I just moved to the Midwest from the East Coast so I'm always a little weary when I go to a new mechanic. Thankfully the folks at Lancer were so incredibly helpful and nice (that's the Midwest for you)! They solved some issues with our car for free that our last mechanic totally screwed up. They gave us some good rates and recommendations on something we needed to fix and even left a nice tote bag in our car after our service. Plus if you visit, you might get to meet the shop dog! read more

I've been meeting to write this review. I was new to the area and my Jeep needed an oil change. My Jeep was brand new (maybe 15-20k miles), but they called and said there was some internal issue that was a problem. Every car owner knows this feeling after taking your car to a new place and being told you need to do x,y,z for $$$. Lancer went the extra step and called the Jeep dealership to see if it was still under warranty (which it was for only a month or two longer). They were not looking to charge customers for unnecessary things, but in fact, really looking out for their customers. I would definitely recommend them to others in the area. read more

Check everything ... good .. same owners? I want ti go back but wish I'd get reminder call.. don't drive much

Best place in St Paul. Brought my car in for a check engine light and they realized it was their fault from the last time I had it in. They fixed the issue and didn't charge me. Can't get better than that. Very responsive ( they use text) completely transparent highly recommend read more

I recently had a confusing issue with my car accelerating and it required a bit of troubleshooting before the issue was figured out and resolved. Experienced team with great customer service and communication. Thank you! read more

Absolute best, I'm from out of town and had my oil pump go out on a newer model chevy. Its a 14 hour job and these guys stayed after hours to get me back on the road and did not price gouge me in fact I'd call them extremely reasonable. They have top tier techs the latest diagnostic software, a clean inviting environment and a honest as can be. They tried replacing the oil filter first to see if i was getting a false reading on my check engine light. I wouldn't take my truck anywhere else I wish I lived closer. Thanks guys! read more

I have brought my truck into Lancers four times now. After driving across country to move to Minneapolis, I was in desperate need of a tune up. I saw the high reviews and I reached out immediately. They were happy to have my truck and took my concerns seriously. I even recommended them to my friends and roommates. My last experience, however, was so poor that I will not be returning to Lancers despite their overall customer service. Heres the reason. After my car was broken into and someone jammed the key ignition, my keys were unable to turn the ignition longer. On top of it, my TMPS light kept coming on and I knew I needed to get my truck in to the shop. Mind you, this happened 2 days before thanksgiving. So I quickly reached out to see if Lancers would help me again and they were again happy to have me. Unfortunately, not only did my truck's service get pushed back further and further, but when I picked up my truck, the TMPS light was still on, the new keys to my car could only open my truck or turn the ignition, meaning I would have to use 2 keys to operate my truck at all times (one to open and one to turn the ignition). The service technician, Aaron, who was working on my truck said he had told me that this would be the case, though this was not made clear to me at all. Of course I would mind if I had to use two keys to operate my car! The issue continued when my wife reached out to help with this situation (I am a PhD student and this problem continued into my finals). When she reached out, Aaron had told her that he already made it clear to me (he hadn't) and that he was willing to try to reprogram the keys. I believe at this time the owner got involved and they assured us that they would get us a key that could open+close the door as well as turn the ignition. However, in the end, they were unable to create a key for my car (despite having paid for a whole new ignition) that opens and closes the door as well as turns the ignition. On top of that, when we drove away, the TMPS light came right back on. Stubbornly, we tried one more time (now working with the owner, Carl) to help rectify this situation, but to no avail. I still have a partially functioning key, and for my TMPS light it is still on. When we asked them why, after everything, this light remains on, they told us the sensor was faulty despite not having said anything about this prior leaving us to believe it was fixed. In the end, I still need to get my car repaired. These folks are friendly and willing, but when things get rough, it seems that they try to cover their tracks rather than apologize and rectify the situation as quickly as possible. They even left some extra parts in our truck that were not ours - perhaps because they were rushing. If you need an oil change or a small repair - these are your folks. If you need something more serious, I highly recommend shopping around as you might have to do it anyway! read more

