Trombley Tire and Auto

Every time I go there, they say they can’t make appointment for at least three weeks. It seems as though they will never repair your car even when you urgently need their help. I wonder if they will help you if you are their regulars. I have had my car serviced more than a few times there, so I think they should help me when I need help. After being turned down for service for more than four times, I am not sure if I will return to them any more. It seems like a waste of time. I wonder if I’m the only one who have this sort of experience with them. I actually feel they pick their customers. I guess you can do that when the business is going well with all the glowing reviews.

I went here for a second opinion after getting an oil change at Midas. The guy at Midas told me my serpentine and power steering belts were fraying and that all the belts needed to be replaced, and it was dangerous. I was skeptical as I couldn’t see the damage myself. I took it to trombley and he told me the problem was the air conditioning belt and the others were in good shape. He also noticed that there was a wire disconnected (my check engine light had been on for months and the code was for a knock sensor). He repaired the knock sensor wire and didn’t charge me a cent for the whole thing! I was so pleased that he actually noticed and fixed a problem other mechanics had been quoting hundreds of dollars to fix.

Really happy with this place. Got a flat on the 4^th of July, they were closed, put some fix-​a-​flat in the tire and inflated it. It held, but grooves in the tire made me take it in because I was pretty sure I was going to need a new tire. Made an appointment Monday, they got me in within 5 minutes of appointment time. I told them the story and they really looked the tires over, tested them, determined that the shaking in my steering wheel at speed could be the tire but was more likely due to a wheel weight and dented wheel. Took an hour, they changed where the tires were on the car, and charged me less than $ 20! More importantly, they could have done less work and easily convinced me I needed new tires — instead they did the right thing. I recommend them — awesome!

The true test of a business is how they respond when an issue arises. I had all four tires replaced at the Ithaca location a few weeks ago with flgreat service and fair pricing. Just the other day while in the interstate, one of the tires had a blowout. Trombley replaced the tire, re-​did the alignment and had me on my way quickly and safely. I will recommend them to everyone I know. Five stars all the way!

These guys are simply fantastic! I broke down just a short distance from their shop and managed to get the car in their lot. As I came in, I heard a tech tell someone they were booked solid until Friday. I was visiting from Colorado and was scheduled to leave Saturday so my heart dropped into my shoes. But the guy at the counter told me not to worry. They diagnosed my car right away and found that the oil pressure sensor and solenoid were broken and quoted me before close the next day and $ 500 to repair and put in new oil. They said it was lucky I didn’t drive it further or I would have destroyed the engine (I call it providence myself). Anyway, turns out they had it fixed by 2:00 the next day and charged $ 100 less than the estimate. I can’t recommend them highly enough! Almost worth the 1600 mile drive to get my oil changed.

The guys who work here are fine. They do a fine job with whatever you need done with your car. But it gets done unbelievably slowly. I made an appointment to have two tires changed. They didn’t even pull my car into the shop for an hour and fifteen minutes after I got there. It was then another hour until it was ready. I know this is Ithaca and everything moves a little more slowly around here, but this is ridiculous. If there were other options in Ithaca I would recommend you take your car somewhere else.

I started going here because they had good reviews and it’s been the only place I’d taken my car to since I found them. Usually, they’re nice, fast and get the job done.
However, my most recent experience with them was horrible. I don’t know if they can’t handle the spike in business with the super cold weather lately and everyone’s cars going haywire or what.
I set my appointment for a Monday MORNNG and I called at 3:00pm to check on their progress and they had just started to even look at it. The next day, they kept saying they’d call me back with updates and I got no calls. They didn’t even diagnose it until around 4:00pm — and they still weren’t even sure if that’s what the problem was. On the THIRD day, I called at 8:30 that morning and they told me they were running a test and would call back in a few minutes. Two hours later, nothing.
I called them back and they said it wasn’t what they thought it was and that if the problem was what they suspected, they don’t do that service there. So I had to tow my car to another shop that could do the service.
This whole experience was a bunch of indirect answers and horrible communication. Wasted three days and had to pay $ 100 to still not even know what was wrong with my car.
They only charged a half hour of labor, which was a favor done on their part, I suppose.
As I mentioned, they’re usually a great place to go and I’ve gone several times before, so maybe they just don’t know how to handle the heightened «cold weather business».

I can’t say enough about these guys. They’re honest, helpful, knowledgeable — just all around great. They’re always upfront with me about what my car needs, and if it doesn’t need a repair, they let me know that too — no runaround or baloney. They’ve always been fast for me. I was in and out in 20 minutes this morning. Dan is terrific too. He runs a great shop that keeps me coming back.

I’ve lived in ithaca over 12 years and have serviced my vehicles pretty much everywhere in town. This is the place I prefer. By auto repair shop standards, they are nice, honest, and fairly fast. Prices are always great– and on the low end.
Call for an appointment ahead of time.

If you expect to be in and out of any mechanic in Ithaca in an hour, you are simply not being realistic. If you want a mechanic to fix what is wrong with your car, and nothing more, while giving you feedback about what repairs might be coming down the pike then Trombley is exactly where you should go. Fair prices, fair people… oh and Dan is the best.

Came here and did the NYS inspection with appointment. They didn’t take my car until 30 min after the appointment time. Said it will take 45 min, came out to be little over 1 hour. Cost $ 21.00
Wish they could be more on time.

