I recently went to hillside auto after my car broke down while traveling. The guys were super honest and up front with me, and did a great job with the repair. Really appreciate the work they did, the mechanic I had was Steve, and he was great, super knowledgeable and fair. Would highly recommend
Been going to them for over 20 years and totally trust their advice & servicing maintenance of my 2 different Grand Caravans over time. Like their periodic reminder postcards & very personal service when needed. Also appreciate that located within walking distance of my house & that support our local elementary school through a community discount card. Also has full service gas station on site w. best prices in wider area. Highly recommend!
I never leave reviews but I had to for these very sweet people! They were flexible with my appointment and got my car back to me super quickly. Very friendly, and amazing prices. 100% recommend!!
hillside auto repair that’s located in Somerville. They are the greatest awesome people I have met. Their prices are great full of humor. I will definitely send everybody here. I will definitely be coming here all the time instead of my repair people in Boston thank you so much Jack and Steve the ones that worked on my truck you guys are the best. Thank you so much Griselda Smith
We always have the most amazing experience with Hillside auto. The owner and his team are so knowledgeable. They communicate what needs to be done and also help navigate what can possibly wait. They make sure before they release your vehicle that it’s running properly. They go above and beyond to ensure the best possible results! Lastly, they can be trusted that is immeasurable!
Awsome shop. Im from out of state and had a fuse panel issue in a Heavy Duty truck. Steve went above and beyond to get the truck back on the road in 2hrs. He found the parts from a dealership sent his guy to getit and installed as soon as he got it. The bill for all the work was a very reasonable price. There is a reason why the shop is a AAA certified shop. Thanks again to Hillside Auto
Absolutely worst place to take your vehicle. Technicians swearing at customers and owner Frank cannot do anything about it. He cannot even fix a simple tire problem.
Don’t waste your time going to this place. Avoid it at all costs!
Excellent customer service, easy to work with and coordinate with when needing servicing done. Hillside cares about the customer’s needs as much as the car’s needs. 10/10 would recommend
Be careful! Don’t get taken advantage of here! I took my car here to get inspected and my car needed some repairs as well. I was quoted $690 for the repairs which did NOT include labor costs. Just be real with your paying customers! They called during the repair and let me know they needed to also fix a dent in my fender for my car to pass inspection. Knowing I’m from Florida & I have no idea what inspection requires. They gave me a range between $50-$115 for the bumper repair. Why even say a range if you’re gonna charge me $115 plus labor? Ended up paying $850+. Again why not just be real with the cost? To some people $100 is a huge expense. BE CAREFUL DO NOT LET THEM RUSH YOU TO PAY. I’m not one to fight but these guys made it seem like that’s the only way to get what you want. Service was quick and the place is clean. I will not go back again.
Hillside Auto charges astronomically for their services. The quote they gave me seemed high, so I took it elsewhere. They STILL charged me $450 for diagnostic tests, which is wild considering they spent 2 hours max looking at my car. The other mechanic I took it to was much more thorough, admitted my car was probably beyond repair, and charged me nothing for the time he spent on it.
Very solid garage. Needed next day service and I got it. Frank was straight forward about what was required and pricing. Not cheap but the work was good and price was fair. Happy to pay for quality repairs.
Beyond horrible experience. My car had died and so I had triple A recommend and tow my car here. Did not think to look at the other reviews. I asked the garage to just look at my car, let me know what’s wrong with it. They said because the battery was dead they needed to charge it to run the tests.
The next phone call I received was him letting me know he did a state inspection, replaced the battery, and a few other things without my consent to saying yes. He mentioned to fix the rest of the car would be over $2,000 but could be more.
I said I did not want to continue and that the work done I did not consent to, I had only asked him to look at everything and give me a quote.
He then proceeded to SCREAM at me on the phone, and said I did say yes to the services done, and he had my recordings and would take me to court. If I didn’t pay the $750 owed he would charge me $100 a day and threatened to put my car in a storage facility.
This man is a gaslighter, and illegally recording phone calls without your knowledge.
I reluctantly paid what was owed and got my car back. I will be reporting to AAA and the BBB.
charged $50 to tape on a new license plate, best part about it was that they didn't even phrase it as a service, more like just a quick thing they would help out with. they also don't do the state inspections correctly, so I will be reporting them to the state inspection office.
