Old Time Garage

Always reliable, always honest, always on top of things, fair prices and they work damn fast to get you back on the road. As good an experience with a mechanic as I’ve ever had.

A gem amongst a greasy selection of Boston’s auto dealers and repair shops.
I came to know OTG when I was shopping for a used car after mine was totaled by a snow plow. Corey, the sales guy, is honest, helpful, and communicative. There was never any pressure, and they will work with you to find what you need. A huge relief after shopping around at the many sleazy Honda dealerships in town. I didn’t end up buying a car there, however, because a job opportunity came up and I needed to buy ASAP, and they did not have the model in stock that I wanted. Had I had a couple more weeks to spare, I would not have hesitated to work with them to get the car I wanted.
Well, a couple days after buying my new car at The Other Guys, my tire pressure light kept coming on, even after adding air at a gas station. Then I had a full on flat about a mile down the road from Old Time. My phone was dead and so was my car charger, so I walked down the road to the shop and asked to use their phone to call AAA. Even better, the guys lent me a phone charger and let me escape the cold to sort out my situation and charge up my phone in their little waiting area.
Even though I could have taken the car to the dealership to check out the problem for free, I knew I trusted these guys more. They were about to close for the day, but they gave me an envelop to leave my key once I could get my car over to their parking lot and said they’d look at it first thing in the morning.
I returned the next morning (they’re conveniently right off the Green D Line) and they had the car ready with the tire repaired. Sam (I think?) had also taken the time to make sure the pressure was equal on all my tires, and took my car around the block to make sure my tire pressure light went out and the problem was fully resolved. He had the car waiting for me when I arrived and didn’t even charge for the easy fix.
I would not hesitate to go to Old Time Garage for any other car service/​repair needs I have. I can’t speak to the price since I did not have to pay for my repair, but some have commented their rates are a little higher. Knowing I can trust the quality of service and support a local honest business will bring me back no matter what!

I am thrilled with the service I receive every time I bring my car in for service and issues. having your car serviced is not a pleasant thing but at Old Time Garage you know you are not going to taken for a ride financially. I brought my car in thinking there was something wrong, they looked my car over thoroughly and told me that everything was fine and didn’t charge me for the visit. It is not often you find a garage that have total faith in.

I blew out a tire on a pot hole and pulled the car over, dressed for an interview, late for returning to work, thinking I would have to call AAA and just wait… I noticed OLD TIME GARAGE right across the street! So I pulled in… the poor guys were on lunch break BUT Phil put his fork down, came to see my car, changed my flat, DID NOT CHARGE ME and gave me great advice! He let me know I could (attempt) to get reimbursed for the tire through the city by contacting Newton City Hall and inquiring. I am in the process. It was literally 7 minutes flat (pun intended!) from the time I got the flat until I was back on the road. Old Time, classic, gentleman service. Thank you.

these guys are the most trusted mechanics I’ve ever had. I’ve made the mistake of using other, somewhat cheaper, mechanics recently and old time garage has bailed me out of their bad work several times. the cliché is true here, you get what you pay for, they may be on the expensive side but it’s worth the peace of mind from reliable service.

We’ve bought a couple of used cars from the team here. they are great. They sell reliable cars. They warranty them and they stand behind the warranty if something comes up. When I have had them fix something not under warranty the work is excellent. As another reviewer pointed out repairs are not the cheapest, but they far and away exceed anything you get from a dealer or a sleazy mechanic. You can trust these guys and that’s worth it.

Hmm. Guess I have to be the voice of dissent here. The two stars are there because they got my vehicle in next day and got it fixed quick. No complaints with the repair but then again I just got it back. The missing three stars are for the way inflated cost of the repair. $ 460 to replace a starter? $ 460? To unbolt the battery cable, unbolt the bad starter, bolt in a new starter, and re-​attach the battery cable? No way that took a professional mechanic more than 15 min, yet I was told it required two hours of labor. Two hours. Not to mention they marked up the price of the starter by at least $ 50 ($ 100 if they went with the cheapest model out there, which i have no idea) I’ll be going back to Dave at Boston Jeepz for any future repairs. I regret choosing this place for its convenience to my work. So does my wallet.

