Advance Tire

These guys were awesome. Don’t let the name fool you– they are full service. They recommended fantastic tires, had fair prices, and were very informative. They care about the cars they work on, and definitely keep the customer’s best interests in mind.
If there were a 6-​star, I would give it to them! Will be back, will recommend to friends.
Matt

Super friendly team! Knowledge, expertise, and overall customer satisfaction surpassed my expectations.
My rear right caliper busted on me and they took it in immediately. Turn around time was great! They replaced only what needed replacing. Honest crew and hard working. Worth every dime and more!
In their generosity, they hooked me up with a first-​time customer discount. Needless to say, I’m an Advance Tire customer for life.
You rocked it, Team! Thanks again for taking care of my car! Definitely will be back for future maintenance needs!

DO NOT TRUST THESE GUYS
These guys will do anything to rip you off. I dropped my car for a lower control arm and ball joints replacement. They came up with a huge list of repairs which continued to add up as they worked. After less than two weeks, my steering wheel is still hard to turn and the car seems to need a new alignement.
Bottom line: definitely not happy, but i guess it’s my own fault for going against my better sense. Lesson learned.
Ps: not a big fan of online reviews but advance tire is the reason i joined Unilocal

had a flat and was towed to Advanced. They refused to service me unless I paid cash. Did not have my credit card at time but did have a check. They totally refused to help even though my license showed Cambridge address. Terrible way to treat people that are neighbors and potential customers. They had a totally dismissive attitude and wanted my car towed away as soon as possible. Got the sense that owners took the business over from their father and did not partially like it. I suggest with soaring real estate prices in Kendall square they sell out and find something they actually enjoy doing… it clearly is not helping people with their cars!!!

Had to get a tire changed. Rick ordered the tire for me and had it the next morning.
The folks at Advance Tire were honest, competent, respectful, and generally phenomenal. Forget the dealer, I’m coming here from now on!

I’ve been to Advance Tire a number of times and I come back as I’ve found them to be friendly, reliable, fairly priced, and honest. Importantly, I trust them to tell me what doesn’t need to be fixed or what can be patched up instead of replaced.

Advance Tire is Awesome! Got my tires changes for winter tires and I got awesome customer service with a quick tire swap! I can definately recommend their service!

Incredible service from smart, friendly and well-​priced people. I had to drop in for a flat tire and they made the experience a good one. No pushy salesmen, no «well you really need this too.» Just helpful, insightful comments from the guys here. I should also note that they don’t over promise. He had a lot of opportunity to say «sure, we’ll get you right in for that» but instead gave me realistic expectations for what to get done and when they had the time.
I also love how they know their customers. Everyone is on a first name basis and seem happy to work with them here. I’ll be back to get further services.

I very rarely write reviews, unless something exceptional has happened.
I’ve been taking my cars to Rick at Advanced Tire for years. In this business, it’s incredibly challenging to find a mechanic and service garage that you trust. Rick and his team have never steered me wrong, and have saved me literally thousands of dollars today.
I had an issue with a newer car that was still under warranty, and the dealership was unwilling to fix the issues without completely overhauling or replacing MAJOR components… all without an official diagnosis of what was wrong. I was faced with a staggering quote, and knew I wanted a second opinion. I immediately called Rick to talk options. Rick talked with me multiple times about what could possibly be wrong, and what my alternatives were, and how he could help. He offered me some sound advice, and put me in touch with some folks that HE trusted.
Today, Rick and his team finished the remainder of the work to be done and I’m out a mere fraction of what I could have been.
Additionally, throughout the years, this place is great with their work, does it on time, is very reasonable with costs, and are accommodating and friendly throughout.
Couldn’t recommend this place more.

I don’t understand some people’s reviews. Anyway…
Advance is wonderful from their staff to their superior service! Very thorough and friendly! The manager is especially nice, personable AND will remember you any time you go in for a service. Very unlike most other shops. They also have a Toys For Tots bin around the holidays. What other shop can you say does that?! Not many.
I’d recommend Advance Tire to anyone. My family and I have gone there for years and will continue to for many years to come!

