Allison's Autocare

Allison's has earned a reputation as one of the best shops in the area. They have always done good work for me. They did better tune ups on my Toyota pickup than the dealership.

Allisons has always understood the problem and what to do with my Ford vans, multiple Volvos and my son's Volkswagen. This has included normal maintenance as well as major problems like valve replacement on my son's VW. I have recommended Allisons to many people and they have all been satisfied. Chuck Fiedler

I have mixed emotions about this shop. I selected it based on recommendations on this Web site, and it was right down the street from DART, which made drop-off and pick-up easy. All I needed was 60K service on my '99 Honda Accord. They gave me an estimate of $200 over the phone, not counting anything additional. On the day of drop-off, they were very prompt in looking at the car, and by mid-morning had called to say it looked good. They asked if we wanted an oil change (yes) and recommended putting one new tire on the car. My husband said he thought that you should always put new tires on in pairs, and they said that was good advice and that while the other in the pair was also wearing down, there was only the one that was truly in need of replacement (good to hear from an honest mechanic). We authorized them to put on two new tires. The car was ready by mid-afternoon, and my husband drove it home. With the oil change and two new tires, total came to $485. When I drove the car the next morning, however, it was shimmying and vibrating horribly at any speeds below 40 mph and above 60 mph. Something with the tires was definitely not right. I called Allison's and they said to bring it back. I thought perhaps one of the tires was flat (it was definitely underinflated) and had to stop at a tire store to get them to check it. The store reinflated the tire and put on a new valve stem, and I was able to drive back to Allison's. Turns out all I needed was to have the tires balanced. It took less than 30 minutes and, of course, there was no charge. When it was ready, the guy who worked on it said he hadn't balanced them when he'd done the inital work. Never apologized for the inconvenience to me (I had to take 2 hours off from work to get this resolved) and never explained why he didn't balance them (a job that even I, a complete automotive novice, knew needed to be done when you put on new tires). But they were friendly and quick. I think I will give Allison's a second chance. I really *want* to like them because they're convenient and friendly and seemed fairly priced and honest. But I am disturbed by their failure to balance the tires or to even apologize or explain this. So one more chance and then I'm moving on.

They made me feel like I was an individual, and not one of the many customers to process in an assembly-line way. I had a problem with the car losing power when I had driven it for more than 10 miles. I brought it in, and they did work that was necessary maintenance, but they told me they couldn't duplicate the problem. I picked up the car, and the next day, it happened again. I was upset and called them while I was on the road (hands-free) to tell them that I had no problem duplicating my situation. When I brought it in, the mechanic, manager and asst. mgr (and even the driver) were there, waiting to see me. They felt very bad about this and promised to work on it first thing in the morning and fix it. Sure enough they did it and it was ready the next day. This is the best part - I was told to drive it for a week, and come back to pay for the work once I was sure the problem was resolved. And, I wasn't charged for the labor. I returned by the end of the week and happily paid them. They were sorry for missing the problem and the stood by their work. I think they have a lot of integrity, which is sorely missing in most shops.

I found Allison's by looking here at Car Talk for a repair shop that could fix a problem that had me stumped--the blower motor had quit working. It was time to get the timing belt replaced also, so asked them to take care of that as well. They were a little slow getting to look at the car, but the first thing they did when calling with an estimate was apologize for the delay and explain why it had taken a day to get to it. Once I ok'd the estimate, the did the repairs very quickly. When I picked the car up, they took the time to explain the problem with the blower (a bad transistor) and did a good job of answering my questions. Overall, I was very satisfied and will take my car to them the next time I need service.

Family owned and operated, David Allison has been in the community for at least 3 decades. David and his group of great mechanics have kept all our cars going strong now for almost 20 years. My experience is one of total satisfaction. I trust them with every aspect of our cars' maintenance, and they have treated me, my wife, and now my driving teenage sons with respect. I trust them because of their honesty, integrity, and working knowledge. Scott, Jay, Jerry, Ken, Julio, and Connie have always been kind, competent, and concerned that our cars are running well and meet all safety standards. We take their advice and follow what they say needs to be done, because we know they are out for our best interest, not just theirs. It is rare to find such a shop in today's world. You couldn't find a better place to do business with than Allison's Auto Care.