Close to the end of the day I placed a call to Lyon's towing in Elmwood. Despite being late in the day a pleasant, calm, resourceful driver came out to help with a side wall tire blow out. What would have been a simple flat tire fix became complicated because I only have a tire inflation kit VS a "real" spare tire. Now what? The driver said his solution would be to tow us to Town Fair Tire to see if they could fix a side wall tire blow out and sadly Town Fair could not. As I understand it, no one can fix a side wall tire blow out. Town Fair was closing by then but the driver volunteered to stay late at his garage to replace our destroyed tire with a new tire we bought at Town Fair. And he did, balanced it , checked if the tire pressure display was working and we drove off costing less than I imagined! I was impressed how calm and unhurried this driver was so late in the day. read more

Jack Lyons owns this small auto repair shop (part of the Route 66 gas station). I went there based on a recommendation from a friend. Reading other reviews online, you can easily see that Jack has a reputation of being a really honest, trustworthy mechanic, and based on my experience, it is well deserved. I've brought my car here twice, and have always been treated well. The prices have also been very reasonable. The only thing preventing me from giving them 4 or 5 stars is that it takes a long time for them to fix your car/diagnose problems. They do have bigger shop that they send cars out to for major repairs in Bloomfield, but they have such a small staff that it still takes a long time. They have a large volume of customers due to their good reputation, but you'll need to give them a day or two of advance notice before bringing it in to get looked at, and unless you can get someone to drive you around, you'll need to bring it back for another day or two for the actual repairs. It's not a bad location for waiting around if you have to because it's in Bishop's Corner. You can do grocery shopping, go out to eat, grab a coffee, or even go clothes shopping at Marshall's. :) The other thing preventing 4 or 5 stars is that sometimes they forget to call you to tell you the problem(s) they found, and also whether or not your car will be ready for you at the time you initially specified. I've come twice to get my car, and they had to call the Bloomfield shop to remind them to come drive it back to West Hartford so that I could have my car back. Overall, they do their best with a small workforce, and do good, honest work. To me that is worth the long waits! read more

To start off, we are not from this area. We are from out of state but my wife's job has her here. We maintain our residency in my home state. We use to go here for all our repairs on both our cars for the last 4 years. However, our last repair was also the last time we will ever do business with them. Over the course of a 6 week period they had my wife's car on a lift twice. Once for an oil change, the other to put new tires and belts on the car. At the time of the oil change they informed us that we needed 2 new tires and to replace some of the belts. They also said we needed an alignment. All of this seemed reasonable. So before heading back home we had them do all the repairs, less the alignment. After putting the new (and balanced) tires on the car we simply did not need it. 24 hours after Lyons Service had repaired our car we discovered through an annual state inspection that the car was unsafe to drive because the frame had rusted through and was unrepairable. The place where the frame was most compromised could not be missed with the car on a lift. The car was unsafe to drive, and un-inspectable in ANY state with such requirements. We had to junk the car, and thats fine but from an ethics standpoint Lyons made a choice to conceal this damage from us. The price they quoted us on the phone for the repair was also much less then the bill, I know that can happen if more needed to be fixed, but in this case it was item for item everything they told me over the phone. So I'm not sure why the price would jump so much from when they called to tell us the car was ready to when we picked up the car (20 min). At the time of the oil change something should have been said. We were ripped off with having to buy tires and belts for the car. It was also a bit over the top to insist that we needed to get an alignment. This was an older car, and what we got for scrap was less then what they charged us on this repair. We were able to sell the new tires on consignment, so we did close the gap on this. Before the great recession these guys were great, after they seemed to loose some scruples. If I could I would give less then the one star. read more

I trust this auto repair shop run by Jack and his son Chip Lyons. That trust, especially when dealing with cars is absolutely priceless. One reviewer mentioned that the drawback to getting car repairs here is that you may have to wait longer than promised and there is no waiting area or rental cars. The other day I just walked over to the Staple's office store next door and pretended like I was buying an office chair while waiting for my oil change. I could have taken my car to a place like Midas that would have done the job faster, but those places have a terrible reputation. Also, while changing my oil Jack called me up to tell me that I needed a new battery and air filter. Midas wouldn't have done that or checked those things. He also explained to me the respective importance of the two repairs very clearly. When I need to take my car in for major servicing, like at the 30k mile intervals, I take it to the dealer and get a rental car. But when I need a oil change or if something is not running quite right I take it Lyon's. I hope they are around for many more years to come. read more

Good service and honest guys. The prices are competitive and if you don't need the repair, they will tell you. At times they can be busy and a little bit of a wait, but overall very good service. read more

Lyons Service is a RIP-OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just had a 2010 BMW towed there for a repair. Insurance paid for the towing. They stated it was the starter. Would be $859. They worked on the car 2.5 hours @ $119/Hr. The parts came to $330. Their bill - $920!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buyer Beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their (Chip's) reply when complained was; "Well go to BMW and see what they would charge." RIP-OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Jack, Kevin, and others are all honest. They won't sell you a repair you don't need, and whatever they charge is always reasonable. They will pick you up and drop you off if you live in town. We can usually make do with one car instead of two. If you are waiting, there are numerous restaurants nearby, including a Panera and Starbucks that both have free WiFi. This shop is ideal for tires, brakes, oil changes, batteries, cooling system, exhaust system and other common repairs. For anything unusual, or major, they will refer you to a dealer or a transmission shop. read more

