Phil's Foreign Auto

See above plus on time and exactly within estimate. This is the top auto shop of a y we have used.

This year 2017, I am going elsewhere. They can be that way but after paying around $1,000.00 - $ 2,000.00 a year for repairs I need a change.... It's good to change garages now and then. There's no need to stick to one garage for years. His office help was always changing and his mechanics were always changing, too. So something wrong was going on there! It did not work for ME, but you may experience a different situation! P.S. When estimates reached $900.00 it was time to go.

unknown

As always the service was excellent.  

unknown

unknown

I have been a client at Phil's for about two years and have always been completely satisfied with the quality of the work done on my 2002 Toyota Camry. I also appreciate the cordiality and high level of customer service provided by Bruce and his staff, and how well I am informed about needed work. I highly recommend Phil's. It is always busy there, which is another indication of quality work.

 Very professional and helpful. You end up confident car is well taken care of. Good explanation of what they are going to do and the reasons behind it. Does take a long time to get an appointment but will try and fit you in for not so difficult problems.

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

They checked my brakes. I needed 2 new brake pads. The other 2 had about 30% left on them.
They ere professional, did what I asked, quickly contacted me with the results. At the very last minute ( 4:30 PM Friday ) I asked them to also check my car "fluids ". They did what I asked without complaint, contacted me immediately with the results ( needed oil). They changed the oil. I also presented them with the Angie's list coupon which they gladly excepted and subtracted from the final bill I will continue to have my car serviced and repaired there.

It is hard to exaggerate our satisfaction with Phil's Foreign Auto. They are the most professional and least expensive mechanics I've ever used in my life. The final bill for this latest repair was less than 25% of the dealer's estimate, and less than 40% of a nearby competitor's. The only downside is that their excellent reputation means waiting ~ 2 weeks to get work done... but if you can wait, you will pay less and get superior care that makes it well worth it.

Work was performed per schedule.
Office called for authorization as requested and when work was complete.
Price was about 65% of Dealer's estimate.

I brought the car in around 9:00am and Bruce was at the counter. He wrote up the order and I left soon after. The throttle was sticking badly and would freeze the rpm at 4000 intermittently. I could never predict when it was going to happen but when it did it would scare the daylights out of my son and my girlfriend. Sometimes pumping the gas pedal would unstick it and sometimes I would have no luck. It just made the car unpredictable and a little dangerous to drive. Bruce called around 2:30pm and told me the car was ready to go. He cleaned and lubricated the throttle cables and adjusted as needed to fix the problem. I though he was going to have to put a throttle return spring, but he didn't have to do it. Bruce also drained the Differential ( it hadn't been done in YEARS, and added the high quality synthetic oil for the differential. I wanted him to put the good quality synthetic in it and was glad he did as I forgot to tell him what to put in the differential.The cars runs beautiful now. SMOOOOOTH gas pedal response and a bit peppier than when I brought it in. The car is much more responsive when under acceleration. A huge improvement.! The total coat was only $98.00... what a wonderful surprise. I will bring The Jensen GT back to him anytime it needs fixing. I own a 1974 Jensen Healey.... And that will spend some time at Phil's Car "Spa" too. My BMW will also be going there.... it's a 2009, but will be a piece of cake for Bruce to fix.

15 Adams St, South Portland, ME 04106
I was pleasantly surprised at the cost. They provided rides home and back again so I didn't have to wait at the shop. The work was done as requested and has been good since.

I brought the car in around 9:00am and Bruce was at the counter. He wrote up the order and I left soon after. The throttle was sticking badly and would freeze the rpm at 4000 intermittently. I could never predict when it was going to happen but when it did it would scare the daylights out of my son and my girlfriend. Sometimes pumping the gas pedal would unstick it and sometimes I would have no luck. It just made the car unpredictable and a little dangerous to drive.
Bruce called around 2:30pm and told me the car was ready to go. He cleaned and lubricated the throttle cables and adjusted as needed to fix the problem. I though he was going to have to put a throttle return spring, but he didn't have to do it.
Bruce also drained the Differential ( it hadn't been done in YEARS, and added the high quality synthetic oil for the differential. I wanted him to put the good quality synthetic in it and was glad he did as I forgot to tell him what to put in the differential.

