Gabe's Autoworks

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  JSW Life
8 years ago
Last year on my return golf trip from Rochester New York while traveling on interstate 81, 300 miles from my home. I blew the head gasket on my 1999 Volvo xc70. Had the car towed to the VOLVO dealership in Syracuse that Sunday. I had to take a bus home. Followed up with the dealer that Monday, repair estimate over $4000.00. Did some online research and found Gabe Auto. Had the car towed to them, I couldn't have been more pleased with the choice. I felt at ease after my conversation with Gabe. For further reassurance I had my Volvo mechanic (I've known him for over 25 years) speak with Gabe after speaking with him he confidently assured me that Gabe knows his stuff. Cost $2600. One week later I went to pick up my car, met Gabe for the first time. What an upstanding and gracious person. . A few months later I was heading back to Rochester and stopped by to have my wife meet Gabe, we spent 45 minutes chatting with him. Highly recommended.

  Larry Voigt
7 years ago
My daughter lived in Syracuse for the past 6 years. She drove a 1996 Ford Taurus for 3 of those years. On a recommendation from a local insurance agency, she started taking her car to Gabe. Gabe always took great care of her. She was on a limited budget and Gabe always treated her fairly. He would even tell her when something could be postponed and even let her know when the Taurus just wasn't worth fixing any more. Then she bought a 1996 Camry. Gabe checked the car out for her and helped her feel comfortable about buying it. He then took care of that car, too, never recommending anything unnecessary, no huge bills, or anything. My daughter recently moved away from Syracuse. Gabe gave her car a "final blessing" before she left assuring her it had some good life left in it. She will really miss Gabe. I appreciate that he never treated her like a young girl who didn't know anything. If something needed attention, he would explain it to her fully before doing anything. Thank you so much for the great service, Gabe! My daughter and I recommend you highly!

  George Friday
10 years ago
Gabe is a great guy! My daughter graduated from college in 2011 and did a 1 year stint with AmeriCorp VISTA in Syracuse. She was on a VERY limited budget and had an older car. Gabe was very honest with her and treated her quite fairly. He never tried to "upsell" her on repair or service work but made sure her car was working and operating safely per State of NY inspection standards. He recently told her she was going to have some serious issues down the line due to the age of her car and recommended she look for another rather put a bunch more money in the one she has. He could have just as easily recommended expensive repairs, but didn't. As long as she's in Syracuse, he's our mechanic. I recommend him highly!

  Smitty Knickerbocker
7 years ago
I had a awful and expensive experience at Gabe's shop. He had my car for almost a month and when I got it back they did fix the problem but for some reason now I had new issues with the window and interior door panel (I had a high idling issue originally, and needed a side mirror replacement). It was unreal, so I brought the car back and they had it for over a week and it still wasn't right. I just took it as a loss, and had it fixed at another shop!

  Adria Pennington-Lee
9 years ago
Terrific. This is the most respectful garage that a woman could walk into. My partner and I have an old '91 940Turbo Volvo that needed new brakes and rotors and he did it for a fair price and wasn't pushy or gross -- like so many other garages are/can be. Highly recommended.

  Annabel Hine
8 years ago
We took our vehicles to Gabe's several times, on a friend's recommendation. In retrospect, there were aspects of all the service and repairs he did for us that make me raise an eyebrow, but nothing major until the last time. For example, he said my side view mirror "fell off in my hands" and he duct taped it back on. I'm not sure why he was touching the mirror, since it adjusts electronically, and I was a little disappointed he duct taped my car rather than fixing what he broke, or at least asking me first. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt. There were several other things like that, some dodgy communication, and the bills were very high, but Gabe seemed like a nice guy, and I'm not a suspicious person, so I let it all go. The last time I took one of our vehicles to him -- our family minivan -- I told him it had a click in the front end, on the driver's side, when going over bumps. When he called me with his diagnosis, he said both rear springs were bad, and both front wheel bearing assemblies. The total repair would be $2,200. We can't be without our family van, so I told him to go ahead with the repair even though it put us in financial hardship. I picked up the van when it was ready, several days later, and paid for the repair. Soon, I realized it was still making the same noise as when I dropped it off. It was a very obvious clicking/clunking sound in the front left, when I went over bumps. Since I had just paid over two thousand dollars to fix this sound, I was alarmed. I called Gabe and he said to bring it back. Before doing that, I brought it to another mechanic for a second opinion, as I was beginning to get nervous that Gabe hadn't been honest with me. That mechanic correctly diagnosed the problem in ten minutes (he said he was 90% sure, without putting it on a lift, and he ended up being correct), and said it was a $150-$200 repair, not a $2,200 repair. He and several friends who are mechanics told me that if both my front wheel bearings were bad, there's no way I wouldn't have known. Wheel bearings make a specific sound as the wheels turn, which increases as the car's speed increases. This is not even remotely similar to the clicking/clunking noise that was very obviously occurring before and after Gabe's charged me for their repair. When I went back to Gabe's, he brought out his employee who had worked on my car. These guys proceeded to argue with me that I didn't know what I was hearing because I'm not a mechanic, and they can hear things that I wouldn't hear because they are mechanics. They also said my tire noise was so loud, I wouldn't have been able to hear what they heard. I told them they were correct, that I am not an expert, but I know what I heard, and it was still making the same, very obvious sound as it was when I originally brought it to them, and that another mechanic had immediately diagnosed it as a bad tie rod end. The mechanic looked at it again and agreed it had a bad tie rod end. At this point, at the very least I felt uncomfortable with the idea that an (according to them) ignorant non-mechanic such as myself could so clearly hear a sound that such seasoned mechanics had missed. At most, I suspected outright dishonesty. I did ask for the old parts back (the springs and hub assemblies they had removed) because I wondered if they even replaced anything. They gave them to me and I brought them to the other mechanic for inspection. He said the springs were definitely bad, but didn't feel the bearings were terrible -- although he did say it was very hard to tell when they are not on the vehicle. One of them had a little bit of play in it, but the other seemed okay. I'm trying to be thorough about my description of the experience because I understand the damning nature of a bad review, and want to make sure I'm accurately representing the facts. I will never know if Gabe's was purposely dishonest with me, in order to get a busy mom to pay for an expensive repair she didn't need, or if the mistake was simple negligence. But I would recommend skipping Gabe's.