My 20 year old daughter brought her 97 Nissan Altima here for an oil change before a trip to New Jersey. She was told her gas tank was ready to fall off due to one of two brackets rusted almost completely through. She was frightened for her safety. I had her bring the car to our regular mechanic who put it on the lift. There are 3 brackets, not two, and they were as good as new. In my view, they were trying to take advantage of a 20 year old female. read more

I went to the station to get gas and discovered I needed oil and one of my tires was low. The woman at the counter that took my gas money said don't worry Kevin will be out shortly. Well I was almost finished pumping gas and Kevin was ready to check my oil, said I needed a quart and he said just pull over to the center and I will put air in your tire. I had excellent service especially from Kevin friendly and helpful I would give them 5 stars!!!!! read more

My wife and I have been trusting Lyons Service for over thirty years with all our car needs. Jack, his family and crew have always been helpful and considerate in pricing the necessary repairs, and we have always confidently driven away satisfied with the work that was done. read more

Well, my 2005 168K ford explorers' heat stopped working. I brought it to Lyons just because it is close to where I reside. I brought it there, and was told the heater block or something like that, needs to be replaced, which will take about 7-8 hours of labor, and about $1200k - $1400k. I was shocked that there is nothing else he could do for such an old car. So, I went to my old mechanic in Bristol, Rick's Automotive off of Farmington Ave,(John Ave) next to Applewood restaurant. I dropped it off and got a call back saying that the issue can be fixed manually, without spending a fortune on an old car. So, I was charged about $140. Yes, $140, NOT $1400. I would rather walk, than bring a car to this place. You want great HONEST service at a reasonable price, go see Rick's Automotive in Bristol off of Farmington Ave. Very disappointed that Lyons could have not recommended do the manual, cheap fix.. I must admit they recommended against spending all that money on an old car, but what did they think, I will drive with no heat in the winter? buy a new car? read more

This is a business where the people know you by name. It's a family business run by honest people. I can't say that they've always done everything perfectly (one time the wrong part arrived, etc.) but I can definitely say that they've always interacted with me with integrity. I highly recommend Lyons. Also, if you're looking for gas, there are two things to note: (1) all grades of gas are reduced by 10 cents per gallon on Sundays, and (2) if you pay with cash OR a debit card, you are offered a discount. read more

This the best place to have your car serviced. They are welcoming, helpful, and perform great work. I stopped going to the dealer.

They over charge by hundreds. No shame about it either. I said there is no way I could afford it. They offered to lower one of the recommended services from a $40 oil change to a $30. Also charged me $50 for a diagnostic that is free a couple miles away. read more

I live in West Hartford and I'm from this area. They are Ok but not the cheapest. They will charge the highest possible amount they can on any repair work. I had an experience where a repair would take 1 hour but the charge came out to 1.5, and the cost of a replacement is retail price + labor no discount. They are nice people and will greet you with a smile. I have gone somewhere else and got better prices and service. read more

Went here to get my car diagnosed because it was stalling. They called me within the hour and I decided to leave it. After 2 days and no communication, they told me it was fixed and to come get the car. Drove off the lot and within a mile the car stalled again. Turned around and brought it back, stalling again at the light on the way. Did they even test drive it? The next day they told me they were transferring it to another trusted garage in Hartford because they didn't have time to get to it. Another 2 days goes by with no communication. I call Lyons and they tell me they haven't gotten the car back yet and it is still being worked on. Another 2 days goes by. I call Lyons again and they tell me to call the garage in Hartford. I do what they tell me and the Hartford garage says that they haven't started on it yet because Lyons didn't give them the okay. No one called me from either garage to tell me this. Mind you, I had no car this whole time and was borrowing or getting rides from my tolerant family. The next day, the Hartford garage finally called to tell me it was fixed. It seems as if Lyons has an issue communicating with their customers. In essence, Lyons never fixed my car and I was out a vehicle for a whole work week. They made a casual effort, and then shipped it off to someone who actually took the time to figure it out. The next time my car needed servicing I took it elsewhere. read more

Hate to do this (Lyons was my go-to auto repair shop because of their responsiveness and integrity, even though they are well above market price) but it needs to be said in order to inform others...took car in Sat. AM for potential transmission issue (Lyons outsources such work to a nearby (Bloomfield?) repair shop). Outsourced repair shop received the car on Tuesday (why the delay?). As of Friday, after repeated calls each day for status, we were told that they needed more time (I asked how much more time (to diagnose, not repair) ..."don't know" was their response, with an extremely poor, unprofessional, and you're-wasting-my-time type of attitude, the same attitude we received all week). Of course my family and I had to shuttle each other to/from work all week while receiving no input from Lyons or their outsourced repair shop. Result: was told by Lyons that they (the outsourced repair shop) were returning the car to Lyons, and that we needed to pick it up...meaning, find some body else to work on it! Again, I hate to do reviews (I've only done one previously), but I feel that I should share this experience with other existing/potential customers. Now we start from scratch again (as we did a week ago), looking for an auto repair shop that wants to do the job and that provides even a trace amount of customer service. read more

I had to get a new tire while in West Hartford over Thanksgiving weekend. A friend recommended Lyons - she said they had been taking their cars there for years. They were able to fit me in on a busy day with very little waiting and I agree with other comments that they won't sell you something you don't need (I chose to replace both front tires rather than just the one that had gone flat, but they would have been inclined to just replace the flat one). A few weeks later I brought my car to my mechanic at home because it was shimmying on the highway and he said that one of the tires was defective. I called Lyons, who went out of their way to find a Goodyear dealer close to me who could replace the tire (for free) for me. And Jack even followed up with a phone call the following day to make sure everything had worked out okay. This level of customer service is pretty rare these days - I would definitely recommend them to folks in the area. read more