About Business
For professional Car Repair care in Worcester, MA, Worcester, look no further than Gardner Automotive. Their team excels at delivering top-tier results for Auto repair shop, Smog inspection station, Vehicle inspection service and related Car Repair needs. Their customer-centric approach has earned them a 4.4/5 rating based on 129 pieces of feedback. They have become an integral part of the Worcester, MA community, known for their dedication to excellence in the local Car Repair sector. For those looking for the best Car Repair experience in Worcester, Gardner Automotive is ready to assist with your next project or repair.
Google Reviews
John Benoit

★★★★★
5 years ago
Gardner Automotive performed an oil and filter change, state inspection, and headlight bulb replacement for me. I was able to get an appointment within 24 hours of my call. The work was done promptly. Overall, I am happy with my experience.
Ryan Frerichs

★
☆☆☆☆
2 years ago
Awful experience. Had them replace the brake and rotors. After, when we used the e-brake, it locked up on one tire so we brought it in. They tell us it needs calipers replaced for ~$400. They replace them and next time the e-brake is used it gets locked up again. They say it needs a cable replaced for $200. After noting that the calipers likely never needed replacing as it did not fix the issue, the employee refused to repair the cable because I "had a problem with their diagnosing ability". Absolutely ridiculous.
Jessica Buteau

★★★★★
6 years ago
My parents have been taking their Subaru here for a few years. Recently, my father passed away. So when just two days later the heater fan blew, I brought it here. As soon as I said his name, the office folks knew who he was and were extremely sweet. They fixed it quickly, within 1.5 hours including time to have part delivered. The best part was the cost was quite a bit lower than their estimate because it took less time than expected. Highly impressed.
Greg Guertin Jr

★★★★★
5 years ago
Gardner Automotive has been our fleet Mechanic for a few years now and they have always done a great job. My driver's have never complained about the workmanship of a recent repair. They are usually always able to help me manage the fleet with little notice and communicate clearly on what and when they are able to do something. The customer service is also very good and they all have an attitude geared towards helping their clients over helping their pockets.
Johnny B

★★★★★
a year ago
We are lucky to have this garage nearby. Great work and great people. Very helpful and always give you real advice. They even call you and give you updates and tell you how the work is going and if there are any problems before they complete the work.
Paul M. Sushchyk

★★★★★
6 years ago
The quality of the service at Gardner Automotive is exceptional!! Julia and her staff have always taken excellent care of my automotive needs. Their pricing is more than reasonable. I recommend their services highly and make no hesitation to recommend their shop to friends and family.
Rosie Perez

★★★★★
5 years ago
Gardner Automotive took care of all my air condition issues in my car. Very professional, courteous and fair prices compared to other places I went to. I recommend them highly as I was very satisfied with their exceptional work! Great people! A 10 in my book!! ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Daniel Prendiville

★★★★★
3 years ago
I switched Garages almost 1 Year ago, and could not be any Happier. I had a repair done recently and once again fast service and great Job. Each time I have had something done the price I Paid was Lower than what I was quoted. The staff is also the best always Polite and Nice. Keep up the Good work
Aram Galloyan

★★★★★
3 years ago
Thank you!!! I am writing you to let you know how grateful I am to have found an auto repair shop that provides excellent service, and I would definitely recommend Gardner Automotive to any wanting to get their car fixed. Thanks so much for the wonderful work you did on my Honda Fit. I'm grateful that you could find the time and help me with my brake problem despite your busy schedule. Brakes are working great!!! I wanted to THANK Julia and the Gardner Automotive Team for servicing and repairing my car on such short notice. Aram G
Kaajal Koranteng

★
☆☆☆☆
11 months ago
1-star due to the inconsistent customer experience. I’ve had my vehicle inspected here multiple times—no vehicle modification. One year my car passes inspection, the next, I am immediately turned away. For this, I must give 1-star.
Christine M. Ryder

★★★★★
3 years ago
We love Gardner Automotive! They never try to rip us off, the most honest and forewarning automotive shop I have ever dealt with. We appreciate not only the honesty but the hard working staff, the quality of the work and parts put into our vehicles and the respect given to us as customers. Thank you, thank you for such great service and hard work!
Edward Mott

