Very good service, very nice people. 100% would go there again. I had my tires changed and wheels aligned. Competitive rates. Support local businesses! read more

Let me preface this by saying that given others' experience, my terrible experience with Wheelock's seems to be an outlier. Still, it seems wrong not to share what happened. TLDR: I trusted Wheelock's to check a car before I bought it, bought it with their word that it was all good, and now will have to spend more than $1000 to fix obvious problems they missed. On April 12th I test drove a friend's car because I was thinking of buying it. I liked it, but noticed the AC was not working and the check engine light was on. She dropped the car off at Wheelock's to get checked out before I got it, and I had a budget in mind such that if the fixes cost more than that, I wouldn't take the car. We both called them and made sure to list what we wanted to get checked out (she mentioned a couple issues she knew the car had, and I mentioned the stuff you always want to have checked out before buying a car such as the suspension and clutch, plus the AC which was not working). I eventually got a price (~$2000) and told them to go ahead. I then picked up the car on April 23rd, with them telling me it was 100% and all good. Later that day I noticed the AC was still not working and the check engine light was still on. I had some important trips to do in the next few weeks though, so had to drive it like that. This was red flag 1: how can a decent auto shop say the car is 100% without figuring out and fixing the issue with a check engine light? It's literally a light on the panel. I later checked the error code for that and got that I needed to replace a part. So that's $120 off my pocket. Then I tried replacing the AC freon, since that's usually why the AC doesn't cool, and it didn't work. I'm calling them they said - I kid you not - that "the AC was blowing cool air so we thought it was working but it was a cold day". This was the extent to which they had checked a specific part that both the owner and I had mentioned to not be working. This was red flag 2, and a huge one. I was hoping they'd understand this issue and give me a discount with the actual AC fix, so I decided to take the car there for these last few fixes, as opposed to finding a better prepared auto shop. This was my first car in the US, though, and I was unaware that I need to make an appointment with the auto shop before taking a car. So I just took it, and they said it might take a while because I didn't have an appointment. That part is fine, 100% understand. What I don't understand is why they told me on 4 separate occasions that they'd call back with a price "later that day"/"right away", if they clearly weren't ready. Just tell me you'll need a couple more days. This was really frustrating and when I complained they told me to pick up the car and forget it, they would not fix my car. So I wasted a week. It was my fault for giving them the second chance, though - now I know that the issue with my AC is the compressor, so that's $700-900 off my pocket. If they had checked it properly as *two people* explicitly asked them to when they had the car in April, I'd never have bought it. Now I need to materialize $1000+ out of nowhere because of their disrespect for my money. Again, I hope this is an outlier. But I'd recommend you think twice before going here. Any shop that does not check a check engine light and considers checking whether the AC is blowing cold air (ignoring two people's word that it isn't) as properly checking an AC does not seem trustworthy. I'll be down $3000 by the end of this, and who knows which other issues they did not properly check. Very disappointed. Hope they get better in the future. read more

Wheelock's was recommended to me by my mechanic when I first moved to Ames 2 years ago but they've been around for a long time. I took my car there once my first year in Ames and they replaced a hose, and it was quite reasonably priced. My second time was to fix reservoir tank and check my A/C. I had dropped it off with a scheduled appointment at 7AM, when they opened. I was thinking after 4 hours of having my car in their shop, I would have heard something but I contacted them and asked for an update. Basically, they only started working on it when I called and in less than hour both issues were 'fixed'. NOT. They did not fix either. There was clearly a leak that when I added washer fluid and they obviously did not test it at all; otherwise, they would have realized fixing some minor hose was pointless. Second, my A/C worked only for a few days and then NOTHING. I thought it too good to be true and it was. Plus, when I got there, they had all these keys and receipts lined up on the desk--a dozen at least--and coupled with how slow they were to start working on my car and how quick they were to 'fix' it, to me, they are all about quantity vs quality work. When I contacted them about them not fixing a dang thing a few days later, they had this 'Oh well' attitude. WTF? Seriously? That's how you want to run your business? The front office isn't managed, which is fine and typical, but when you walk in at this place, it's one of the mechanics that comes out. They act like you're interrupting them. No, 'Hi', or 'How can I help you?' but 'Name?' or "What do you want?". Poor customer service in person. In email, slightly better but not by much as they did not respond to what they were going to do to fix my issue and clearly don't care and kept sidestepping the fact that they didn't a crappy job on my car. I will not be taking my car or hard-earned money to this shop and will warn others of the shoddy job and poor CS. I wasted money not just on my car to them but having to pay to get transportation there. They may be cheap, but not if they didn't fix your car, don't care about doing a good job, or making customers happy. Now I have to actually get it fixed correctly. read more

Jess and his team found out my Jeep's issues and it was only in need a new battery. These guys are the real deal and are not out to pick peoples pockets! I highly recommend them for your auto repair needs! read more

Kim and Jess are fantastic people to deal with. They got my suburban in and out and only repaired what needed to. Did not try to sell me crap I did not need. I love that they are locally owned. Keep up the great work. read more

Great service, always great people to work with.I would refer to anyone if you want it done right.This is the place.

I would like to thank Kim and the staff at Wheelocks Auto Service in Ames, Iowa. I have a student at Iowa State and we ran into an issue with the vehicle and called and had it towed to Whellocks for service They looked at it and got my student up and running again.. They were very nice to work with through out this process and I would recommend them to anyone. Thanks again Whellock for all you did. read more

I am new to town so wasn't sure who to trust and took a gamble. Their quote was exactly 1/2 the price of another quote I received. They scheduled my repair very quickly and completed it the same day. So far so good read more