Don't want to get taken by dealer. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

plus if you join the Audi Club, you'll pay for your membership in labor savings in just a couple of hours (he has a significant labor discount for ACNA members).

autobahn is pricey though

Lee is good enough that I drive 110mi round trip from Framingham to have him work on my car.

no idea how good they are though. Autobahn in Peabody is good but pricey. Fastrack in Peabody is very good as well and pretty reasonably priced. They aren't an audi/vw specialty shop, but I would trust them to do anything.

located just over the border in Newington NH.... definitely worth the drive.

Seems fewer and fewer indies are doing that these days...

and he's done alot for AW and ACNA members (timing belt day, trackside support @ NHIS).

Certainly far from an a-hole.

Lee is the nicest, most honest mechanic I know.

My guess would be they're at least OK.

...had stuff go incredibly sour at that shop.
My stuff wasn't that bad, but overall I got more and more annoyed with him the longer I went there.

For all I know, he's cleaned-up his act and pulled his head out of his ass... but trust me his reputation still "stinks" in many peoples' opinions.

You guys can laugh around all you want, I'm not the type to make-up some b.s. stories. -- I've heard as much and more from other people.

generally negative opinions are disregarded as rants.

my opinion is that if you make a statement, you need to provide details. there's no value in what you think if i don't understand why you think it.

Then they also have something to talk about when they get there... "YO I was totally backing you up on AudiWorld bro"

I've told my story before, the short version: I was a really good customer of Lee's (and Josh's before he bailed too) but he ALWAYS overcharged me. It was absurd. When it started to add-up, I waited for him to eff-up my supercharger install on the R32 and then used it as an excuse to switch shops without pissing him off directly.

However, I was like 17 at the time... he was taking advantage of me and unfortunately I wanted him to keep working on my car so I didn't say anything so that the quality of the work wouldn't change. However, after he charged me several hundred EXTRA (for no reason, might I add) on the supercharger install... I was like forget this. Lee's since lost thousands and thousands of dollars of my business just by pissing me off. However, I've definitely saved thousands and thousands of dollars of being overcharged, so it works out.

Even the first time I went there... we did the brakes on my GTI in like an hour and a half... he charged me like $250 or some sh*t. (I bought all of the parts) I was like.... "uhhh.... okay", everyone else in the shop was looking down at the floor in guilt. That was the first caution that he was a sleezebag, especially as he was playing around the computer aimlessly trying to decide whether to overcharge me or not. I guess he has some sort of a conscience but he was overwhelmed by his quest to be a dick.

So yeah guys, maybe he's treating you better now since you're his only customers and he has to make a living, but when I went there he was definitely a total cock about that kind of sh*t and even though he's a skilled guy (I think), he's still mad dishonest and has some sort of disconnect about karma.

Plus didn't like everyone sh*t on him when he worked at North Shore VW then he got fired and started AT? I don't know the whole story.

finding a mechanic seems similar to finding a girlfriend.

I've always found Lee to be honest to a fault. I find that he typically <i>under</i>charges me.

:: this is addressed to smashtheqube

i've met some of the people that recommend Lee, and they are definitely not kiddies, nor do i think they run back to massage lee's testicles with a silk handkerchief.

the over charging may have happened because he was charging flat rate. front brakes usually estimate between 45min - 1hour each side which could explain the $250 total.

if it happened multiple times, i would question your approach rather than his business tactics. did you ever ask him to break down the estimate/cost? did you ask him for an estimate before the job started? why do you think you were 'over' charged?

don't get me wrong. i think your opinion is absolutely valid for you and i'm not going to argue for you to change it.