I found Gages Lake online and saw a bunch of good reviews, so I decided to give them a try. I used to work in North Chicago and used an auto repair shop there because it was convenient, but not so much anymore. Long story short, my wife bought a "pre-owned" car, the model she had her heart set on, but the juice had been pretty much squeezed out of it. So not exactly a lemon, but darn close. Caveat emptor (buyer beware) so she/we had to make lemonade, as they say. Gages Lake mechanics went above and beyond to diagnose and repair the check engine light, and other engine/timing belt issues that the Mazda CX-7 had. After a week in their shop (thankfully we had a beautiful Honda Pilot loaner so we weren't out more money to rent a car!) we got it back. No fault of their own, the dashboard light still came on, but we now had a much better idea why and we didn't need to spend another grand to know for sure because the vehicle ran great and the sensor light did not lead to an escalating safety or engine problem. (If the oil pressure alert light comes on at some point, then we'll need to cross that bridge.) As a local entrepreneur of sorts (Airbnb host) I know the value of honest reviews. I'm glad my wife and I chose Gages Lake Autos for the diagnosis and repair because we have confidence their efforts made a satisfying SUV load of "lemonade" out of what would have been nothing but a big fat moldy lemon!
Ron - Thank you for taking the time to write such a great review. We take our customer advocacy role seriously. We do our very best to provide a clear explanation of what is wrong with the car. The Mazda required some repairs to the timing chain and associated components. After which we were able to drive the vehicle to determine what other issues it has. As you know this take some time to do, and I am glad you were able to take advantage of our courtesy car. Thank you for the opportunity to check out your Mazda CX-7, and for allowing us to make you a glass of lemonade.
- Gages Lake Auto