This place is pretty great. First thing I have to admit is I'm a terrible car owner. I remember to get my oil changed (most of the time) and for the rest of my motto (what's a motto?) is that the lights will turn on when it's important. A couple weeks ago, the lights finally turned on. Well now I'm in a bind because Jiffy Lube is not a mechanic. I yelpped (of course) and talked to friends, and both recommend this place. Awesome possum. Take it in with a laundry list of things I've been saving up. It's an '08 so there were a number of them. Turn around time was 24 hours. Communication was awesome. (Don't use their online system, apparently they are switching over to something any my request got lost for a day.) They set me up with an appointment, they followed through on some questions after they had taken a look, they called back to confirm any and all work I wanted done. Confession #2, I know nothing about cars. I fill it up with gas, I take it to Jiffy Lube. That's it. So it's basically every ignorant car owner's nightmare when mechanics come back with all the issues. You wonder if you're getting taken for a ride. I didn't get the feeling from this place at all. Firstly, everything they said made me think back to how my car handled or what it had been through and went, 'yep, that totally makes sense as an explanation'. Secondly, they didn't push. They told me what they had found and gave me their recommendations (maybe replace the brakes because stopping = good) and even specifically pointed out things that could wait (tires are getting there, but you can probably wait till winter to deal with that). I'm not sure if their pricing would be considered a 'bargain' as they are the only mechanic I've been to in this state, but they were very upfront about the price before they did anything. Nothing was a surprise. I also didn't use their waiting room or their ride service because it was close enough that I just walked home, but I'll definitely bring my business back. Just hopefully not too soon. read more

Wonderful, fast, and honest service. My car had a transmission issue for a little over a year, and my old mechanic in Minneapolis could not pinpoint the issue and kept tacking on expensive services with no sure end in sight. I brought in my Kia and immediately was diagnosed with an issue and had it taken care of within 24 hours. Aaron did an awesome job of helping me out and educating me on the process of what needed to be done. My Kia was fixed at an affordable price and I'll definitely be using their services in the future. Highly recommend! read more

Being a self-employed business owner myself, I truly know the importance of reviews. Good or bad. This place is a Big 5 Stars thumbs up! If you are searching around trying to figure out where to put your vehicles trust into, believe me, this is the place! I was recommended to go here by my brother-in-law from over in Wisconsin. He talks to all the gear head guys over there and this was the place to get a performance tuneup on his new Camaro. He was very satisfied with the custom tune and told me to get my new truck looked at from super tuner-Carl. Carl custom tuned my new GMC Denali 6.2 into a performance truck, which is way better than in stock tube. His is very knowable and a easy guy to talk too. Don't hesitate to give this place a try, you won't be disappointed. read more

My teenager's 2001 Volvo was having a stalling problem that a local shop could not figure out. She no longer felt safe driving the car with the unpredictable stall problem. I knew Lancer would be able to diagnose the issue and get it back on track. I dropped it off late on a Monday morning expecting an extended stay allowing the techs to drive it a bit but got a call by mid afternoon with a diagnosis of a failed Mass Flow Sensor and Throttle Body. Unfortunately these are expensive parts that typically fail in this model after high miles but they were secured despite the Throttle Body not being available from the dealer anymore and it's back and the road and is stall free. Its a bit of a drive to get to Lancer for me since I'm working at home now but the trip is worth it to get things done right. read more

I had a great customer service experience here. Originally slated to do a double replacement of wheel bearings (per dealership), the staff determined only one bearing was faulty, kept in communication w each step and cost variance, and had my car done within a timeframe that was also communicated. Pricing was consistent and staff was professional and personable. I will be a return client. read more

Friendly service, with the reliability you can count on. I live in lowertown and conveniently live close by. I can drop the car off and pick it up knowing it's in good hands. Price wise it's similar to the dealership, but with the transparency you'd expect from a local family run garage. read more

Corey is super at customer service so its easy to come here. He assisted with a used vehicle evaluation and was through, competent and supportive to the process. He made me feel like I was being treated as a family member in my car purchase experience. Thanks for lowering my stress and helping me have a fair and positive experience, especially as a woman. read more

Nice people who do a great job. They have been in business for a long time and I can see why I was impressed with the entire experience and I hate going to a garage as I know only a little about cars, so they can tell me just about anything, and I have to believe them. I can tell from the report I got that they are an honest shop, which I greatly appreciate I would give them 5 stars, except I asked them to tell me the code associated with an engine light warning and they wanted to charge me 50 bucks or so. Their position is, if we do it, we do it completely, and that takes time. My position is, I spent about $500, so just take a quick look and turn the darn thing off. They did not want to do that, so I give them 4 not 5 stars. Although we disagreed about the warning light, I would go there again and would recommend to friends read more