★
☆☆☆☆
a year ago
Do not recommend having your car serviced here although they were friendly. It won’t excuse what they did to me. I brought my car in for a four wheel alignment. They told me they couldn’t adjust the rear because they couldn’t loosen the necessary hardware I spent additional money with my own mechanic to have the hardware loosened, although it was sometime in between Because they were telling me I had to replace my control arms which would cost me $800 so I had to find a different way to resolve my problem. I had my mechanic loosen the hardware necessary so they could finish the alignment when I called to make an appointment to have the rear adjusted, they told me I would have to pay for another four wheel alignment in full.so now I’m up to $200 between paying for the alignment and paying my machanic for this four wheel alignment.now they want me to pay another hundred dollars for a 4wheel alignment because they have to hook my car back up to the machine . This is totally bogus. I used to be mechanic in the early 70s if I couldn’t finish a job I did not charge the person for something I couldn’t do.i paid For a four wheel alignment and only got half the alignment. This is unexc usable. I would not recommend these people to anybody, to be honest. I don’t even know how they’re still in business. If this is how they conduct it. 🤬🤬🤬 just to be clear, I will let everyone I know about my experience here. I’ve even left a review with the Better Business Bureau. I hope my efforts are worth it. In response to your comeback, the bottom line is I went in for a particular service. I got half the job and paid full price. I understand there can be unforeseen circumstances that may prevent you from doing what you had to do, but if you only do half the job I should’ve paid for half the job I don’t question your loyalty or workmanship to your customers, I only question why I was charged full price for something you couldn’t complete!
David H

★
☆☆☆☆
a year ago
I called Gardner on 9/16/24 to make an appointment. I was assured that if I dropped off the car by 8:00 a.m. on 9/17 It would be fixed before noon that day. I called at 10:a.m. to check on the progress. I was told that it would not be looked at until mid-afternoon and would not be repaired that day. I decided to go elsewhere. When I arrived I was told that there is a two-week wait for repairs. I was never informed of this. I have used Gardner for all my repairs for fourteen year, but will never return after this experience. The response I received from the owner for this review is absolutely not true. There was no "misunderstanding." I know exactly what I was told.
Kayla Thayer

★
☆☆☆☆
a year ago
Honestly I have never been more disappointed with such horrible customer service. I have brought my car here more than once with no issues besides them being so miserable with no smile on their faces. Last time I got an oil change and asked for them to just scan my car and tell me what comes up for my check engine light(that you can go to autozone or any other place and they scan with no charge, cause it’s just a scan to see what codes come up) but then wanted to charge me for a full on diagnosis. Which is not what I asked for, so I then did not pay for. All I asked was a scan to see what code was showing, not to fully diagnose my whole car when I didn’t express that. Now looking to get my car fixed for 2 things I actually need, and they refuse to ever work on my car again because of that last miscommunication issue on their part. I am appalled at this customer service and the fact that she barely wanted to speak with me and practically hung up at the end. I will NEVER be recommending anyone here ever again. And in addition to the response below, there was never any clarity on what was going to be done for ‘scanning my car for the check engine light,’ which is what I simply asked for. And I as well stated my horn did not work and just wondered if that was going to be a code that showed up for the scan. If I was notified or told that this entailed of a full diagnosis on my car, I would’ve then politely denied that part of the service and would’ve only requested the oil change to be completed. Especially for people who don’t know each process for every request, there should be an explanation of what is then going to happen and the estimate of what it should be. I got none of that. There was never ‘multiple’ conversations - only one which I felt like I was being rushed off the phone and then only received a call when it was ready and how much I needed to pay. Even previous visits I was finding myself calling 10 mins before closing asking if it was ready. I don’t appreciate the false statements, and was never told I couldn’t come back(otherwise I would’ve been uncomfortable to even call again), seeing how it was clearly a miscommunication on their part. It’s very unfortunate that they will just reject anybody from coming here when they make their own mistakes and not being clear with their customers. This place was convenient as it was right down the street, but ill gladly drive out of my way to receive better customer service. 😊
Tyler Daigneault

★★★★★
9 months ago
I recently brought my 2019 GMC in for leaking engine oil coolant lines. The ladies at the front desk were super nice and helpful. I was able to grab a quick appointment and left my truck. Within 48 hours it was fixed and running like new. They were even nice enough to help me out with a stuck, sheered bolt I couldn’t remove. I highly recommend these guys. This is definitely my go to shop whenever I can’t fix something myself. Pricing is fair and everyone is honest with you. Highly recommend them if you’re looking for great service. Thank you Gardner Auto!
Elaine Hernandez

