Transportation

Bikes

The White Bicycle Scheme courtesy of Jim E.

Buying a bike?

Ace Wheelworks (145 Elm St., Somerville)

Bicycle Bill's (254 North Harvard St., Brighton)

Broadway Bicycle School (Broadway, near Inman Square, Cambridge): new and used; "knowledgeable and honest"

Dreambikes (125 Walnut St., Watertown)

Federico's (126 Emerson, South Boston): cheap used refurbished bikes

Ferris Wheels (64 South St., Jamaica Plain): "knowledgeable and honest"

International Bicycle Center (89 Brighton Ave., Brighton): huge selection; good service

Wheelworks: Belmont Wheelworks (480 Trapello Rd., Waverley Square, Belmont): large selection; knowledgeable staff; "lacks something of the personal touch if you don't quite know what you want"

Wheelworks Too (22 Church St., Belmont): annex; close-out specials and used bikes

Cars

Repairs and mechanics; body shops

body shop: A-Z Auto (Cambridge)
We had a good experience with [A-Z Auto] on Richdale Ave. -jce

Auto Bon (Cambridge)

Auto Plus (Somerville)
John at Auto Plus in Somerville is fantastic. Honest and reliable. He will not rip you off. 617.628.9628, 229A Lowell St. -meow

body shop: Cambridge Nissan (Cambridge)
I took my Toy to Cambridge Nissan for body work... I thought they did a terrific job. (1280 Cambridge Street in Inman Square, tel. 617 661-1320) -csm

Chicago Auto (Cambridge)

Clayton Dodakin (191 Beacon St. Somerville)

Good News Garage (Cambridge) of Cartalk fame

Herb Chambers
DON'T go to Herb Chambers, they will always find something wrong.

John & Nicks (Cambridge)
...I lost a good bit of money at the seemingly quaint "John & Nick's" on Mass Ave a few months ago... The guys that work there are extremely nice -- no condescending or creepy vibes. But, sadly, when I went there with a transmission problem they charged an arm and a leg and I don't think they fixed my car. I had to take it somewhere else (in Newton) a week later. -Betsy

body shop: Perfection Auto Body (Watertown)
I always send my car to Perfection Auto - they have both a Repair and Auto Body shop. They are very good. I trust them. They are on Pleasant St. in Watertown, near Waltham. Pleasant St. is parallel to Main St. (Rt. 20, I think). Perfection Auto is 5 minutes from Watertown Square, or less. -jh

Purrfection Auto (Cambridge) : closed in 2003
I highly recommend Purrfection Auto on Pearl St., just off Central Sq. Cambridge. I have always found him to be extremely honest, prompt, pleasant, and willing to go for the least expensive fix available for any problem... -Nina
I second Nina's recommendation of Purrfection Auto on Pearl St. near Central Sq. Great work and reasonable! -Pam
...they are also not at all condescending to women -- which is a must with me because I always ask a thousand questions because I am intrigued by car repair... they were always very congenial in answering all of my random questions. -Stephanie

body shop: Schlager Auto Body Repair (Dorchester)
I was very happy with Schlager Auto Body Repair at 170 Granite Ave. in Dorchester. -csr

Woodings (Allston)
Wooding's Garage in Allston (Union Sq) is definitely honest. I've known him for over 30 years. And the bus from there goes to and from Kendall Sq during rush hours so it works well for our schedules here. -ML

Buying a car?

...my brother-in-law, Mark Millis, is the proprietor of Sunset Auto Sales & Service in Braintree... Over the years we've bought a lot of cars from Mark, all of them in the cheap used car category. We have also referred friends to him and they've been pleased. Mark is a lovely guy and one of those amazing people who really knows and understands cars. 781.843.0345, 1025 Washington Street, Braintree, MA. If you talk to him please be sure to tell him his favorite sister-in-law recommended him. -Nina

...I actually had a good car buying experience recently. I purchased a Subaru in August, and after some shopping around and getting smarter about the value of my trade-in and such (including an attempt to use Autobytel, which I do not recommend) I approached Patrick Subaru in Worcester, via their website about a specific vehicle on their lot. Subaru dealer inventories are available on the web.
I just want to report that I liked working with this dealership and particularly with Rick Clark (Clarke?), the sales person, very much. I got treated intelligently and no one ever even mentioned extended warranties or fabric protection or anything else.
Just wanted to let you all know. I would buy from them again and I recommend them - in case anyone out there is car shopping...
-Pat

last modified July 8, 2003