Downtown Mobil Service

As a young lady and first time vehicle owner, it came time to finally find a reliable shop that I could take my car to on the regular, and this is it! Sam, Kal and the entire crew over there did a great shop servicing my car (replaced the engine). Good guys! Honest and fairly priced – more over, patient and understanding. They worked on my car until it was good as new (and my car was in really bad shape)! I recommend this shop to anybody, you wont be disappointed.
Thank you!

No frills here but they did a relatively quick oil change when they found out I was waiting. $ 40 and I drive a newer American car. One of the owners, Sam, was great. Very personable. This is an awesome old school neighborhood shop. They could stand to clean up the exterior with all the new neighborhood investment around them. I’m sure the owners of the new bars and restaurants would be grateful.

There always there and they fix your car at a very good price just remember it could be more

Needed changing Camshaft solenoid. This is an uncommon repair work, and I was having hard time finding a mechanic who understands the problem. Took it to them, and they immediately identified the parts, and replaced them so fast that I thought they came in to give an estimate. Reasonable price and pretty good professionalism.

Downtown Mobil has been a Corktown business for decades, and Sam, the owner, is a born and raised Corktown resident himself. He knows the community, and after coming here just once I was treated like I was a longtime customer and friend.
The place was slammed with business but they still tended to my car in a timely fashion. The insurance company my car’s warranty was under was being stubborn about what they’d cover, but Sam went out of his way to find some alternatives that helped cut down a little on my out of pocket costs. Needless to say that was much appreciated!
Car repairs can always be a stressful situation, but it went as smooth as it could have here with Sam. My car is purring like a kitten and while I hope it’s a long time before I have the need for any repairs again, whenever I do, I’ll take it back here!

Excellent work, honest assessment, and fair prices — an impossible trifecta? Well, I’m here to tell you that pigs do fly. Not sure what happened with Betty B., but I have had the exact opposite experience.
For awhile I was driving a hand-​me-​down Park Avenue. At some point the car began stalling all the time. I took it to an Auto Lab in St. Clair Shores where they did $ 800 of repair work. Days later the same problem occurred. Second time around I went to Dearborn Auto Tech. They charged me $ 50, but the car kept stalling. Finally, a friend recommended Downtown Mobil, and Sam was good enough to tell me upfront that the engine was beyond repair and that likely all the work that had been put into it at the other shops was work that the mechanics should have known would be to no avail. Clearly I was desperate, and Sam could have sold me more swamp land in Florida, but he didn’t.
Fast forward — now I own a different jalopy. Twice, out of convenience, I decided to take my car to University Auto Repair near Wayne State’s campus. Both times a simple oil change turned into my being told that I needed hundreds of dollars worth of repair to various other parts of the car, including the oxygen sensor. Both times, I went to Sam’s crew and Sam debunked the urgency of these repairs. For example, he noted that while it was true that my oxygen sensor could be replaced, he felt that trade of in cost of replacement vs improvement in fuel economy on a car that’s worth less than $ 2k, didn’t make a lot of sense, and I appreciated that because as it is, I do get decent mileage.
With Sam it works both ways. Not only has he saved me money, but he’s also encouraged me out of doing it foolishly. When I needed new tires, I asked if he could recommend a reputable place to get used tires, and he told me flat out — «honey, used tires it what you’ve got.»
The bottom line is that when I need repairs, they’re done well. I never feel like any of the repairs that are recommended beyond what I know I need are frivolous. Sam will tell you if a repair is something that is absolutely necessary, or if you can get by for a few months, or, if a repair is something you could get away with never doing. He does not walk on water, but I trust him and his work implicitly. They are not the cheapest, but the prices are fair and for me, part of what I’m paying for is the ability to go somewhere I trust.
Another plus about Downtown Mobile is they almost always get the work done in a day — no sitting around for days on end, wondering when you’ll get the car back. This can be a double-​edged sword because the shop is in a slightly sketchy area, so he prefers that you don’t leave the car there overnight, and sometimes that can be inconvenient. But again, I’d rather get my car back sooner as opposed to later. Also if you live or work fairly close by, they will give you a lift if you really need it.
I will say I’m not as confident in Cal as I am in Sam and the rest of the crew. The guy is a little too flirty with women, and I always feel like he’s sizing you up to see if he can squeeze a little more out of you, but Sam signs off on all the work, and as long as Sam is there I feel ok. It might be unfair to characterize Cal that way, but that’s just how I feel. Maybe he’s more skeevy than sketchy, but regardless, I prefer to deal with Sam directly.
I’ve been going there for three or four years now and always recommended them to the folks I know.

Awful. Avoid at all costs. They’re friendly, and they have good prices – but they do really crappy work. My bf and I both took our cars their for years before we clued in that the reason the cars kept having problems was actually because of the work that Downtown Mobil was doing on them. Downtown Mobil worked on the same parts of my car over and over, and the parts would then break again. (It’s an old car, so this seemed normal at first. But not after it kept happening.) Other people who have worked on my car have pointed out stuff that needed to be replaced because the previous work on it was so bad. I’m actually embarrassed we took our cars to Downtown Mobil over and over – but they came highly recommended from others because the prices are so good so it initially seems like you’re getting a deal. Here’s the kicker though – eventually my boyfriend’s car rusted down the middle and the frame cracked while he was driving. He got a tow straight to Downtown Mobil, where they told him the cost to repair it. It was an old car, so the car turned out to be totaled. They offered to buy the parts from him for $ 200. He took them up on it. Just the other day, two years later, we see the same car riding around town – same make and model, same exact (and uncommon) band bumper stickers in the exact same places on the bumper and back window. So, either Downtown Mobil sold someone else an unsafe car, or they ripped my boyfriend off really badly. There were also several times when he or I took a car in for one thing, only to have something else wrong with the car within the next week or so. Save your money and go to someone whose work you can trust.

great place. most of the guys working at and running the garage have been part of the neighborhood for decades. trustworthy, quality service. they will take care of you.

Downtown Mobil is a good auto repair shop located in the charming Detroit neighborhood of Corktown. Sam has owned and operated the shop for many years. He knows the people and there cars. One time I brought my car in because the check engine light had come on. I took the car into Sam to see if it needed to be serviced right away. He said not to worry about it and told me to keep on driving the car. It might seem like something small but I don’t know much about car repair and was really nice.
Sometimes it is hard for me to make it to the shop when they are open because I work at a school from 7 – 4:30. They are open on Saturday’s which is a plus. I would call ahead before bringing your car to be serviced to make sure they have time to get to your car otherwise you might have to wait for a bit.