" "


Other sources for mechanic recommendations...

• Car Talk mechanic files, http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/
• Lists 127 mechanics within 20 miles of 48104, though of course most of them have 1-3 comments
  
• Yelp and Yahoo have some listings, but as of 4/27/09 they were too sparse for A2 to be useful
  

Note: all comments labeled "(reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)" were emailed to Mark Newman in reply to the following message:

I've been taking my 2001 Subaru Outback to the dealership for service, mainly out of laziness, but now I'm facing major repairs and it's time for me to check out other options. Can anyone recommend a favorite local mechanic that you'd trust for something major (clutch replacement in this case, quoted at $1200 by Dunning's service dept)?

The conclusion of my story is below, in the comments for "Convenience Auto."

Mechanic	Location	Specialities	Recommendations/Comments
Jamie's Lakewood Auto (Jamie)	South Industrial (734) 668-9339		"Jamie Neylon [is] very knowledgeable, sincere, and trustworthy, as well as reasonably priced." - si.all.open
Japanese Auto (Joe)	563 S Main St, Ann Arbor, 48104 (734) 996-4606 http://www.japaneseautoaa.com/	Japanese cars	"They're thorough at inspections, and he'll tell you what you need to fix immediately and what you can live with. He's also told me that I didn't need a repair that I thought I did, which is always good in a mechanic." - si.all.open "Japanese Auto Professional Service on Main Street is pretty good. I have had one of my major maintenance (for Honda) done there. Howard Cooper asked for $580, but this service did it with only about $300." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "...We also had a Subaru before these two, which we bought used. We had this serviced, along with an old Mazada, at Japanese Auto Professional. They're great, too. (Located at S. Main and Madison)" (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "for all japanese cars this is the place to go" (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "I HIGHLY recommend Japanese Auto over on S. Main near the S. Main market. They were awesome on multiple occasions. When I didn't have enough money for a repair, they did it anyway and let me pay in installments. Turnaround time was always minimal. Best mechanics I ever had." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "We take our Honda to Japanese Auto. They're on Main. I think they're pretty honest, in that they've been very forthright about what's worth repairing, what can get put off and what's not worth dealing with. They seem to have a student-car mentality, and I've occasionally had to convince them to just go ahead and do a repair that was upcoming (so as not to have sudden downtime with the car later). The repairs seem well done too, in that we've never had to take our car back." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Steve Steeb	(734) 930-2277	GM, Ford, Chrysler	" I have found him trustworthy and friendly, and have been pleased with the service I've gotten over the last several years." - si.all.open
Mallek's	1500 Jackson Ave Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (734)668-6406		"My previous car was a real clunker and...They were brutally honest about the state of my car and how long I should keep it going :)" - si.all.open "I haven't had major work done there yet, but Mallek's (on Jackson or Dexter, right where they meet) has been great to deal with for minor things on my 1996 Subaru Legacy. I've also heard good things about them from others." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "I used to go to Mallek's auto service for all my repairs. They were often pretty honest and forthright about the repairs that I had to make and those that were optional with my 12 year old Mazda." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Bill Muncy's	Miller just west of downtown		"I've had good experiences with Bill Muncy's on Miller just west of downtown. I'm not sure about Subarus; they've worked on my Honda." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "I love Bill Muncy's Auto Service on Miller. I've been taking my Honda there for two years. They can be a bit pricey, but give great service in return, and have always been very accommodating and helpful." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "Bill Muncy over on Miller, right at Spring St. They used to only specialize in Volkswagens, but do excellent work on Japanese cars too. Ken is your guy there: 734-994-0873. Also Japanese Auto, right on S. Main there at Jefferson is it? Lots of oldschool Ann Arborites with their old Toyotas I know swear by them." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Illi's Auto Service on Huron			"I've had good experiences in the past with Illi's Auto Service on Huron (next to the Y building) and arborMotion (off state, south of 94), www.arbormotion.com." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Convenience Auto on Liberty	(Just West of Stadium Blvd-http://www.convenienceauto.com/Owners.html)		"My roommate takes her Subaru to Convenience Auto on Liberty (Just West of Stadium Blvd-http://www.convenienceauto.com/Owners.html). In all fairness, I'm not sure she would know if they were ripping her off for service, so you may want to wait to see if this recommendation is seconded, or at least double-check their price against other places in town, but they seem to be very good at keeping her VERY old, VERY beat up car running without it costing her an arm and a leg." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Absolute Auto Care	590 E Huron River Drive, Belleville, MI 48111 (734) 697-8533		"Depending on where you live, Absolute Auto Care in Belleville is excellent. Their rates are good, and they don't try to screw you over and tell you the car needs stuff it doesn't." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
