Shawnee Service Center

I was visiting family in the area and my check engine light came on. My uncle sent me to see the guys at Shawnee. I have an older car and was worried the repair needs were going to be extensive. The manager of the shop said it would be a couple hours and they would call before any work was to be done.
I was nervously anticipating a huge repair bill. However, when I got the call they said only the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. I had my car back road ready the same day. I would recommend Shawnee to anyone looking for an quality repair at a fair price.

So I took my car in last week to get it checked before a long road trip to Washington state when I came back to pick it up they wanted to charge me an extra $ 50 for checking the car for any problems. Last night my father came over and looked under the hood of the car and found that there was no anti-​freeze the air filter was not cleans (pretty basic shit) and it looks like they hadnt touched the engine or looked for any issues in the car all. They wanted to charge me $ 50 for nothing I told them I wasn’t paying for that fee because I could go over to Midas and have the car checked for free. there’s no reason for them to have a fee for checking in the car for any issues and then on top of that not even check for the issues and say they did. I am very upset about this I trusted the service company to check my car before a 4000 mile road trip not only did they not check everything that was supposed to be checked but they initially tried to charge me for it.
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UPDATE: I am now stranded in blue earth, Minnesota, the auto shop the car is at now says that the water pump is broken, along with oil leak and coolant leak and that whoever looked at the car did not do anything to prepare for a long trip. SHAWNEE AUTO HAS PUT US IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION. yesterday we were on the side of the interstate for an hour with an overheated engine. Thank god we were near a town and had cell service. The majority of our trip was through the middle of nowhere with no cell service. Shawnee did not check my car for any ailments before this long trip and now we are stranded till Monday when they can get the part in.
NEVER EVER COME HERE. THESE PEOPLE ARE CROOKS AND CRIMINALS AND I WOULDNT WISH THESE PEOPLE UPON MY WORST ENEMY. These people are sociopaths and with say anything to make you happy and act anyway to get what they want. We have contacted the better business bureau and have contacted everyone we know to never use these people. Hopefully anyone who reads this takes my warning seriously. These people are criminals.

On a recommendation, I brought my Audi here after the factory warranty ended to see if keeping the car was manageable.
As soon as I walked into the shop, I sensed that this was the right place for me. The first thing I noticed in the spotless shop was the Jeep they use to plow the lot. It’s probably 20 years old but is in amazing shape. It looks like it’s been consistently really well cared for. Then I started looking around and noticed beautiful older cars being worked on and thought that these guys had the ability to keep my car running well for as long as I wanted it. Now the question was «Can I afford this place?»
The answer was yes. The charges on my first visit seemed fair and there wasn’t any push to sell me parts or services that weren’t necessary at the time. The work was done quickly and completely.
I’ve had the same great experience every visit for years on both big and small issues. I still have the car and I definitely would not if I hadn’t found this place. I strongly recommend Shawnee to anyone who wants their car taken care of by honest professionals.

Shawnee Service Center is incredibly customer-​service oriented and it shows in all that they do. I trust these guys to do a good job and not try to get me to spend more than I need to. We are able to drop our cars off here and walk home, and it’s very convenient to the train. I highly recommend Shawnee!

Our family has been taking our autos to Shawnee for at least 30 years and have always been treated fairly. Most recently my elderly mother brought her car in and they drove her back home and picked her up when the car was done. They replaced the fuel/​air sensor after diagnosing the issue with their computer. Another example of diagnosing correctly, repair it right the first time and charging a fair price. Thanks Shawnee.

I cannot say enough amazing things about Shawnee Service Center. I had an emergency situation last Friday where my tire went completely flat by the time I rolled into Shawnee’s, at which time they were just minutes away from closing time. I wish I could remember the name of the man that helped me because he was by far the most kind-​hearted man.
I hit a curb and the steel rim of my tire bent, which caused air to leak from the tire. The service man first tried to fix the steel so that I did not need a tire change, and when that did not work he changed my tire for me even though they were closed by this time. The man was nice to me the entire time and never fussed about having to work after hours. He truly helped me in a time of need. I am in my 20’s and know nothing about cars. The closest family I have is 2 hours away, and I do not know what I would have done without their help. He literally saved my day. I am from a small town in Illinois and this amazing service reminded me of home. If I ever have car trouble in the future there will be no question that Shawnee’s will be where I go to.
I cannot thank them enough for helping me when I was in a major crunch.