Sam’s has been servicing my cars for several years before leaving the Boston area and will once again do so now that we have returned. Sam (& team) can always be counted on for honest, straightforward answers and high quality work. They deliver the car when promised, tell you the cost (within an acceptable range every time) and advise as to what should be monitored /​serviced next time (besides remembering that themselves. I trust Sam & the team to keep our cars safe and running well, regardless of the make and model. Now that takes skill
Talk is cheap these days. Sam’s delivers every time. I’m biased because I can count on them to take care of my wife’s car with my little girls in there as well. No compromising on safety or reliability when these three are involved

I had a small problem with my sweet little «weekend» car and I’m really glad I didn’t bring it to the dealer. The guys from Old Time Garage are awesome, and will do everything they can to keep repair costs down, something I appreciate immensely, and a true rarity in this business! I’m glad I finally found a good, local shop. Thanks Matt!

Okay fine I’m biased. I will come clean right away and admit that my uncle Sam owns this place and is the mechanic that everyone is raving about. I’ll also throw in that we’re not actually close and I’m not getting any kind of special seating at a family party or a nice birthday present or anything like that for writing this review.
They’ve worked on my first car (1987 Jeep Wagoneer) and kept it going well past the time it should’ve been junked. They worked on my second car (1999 Pontiac Grand Am), and again kept it going way past its expiration. I drive a lot, what can I say? If I run into any real problem with my current car (knock on wood PLEASE don’t let this happen), I know I can take my car to Old Time Garage and not be ripped off by skeazy mechanics. Not because we’re family, but because that’s just how they do business.
Real mechanics who know their stuff and know how to treat their customers right, such as those you’ll find here, have no need to exaggerate or come up with imaginary mechanical disasters that you have to pay oodles of dollars for them to fix. This business does so well because it’s built on a foundation of doing it right and treating the customer well.
Oh, and you may or may not have noticed that I’ve reviewed other car places because I am not a completely loyal OTG customer. I’ve only needed small things done for my car, so I’ve gone to places that are less than a mile from my house when that has come up. If any real problems arose, I’d be at OTG in a heartbeat.

Excellent service, knowledgeable people, honest prices. The only downside is how quickly they fill up!

We have gone to Old Time Garage in Newton Mass for many years. They are without fail, a collection of the most honorable people to do business with. Where it would be so easy to take advantage of people who know nada about cars, they do the opposite. They take the very best care of those that come to their lot. They carefully consider the issue, honestly present the options and charge so fairly that one leaves rather astounded by the positive experience one has had dealing with car issues.
They are in a class of customer care and respect, all by themselves. Thanks Sam, Matt, Phil and the other fine fellows at Old Time Garage. You rock!

Another update. :)
As I was driving down the Pike on a Thursday afternoon, my temperature gauge skyrocketed. I pulled off the highway over to South Station to look under the hood and once I turned on the heater and popped the hood, the temperature seemed to normalize, so I risked the approximately 7 miles I was from home and drove it there. I added coolant and although I wasn’t losing fluid, hoped that would miraculously do the trick. No luck.
The next morning, I prayed that if I could just get it to Newton and to Old Time Garage without completely killing the car and ruining my engine — or getting stuck somewhere — I would promise to stop stealing packets of Equal from Starbucks and I would stop screening phone calls from my parents and I would promise to always put 93 grade gas in my GTI gas tank.
I did manage to get it there. I’ve only screened one call in the last 5 days. Progress.
The gents at OTG listened to my description and took my car to investigate at about 7am. By 11:30, they had the bad news: I needed a new water pump — very spendy. But I had no choice, so I consented — upset, but knowing my car was in good hands.
Within 24 hours, they had gotten the parts, done the labor and I was ready to go. In VWs, replacing the water pump is tricky, as it’s buried below other stuff, so it was great it was ready so quickly. With a new water pump also came a new thermostat, a new timing belt and some other necessary parts, so although expensive (just under $ 1000 — ugh), I feel as I got great service and that they covered their bases on parts that affect or are affected by the water pump, typically. Their labor billing costs are totally reasonable for the work they do and the service they provide and I think I would’ve paid more like $ 1500 at the VW dealership, so this was bad, but good.
Highly recommended (again!)

