Fred M Susan Auto Body

This place is the best– I have a spiritual lemon of a Range Rover whose lease can’t end soon enough, and between ice last year breaking the windshield AND the glass roof, and then getting hit by a newspaper truck this year, they’ve gotten a lot of my business.
Mary at the front desk is such a sweetheart and goes above and beyond, especially when the other party’s insurance company is being sketchy. Sometimes the work takes a bit longer than intended, but that’s usually due to matters beyond their control.
Really nice people who do awesome work!

Unless you want to add a month of misery to your life, stay far away from this place. They were recommended by my insurance company; stupidly, I sent the car here due to convenient location near my house. Not only did this shop refuse to release the vehicle even after being provided proof that the check they cashed had cleared, they then damaged the engine to my car so that it wouldn’t run.
They were ordered to release my car after investigation by my insurance company, and then moved the car to some other location and lied about it being towed away. The police had to get involved to locate my vehicle and force them to release it, at which point I had it towed to the dealer for an actual diagnostic. What had this autobody shop done to my car to render it undriveable, after it being brand new in July 2014 and involved in a minor fender bender accident, you ask? THEY DAMAGED the ENTIRE ENGINE! Yes. Damaged the ENGINE. The dealer confirmed that the car needed an entire engine replacement after this shop was done with its meddling and shenanigans.
Unbelievable, yes, quite. I am still in shock. The car, again, brand new. Bought: July 2014. Driven, less than 400 miles. Should NOT need a NEW ENGINE (this repair is unheard of in my experience with cars). The car is a Toyota, btw. This repair will NEVER be needed until the car is 25 – 30 years old. The accident, over a month ago now, was a rear end and required a bumper replacement. Which also begs the question, how does a bumper replacement take over a month to complete? Bah, nevermind, this shop has much bigger offenses to its name to concentrate on here.
Avoid this shop. Cross the street if you are near it on Somerville Ave in Somerville. The people are awful, too, especially that woman Mary in the office. Also, they DAMAGE Vehicles they are asked to repair. ENTIRE ENGINES, somehow. OK, I’m done. Maybe. Wow.

This is probably the 2^nd Unilocal review I’ve ever written, but I have had 2 great experiences at Fred M Susan that I felt the need to post and recommend others make this their auto body shop. In 2011, I was in a no-​fault car accident where I was sandwiched between two SUVs, resulting in $ 6k in damages. The employees at Fred M Susan were sincere, considerate and very knowledgeable. They gave me the reassurance I needed to feel less shaken up at the time and within 2 weeks (as promised), my car looked and felt like brand new. This winter, I somehow accidentally cracked my front bumper on a mound of ice/​snow and part of my car was dragging underneath on the highway. I called Fred M Susan and they got me in the next day before work for a temporary fix. They discussed pricing and my options and realistically recommended I wait until after the winter to fix the crack. The mechanic secured my bumper at no charge and everyone wished me well. The customer service and detailed, quality work here is what makes a difference to me and should for you in looking for an auto body shop near Somerville.

After making an appointment for service on a Friday for the following Wednesday morning, I was told that the car would not be looked at until the following week. The person who was going to check me in kept saying it was the afternoon even though it was the morning and implied that the week was already over, and told me that the process of ordering parts would take days. Other shops I have gone to have routinely obtained parts on the same or next day. There was absolutely no reason for them to schedule an appointment if they could not look at the car for several days.
I just spoke with a friend who had the identical experience with them (!) Apparently, they make appointments to get lots of business, but do not actually look at the cars for quite some time.

Great auto body shop. We were sent there by our insurance company after our car was hit. They were very accommodating — they took time but did a good job. They gave me a drop at my work the day I dropped off the car. I was even able to leave my rental car with them and they got the rental company to pick it up from them. Very polite and friendly people — all of them — starting from the receptionist (who is a darling) to the owner to the mechanics in the shop.

Referred by my insurance company. Excellent work replacing 2 door panels. Very patient and affable staff /​management as well.

I also picked Fred Susan from my insurance companies list of recommended mechanics. I could not have been happier with my service. Fred was genuinely interested in getting me in and out of there at the lowest cost to me. The woman at the front desk was such a nice person to talk to and empathized with my situation (being rear ended by someone without insurance). All in all, they seem like good people, running an honest business and I would recommend them highly.

Chose this spot from the list my insurance company gave me to for guaranteed work. They went above and beyond for great service and scheduling and the guy who worked on my Corolla was super friendly. The one and only snag is that the garage entrance is on the street with no street parking. Highly recommended nonetheless.

I picked this auto body shop randomly from the list that my insurance company gave me to fix my car. Absolutely best car service I have ever had.
The woman at the front desk, the one who usually picks up the phone sounds like a typical gruff Boston native, but she was extremely sweet and even offered to come and pick us up so we didn’t have to take the bus to pick up our car when it was done.
They took care of everything, including ordering and having the parts in the shop BEFORE we dropped off the car so that they could take care of it within the week. We got the car back clean and beautiful and the guy who worked on our car walked us through everything he did, including having the old parts they took off there to show us.
I highly recommend going to them for your auto body needs. They don’t have an outside lot, so you have to basically drive up to the garage door in the building which freaked me out at first, but hey, you know your car is safe behind locked doors!

Apart from a slightly awkward location to get to in Somerville, this auto-​body shop is by far and away the best I’ve come across (and I’ve been to several in multiple countries — not that I’m accident prone). Their customer service is outstanding, the work itself (done twice on two separate cars) has been perfect, and they are flexible about the pick up and drop off of cars, even offering to drive me back to my home after dropping off a car recently for repair. Friendly, professional and attentive — perfect.