like something that should be done when you go in for regular maintenance.