George's Auto Repair	Whitmore Lake		"I have been going to George's Auto Repair in Whitmore Lake for the past 5 years. I've always found their prices to be quite fair and the work has been great. I went to them on numerous occasions to fix a truck that I just couldn't part with but should have."(reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Tuffy auto service	on Stadium		"We have a 2001 Subaru WRX that just had its clutch replaced last summer. We took it to Tuffy auto service on Stadium and we've been really happy with them. We have a WRX which probably has a more expensive clutch than an outback, but they did it for us for $1100 or so. The dealer quoted us $2000." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Fawzi's	near Stadium and Jackson rd. http://www.fawziautorepair.com/		"The reason I traded in my Subaru was that it had reached the point that every time I took it to Dunnings, I cost at least $1,000. I ended up taking it to Fawzi's near Stadium and Jackson rd. http://www.fawziautorepair.com/ They were quick, honest, and reasonably priced." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Dean Schwalbach	Dexter		"There's a guy I like out in Dexter -- a bit of a drive. But he's very honest and he's been good for me. His name is Dean Schwalbach. I didn't write the one review here, but I agree with it: http://local.yahoo.com/info-16183101-schwalbach-s-auto-care-dexter" (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)
Convenience Auto	http://www.convenienceauto.com/Owners.html		Lou Lippert, who used to run the service dept. at Ann Arbor Subaru (now Dunning's) started his own shop a number of years ago. See: http://www.convenienceauto.com/Owners.html He was really knowledgeable and a good person. (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) I can highly recommend Convenience Auto Service, a shop that specializes in foreign cars and is owned and run by a former Dunning Subaru Service Manager who has 20+ years experience in the service repair industry whose primary goal after leaving the dealership was to provide fair, true recommendations and repairs for his clients. I currently work and have my car serviced there and have always been satisfied! It's located at 2280 W. Liberty, just west of Stadium. I've always driven Subarus also and I know that a lot of Dunning Subaru's clients currently have their cars serviced at Convenience. (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) After receiving lots of great recommendations for where to go for my clutch replacement, most of the signs were pointing towards Japanese Auto and Mallek's. So I called both places and BOTH of them told me I should call Convenience Auto. Japanese said they didn't have the right kind of lift for a clutch replacement and it would cost a couple hundred dollars more to have it done there than at Convenience. Mallek's simply said they don't do that work and recommented Convenience. To me this is a great recommendation for all three places--Japanese and Mallek's for being honest enough to send work to a place that can do it better and Convenience for being trustworthy enough to get recommended. I took the car to Convenience. They did the work for $1050, which was $150 less than what Dunning (the dealership) quoted me. My car liked getting fixed by Convenience so much that it demanded to be taken back two more times in the next couple weeks for unrelated problems: a stuck brake pad (I went ahead and got the rotors replaced too since they only had a few months left in them) and a broken CV joint boot. I feel good about the folks at Convenience--they remembered me and my car the second time I came in and speak very frankly about whether work needs to get done. In all I have found them to be trustworthy, friendly, reassuring, and reliable. They are especially highly recommended for Subarus because Lou used to work at Dunning. I can't see why I wouldn't trust them with other makes, though. [posted by mwnewman 6/8]
Orion Automotive Services	3340 W. Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. 734-995-3188 http://www.oriona2.com/		"Great friendly open honest customer service. Happy to explain and re-explain problems in a way that I can understand. Searched and found a safe and responsible way to do a $1200-1500 repair for $250 so that I wouldn't have to either pay more than my car's worth for a repair or scrap the car. He really went the extra mile. They send out repair coupons to customers. They offer rides to and from the shop if you need and, I think, loaner cars if you need and if they have one to offer." (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09) "We recently found Rich at Orion. He's expensive, but we love him. Completely trustworthy, really laid back but kind of a craftsman when it comes to cars, if you know what I mean. He's the best we've found (I've got a subaru too and he did a great job on it.)" (reply to mwnewman 4/27/09)

Bad Mechanics

Main Street Motors	906 N. Main Street Ann Arbor, MI		I had been going here for a while and built a certain degree of trust. My check engine light turned on, and brought it in. After a 100 dollar diagnostic fee, they told me it would cost 1600 to change six ignition coils and the spark plugs. I did a little bit of research on the web and it turns out to be a very common problem with my make and model vehicle and was well documented in a number of forums including average pricing for repairs. Long story short, the dealer price to make the same repairs was under 1000 while Main Street charged me 1400. I got them to knock off 200 from the total when I pointed out they were charging more than MSRP for the parts (for which they already get wholesale pricing). I will not go to them again.