Tom's Car & Truck Repair

bruceinillinois

★★★★★

Edited 8 months ago

I was fresh in town and figured I needed to get the O2 sensor figured out so the check engine light would turn off--I knew the problem but it wasn't an issue until moving to New York, where stupid inspections are required and you can't pass with a CEL on. Instead of fixing the O2 sensor, they showed me a real issue. I had a broken tie rod. A lot of shops won't let you inside the garage "for your own protection and insurance requirements," but these guys insisted, inviting me under the truck to point out the broken part. No chance they'd broken it themselves to make a buck--the vehicle never left my sight. It was fixed within two hours at a reasonable price. Rather than jack the bill, they reset the CEL and told me to come back if it came back on again. I've lived in a lot of towns and have never paid more than $4,500 for a vehicle, so a good garage is crucial. Finding an honest mechanic has proven nigh impossible in some places. Being new to Buffalo, without anyone to recommend someone good, I was a prime candidate for getting ripped off. I got lucky in finding this place. UPDATE: Sad to report, the shop didn't install front shocks properly. As a result, I had to replace anchors for the shocks. The fellow who set it right said that the shocks had been installed backwards, and he had a beast of a time getting them out so they could be installed properly. It became obvious something was wrong about 3,000 miles after the work was done--an ominous thunking in the front end when the steering wheel was turned. More than 2,000 miles after the second fellow installed the anchors--he said that improper installation had destroyed the anchors--not a whisper of a problem. Put this in the Things That Make You Go Yikes Department.

Arbitrary Renaissance

★★★★★

Edited a year ago

This place got review-bombed by the looks of it, which is sad to see. I go to Tom's pretty much whenever I have car troubles. They're very knowledgeable and are always happy to share that knowledge with me. Seriously, if you let him, Tom will talk your ear off about what could be going on under the hood of your car: he's extremely passionate about what he does. Tom is also very down-to-earth and practical, and I usually get the impression that he wants to figure out how to get his customers to spend as little money as possible. I'd definitely recommend him.

Barbara Atewe

★☆☆☆☆

2 years ago

The fact that these scam artists have all 5 stars is laughable because they’re a whole bunch of frauds. They never honor their work hours. How’re you stating publicly on your google profile that you close at 3pm but when I arrive at 1pm, everything is locked up and you’re not there?? Make it make sense. A coolant hose replacement was supposed to be done to have my car running fine but it won’t even start properly. Nothing was done and I’m out of $1300. When the car was dropped off, the windows were working fine but when my older brother went to pick up the car, he noticed the windows were down for no reason and when he tried to get them up, nothing happened. He went inside and spoke to Tom about it and Tom flat out lied and said “the windows were open when you brought the car” to which my brother showed him the video of the car arriving with the windows fully up. When my brother tried walking out, Tom stood in front of the exit and wouldn’t move, holding my brother hostage. When the promise to call the police was made, Tom then ran outside to the car, was about to get inside and drive it off, attempting car theft. The car was at this waste of a “mechanic” for over 3 weeks and nothing was done. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!! All they do is steal your money and charge you exuberant storage fees without fixing your car.