Check out our reviews at CarTalk.com's Mechanics Files

A sampling of those reviews and others on the web -

★★★★★ I wish every business was like Carworks!
Carworks is an exceptional business. You won't find a better place to have your car serviced anywhere than Carworks. John and his staff are top notch in every way...honest, professional, and reliable and their work is consistently superb. Several of my friends drive long distances to bring their cars to John because it's just such a gem of a place.

★★★★★ Reliable
Carworks has an amazing combination of honesty and affordability. When I was looking for an affordable new car, John, the owner bent over backwards to help me find something really good. He would fit me in at the last minute for at least 5 pre purchase inspections, and helped me find a used car that would actually be worth the price. These guys are upfront about the work that needs to be done to your car, but honest and trustworthy when telling you what can wait, and what's not worth fixing.

★★★★★ Totally Reliable
There are two wonderful things about this place -- honesty and great workmanship. It is so refreshing to have no worries about getting ripped off when a mechanic gives you the diagnosis of your car problem. Car Works owner, John, is totally trustworthy and so considerate of your individual situation. Great place.

★★★★★ Finally, a car repair place that FIXES my car!
I have had 2 vehicles in my life and they have always needed repairs. Previous car places would either miss something important, charge too much, or act like they were doing me a huge favor by coming to their place. NOT CARWORKS! This is a garage that fixes your car even if you don't know what is wrong with it. They explain what was done in plain english and don't charge you an outrageous amount to do it. They even fixed a whine that two other car places ignored and it was less than $100!  -11/23/2007

John the owner of Carworks is an honest fellow.   -- 1997

John has all ways been fair and helpful with my car problems, be it fixing it or giving me advice on how to fix it myself.     -- 1997

The guys at Carworks are great. Honest, dependable, friendly, and never condescending. They take the time to tell you whats going on with your car. I have never felt that they have fixed anything that didn't need fixing. They are brutally honest its true, I remember John telling me that my car was about as good as scrap metal, and I should give up on it and start over. I did too, and had them check out my new one. My friend reccommended them to me, and now I'm hooked. I too make the 1/2 hour commute to bring my car to their shop.     -- 2000

Carworks has been serving me very well for over 20 years. John and his crew are a special "breed" They make me feel like family.Friendly, competent and fair plus they give out those nifty magnetic calendars every year.(which my daughter loves to cut up and throw at the refrigerator) I wouldn't take my cars anywhere else. It's a jungle out there Carworks spares me the fear off "RIP-OFF" Bottom line great service at fair prices. John & Co.are the best around!     -- 2001 I'd second what all the others have said, except for the "brutally" in "brutally honest." I've never felt brutalized by the honesty John and his staff dole out, but rather respected and trusted to make the decisions I needed to. In fact, this relationship is so valuable that when John feels he needs to proceed with a repair or set of tires, and can't reach me to check on what he plans to do, I have invariably approved his decision and appreciated his practicality and care.     -- 2006

With Carworks doing repairs and maintenance I'm comfortable driving my old car all around Boston and up and down 495. It seems that everything is taken care of at inspection time, and then I'm good to go for another year. Highly recommended.     -- 2007

My 1994 Subaru with 232,000 miles was recently towed to CarWorks. I'm new to the area and this was my first visit there. The tow truck driver thought my car was gone as they had to bump it off the truck. I stopped in after work to ask about the car and John hadn't had a chance to look at it. It was extremely busy but the he said, "come on out, and we'll look at it now." He got in, had me look at the tires as he tried to move it. The front and back diagonal wheels weren't turning. Next day it was fixed and under $100--a "hill-hold" spring had rusted out and broke causing the two wheels to freeze. Needless to say, as long as I'm living in the area my car will go to CarWorks. HONEST FRIENDLY PEOPLE.  January 2007

My last car, a Ford Taurus, was (I thought) just in the shop for repairs when John gave me the list (as he put it) of things needed to get the car operating, and to get the car operating *with heat*. Given that I live in New Hampshire and it was January, only the second option sounded reasonable, but it was pricey. John suggested I take the weekend to go car shopping, and tell him Monday if I wanted the repairs done, or would just be hauling the car off. I got the hint, and bought a new car that Sunday. Highly recommended.     -- 2008

Carworks is the only place I will ever bring my car. Poor John and the crew have been dealing with my junkers for 17 years. I am perfectly comfortable giving John carte blanche when it comes to the repairs. The guys are always honest and tell you the problems in order of importance. John will always give you multiple options for repairs if they exist and give you his recommendations. If John doesn't know the answer he will research it and let you know. Everytime I get a "new" car I take it to Carworks for inspection, and I know if it passes there that I will be safe. Recently my Honda CRV was shimmying on the road at certain speeds and I was worried that perhaps a new tranny was needed, but John recommended a tranny fluid flush and now all is better than well. Cost was around $100, but my peace of mind was priceless.... John is also a VERY funny man and I have always felt that he should be a guest mechanic on Car Talk. Let's everyone who reads this write to Car Talk to have John as a guest mechanic on the show.     -- 2008

Not living in the Durham area anymore but I've got to add my compliments to Carworks. I had a 1982 Mercedes 300TD Station wagon. You know heated seats, ac and all the perks; for an 82 thats crazy but all the systems were either operated by a vacuum or some sort of mechanical device. With no heat though it was hard to love. So I had set up an appointment with a local Mercedes dealer to get the heating system fixed who was going to charge 120$ hr labor and replace the entire system so for an old school Mercedes thats like 2500$ I'd say. I mentioned this predicament to a friend and he implored me to take it to Carworks first. I droped it off and waited for the call to see what the damages would be to get some heat. John called and told me they could just bypass the broken heater coil and use the heat from the radiator to provide on/off heat. These guys can solve problems!!     -- 2009

I've been going to this shop for the past 15 years. Never been disappointed. I always get a good explanation of what's wrong, what it needs to be fixed, how much it will cost, and a heads up about what may need service in the future. Very informative. Very friendly. Very high quality work. And, maybe best of all, these people are as honest as the day is long. Always a pleasure to do business with.     -- 2010