TL:DR - A+ Mechanic. If you are anything like me, you get that sick feeling every time you need to take your car into the mechanic, even if it is for something as routine as an oil change. You sit down and wait in nervous anticipation for the mechanic/salesman to come out with his clipboard and shake his head and say..."things are worse than we thought" as they present you with a laundry list of issues. With every issue, the clenching gets tighter and tighter as the labor costs go up and up and up on the estimate, you can almost feel your capillaries bursting. Suddently that 19.95 oil change is coming out to 100 bucks. "75 bucks because My cupholder is broke?!?!" You exclaim aghast, "I just brought my car in to get the oil changed!"... "...well its a good thing we caught this when we did, would have cost you much more in the long run had we not addressed it." they reply. It's things like that which often keep me awake at night when I know something is wrong with my car. Solution would be to do these services myself, which I have done in the past, but living in an apartment complex, they look down on such efforts. *Raises Fists* Anyway, I took my car to Midas to get an oil change and they mentioned that my right CV boot was leaking ever so slightly and they took a pic of it and showed me. Sure enough the CV grease was leaking just a little bit, and had caked on the outside of the boot. They recommended that I replace the entire half-shaft CV axle along with the boot, which after doing some research is the normal way to go. Reason being you have to remove the axle to get the boot off anyway. And...well once grease gets out of the CV boot...things that should be greased...aren't being greased anymore. And its like trying to slip and slide without water. Not a pretty picture. In my case however, they said it wasn't a huge deal but something I should consider getting fixed in the near future. Majority of the grease was still inside the boot, happily slathering away at the metal components. Love that word...slathering. I called around and got some quotes and all were around the tune of 4-500 bucks. Good grief... And then I did what any resourceful person would do. I rolled up to my computer and typed out yelp.com and searched for "Mechanic". Lancer auto service...5 stars....downtown...hmm okay, close by, worth a shot. Called them up and spoke to Carl and explained the issue and requested a quote for the CV Axle replacement. He calmly listened and said..."Well, we could go that route...or we could just replace the CV boot, but I would like to take a look at it first". I replied back, "Aren't you supposed to replace the CV Axle when you do this?". He replies back, "Well you certainly could, but all those places who were quoting you, were quoting you with aftermarket CV Axles, not a genuine toyota product. Why would you want to replace an OEM part with an Aftermarket one if there is nothing wrong with it?". Interesting point I thought to myself, okay so I brought it in, and sure enough, just replacing the CV boot did wonders, cost a fraction of the original quotes I received at other places, and kept that happy grease neatly tucked away into a new house. Slather on, my friend. *Woot Woot* When I went to pick up my car, Kevin provided me with the paperwork and the suspected laundry list of items that he wanted to bring to my attention. I cringed as I saw things like "rear strut boot partially torn"..."corrosion on battery terminals", things like that and immediately my mind went into calculation mode of how many hours of sleep I actually could lose worrying about these items and still be clinically sane. As I was about 80 percent done with the calculation above, Kevin spoke up. I'm pretty sure he saw my reaction to the list because he said "Now I just want you to know, all this stuff that says "Monitor", is really just that. We just keep an eye on it. It's more for us as technicians so that we have a record of the issue, and can keep an eye on it as time goes on and gauge if things get worse the next time we see you. Nothing to worry about." 5 Stars for the good work, the good price, and not needing to lose sleep. read more

Excellent service, repairs ranked in order of urgency, and they're honest about what you actually "need." I appreciated the fact that I didn't notice any difference in the way they spoke to me vs. male customers (many women will get why that's important--most of us have stories) and they get that most people can't just fork over ALL THE MONEY because they said so. They also discounted the labor on an urgent repair they discovered after they gave me a quote and I overheard them explain to a customer that his invoice was less than the quote because it took them less time than they anticipated to complete it. That level of honesty is worth a lot. Cons: They're good, which means they're popular, which means wait time. I ended up having to leave my car overnight BUT they did have a car to loan me at no charge. Their hours are also not particularly convenient but (again with the but) you can't expect a family shop to be open 7 days a week. Oh! And friendly dogs in the waiting room. :-D Conclusion: Cons are minor inconveniences easily overshadowed by the pros. This is definitely "my" shop now. read more

I have had numerous interactions with Lancer and have brought three cars their way. They treat your car like it's their own, and they value your business. They've offered me multiple solutions to problems I've had with cars, trying to fit with my budget, and they've also been crystal clear about what repairs are urgent and what can wait a season or so. I've even had them knock 100 dollars off of a repair because of a misunderstanding. They are also up front about what they can and can't do, and have referred me to Gregg's Auto Body for cosmetic work (and he's just as straightforward and accommodating as Lancer is). We live in Minneapolis and drive all the way across town to keep coming back to Lancer because they are trustworthy and family oriented mechanics. I can't recommend them enough. read more

These guys are great. Only auto service that I've never had an issue with!