★★★★★
8 months ago
I took my car to them to look at my radio and replace the plastic covers underneath my car. They did an awesome job with everything. My boyfriend recommended them after a job they did with his car. I definitely recommend them to everyone. I got my car back in perfect condition. I appreciate all the work they did.
Alan Cheng

★★★★★
4 months ago
I've brought multiple vehicles here for service and have been treated kindly, with respect, and promptly ever single time. The staff is easy to communicate with, and always make the effort to update you so that you can make an informed decision. I won't go anywhere else.
velourvera

★
☆☆☆☆
a month ago
have been a customer here for nearly ten years. A decade of loyalty, money, and trust. That matters because what happened over the last two years did not come out of nowhere. It was a slow decay with a familiar grumpy veneer. In the early years, this place felt solid. Reliable. Honest. I recommended it. I defended it when people complained. I kept coming back because I believed the quality was there. Seeing a woman mechanic on the floor the first time I walked in made me feel even more confident. It felt modern. It felt like this shop was evolving with the times while still keeping the mom and pop feeling I appreciated. I am extremely discerning about where my money goes. I had to be. I grew up an orphan. That means you learn early that no one is coming to clean up your financial messes. Every mistake costs you twice. Every dollar is worked for. I do not have the luxury of casually paying for other people’s shortcuts, laziness, or incompetence. I live with the consequences alone. About two years ago, a pattern emerged. Repairs stopped being complete and started being strategic. A problem would be “fixed” just enough to get me out the door. Days later something related would fail. Suddenly there was a new diagnosis. A new charge. No accountability for the previous work. No credit. No acknowledgment that this should have been caught the first time. Always small amounts. Always frequent. Always framed as bad luck. For context, I barely drive. If I put 1,000 miles on my car in a year, that is generous. I choose work based on proximity. I maintain my belongings carefully because I cannot afford to keep paying for the same repair twice. The alternator situation exposed everything. They replaced my alternator in July. Five months later it failed while I was running errands. I was stranded with groceries. I paid out of pocket for multiple rideshares just to get home. This was not the first time I was forced into expensive rideshares because of their work. When I asked what went wrong, I was met with attitude instead of accountability. I was told it was a manufacturer problem, as if that excuses never informing customers about part quality options beforehand. Today it failed again. Same alternator. Same issue. I called first and was told not to drive the car and to drop it off. I listened. Four hours later Julia called and casually presented my “options.” Install another aftermarket alternator or pay more for the actual Subaru part. I asked why this option was never presented when I originally paid in July. I asked why I was allowed to leave with a part that apparently has such a failure rate that replacing it twice within months is considered normal. The response was “this usually doesn’t happen.” That response confirmed what I already suspected. Aftermarket parts were being installed without full transparency, and customers were not being given the information needed to make informed decisions. No further explanation. Not concern. Silence. That silence told me exactly how this business now operates. I authorized the Subaru part because I needed my car to physically leave the lot. Not because I trust this shop. At this point I expect future failures like clockwork. That is what repeated low-quality work trains customers to expect. Who needs Pavlov when you have Gardner Automotive? What makes this worse is not just the money. It is the erosion of trust over years. This shop did not collapse overnight. It slowly traded craftsmanship for convenience, transparency for speed, and long-term customers for short-term profit, all without appropriate disclosure. One day your car breaks down twice in one week and the people who took your money act annoyed that you noticed. Here is the part small businesses forget. Towns remember. People talk. At grocery stores. At work. At school pickup. At family dinners. Reputations in small communities are not destroyed by one loud complaint. They are undone by quiet warnings stacking on top of each other especially when that adds up to over $2,000.
P L

★★★★★
3 months ago
I have a new driver in the family, several people had told them that it sounded like they needed new brakes. I made the appointment without checking myself. Dropped the car off, received a call from them that the brakes were fine, they could do something to try to smoothe them out for $90 which might stop the noise (or not), but functionally the brakes were fine. Very honest people there, no charge, didn't try to talk me into something unnecessary or take advantage of the situation. I've only gone there for inspections prior to this. The last time with the same vehicle, there was a tail light out, $17 to replace immediately so it could pass inspection. Perfect!
Dan Lacroix Safety

★★★★★
4 months ago
My son damaged 2 rims and tires on his car and had it towed to a random garage. I figured I would get an outrageous bill but I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable it was. 2 used rims (which they had to order to match) 4 tires and an alignment was only $1100. Everyone was polite and friendly on the phone. It's nice that there are still honest mechanics out there.