Boston Audi Group Forums

[bagodoosh]

i started doing this project for myself. mostly because it gets confusing and i end up either asking or doing a search everytime i would think of some work done to my car. i see other people ask the same.

so i took it upon myself to find all the "nice" garages around MA/NH area. by nice i mean places people would recommend; places that deserve getting paid for the work they do, and we'd trust taking the car back to.

i am interested in shops/garages that specialize in audi; except general work ofcourse, like oil changes or tire mounting, etc.

if you'd like to contribute, any information you have would be useful.
the key stuff i'm looking for are:
location (town, state)
services performed
hourly rate
web page /or/ phone#

here's my list so far --

mechanical:
(1) Advanced Technologies - manchester [m:sbce] [g] [$45] [#:978-337-3761] [l-malo@msn.com]
(2) Autobahn Performance - peabody [m:sbcwe] [a] [g] [$80/$70] [w] [#:978-536-2667]
(3) Bavarian PG - stoneham [m:sbcwe] [a] [g] [$75] [w] [#:781-279-4444]
(4) Brian's garage - needham - [m:sbcwe] [g] [$90/$70] [w] [#:781-444-3300]
(5) Greg's Repair Service - natick [m:sbce] [$68] [#:508-647-9749]
(6) Klaus Euromotive - londenderry, NH [$75] [w]
(7) KTR - ayer [m:sbce] [a] [g] [$75] [w] [#:978-772-9911]
(8) Shine racing - walpole - [m:sbcwe] [a] [g] [$140/$70] [w] [#:508-660-7974]
(6) Status Auto - londonderry, NH [m:sbce] [a] [g] [$65] [w] [#:603-622-2511]
(?) Justin @ audi of nashua - [doublej_001@msn.com]
(!) joe @ Midnight Motors - bedford [$80] [#:781-280-5055]
(K) little foreign car garage - waltham [w]
(!) benz den - belmont [#:617-489-6548]

body shop:
(A) Anchor Auto Body - woburn [bd] [#:781-935-0041]
(B) Bigelow Autobody - watertown [bd] [#:617-924-7000]
(C) Ira Collision - danvers [bd] [w]
(D) Wagner Motors - worcester [bd] [w]

electrical:
(E) Sound in Motion - allston [m:l] [w]

tint:
(F) Tint King - billerica [t] [w] [#:888-8468-564]

detailing:
(G) Ryan - salem [d] [w]
Brendan - ?mobile? [d] [brendan.griffin@quinnipiac.edu]

rim repair:
(H) rim pro - tewksbury [r] [w] [#:781-932-3132]
(I) rim & wheel works - newton [r] [w] [#:617-964-0226]

general:
(B,2,J,5) DirectTire - various [g] [a] [w]
(watertown, peabody, norwood, natick)
(B) Express Tire inc - watertown [g] [a] [w]
(B) wun @ sunoco station - Galen street/Watertown [m:g]

exhaust:
(E,2,D,9,-,-,K,L,M,N) Lou's custom exhaust - various [m:gx] [w]
(allston, peabody, worcester, fitchburg, plymouth, boston, waltham, brockton, lawrence, n.reading)

misc:
(-) Force5auto - concord, NH [w]
(?) PFmodify - (relocating) [w]

index:
[bd] - body work
[r] - rim repair
[m:sbcwelx] - modifications: suspension, brakes, weighing (corners), engine, lectronix, xaust, clutch
[g] - general (oil changes, etc)
[t] - tint
[d] - detailing
[w] - website
[a] - alignment
[$xx/yy] - hourly rate of $xx with customer supplied parts, $yy if shop supplied (if equal, only one is listed)
locations are in MA unless specified otherwise

MAP:



that is what i have. if you see something missing, feel free to reply.
_________________

[illiam]

Greg's Repair Service
Natick, MA
VW/Audi specialist
508-647-9749
$68/hr

[bagodoosh]

i called a few shops today. asked them questions and such, which resulted in me updating the list.

for one, 2 shops got deleted:
Turner Motorsport - amesbury [bmw] [w]
Landshark Automotive - natick [bmw] [w]

these are BMW shops only.

i asked about a suspension installation. so i updated the list with shops with alignment capability, and also the hourly rates. although, the hourly rate does not speak on its own, because a job may be quoted as 4 hours in one location and 8 at another.

[bagodoosh]

i wanted to comment on a seperate post about my impression on the phone with the several shops that i called. i spent about 5 minutes on the phone with each shop regarding a coilover suspension mod.

Brian's - he seemed like an honest, no BS guy. he seemed to have experience on aftermarket parts, but i felt like he had strong opinions regarding how certain things should be. this could be a problem for me, because i would end up argueing my way into having a work done.

shine - they seem like a professional crew. in my view this could be somewhat negative because with that professionalism comes fixed rates and perhaps unnecessary work done at my expense.

Bavarian - friendly. relatively new to the audi scene. i can't really judge until i see the quality of the mechanic's work.

Lee @ adv tech - i liked him. he seems to understand the customer's viewpoint. great hourly rates & his quote was reasonable. he also seemed familiar with aftermarket parts. he even mentioned being able to get RS4 parts from europe. neat.

Autobahn - seemed like a decent professional place. i guess they prefer to supply the parts.

Status - i liked this guy too. he seemed to have lots of experience. then again talking to the mechanic himself rather than the front desk person of a professional shop gives this impression.

KTR - professional shop. they felt like an aftermarket "dealership".