  Tara Morgan
8 years ago
Brought my Volvo in for a repair, which I was told was done (and was charged over $300 for). Upon leaving, my car had the SAME issues it did before, and I was unable to get my car home. I brought the car back in, and was AGAIN charged to fix the problem, which was not repaired in the first place. Gabe redid some wiring in the vehicle, and when I got the vehicle home, my blinkers and high beams would not work!! Upon seeing another specialist, it was discovered that the wiring was done improperly and I am still working to undo the damage. Would not recommend this shop.

  Dan Larkin
10 years ago
Horrible place. He is a crook. My car was vandalized on his property and no one called the police until I came to pick it up 4 days after my land rover was broken into. 2 full weeks to replace one sensor. I asked to have my CPS sensor replaced and my car was ripped apart inside and out to find the cause of not starting. Horrible experience of the owner yelling and screaming profanity at me for calling the police to report the break in. All in all I had to drive away in January with a broken rear window, a seat full of glass, interior plastics and side cabinets torn apart with black fingerprints covering my interior white and tan leather, and crowbar marks and scratches to my door and window frame

  Christopher Fey
10 months ago
Brought both my volvos there. Make sure you make an appointment. Took care of many problems on my 05 v70r within 3 days

  Teresa Lasell
9 years ago
I took my car in to be looked at. Gabe looked it over and made his initial recommendation. When I dropped the car off the second time a week later, I was greeted by my first name. I must say it's hard to find customer service like that now a days!

  Sam James
11 years ago
My car brokedown it was a strut that poped. Gabe was very good about fixing it with a like new part and I appreciate his helping out. While it took a little while considering how busy he was he did a wondeful job of getting my car fixed. Thanks so much

  Theresa Hudgins
2 years ago
Excellent service! Amazing knowledge of Volvo cars. My car was repaired in a short time I would recommend this place to anyone!

  William Koch
4 years ago
Gabe does great work and is very knowledgable. Best place around to go for work on a Volvo (especially if you like to avoid the stealership)

  T4891 TH
8 years ago
This is a garage that they would investigate on 20/20 this guy Gabe almost robbed me with out a gun brought my car there and told me that I needed a transmission that was used at that for $3,300 and a new one for over $6,000 thank God that I took it to the dealership to have them tell me that it was not the transmission I had the dealer fix my car for $300 so you do the math I feel sorry for all the people that don't no any better Beware

  Khreltz Vest
a year ago
Gabe is the 1st honest mechanic I've had the pleasure of working with. No one else is going to touch my car from now on.

  Shirley Dougherty
2 years ago
Best local mechanic in town! Always honest & kind and goes out of his way every time to ensure a great experience.

  Bob Slivinski
7 years ago
Gabe has worked on my cars for a few years now. Professional and talented. Prices are good.

  christopher hinton
3 years ago
I highly recommend Gabe,very honest and straight up guy. Doesn't try to sell you services you truly don't need .

  VS
8 years ago
Would not recommend this place charged me 80 for a false diagnostic. Was told it was my transmission got a second opinion n was told it was the cv axle.

  John Branning
a year ago
Gabe and Chis, always solid solid honest work and integrity! As always, Thank you!

  GARGAMELL GLADDEN
7 years ago
I'V BEEN HERE A COUPLE TIMES AND EVERY PERSON HERE WAS PROFESSIONAL AND THE PRICES ARE GREAT! GOOD BUSINESS !

  David Hammond
4 years ago
Wouldn t take my car anywhere else. Thanks Gabe.

  Jess Turner (PapiRogue)
7 years ago
Been going here for 8 years good guys good service.

  Michael Oloughlin
4 years ago
Very good

  john wisdom
4 years ago
Good job

  Tal Streeter
4 years ago
This man knows his Volvos!!