This shop will overcharge you. Unfortunately, AAA towed me here for service as it is an approved shop(it shouldn’t be). I never received a quote from them before they completed work on my car, and I ended up being charged $970, with $600 being for labor only. They claimed it took 4 hours for them to work on my car – it was a diagnostic job, but I NEVER received notice from them that they expected it to take them 3 hours to find the problem (and 1hour to fix). Every shop I’ve ever used has ALWAYS contacted me after the first hour of diagnostics to tell me how much longer they’re expecting, give me a quote, and find out if I wanted them to continue. Hillside only contacted me to tell me my car was in line to be looked at, and then when it was ready. I had no choice but to pay for their inflated labor charge in order to get my car back. Other shops in the same area told me this same job would have been about $150-$250 for labor only. I wish they had been upfront about the costs *before* they worked on my car instead of overcharging me far beyond my means after the job was done. Overall, I had a terrible experience with this business and would advise anyone considering them to go anywhere else but here. Do not give this business the opportunity to scam you. If you’re a AAA member and have had a bad experience with them as well, please call AAA’s customer service and file a complaint!! AAA told me they couldn’t do anything more for me because they had no other complaints on file, but after looking through Google reviews I’ve seen others who have trusted AAA about this shop complain as well. Let AAA know so they can remove this shop from their certified list so Hillside stops taking advantage of their customers!!
I went in to use their tire air filling machine, and one of the guys there offered me to just pull in, and they filled it for free. They even showed me how to recalibrate the TPMS so the tire sensor would not wrongfully go off. Super helpful, nice, and fast!!!
Beware. I had my car towed there for a dead battery. They said they wanted to test the alternator, starter, and electrical to make sure. I said go ahead, they did NOT mention it would be an additional cost of $168 to run the tests, along with $190 for battery. I didn’t even get a call about the quote, they just did it. I said it was ridiculous to pay a total of $358 just for a new battery and they should’ve mentioned the costs for testing. The owner threatened to take the new battery out, even said he “will leave it on the cold floor and you can go tow it somewhere else.” Do not go here
I was horribly unlucky to have my car towed here by AAA -- if I could go back in time, I would have read the recent reviews for this shop and begged them to bring my car to *anywhere* but here.
They took advantage of my apparent lack of knowledge and not only overcharged me for basic services, but also charged me for unnecessary diagnostics. I wish they had been upfront about the costs *before* they went in on my car, instead of billing me far beyond my means after the work (including things I DID NOT need) had been done. When I asked for clarifications, as other reviewers mention, they were unkind and accusatory. Needless to say, I will never return here again.
Please do yourself and your wallet a favor and go to any other mechanic in the area.
IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR MONEY DO NOT TAKE YOUR VEHICLE HERE.
I came in the following business day to get more information to justify a close to $500 charge for repairing a bad ground wire on my vehicle. The assistant (skinny, gray hair slicked back male) was loud, ignorant and extremely unprofessional. I asked him to kindly take me through the steps he took to repair the ground cable. Immediately the uneducated individual started yelling at me saying “he already gave me an invoice” and “if I don’t know how to read”. I told this shallow individual that the invoice wasn’t descriptive enough and that if I need him to write or tell me step by step he would do so because again I paid him close 500.00 for the service. This person then began yelling telling me “no I don’t have to tell you anything just read” I told him there is no way this a $500 job and that I would never take my vehicle or recommend this business to anyone I know. That’s when the representative told me “ I don’t care we’ll get other people” I was speechless. I’m not sure who this person thinks he is yelling at customers best believe I put him in his place. He’s clearly insecure about something.
Again almost 500.00 to connect 1 simple wire to my battery mind you they spent 19 dollars on parts (cable)
BE WISE AND DO NOT LET THIS BUSINESS OVER CHARGE YOU AND SPECIALLY DO NOT LET THE THIS PERSON TRY TO INTIMIDATE YOU.
I WOULD PAY DOUBLE IN A PLACE WITH BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE THIS JUST WASN'T IT. IT HAVEN’T EXPERIENCED SOMETHING THIS BAD IN A VERYYYYY LONG TIME UNTIL TODAY.