The cars runs beautiful now. SMOOOOOTH gas pedal response and a bit peppier than when I brought it in. The car is much more responsive when under acceleration. A huge improvement.! The total coat was only $98.00... what a wonderful surprise. I will bring The Jensen GT back to him anytime it needs fixing. I own a 1974 Jensen Healey.... And that will spend some time at Phil's Car "Spa" too. My BMW will also be going there.... it's a 2009, but will be a piece of cake for Bruce to fix.

I was very pleased, haven't had a mechanic in a long time.  Found them on Angie's list and saw they had a good rating and decided to try them.  My car was ready at the time and price quoted, Bruce called just before they were to close.  I told him I couldn't make it there before he closed, and he said he would wait if I wanted him to.  I told him no, but was impressed with the offer.
I will go back, and direct anyone looking for a good mechanic to do so as well.

They were courteous, friendly, and wonderful.  They did a great job.

First of all, the power was out when I dropped my car off (one of our Maine storms), but they were very calm and professional nonetheless.  They assured me that power would return, and the service would be performed as scheduled.  Then they drove me to work, which, for me, was a great part of their overall service.  By the end of the day, they had completed the service on my car (couldn't get the horn to duplicate my problem, so it passed inspection), came and picked me up at work, and brought me back to my car.

I called Phils after seeing reviews here because my my car needed new brakes.  I had my car into a dealership the previous week due to some unrelated issues and they said that my brakes would need to be done soon and said it would cost $525.  I decided to shop around (which is when I found Phils) and in the meantime by brakes got noticeably worse, scraping loudly.  I called Phils to see if they could get me in and they were able to fit me in that same day (or a week later).  I dropped my car off just after lunch and it was done before 4pm. Not only that, but it came to just under $300, and there was a coupon on here for Angie's list members, bringing my total to about $275.  My brakes work great now and the work was done quickly, professionally, and for $250 less than I had been quoted elsewhere.  
I have recently moved to the area and was looking for a regular mechanic.  I have several more things that my car needs done in the next few months and am very happy to say I've found "my regular guy", will be going back here absolutely.

