O’brien Services

A+++++ all the way.
WoW, Great service, Friendly.
replacement repairs were done at a very reasonable price.
Everyone can use a great mechanic and service place,
this is it !

O’Briens.I’ve been going there for 10 years when i lived in the area and when i moved away to a2, I would get my car towed to them. They have affordable prices for phenomenal work and staff. These guys know there stuff. Frank and John really great guys and friends.

My experience started good — My car wouldn’t idle in the extreme cold so each time I reached a stop sign or red light it would stall. One morning it took too many tries at starting and I quickly wore the battery down. My regular service station doesn’t offer battery charging so I called O’Briens. I expected to pay $ 50 for the service but the guy who came out (I just live a block from the garage) charged me up for free and said it wasn’t the battery, that he could hear some other issues in there and gave me ideas what needed repair. He said get to your garage to ck it out. (Well I already knew I had a leaky head gasket and my regular garage suggested I replace the timing belt while they do that cuz the engine would be apart. They estimated $ 1200 and said I could wait a few months till I saved up cash rather than putting on credit card.)
I figured I’d let O’Briens look at my car this time for this smaller fix. I entered the office. There are two clerks, for lack of knowing what their titles are. The woman is great. Friendly and personable and know her stuff. But she was already with another customer. :(I got the man. He was like a machine. I could have gotten more enthusiasm from sucking a dry tea bag. He asked a Q. I’d try to answer as consisely as I could. He would interrupt, cut me off or talk over me at the times I refused to be polite and stop talking. I was shocked but I said that’s just how this guy is, its not on me, it’s over there w him.
Here is what really was/​is the reason for my low rating. I told them I already knew I had a leaky head gasket but my trouble I was there for was the car failing to idle. So he wrote me up for inspection $ 47.50 charge for the car failing to idle and $ 47.50 for the leaky gasket. ??? Why did they charge me to check out sonething I told them I had already!!!
They said I needed an ERG valve and charged me $ 600 to replace it. They then wrote up an estimate to replace the leaky head gasket and timing chain plus water pump for $ 2300. Double th cost of my regular service station. $ 50 for an oil change too on my little 4 cylinder. ??? Wtf?
To top off my experience, my car continues to have the same idling issue in cold weather and when I called O’Briens back immediately to tell them it was doing the same thing, the woman quickly spouted off that I was told I needed to repair the leaky head gasket too but I refused that service. I told her I had that issue for a bit and never had trouble the car stalling. She said that they car would continue to idle poorly because of the gasket. So I asked her why they bothered to change the ERG valve if it wasn’t the issue. She merely answered that the engine sensor report said it was mis– firing. !!! So maybe it was only mis firing because the head gasket leaking on it??? Who knows! I’m not knowledgable when it comes to engines so I’m at the mercy of my mechanic. But I tell you, I’ll never be back there again. I love my regular garage, The Tire Outlet, on 9 mile.

I find them to be the best in the area. Honest, efficient, fair prices and good work. Bonus, it’s a small local business. There you go, meets all of my criteria.

when my alternator went out one late night at the comet bar, i had to find a place to tow my car to. unfortunately, i towed my car to northern auto in royal oak. they checked out my car and told me that yes, the alternator was bad and also a ball joint. the cost would be 900 dollars. i decided to try a couple other places and called obriens. they said they could fix the two problems for 650.
i push started my bug and was on my way.
the receptionist was the nicest little old lady in the world. her quotes were right on and she was always super nice. she even gave me a card to have my car towed anytime within 5 miles for free.
fast forward another 6 months and i went back to have my timing belt replaced. same good service and they fixed the car for 150 less than the original quote.
i like obriens because i never feel like they are trying to rip me off. they offer quotes, and fix exactly what they say they are going to.
its even better that i can walk there.
love, juston

