Doc Able's Auto Clinic, Inc.

When new to Evanston, my wife naively took our car to Doc Ables. They "found" several problems for which they wanted to charge more than $1,000. We refused, took the car elsewhere, and were told most of the problems didn't exist. That was more than a year ago and no problems since then. The place is a great case study in how reassuring appearance and advertising can hide their basic crookedness. more

Do people just not understand the basic idea of maintaining their cars? more

We brought our car in fore the 5.95 oil change 2 years ago and were given a list of maintenance repairs to do on our 300m. At first I thought bait & switch, but after researching the recommendations its all legit if we want to keep our car reliable. I just simply read the owners manual. Since then its just bin simple maintenance. Reading some of the other reviews people like me just don't understand the concept of taking care of their car. more

Hello, All. Well, I went to Doc Abel’s on the advice of a friend. I had just purchased a classic car that needed a tune up and some other minor repairs, and I decided to give them a try. Upon arriving at Doc Abel’s, I found their shop to be one of the cleanest I have ever seen, and their staff was very friendly. I left my car so they could go over it and give me an estimate. After returning, they gave me a laundry-list of repairs that should be completed, none of which I disagree with. I left my car again, so they could begin some of the repairs. When I picked up the car, it ran far worse than when I brought it in due to a faulty re-built part… I don’t hold Doc Abel’s responsible for this, but they did tell me to keep driving because the problem might fix it self. It did not, so I returned – and another faulty part was installed. At this point, the technician, a very nice guy, said he would rebuild the part himself. He did get the car running good, but I have some specific complaints that Doc Abel’s did not address with me. This post is getting long, so I will just bullet point them: - Car was returned clean to me the first time, but subsequent visits, it was FILTHY. - Car was returned to me with a major door-ding that did not exist when I brought it in. - Car had an oil-stain on the roof that was not there. - They put the NAPA part numbers on their invoices.. If you check, you will see that they are adding at least 50% of the retail price for parts. A major, major rip-off. - The customer service people, who where always nice when I called, never once called me to give me an update. I had to call them once a week to find out what was up with my car. (It was in their possession for over 4 weeks!) And regarding the customer service people -- a red flag to me should have been when they were telling me my problems were being caused by an option that my car DIDN'T HAVE! - And finally, while they had my car, there was an under-hood fire that melted some of the wiring. This caused one of the options on my car to fail, which Doc Abel’s did not even attempt to repair. I have every confidence that Doc Abel’s does mostly good work – but be prepared to pay premium prices, and don’t take your older car there. - Adam more

Went to a big name chain was quoted $ 1300.00 to fix my brakes - OUCH - Doc Ables did it for & 350.00. Thank God i cant afford big bills on my sallary more

I was on my way downtown to finish some Christmas shopping and my car started to shake very bad. I pulled into to Doc Able my first time there, they were kind enough to have one of their mechanics check my car right away, it was just a hose fell off. They fixed it right away at no charge and sent me on my way. It warmed my heart that there are some good people left in the world. Thank you DOC more

I'm a recent graduate of Northwestern and have used Doc Ables as my mechanics for the past 4 1/2 years I attend school. These guys are good! The people who work there are friendly, professional and very knowledgeable. They've always steered me in the right direction and most importantly (especially to a college student) their prices for oil changes and repairs blow the competition away! I would definitely recommend these guys! more

As a layman i appreciate the time they took to explain why maintenance is so important on my car. I confirmed the needed maintenance with my dealer and saved over $250.00 using them. I will recommend to all my friends and family. VERY HAPPY! more

While I have had no issues getting a simple oil change at Doc Ables, and the price was reasonable, avoid them like the plague for any other work. Both times I've brought my car there they have "found" expensive problems that didn't exist or required very simple fixes another mechanic (or my husband) could do at a very low cost. Being new to Evanston and naive, my husband brought his car there for a routine tune-up and recieved a bill for well over $1,000. It was a complete rip-off. We investigated this shop further and there have been several complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau against them. They even confescated a car when the client refused to pay their lofty bill. Be forewarned. more