They may know Saab based on the reviews but that is where it ends. We had a failed sensor in a German car which aligned with the code set. They tried to sell us a water pump replacement for $2,000 dollars. Had to pay $130 diagnostic fee to get the car back. Took to another shop car repaired for $500. IMO they just over bid the problem. Poor diagnostics procedures. Once the sensor was removed it was obvious what the failure was. This is a parts replacement shop not a experience technical diagnostics operation. If you need an oil change it maybe OK. But if you have a dash board light on, or an odd noise you want to go somewhere else. read more

I noticed that they never update their website as to what they have on their premises cards for sale. It's very outdated. I know he has cars for sale up front but they're not online read more

I've had a few relatively minor repairs done on my Saab here. Bo and his son are pleasant and helpful, but like other reviewers, when I've had anything other than an oil change done, the cost is ALWAYS in excess of what he says it will be (usually because of labor costs). He has never called to authorize this ahead of time. That hasn't been a deal-breaker, but this is: at my most recent oil change there, I was told I needed some urgent brake work done, the sooner the better. When I stopped by another auto repair shop for a second opinion (a shop I have used for years and trust completely), they looked baffled and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with my brakes. I don't get it. I hate to think Automotion was being deceptive but I don't know what other conclusion to draw. So, proceed with caution. read more

If you have a classic SAAB like I do (1989 Turbo sedan), your search for someone that knows how to fix & maintain these automobiles is over - call Automotion. Unlike ABJ in Somerville, whose SAAB expertise has all but vanished - and who severely damaged my pristine car by wrapping the door around the hydraulic lift post - Boe at Automotion has more experience with and knowledge of these cars than you will find anywhere in metro Boston. Automotion quickly solved several electrical issues that have haunted my SAAB for the past few years, tackled a clutch & rack replacement easily, and recommended a few other things that have improved performance (turbo by-pass valve, sway bar bushings). Technicians that know how to fix and maintain classic SAABs are few and far between; keen ones are even harder to find. If you want to be pampered by a service writer with all the bells & whistles, go to Herb Chambers. If you want to keep your old SAAB running right, go to the straight shooters at Automotion just north of Burlington on 3A. read more

This is not a knee jerk review, unfortunately it's not good. Firstly, the good news is that the place is honest and is reasonably priced, however they need to work on their communication skills to customers. I decided to bring my car to them for a 2nd opinion because I have been suffering from power loss and I wanted to prepare my car for tuning. When I dropped off my car, I was greeted by Boe and asked if I had a ride back. I printed out what my car is suffering from and he said that he would give me a call tomorrow. **please read this sentence** He calls me and says that he's going to charge me $630 to replace the fuel filter, fuel pump, and new fuel. I agree to the charges and he went with it. He kept my car for an additional day and never called me back until late in the afternoon. He told me that he's having a difficult time solving my problem and said "I gave you a new ECU tune to hold some boost". Never told me that he was going to charge me, sounded like he reprogrammed my ECU. When I came in to pick up my car, I was so shocked to see the price. It was $1544.xx, and when I saw the bill I asked him "wow, had no idea it was going to cost this much." he replied "I know, me either." What can I do? I didn't have my car for 2 days, and I need it, in addition to that I had to travel from Brighton to pick up my car. He did additional work with no authorization from me. He tacked on an additional $900+ to his original quote, and he did not call me once to have me authorize the additional charges. I would have declined the extra work. You can find my thread on a Saab forum here http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213760 Before I challenged the charges to my credit card company, I contacted Boe and told him how I felt that it was a surprise to find the bill so high. He apologized profusely and said that he would contact me next week to work out a "deal" on the tuning that I wanted for my Saab. He never called me back, and that's what swayed me to fight the charges on my credit card. I fought the charges with my credit card company and lost. On the receipt that I signed, it says that the original estimate was $1544.xx, NOT $630, I found that to be highly suspicious. I believe that Boe is honest, but I wish he can call his customers before doing additional work. He wants to solve your problems with an unlimited budget. Then again when he slid me the receipt nonchalantly, I was suspicious from the beginning, maybe he's done this before. Will I go back to this place again? Nope. Do I think Boe sincerely cares about his work? Yes. read more

Very professional! If you want your car repaired this is where you should highly consider taking your vehicle. I have had two repairs in two weeks with this service repair shop and each were a done efficiently and effectively. I very pleased and will trust them with my car again should I have the need for another repair. read more

My car was making weird noises so I dropped it off to get it looked at. They couldn't find anything wrong but tightened all the bolts. Apparently, it took an hour to do so at $90. They also recommended new front tires, which I definitely needed especially with the winter weather. Since they already had my car, I figured might as well. Too bad they charged me 50% more per tire than Hogan or Town Tire, or I would have been back. After trying to negotiate, they offered to reprogram my navigation/computer for free but they never did it. I like to support small businesses but not when you are ridiculously more expensive and can't deliver on your word... read more

I read the reviews and disagree with all the negative things I have read. I have been using him as a mechanic for over 30 years and found him to be honest and thorough. He always calls and asks permission if extra work is required. I have owned Saabs and am the present owner of an XC70 and he has serviced all of them. I have 134000 on the Volvo and it is running great thanks to him. Also the dealers charge more for service and I haven't met one as thorough as he is. Dealers are much less responsive to my needs as he is. Thanks Boe and Paul! read more