I came here to get my tire patched after a slow leak led to a flat. They patched it up, but I got another flat a few weeks later. They took it back in, discovered a secondary problem, and fixed it up for free. Wish they would have addressed it the first time but I was pleased that they didn’t charge me. They’ve also fixed a major problem I had with my timing belt. I compared prices and they were fair, but they did keep it an extra day, not calling me to tell me it wouldn’t be done until near the end of the day. They’re really friendly though and spent time to explain exactly what was wrong, so I’ll keep going back. Don’t want to take chances somewhere else.

My wife and I chose this place because it had good reviews. The prices were high but we assumed their business would make up for it by treating us well.
Yesterday I got a flat tire. I called in just before close and the attendant let it ring for about 3 minutes before answering angrily. He was rude as heck for the entirety of the conversation but found it in his heart to tell me to bring it in tomorrow and they’d fix it for free (because we had a road hazard plan).
My wife brought it in today and they took the tire and said they’d call when it was done. We waited all day for a call that never came. When WE called 7 hours later they told us it had been ready and they just didn’t bother to call us.
She went up to get the tire put on, and has been waiting for 40 more minutes with no end in sight.
Maybe these people used to have great customer service, but that is certainly not the case in 2014.

These folks are wonderful. They are just the best, seriously. I grew up in car land, midwest where everyone knew their mechanic for generations and now I’m in Ithaca and I needed some car repair and I was really freaked out about picking a random place based on the internet. I am so so so happy this was the place I picked.
Something went wrong with my car’s battery/​alternator/​battery cables due to it not being used regularly during the polar vortex. I tested the things I could and my basic car repair knowledge was not enough so I called Trombley and here is a list of the wonderful things that happened next.
1) I explained what was wrong, told them what I did on my own and they listened to me, took my actions seriously and made suggestions based on them. I sound like the 20 something girl that I am on the phone so it was nice to be treated like a knowledgeable adult by mechanics.
2) I dropped my car off after hours and used their extremely convenient key dropbox so my car was there for my appointment the next morning.
3) They called me before doing any expensive work to tell me that a cell in my battery was dead. I told them that my battery was less than a year old but I had bought it out of state so they told me that they could replace it and I could apply for a refund from my company… then without me having to suggest it the mechanic told me that, nevermind, it was ridiculous that my battery malfunctioned at less than a year old and he would call the battery company to order a replacement even though it wasn’t a battery that they stocked.
4) He called me back (same day), having spoken to the battery company, on more than one phone call, to tell me they had found me a replacement battery of that brand covered by my warranty in town (which saved me stress and time dealing with the warranty myself) and they had replaced the battery and for good measure installed new cables (I had essentially ruined mine by disconnecting, de-​coroding and re-​connecting them using pliers rather than the crescent wrench that I did not have), that I could pick up my car anytime and the whole thing would cost me $ 22.
They could have sold me a new battery from the brand they stock and made more money, they could have charged me for the time dealing with the battery company and made more money, they could have not called the battery company and freed up time to make more money, they could have been curt and rude on the phone rather than nice and super helpful. They were not. I will never go to another mechanic in Ithaca. This place is the best.

Absolutely fantastic experience. I needed a NYS Inspection for the first time (I moved from Washington where the only thing you need is emissions), so I called Trombley. They got me in right away even though they are obviously busy (for good reason). They took care of everything quickly, they were responsive and competent, I couldn’t have asked for more. Very trustworthy, reasonably priced, highly recommended.

staff at Trombley Tire and Auto made my daughter’s day first car repair experience the best one could ask for. Her car was either kicked or hit by an uncaring person and the bumper was cracked, broken and rubbing against the tire.
The staff took care of it right away and made her car safe to drive again.
I can’t thank the staff enough!!! They are extremely trust worthy and reliable.
I highly recommend Trombley Tire & Auto to any out of state parent looking for a reliable and caring auto repair business.

This place is awesome. I came here after a terrible experience with Varna auto, and they were extremely helpful and forgiving about my ignorance. I came with a list of problems the people at Varna had found with my car, and instead of profiting from the situation, they were honest and told me that more than half of those problems did not exist and that was being ripped off. I quickly made an appointment for the next day to get the actual problems fixed. Everything up till then went quick and smoothly, but the day of the appointment I had to wait for an hour before they started working with the car, and that’s why I can only give it 4 stars. Otherwise it is a great place ran by efficient and honest people.

I came here because I needed to get an oil change. They’re really nice people and they seem to recognize a lot of people in the community given how many times they greeted people by name. I noticed they were very helpful with everyone who came in and gave them lots of advice before proceeding with anything.
I’m taking off a star because I had to wait longer than expected for a routine oil change. I had an appointment for today at 2pm but because of backup, they didn’t start my car until around 2:40. By that time I was already back from getting something to eat. I just took a nap in their lounge until I was finally good to go. They did knock off $ 5 from my bill for the inconvenience, so I can’t get too mad about it.

Trombley is the best, most honest mechanic I’ve ever been to. They went over my car with a fine-​tooth comb for over an hour in a safety inspection so I could sell it, AND they fixed a broken headlight (a blown fuse), and charged me NOTHING. I insisted on paying, but they rebuffed me. They also diagnosed a broken body control module on a separate truck for me that Maguire had missed (and charged me for) four times.
They are all courteous, they listen intently to you, they have very flexible scheduling, they’re dirt cheap, and they won’t hassle you for repairs you don’t need.

This place is amazing! The staff is wonderful and patient! They are great about ensuring you know exactly what is happening with your vehicle and that you approve all repairs before they do them. I especially appreciate that they willing to talk about deferring maintenance when safe.
They are also amazing about staying true to warranties, which they provide on a lot of their products. This is officially my car place!