Obriens is right down the street from where I live, so initially, I thought to try them out because I could walk home from the shop after I dropped my car off. But if you don’t live close like I do, they will give you a ride home and if you need a car for a few days, there is an Obrien’s discount at the enterprise car rental at the end of the street on Woodward.
This is one of my favorite auto repair shops. There are only a few things an auto repair shop needs to be. Here they are in order.
1. Honest
2. Honest
3. Honest
If your car repair shop people are honest you can probably assume that their prices are fair and that they have competent mechanics. Otherwise if they were just honest they would be out of business. This is why Obrien’s does so well.
If have been a gearhead my whole life, growing up working on my own cars, building project cars, doing restorations, etc. At one point, my Dad owned a busy repair shop for some years and I spent a lot of time in the shop with the techs and learning the ropes of the business.
Since I do a lot of work on my own cars, why would I need a trusted mechanic you ask? Because there are always things that someone else with the proper tools and experience can do a lot better and faster than I can, so it is worth it. I have now been taking my family’s various cars to Obrien’s for nearly 7 years and couldn’t be happier.
They are not the cheapest shop out there but they are reasonable, and you know the saying. You get what you pay for. Properly maintaining a good used car will always be more economical than making a car payment on a new one.

Original Review: 12÷6÷11
I have been going to O’Brien’s for my car repair needs for the last ten years. They are a family owned business and have been around since 1993, which I guess has given them enough time to forge some good relationships with local suppliers, because when I need a part, they can get it.
Here’s how a visit to O’Brien’s typically goes…
Step 1) I drive, drag, push or tow my car to their lot and speak with Carolyn, the very firendly receptionist. Carolyn knows her stuff.
Step 2) If I do not have a ride home, they will offer me one, which is a treat, since it invloves climbing into the cab of an old Dogde pickup truck that has over 250,000 miles on it. I enjoy the old Dodge. It runs rough, but fine and it is testament to the fact that these guys can do some crazy mumbo jumbo to make a truck last that long.
Step 3) Carolyn will call me with a detailed explanation of what is wrong, how much it will cost to fix and how soon it can be done. Sometimes, I wait a day for this phone call. But, that is never a surprise because Carolyn will warn me that they won’t be able to get to my vehicle until first thing the next morning.
Step 4) The car is done. They call me. I come pick it up and pay.
«Why 3 stars?» you may ask. Well, in the last two years, the turn-​around time seems to have gotten longer. Also, there is a new receptionist man (not Carolyn) who is brusk and unfriendly and sometimes omits some of Steps 3 & 4, such as not calling me when the car is done or asking me to make an appointment to fix my broken car because they are so backed up. That is particularly frustrating because, had I known that my radiator was going to explode at roughly 3:30 on Tuesday, clearly I would have made a 4pm reservation for radiator replacement. However, cars break at unexpected and often inconvenient times and I rely on my mechanic to fix mine quickly so that I can go to work and stuff.
The reasons for my frustrations with O’Brien’s, I think, are largely due to the fact that their business is growing, which must mean that others have come to realize that these (usually) friendly people do good work on cars for cheap. The mechanics are top-​notch. Despite my frustrations, I will suck it up and continue to go there. For now.
Review Update: 2÷28÷12
The receptionist man’s name is Ray. He continues to be brusk and unfriendly and mostly unwilling to provide straight answers to questions, such as «When will I get my car back? And how much does this cost?» He misquoted a repair job and when I found out that Obrien’s intended to charge me $ 200 more than what was agreed upon, he pretended that I misunderstood, not that he miscommunicated. He also asked me if I would like to have my father call him so that he could explain the situation to him (insinuating that my dad would better understand what was going on than me). This, I found to be extremely demeaning and I had to remind him that I am an adult and I pay for my own car repairs, which I hated doing
because part of being an adult is not having to remind people that you are one.

O’Brien Services is a nice little automotive repair shop in Ferndale Michigan. It has a family owned, mom & pop air about it.
I took my car here on recommendation of my old boss, who is a loyal customer. O’Brien specializes in 4×4 trucks and muscle/​classic cars, but I brought my 2003 Mazda 6 in here, and they serviced it beautifully.
There is a large crew of mechanics working full time and a really nice, motherly receptionist lady.
They do good work at fair prices, and have a quick turn around. They will check your car out and tell you what needs to be done before doing it, quote you a price, and stick to it.
I’ve been there twice now, and each time when I’ve gone to pick the car up, there is the mechanic there who worked on it to talk to me personally, and explain thoroughly what he did and why. Also, they gave me advice on how to handle future problems with the car that I may encounter, as it’s getting a little bit older now.
Fast, friendly service. Quality job done. Not too pricey. I’ll be back again.