I've been driving by this place for years and finally decided to give them a shot. This is the best kept secret in Billerica. Bo was up front about everything. I also found this is not a pull out and replace kind of shop. I have a 12 year old Range Rover and My fan for the heat was not working and he said 2K to fix but let me try something. He cleaned the conections and lubed the motor. my bill went from 2k down to under 2oo bucks. I can see the complaints about them not being a people kinda place but if you can get by that and want an honest job at a good reasonable price its your turn to give them a shot. read more

Shame on me that I didn't come here first to get a sense of how people feel abo0ut this service center. My gut told me, 'no' because of the abrupt way I was spoken to on the phone. But, I've got a Saab, Saab service isn't close to my house and I needed a few things fixed. I ended up spending a lot more than I expected - same as other reviewers. So, that was a negative surprise. One of the fixes was my driver's side window. It again broke within a few weeks. It was winter and Boe informed me'if you put down the window when it is frozen you'll break it'. Well, how was I to know it was frozen. Ok. so I'm a dumb car owner. My real reason for writing this review is that my 'fill coolant light' has never acted correctly since the car's trip to Automotion. This was something that was supposed to be fixed. I'm now suspecting (and reinforced by others that have looked at the car) that the needed parts were not in fact replaced which if I do it somewhere else will be a $1K job. I haven't gone back to Automotion because I don't won't to accuse them of this and because of the way I know I'll be treated. Beware! read more

My girlfriends Saab 9/5 wouldn't start this morning so I had it towed to Automotion. After a few hours of being towed there I recieved a call from Boe saying the cars reeady to be picked up. I was nervious at first since I didn't "ok" any work. Boe told me this is your lucky day the nut loosened up on the starter motor. He only charged me $45 dollars! I am very happy they could have easily ripped me off! Automotion has a customer for life! read more

Boe and Paul are the only guys that I trust with my Camaro. I had some issues with another shop and these guys made it right. Its nice to see guys take pride in their work. read more

I took my car to Boe with the purpose to determine whether I should put money into the car or donate/junk it. I asked him to perform a safety check and inspection and let me know what it needed. I knew of some things but of course not being an auto mechanic have no way to professionally determine the scope of what a car needs. He comes back with the list, $1800 and says "it's a good car". On the fence, that's almost what the car is worth, but since I'm fixing it for my niece, I give in. 2 miles down the road on the way home, exhaust blows out? Now how does that happen? ok, another 380 or so. Take it to be inspected for neice and the tires are all "chopped", whatever that means. Needs 4 tires, another 400-500. Front end is way out of alignment (hey, didn't he just change the right front strut assembly? yep), another 200 because it's frozen shut. Roof doesn't work, will be at least 1k to fix that. And the kicker, the rear brakes are so bad , the pins are about to break off and the pads disintegrated. Had he even looked, should have told me that. But of course, he wanted to bilk me out of whatever he could get. If he gave me the honest assessment that the car isn't worth it, too far gone, time to let it go, he would have gotten $100 and that's it. Oh, and not to mention there's about 5 other things he said he did, and the evidence is pretty strong that he didn't even do them. The court will decide on that. Avoid like the plague. read more

I own a Saab 93 Aero, and Automation Services is my go to for major servicing. My car is now 12 years old and still performing well thanks to the work performed at Automotion. My most recent work requested was for new brakes, a new air dam (mine was cracked from hitting parking stops and from scrapping steep parking lot entries), repair of the front bumper (broken due to the air dam catching on things), replacing my driver's mirror, engine tuning, painting the front end (lots of dings from 180K miles of driving), and headlight replacement (due to lens frosting that was degrading illumination). I anticipated new brakes all the way around, but after initial inspection Bo informed me that only the front brakes needed replacement. I was also ready for headlight replacement because the lenses were frosted, but Bo said he could restore them. He was able to restore the lenses to new condition with his own in house procedure. They look brand new! With regards to the air dam he gave me the option of installing a new Aero dam or a less expensive sedan air dam. He informed me that the sedan air dam would provide me additional front end clearance that would prevent the dam from scrapping against parking stops and steep parking lot/drive accesses, would look just as good, and would be less expensive than the Aero dam. Needless to say, I told him what I wanted, he informed me of anticipated expense, and once given the go ahead he and his son did a great job. He did perform one upgrade I didn't ask for, but that was the restoration of the Aero's fog lights. However, that upgrade was a minor and only enhanced the car's appearance. I'm very happy with the work performed and will continue to utilize his services. Paul S. read more

I've had dealings with these people twice now, and neither is good - mirroring the other reviews. One was a re-tune, which took two weeks instead of two days, as one of the workers went away and had failed to communicate that to me; thankfully, I had my car, but give me a break! The most recent could only be explained as rude - told me three times within 3 minutes that he had his "key in the door" and wanted to leave. Being a tech guy myself, but needing a simple part - which he didn't have and said he wouldn't order - I was frustrated to the max with this one, he spoke down to me and couldn't have made it any more clear that he wanted to get off of the phone and not help. My fellow gearhead, who heard this interaction on speaker phone, asked afterwards how "people like that work in a service industry". Go to Charles River - awesome people, very helpful, reasonable prices and they have loads of parts and loaners - or order from Genuine Saab. read more