I have been a customer of Shawnee Garage so long that everyone there knows me by name. I love this place! They have taken wonderful care of every car I have owned. I started coming here when I was a freshman at Northwestern and I wouldn’t go anywhere else.
They are friendly, helpful, and they do good work. Oh, and perhaps most important, they are totally honest! They are not the cheapest, but they have never tried to take me for a ride. So if they tell me something needs attention, I have them do it. How many automobile repair places can you name that are completely trustworthy? This is definitely one, as far as I am concerned.
When you walk into Shawnee Garage, it’s like stepping back into a different time when personal service was paramount. You’ll see just about every kind of car in the shop, from a 60’s Chevy to the latest Mercedes. I think they get their business entirely from word-​of-​mouth referrals.
I would like to mention that inside Shawnee Garage is a car detailing business called CarSmart. Once a year I have them professionally detail my car while it is in for service, and when I get it back it always looks amazing! The price is very reasonable.

They do honest auto repair. I’d been taking my car to Duxlers but they always found unnecessary additional repairs and twice I had flat tires the next day. Shawnee charges more for an oil change but only suggest extra work when it’s needed.

It sounds like things went wrong with Tom’s Audi in a former review. There is another story to be told about Shawnee, however. Bob and crew have meticulously cared for every car I’ve owned for 10 years, and I joined them as soon as I moved to Chicago because my colleague and his family had been relying on Shawnee for 35 years. These are no second rate con artists. These are trustable fair mechanics. Sounds like something went wrong with Tom’s Audi. But take that with a grain of salt — they’ve done exceptionally well by me and many of my friends, saving me money through the years. I wouldn’t put my car in anyone else’s hands.
Shawnee is truly the best auto repair option in Chicagoland. Phil and Bob and the crew at Shawnee are straight up, no-​nonsense folks who care about their work and do it well. I have had dozens and dozens of experiences at Shawnee, and every one has been positive. I’m grateful for their service, and I will not go anywhere else in the area — trust and reliability are, for me, priceless. And their price tag is very moderate compared to other shops.

I would not wish Shawnee Service Center on my worst enemies’ cars.
I brought my Audi A4 in to have its clutch replaced, new brakes installed, and a headlight bulb replaced. Not one of these repairs was done properly. A few days after picking up my car, I opened the hood to find that one of their mechanics had simply left one of the plastic covers for the headlight on top of the engine instead of reattaching it. Luckily it didn’t fall as I was driving and mess up a belt or something. This was enough for me to decide not to return, but the clutch and the brake work, two very expensive jobs, had both been botched.
Clutch replacement involves disassembling the car’s transmission and replacing several wear parts. Tearing apart a transmission, especially an Audi quattro transmission, is an incredibly time-​consuming procedure, and as such the labor cost of having it done is very high. Luckily, it’s not something that needs to be done terribly often. That is, unless you bring your car to Shawnee and the mechanics misalign the flywheel when they install it, leading to the car’s gears grinding terribly at random RPM intervals.
Although Shawnee claims to «road test» all of the vehicles they work on, mine evidently did not have the privilege. It took them four days to mess up my car’s transmission and leave it in a state such that, had it not been fixed, would have had me eat the $ 700 parts cost and the hundreds of dollars worth of second-​rate labor.
And finally, over a year after my brakes were supposedly replaced, I took my car somewhere else to have them look over my brakes as they had clearly lost some life. They showed me that only the front brakes had been replaced. Not a problem if the rear ones hadn’t needed to be replaced, however after looking over my receipt, I had been charged for four new brake pads.
Take my advice, this place is to be avoided. Don’t let the Wilmette address fool you into thinking these people are anything more than second-​rate scam artists.