Take a look at my review history and you will see that I have NEVER written a negative review and usually only use Unilocal to highlight businesses I love. Unfortunately, I’ve had an experience at Advance that has forced me to break my years long streak. The experience was so weird and random, I honestly feel like I’m being pranked or something.
TL:DR They don’t call until 15 minutes before closing. I rush over to get my car. Manager freaks out and yells at me, compares me to his mother, nuns, and other «annoying women.» Turns out, I even made it on time.
I dropped my car off for an oil change. They said they’d call me when it was done. I waited around. At about 4:45pm, I was called and told that my car was ready, but that they close at 5pm, so I’d better be there in 15 minutes. I told them I would leave work now but I couldn’t promise I’d be there in 15 minutes, maybe 20. They offered to leave my car unlocked with the keys inside. I said I wasn’t comfortable with that. They said they’d called three hours ago and left a message. I said I had no record of a missed call. This whole conversation was happening through one guy while the manager told him what to say, so I asked to talk to the manager directly.
He basically started yelling at me, refusing to accept that he’d perhaps not called me or misdialed and implying that it was my fault I didn’t get the call, telling me that I was depriving him of time spent with his twins, telling me I was treating him like he was «retarded,» comparing me to his mother/​teachers/​nuns, telling me that was a rude, sarcastic, «annoying woman.» All the while, I kept saying, well, «I’m on my way now!» To which the manager replied, «Well I hope you get here by 5pm otherwise you’ll just have to wait until the morning» and then, «I’ll wait but only so I never have to see you again which would be an early Christmas present to myself.» I was literally running down the street as he yelled at me on my phone. I am not kidding.
As it turns out, I got there at 4:57pm. There was another customer there, and as soon as the customer left, he laid into me again. I couldn’t believe it! He said he never wanted to talk to me again and yelled at me to leave the store. I was honestly too shocked and too unaccustomed to fighting with strangers over literally nothing that I didn’t even know what to say. I started laughing because it was so bizarre.
I am still reeling from this interaction. I have worked in service industries and come from a small business family, and I honestly don’t understand how I triggered his anger so intensely. It was really disturbing because he’d been so friendly when I’d come in before, both this time, and when I’d previously gotten $ 300 worth of repairs! It was like the spirit of some maniac had taken over his body.
I could understand it if I’d actually been rude, but I really hadn’t been. I was frustrated that I’d been given so little notice, but basically I was just begging for them to stay open 5 more minutes so I could get my car– though it turned out I didn’t even need that time. I even asked him to point to what I’ve said or done and he said that it was my «tone» and that was that. I honestly feel like he and I were not experiencing the same reality.
The manager has made it more than clear that he doesn’t want my business. If you are a customer who wants to be treated courteously, not have your time disrespected, or if there’s the slight chance you might accidentally trigger with your «tone» his issues with his mother or nuns or whatever… he may not want your business either.

Went in for an oil change. Location is super convenient for working in Kendall square and central square. They scheduled me for the next day, everyone was very courteous and service was performed fast. Would recommend.

Great Organization, fair, knowledgeable, friendly. Great at explaining things. They do great work at a fair price.
Highly recommend them