Great place to take your vehicle for service!! They are all super friendly AND knowledgeable. Very clean waiting area. They keep me up to date with my vehicle's future maintenance so I am prepared when it is time for more major work than an oil change. Highly recommend!!!! read more

My partner is rotating in MN right now and had some unexpected break work that needed to be done quickly as he determined the car would not be safe for him or others to drive given what was going on. Not only was he GROSSLY overcharged ($550 AFTER using a coupon for 1 caliper, 1 rotor and set of brake pads on front (left and right)....parts are less than $200 and i have never, on any car I own, paid this much money for this kind of work) but he was treated with such absolute disrespect and disdain from the service manager. He talked down to my partner, showed no empathy for being caught in a difficult situation and tried to upcharge him making nasty comments when my partner refused to put more than $800 of parts and labor (again ridiculous pricing) for a car not even worth more than $1200 especially after my partner said he just wanted to be safe and get it back home but did not want to do work that was unnecessary given he did not have the income to support this. The service manager also made horrific comments about "at home repairs" without even bothering to ask who it was we have working on our car back home or knowing his training and previous work in auto service. He did all he could to make my partner feel small and I should have never had to have a conversation about this when all we were trying to do was get something taken care of and hoped for a little compassion and kindness in a hard situation...especially if he was going to be making bank off of the sale. All in all, it was a terrible experience and we would not recommend this place to anyone if they were stuck in St. Paul! read more

Last November while heading home to California from our Wisconsin cabin and with the temperature at 17 degrees, we had a serpentine belt and idler arm to break on our Jeep. We called AAA and they towed us to one of their recommended repair shops, which happened to be Lancer Auto Care. We arrived about 3:30 in the afternoon. Since it was so close to closing time and because the extent of the damage was unknown when we first arrived, we were told that repairs might not be made until the next day. We were in a panic because not only did we not know of a hotel to go to, or how to get there, we were also traveling with a 125 pound German Shepherd that had been a rescued dog and still had some problems from former abuse. What hotel would welcome us with our dog? Understanding our situation, Lancer Service Department immediately started working on our Jeep, determined the problem, ordered parts and by 5 PM we were ready to go. During this time, they made us feel very welcome and even made friends with our dog by giving him dog cookies. We drove all night and were in Colorado when we received a call from Lancer to check on the repair. We made it home safely and the next week received another call from Lancer to again check on the repair. What service!!! How lucky people living in the Saint Paul, MN are to have a auto repair shop such as this one. I might add that the repairs were very and I mean very reasonable in cost. This was a situation where we could have received a very expensive repair bill but the people at Lancer are not only great repairmen but they are very honest in dealing with their customers. While I don't wish for anymore problems with our Jeep, if we do when we travel back there this year again, I hope it is within towing distance to Lancer Service Auto Care. We are going to tell all of our Minnesota neighbors at the lake about this great auto repair shop. They are the best. Thanks to all the workers at the shop. You are all a credit to your profession. Donetta S read more

As someone who grew up working on cars and does 90% of my own work, I have VERY high standards for any shop that I send my vehicles to. Carl and Lancer seem to hold themselves to my sames standards of service and their follow-up, communication level and workmanship leave nothing to be desired. I'm very happy to have found a shop close to home that I can truly trust. Thanks guys read more

Writing an update. My first review was for diagnostics only. Decided to trust them and take my car back to do repairs (about $1000 worth). When I asked for a ride back to Como Park, wow, got an earful about how they can't afford to be shuttling people over an hour back and forth. When talking to him I didn't know the exact miles it was between Como Park and Lancers, but from the way the guy was talking he sounded pretty confident it was over 5 miles. Their policy states within 5 miles. I think the conversation could've been handled differently. Ok, minus one star for not knowing how to talk to a customer. Minus another star for being wrong, the distance (according to Google Maps) from my house to Lancer was EXACTLY 5.0 miles, not 5.2, not 5.1. Finally, minus two stars for not fixing the problem I took my car in for the diagnostics. Got a voicemail after repairs saying I should do an oil change with them so that they can examine the engine more(????). You know what, no thanks. I'm glad I did not pay the extra $400 on top of the $1000 for the other recommendations they had. read more

iam a hard-working-blue collar guy - my money means a lot to me- that being said; my cars that i drive -to me are a matter of safety as well as transportation- i never feel like iam in an unsafe vehicle while my cars are under Lancers care . My partner Doug and i have both had our cars cared for Lancers since 20 yrs now - ( damn, its been that long ! ) anyhow - while they are not cheap - they do good work and they take really good care of their employees - and that means a lot to me too - cuz i dont want to give my money to someone who doesnt "share the wealth" with the people who do the work ! - you'll never find a better working crew - who care - and for the ladies and gay guys ; this garage has the finest men's "asses" you could read more