Sam is the most honest man in the business– and he only hires men like himself. My family has been going to Sam and company for as long as I can remember. He has bought and sold numerous cars for us, and is our go-​to mechanic. I will not trust a single other person with my car. He NEVER takes you for granted and actually cares about the reputation and quality his company produces. He somehow gives me faith in the industry. Don’t waste your time and money with other ripoffs, because once you start going to Old Time Garage you won’t go anywhere else.

So here is the story. I had been shopping for a car for almost two months and I had been everywhere from the auto mile to the yellow pages dialing every auto place in the book to used
searching for my car. And all I got were dealerships filled with scum bag sales men with Fleet owned vehicles that had been smashed up in accidents and repaired being sold for top KBB dealership prices. THEN I found Sam’s ad on craigslist for the exact used car I had been searching for. He had a vehicle that had only one previous owner that had an accident free history and clean car fax. He offered to let me take it all the way to my mechanic (40 minutes away) to get it checked out. My mechanic told me it was in «beautiful condition». An hour later with a fist of cash I bought my car from Sam. He is a Dream! and so is my car! I have had it over 2 months and love it! It’s pristine. I recommend this place to everyone.

Couldn’t ask for more. I initially took in a 2003 Rav4 with ~90k miles on it. Told them there was a rattling, the breaks squealed, and I needed the 90k maintenance performed.
They had ample opportunity to rip me off, but instead the final bill came out to around $ 100. The breaks were in good shape, a heat shield was loose and they tightened it back into place, and only a few of the recommended work of a 90k tune-​up was necessary.
Based off this great experience, I checked into their used car sales. Another great experience. I’d highly recommend talking to Sam or Hadley if you are looking for a used car. They’ll work with you to locate a car in your price range. I ended up buying a used car in great shape for less than the private party KBB value.
Overall, a great group of guys to do business with!

I have taken my car to Old Time Garage three times now. I have been satisfied each time. Sammy, the owner, is has been in the business for a long and he is honest and does a great job. When the dealership has told me to replace something, Sammy has told me that it doesn’t need to be done yet (even when I have told him what the dealership has said). My experience is that he’s been honest with me. My car is old and will need to be replaced soon — he’s congnizant of that and doesn’t want me to spend unnecessary money with unnecessary fixes. I highly reccommend Old Time Garage!

My family and I have been using Old Time Garage for years. They are a small but very honest business. Whenever I have a problem with my car I immediately take it here without question because I know that they will give me a fair analysis and a good price for any and all repairs done on the car. Sam (the owner) knows my family by name and he is always courteous and honest about when he will be able to take the car, how long it will take to get done, and can even give a fair estimate of how much he thinks it will be before hand. Their parking lot is usually completely full and there’s a reason for that: they are just that good. Everyone in the area uses them. Technically they sell gas too but good luck getting your car into the pump area because it’s usually blocked by cars waiting to get repaired.
They also sell used cars. After my younger sister totaled our old Camry (back in 2005 or so) we were able to purchase a refurbished Toyota Camry from Old Time for about $ 8,000 with a warranty from them and the car has worked good as new. Apparently Sam goes to used car auctions and thoroughly inspects the cars (and their engines) and then purchases the ones that are still good for driving. He then goes in and fixes any and all problems with the engine/​electric parts of the car and then re-​sells them with a warranty (at a fair price I might add). I would not hesitate to buy a used car from them because you know that even if there is something wrong with it you can just bring it back to them and they will fix it at no charge while it’s still under warranty.
If there is a problem with my car then I am hesitant to take it to any old service garage because I don’t know much about cars or engines or car parts and I don’t have a good idea of how much parts cost so I am always worried about getting ripped off by the mechanic. With Old Time I don’t even think twice about it because I know they are good, honest people that have been working there for years.
In short, next time you have a problem with your car save yourself the trouble of worrying about whether you are going to get ripped off and bring it here.