Went to this place after seeing all the great Unilocal reviews. As everyone mentions the staff is friendly and there’s a nice waiting area while your car is getting serviced. Unfortunately that is where my good experience ended. I went in due to my car shaking at high speeds which I thought was caused by my tires being out of balance. Got a quote over the phone and they said $ 60. Pricey but I was willing to pay extra seeing at the place had such great reviews. Get there, leave my car in the garage and proceed to wait in the designated waiting area. A few minutes later the mechanic says the lug nut is cross-​threaded and it might snap if its removed. I’m thinking ok, might as well try to remove it because I need my car fixed. 20 minutes later they come back and turns out yes, they snapped the lug stud which they quote as a $ 100 fix despite the fact that the stud costs less than $ 3 and a mechanic can do in under 30 minutes. I figure they let me know the possibility of it snapping was there so I didn’t sweat it too much. They finish balancing my tires and tell me 2 of my wheels are out of round so I need to buy a new set of tires. The tires were relatively new so I said no thank you. They also said my brakes were really low and that I would have to replace them any day now. I was grateful for the heads up and was out the door.
At this point the shaking was a little bit better but still very noticeable.
A few days later I went back to goodyear where I purchased the tires to see if they could somehow replace my 2 relatively new «out of round» tires. They were very friendly and asked if they could check the tires before doing anything else. They ended up re-​balancing my tires for free and the shaking completely disappeared!
This entire ordeal happened almost a month and a half ago now, I drive my car daily and no signs of my brakes needing to be changed.
Individually, each of the issues wouldn’t have been a big deal but together it became a sort of deal breaker and I don’t think I’ll be coming back to this place again. The staff was nice but the actual mechanics left a lot to be desired. For the friendly service alone I’ll bump my review up a star.

Great experience. We started coming to Advance for car inspections and they have become our go-​to place. Recently, the car was making an odd noise which was concerning me. I gave them a call about it and Rick told me to come right over. They saw me right away and corrected the issue. I was back at work within the hour. You don’t usually hear the words friendly or customer service used to describe a garage, but these guys really care about taking care of the customer. I will definitely be back.

Just had another great experience with Rick at Advance Tire Company. I came in with a slow leak and one of his crew members put off taking his lunch to repair. I’m always treated so well here, I wouldn’t think of going to any of the nation brand places.

After getting a nail in my tire about 3 months ago, I called around trying to find a tire repair shop. I spoke to 2 very rude shops before calling Advance Tire and speaking with Rick. He was extremely kind and patient, and he happily called my tire insurance and did a bunch of extra work to make sure I got my refund through my insurance. I was so happy with the service I got there, that I went back about a week ago when I got another flat tire! Once again I received friendly and wonderful service. I will continue to go back, although hopefully my tire luck changes soon!

They must be the last honest auto shop for hundreds of miles around! Honesty, my brand new tire kept having very low pressure, I have a light that indicates this. Had AAA over twice with the diagnoses that I must have a nail in my tire. Drove around to different auto shops, they all wanted to keep it for the entire day. I kept insisting to them just put the tire through a leak test and see where the nail is, this should not be a all days work. One shop even said its probably the rim that’s damaged and that would be $ 240 dollars to replace. These shops see a woman with out of state license plate and they figure lets take her!
I was referred to Advance Tire by this fella who works in my building. I was complaining to him about the dishonesty of shops. He told me to go here, I’m very happy I did. While I waited they put the tire through a test, found nothing wrong with it. They said it was due to sudden temperature change that I was getting the false signal. They could have charged me for service not rendered, instead they stayed one last honest shop around charged me a minimum fee. Hooray for Advance Tire shop!!!

Got a barely used tire mounted and balanced for cheap and they fixed my bent rim free of charge. Super friendly and so fast I didn’t even know the job was done. Thank you Rick and crew!

Yet another great experience at Advance Tire! Old-​school, solid service and neighborly interactions has become a lost art but remains upheld by this family run business in the heart of high tech Kendall square. I had a crisis with one of my tire valves that was releasing air. I pulled in, they remembered me from last time, asked how I liked my tires I got last visit and asked how they could help me now. I explained my situation and they got me in a bay immediately and assessed the situation. It turned out it needed a special order part and they were sensitive to my busy schedule and worked around it to get the part in-​house and installed on my car as quickly and painlessly as possible. Once again the provided warm, friendly, professional service at very fair rates. Thanks Advance Tire!