We had a very complicated problem with my '01 Saab 93 and Bruce saw the frustrating and difficult procedure through to the end, making good on all of his promises, and then some, along the way. We had a "ghost" somewhere in the electrical system, which, for us, translates into a car that randomly would not start. This infuriating problem would only happen after we had gone out to run errands and were going from place to place.  Eventually, we would find ourselves stranded for at least 10 but sometimes as much as 30 minutes while the car would not respond when we turned the key.  Portland Volvo/Saab had assured us the problem was the neutral safety switch, even though they had not been able to replicate the problem when had the car in their garage.  There was no "check engine" light or any error code from the system.  Their quote without actually having the car not start while they had it?  $600.Bruce immediately said he did not think it was the neutral switch, as that would've caused a code to come up.  He gave me a few simple procedures to do when the car would not start (because OF COURSE, we were unsuccessful in making it NOT start while at his shop!), like basically moving the shifter to a different position and trying to start it, which would give a very good indication of whether or not it was a bad neutral switch.  He also recommended tapping the starter while someone else tried to turn it over since he believed it was the starter.  Moving the shifter lever did not produce any results, but tapping the starter DID, so, bang, diagnosis complete, must be the starter, right?  Well, the first few times it wouldn't start, tapping the starter got it to turn over but the next three times, no luck.  I wasn't completely convinced it was the starter but Bruce was and he gave me a full guarantee that if the new starter didn't fix the issue, he would refund my money or push on to try and find out what the issue actually was. Neither of us could have realized what a mess he was committing to at that point.  If he had, I'm sure he may have added a few conditions to the guarantee!The starter did not help, which meant that the only way to track down the problem was to test the electrical system.  No trouble for a car that won't start at all.  Tedious, frustrating, horrible, smash-head-against-wall type of trouble for a car that doesn't start whenever it d*** well feels like it, which is never when it's in the shop.  True to his word, Bruce offered a full refund, but I had no intention of going to someone else, as he had a good reputation and good reviews on this site.  I spent the next two or three weeks finding out the best possible pattern to make the thing fail, coming down to Phil's with the car and trying to replicate the conditions so it would not start, since Bruce and his techs could only test for the failure when it was ACTUALLY HAPPENING.  Some days it wouldn't cooperate at all and some days I could get it to not start, only to have Bruce run out with his testing equipment, hook it up, and then have the thing start, making his rushing around all for naught.Bruce was incredibly patient throughout the whole process (even though, at times, I was not), saying they weren't going to give up, that we would find out what the problem was.  Eventually, he would just hook up the tester (which meant removing the panel under the steering wheel) and I would sit in the car trying to get it not to start.  After numerous attempts, success!  It was the ignition switch!  He replaced the ignition switch, which ended up costing about $20 more, but after all that, just paying $20 seemed like a incredible bargain.  Problem solved?  Not quite.  A few days later, the issue reared it's ugly head again and I had to make the mournful call back to him to tell him the bad news.  Still convinced it was the ignition switch, he replaced it AGAIN, free of charge, AND replaced the neutral safety switch COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE.  In the midst of all of this, we had a problem with some controls in the dash not working, which he also fixed at no cost.I was astounded, completely floored when he told me that he had done all of this work and only charged me for the initial cost of the starter, plus another $20 (roughly) for the ignition switch.  He and his guys easily did over $1000 worth of work, plus time spent diagnosing the problem, PLUS I had several free rides back and forth to my home in South Portland from his courtesy shuttle at any time.  I know I have been ripped off and put through the grinder by other mechanics and especially from the dealership.  I was blown away by the honesty, straighforward approach and talk from Bruce and his very friendly, funny, casual staff.  We all know plenty of mechanics who would have found a way to make their money back after being put in a position to honor their promise and guarantee.  Bruce is exactly the opposite of those thieves.I HIGHLY recommend Phil's Foreign Auto and will definitely be going back for any and all car issues in the future.  Hopefully the other issues will be much more run of the mill "It's leaking fluid from HERE" or "It won't start PERIOD" types, right Bruce?  Awesome job by everybody, and thanks so much to all of the people there for going WAYYY above and beyond.

I brought the car in around 9:00am and Bruce was at the counter. He wrote up the order and I left soon after. The throttle was sticking badly and would freeze the rpm at 4000 intermittently. I could never predict when it was going to happen but when it did it would scare the daylights out of my son and my girlfriend. Sometimes pumping the gas pedal would unstick it and sometimes I would have no luck. It just made the car unpredictable and a little dangerous to drive.
Bruce called around 2:30pm and told me the car was ready to go. He cleaned and lubricated the throttle cables and adjusted as needed to fix the problem. I though he was going to have to put a throttle return spring, but he didn't have to do it.
Bruce also drained the Differential ( it hadn't been done in YEARS, and added the high quality synthetic oil for the differential. I wanted him to put the good quality  synthetic in it and was glad he did as I forgot to tell him what to put in the differential.

The cars runs beautiful now. SMOOOOOTH gas pedal response and a bit peppier than when I brought it in. The car is much more responsive when under acceleration. A huge improvement.! The total coat was only $98.00... what a wonderful surprise. I will bring The Jensen GT back to him anytime it needs fixing. I own a 1974 Jensen Healey.... And that will spend some time at Phil's Car "Spa" too. My BMW will also be going there.... it's a 2009, but will be a piece of cake for Bruce to fix.