I am from out out of town so this review is based off of my first visit. The guy who helped me with my gas was very nice and professional. The guys in the office who deal with cars and people were very kind and professional. They told me there was an opening to fit in my slow leaking tire and they found the cause and fixed it quickly. Their price was exactly what my mechanic savvy friend said it would be to fix a leaky tire so they were very honest with an out of towner.
It was a big relief to get great service while stressing about being hundreds of miles from my mechanic. I will come to Hillside Auto Repair again for any repairs anytime I am in the area.
The first time I came here, it was because my car door wouldn't lock and they were the closest AAA-approved shop. I don't remember now exactly what it was called--something like lock train assembly--but basically something big and expensive needed to be replaced. The initial quote took the wind out of me, but I asked if they could get a used part to bring that down. They made phone calls to salvage yards all over the country and were able to get one the next week, saving me a LOT of money.
They are really awesome about letting you know what you do and do not need, and helping you save yourself money. The most recent time I came in for an oil change, the tech said that my oil was like new (I don't drive a lot), so they told me I could skip the oil change, and they'd send me my next oil change reminder in 3 months. They're really honest, knowledgeable, and skilled!
I took my car in after a brake pad had worn down and the caliper over extended. I live near by and my car was not safe to drive, I pretty much had no other choice but to go to these guys. Both rear pads, rotors and calipers had to be replaced, and the owner (of the shop) wanted to replace the front pads and rotors. Over all they quoted me $1700!!! way over priced! I needed the car soon so I agreed to do just the repair on the rear and I would save the front end work for another shop (which I did a week later for half the cost that Hillside quoted me). While I was there, I asked them to take a look at an issue with an 02 Sensor. My check engine light had been coming on after heavy rains, but after a day the light would turn off. Seemed like an electrical issue. They said they would take a look. When I came to pick up the car, the brakes worked well, and the car was safe to drive, but my wallet sure hurt. I asked them if they checked out the connection to the O2 sensor like I had asked and they said they forgot and the manager said to me and I quote "What, you go to autozone one time and think you're some kind of car expert?". Honestly, don't need to pay $1000 for a break job to get that level of disrespect. I've stopped even coming to get gas from these guys. Do your self a favor and go some place else.
Look, not many of us are happy with paying $50 automatically for bringing our car in, I understand. I work a fairly minimum wage job.
However, it means these guys are actually getting paid for their work somewhat decently, which means they're going to take care of you and your car and they're not going to try to sell you things you don't need.
They've been incredibly helpful and have squeezed me into their schedule if I call day of. They tell you what they did, and why they did it.
I've been incredibly happy with the service they've done for my car!
On thanksgiving I was in a car accident and my car was towed to Hillside as it was the closest AAA certified shop. On Friday reading these reviews I became apprehensive about my vehicle in their care, was I wrong. Jack and Frank were incredibly supportive and helpful through every step of the process! They told me things I didn’t even know I should be asking, they warned me about unethical practices some insurance companies have tried on others so I would be best prepared, they stayed after hours as my work schedule and public transportation weren’t cohesive with their hours of operation, I could go on and on. Bottom line, if you want to do business with someone who values integrity, come to Hillside Auto Repair!
We have been using them for over 10 years to repair our cars and they have always been very professional and helpful. When we asked them to get new tires for our Audi we checked around to make sure they were giving us a competitive price and found our trust well placed.
These guys are the best mechanics anywhere. They can figure out any problem with any car. I had a check engine light on in my car which I had brought to 3 other mechanics to try to figure out. I spent a lot of money with these other mechanics with their wrong diagnosis and wrong parts installed. I brought it to Frank at Hillside Auto and within a few hours they had figured out what the problem was the whole time. I was really impressed. I wish I went to them first instead of last. It would have saved me a lot of money! It was just a broken wire but no other mechanic could find it. They have a great reputation and its for a good reason.
I've been taking my car and my wife's car here for probably close to 12 years now and totally trust these guys. They are very open and honest about what your car needs and doesn't need which is sometimes more important. I highly recommend them if you are looking for a repair shop.
Feb 21, 2013
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