Greg's - seemed like an honest person; but he seemed more like a person that favors OEM replacements.

---
there you have it, my 5 minute psychoanalysis

[mike@bostonaudi]

This is good info so I'm going to make it a sticky
_________________

[NoahD]

[Bs4]

I have to say this. Status is where I've been dealing with, and ONLY place I go. Why? Their service is quick and price is super reasonable. They wouldn't BS about part that's mess up. I'm happy that I went through them in the beginning.
_________________

[HoRnYTuRbO]

How about T3 motorsports in JP and Auto Design Haus in brighton, MA

[bagodoosh]

my intent wasn't really to compile a list of possible shops, but rather a list of verified audi ones. if you've had good experience with them, post a review and it'll be reference material.

i did some research on T3:
"T3 is a good spot, but take everything Toney says with a grain of salt, and try to do your business there through joe."

as for Auto Design Haus, i used them exclusively to install suspension parts on my previous cars while they were on comm ave. i dont know what's going on with the shop now. i don't get the feeling that they are audi experts. they seem to carry some generic brands, and that's it. nothing really audi specific.

[APD]

Klaus Euromotive in Londonderry, NH -- Audi, VW, Porsche
http://www.klauseuromotive.com/
APR Distributor
Formerly known as TMTeK

I bought an APR chip from the AW Classifieds and had Klaus do the soldering. Glen and Mark were very friendly, professional and honest. Both of them are into racing and seem to know plenty about all of the aftermarket goodies out there.

If they weren't so far away I'd consider using them as an alternative to Shine. $75/hr

[bagodoosh]

for anyone thinking of choosing Lee @ advanced technologies, i recommend outlining the work & the cost exactly before the work is done. get a written estimate. work is quality, but in my experience the guy can't be trusted to calculate a reasonable fee. NoahD has experienced different. but if it can go either way, it's best to be cautious.

[bagodoosh]

i came back from Status today. suffice to say, good work. good people. great price. chalk up another good review.

they installed the stasis tracksport coilover. i may need to go back to fine tune the rear ride height.

[Bs4]

You saw my baby a mess?
_________________

[bagodoosh]

i didnt see it.

[Bs4]

[bagodoosh]

well i saw it in the pix; just not in person.

[CrazyINP12v-Ivan]

Status Auto.
I can say Tony is the best and I am sure Ray can say the same
_________________
1997 BMW M3/4 Cosmos Black - autocross & track
2000 Audi S4 Brilliant Black - daily driver

[sbh tuned]

[DDQ]

I hate to say it, but everyone gets raped for owning a car that is perceived to be expensive.

I'm not one to blow smoke up a$$es, but all I can say is that the 45 minute drive to Status is worth every penny. I just sold my A4 after owning it for a few years. I was contemplating buying many different cars. But, the ONLY reason I bought another Audi was the fact that I had a GREAT mechanic that I knew would take care of me. Granted they're not local for me, but I could care less, since living in Boston it takes 30 mintutes to drive 5 miles anyway.

I f'ing hate dealing with shops. I know quite a bit about my cars, but I don't have a lift in my garage nor the time to do all the b.s. that it takes to keep my car the way I want it, and to install all the mods I want. That is why I got to Status. No bullsh!t, they just do the work, give you a fair price, and send you on your way.

Also - bagodoosh - great work for posting this thread.

[OPM]

I have used 3 shops – Shine, Status and Advanced. I watched all of them for hours as they worked on my car. All 3 do great work and know their shit cold. However, they specialize in slightly different things and have different price points. So here is my review.

Shine – great shop for serious race prep or suspension work. If you need serious suspension or building a race car these guys are your best bet. For simple bolt-ons and maintenance they are overpriced.

Status - for simple bolt-ons and maintenance this is a great shop. They are fast, knowledgeable, and are reasonably priced. Great thing about them is that you can get a fixed price and they will honor it even if it takes them longer to do the job than they originally estimated.

Advanced – great shop for diagnosing hidden problems, maintenance and simple bolt-ons. Lee is extremely meticulous, which makes him slower than Jeremy. However, his hourly rate is lower so for larger projects he is more cost effective than Status and on smaller ones they will likely to charge very similar amounts. When I say Lee is meticulous I mean it. Here is an example, to install AWE ICs he had to plasma cut a small piece of metal deep inside a bumper cover. After the cut he proceeded to grinding the cut edge to smooth and then he color matched painted the 1 mm thick line that he just cut. No one will ever see that paint. If left unpainted it could have rusted in about 30 years. Most people would not even bother to grind that edge, leave alone painting it, but not Lee. Sure, he wasted 20 minutes of billable time, but if you love your car it’s totally worth it.
_________________

[traffic626]

Midnight Motors ask for Joe
781-280-5055

The two guys there are good mechanics, but they bought the place and the previous owner took the business with them.
_________________
Eddie
Go Huskies - Class of 1998
Go Terries - Class of 2003

I want an RS4!

[DDQ]

[traffic626]

[z3 racer]

I've used the Benz Den in Belmont, MA (Pleasant St/Rte 60 @ Rte 2) - 617-489-6548. German cars only, very good with Audis.

Great for general maintenance stuff and have excellent troubleshooting skills. Recently added full alignment equipment.

[Pablo]

Thanks for posting that Eddie.

Here's a post I made about the place on Audiworld. I highly recommend them and send me an email if you have questions.

http://forums.audiworld.com/newengland/msgs/15321.phtml