Could not repair brakes on a Benz GLE which they serviced a year ago??? Very disappointed.

This was my first time to Dakis and I will be back. Matt was reasonably priced, honest and completed the work on time. Glad I took the advice of my neighbor to give them a shot. read more

The staff of Dali's Service Center are all incredible professionals. I have enjoyed their hospitality, common sense, and professionalism. They are a treasure to Howard County! read more

This is basically our family mechanic. I've been coming to Matt since we moved to Columbia in 2019. Not only is he honest, but he is flexible. Once you get to know him, he remembers you as a customer and will even try to educate you and make you understand how cars work. read more

Water leaking from wife's car.......I expected the worst but called Mark and got an appt.......car repaired.......bad hose...... excellent work and HONEST..... I would highly recommend. Jim S read more

Possibly the worlds most honest mechanic, the guy is great. Fixed both my cars for an extremely fair price. Never fixed anything that didn't need to be fixed. I'll probably never take my car anywhere else while I'm in Columbia read more

Second time visit to Dakis and they went above and beyond for me. I was in a major time crunch, called them at 3pm and asked if they could work miracles on my screechy brakes. They said ok and I dropped it off right as they were closing around 6pm. It was fixed and ready at 11am the next day. Saved me big time. Prices are good. They do good work and get it done quick. I absolutely recommend Dakis. read more

AMAZING SERVICE ALERT: Welp, we've all been there...the dreaded "CHECK ENGINE" light illuminates on your dash, and your heart vacates the appropriate chamber in your chest for your stomach, as an array of wild causes assaults your cerebellum like a ceramic metal orb in a pinball machine. I took my suspicions to DAKIS Service Center, and I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome! Same-day diagnosis, repair and return of my vehicle, excellent communication from drop-off to pick-up, and friendly customer service (even my dogs liked him - and my girl hates dudes (she has her reasons). Also, there's this lovely tech there named James who made to sure clear the code a couple times before trying to suggest the service. He genuinely tried to see if it would clear on its own, given the circumstances of my gas cap fumble earlier in the week, and suggested to return if and when it did. And when it did, they handled it promptly If you're in the need for a fix, and you're looking to champion a local neighborhood business, look no further than the kind, competent and professional DAKIS Service Center in Kings Contrivance Shopping Center (attached to the Exxon). You'll pay for the service your car needs and deserves! read more

I was hoping that the glowing reviews for this place stayed true (the most recent one I saw on yelp was from 2018), but unfortunately, I wasted my time going here. I made an appointment online, which apparently is useless because it ended up in their junk mail so they didn't acknowledge it. I get that things happen, but what really sealed the deal for me was the guy's rude demeanor. As soon as I walked in, I was barely greeted and all I got were sighs and he looked at me like why the heck am I there. He sighed saying that he wouldn't be able to see my car for a few days. I was in no rush and would have been fine coming back a different day, but it seemed like he just didn't even want me to be there. Whenever I asked questions, he seemed annoyed. However, when my husband was asking questions, the guy responded to him more positively. The technical mishap alone wasn't a big deal, but rude service made it clear this wasn't the place to spend my time and money. I ended up taking my car to a different place with better customer service. read more

Finally honest mechanics! As elusive as the albino jackalope unicorn. Found these guys highly rated and reviewed on Yelp and decided to dive in and take a chance. Turned out to be a great decision. So my clutch pedal went into the floor and wouldn't come back up. Before calling these guys, I called at least 3 other local shops (who should, but will not be named) and the 1 that actually got back to me (the next day) gave me a pretty generic assessment and insisted on getting me and my car in and taking my money first before giving me any hint of a scenario. I called up Rob Dakis who immediately diagnosed the issue as best case master cylinder, worst case slave cylinder and more. To help me save some potentially save costs, he walked me through some troubleshooting steps I could take to attempt my own avoid-the-shop diagnosis. That's old school. I didn't know people did stuff like that anymore. It's things like that that make all the difference, so needless to say I was sold. As he was on the phone, in-person Rob is a straightforward, old school, no frills, no bs, tell you how the f@#$ it is kind of guy. Some people can't handle this. But in an automotive world full of master cheats and liars that prey on people's lack of knowledge and misplaced trust, you appreciate that level of candor. At least you should. I certainly do. Throughout the whole process, it was well-communicated to me what was going on with my car, how long the repair was going to take, and what else was wrong. At no point did I feel had or blindsided or surprised. And at the end, Matt showed me my worn-out and broken parts and explained the repairs to me. I pulled up a generated estimate of average expected costs of parts and labor from http://www.automd.com/repaircost/ and checked the workorder line by line, item by item, and found Dakis Service Center to only be pretty close. No suspicious little charges to nickel and dime the customer. Everything was in order. A bit pricier sure, but you pay a little extra for quality, trustworthy, honest service. Worth it in my book. A week later, everything's running great. In fact, better than it has in a long while. I trust them and will give them my business again. Consider me a satisfied customer. read more

I'm pretty disappointed in these guys. Let me explain why. I found a used car off Craigslist that I liked. The price was good, but not "too good to be true," ... it was in the right spot. The seller of the car lived down the street from this shop and had taken it to them for work in the past, so since they had seen it, had the maintenance history, I thought I would take it to them. What I needed was someone to look at the car to let me know if I was buying myself a headache or if this was a good deal. I wanted the car looked over to see if it was a lemon or not. That is not what I got from these guys. What I got was a MD State Safety Inspection. Which was fine for passing inspection, but has caused me a HUGE and expensive headache. Here's the thing, three months and less than 4000 miles into owning the car I have a blown head gasket that is going to cost me $3000 to repair. I asked about doing a compression test on the cylinders and the shop specifically waived me off from doing that. The compression test may or may not have caught the blown head gasket - not that it seems that Dakis looked at any of the mechanicals beyond what is flagged in the MD Safety Inspection. (thanks for catching the worn windshield wiper blades and not the blown head gasket) What would have caught it though was if they had pointed out that the coolant fluid was full of rust. I didn't notice this (not being in the car inspection business) but the first time I took it to my mechanic near me, he flagged it. This weekend, one of the radiator hoses blew and when the mechanic flushed the engine to get all the rust out of the cooling system and tested the pressure in the system immediate found the blown head gasket. Had Dakis flagged the coolant problem (and the brakes that they told me are at about 40% which 4000 miles later are warped and will need to be replaced as well) and we had flushed it then, there's a decent likelihood I could have caught this problem and avoided a huge headache. Had they done a more thorough inspection there's a decent chance we could have caught this problem. These guys seems more interested in getting me out the door than they did in helping me make sure I was buying a decent car that wasn't going to become a potential money pit. read more

To say that they saved me would be an understatement. I arrived at 8:30am with a car that had been sitting dormant for 5 months. Said car had a slew of issues but somehow needed to get me to DC by 1:30pm for a wedding I was shooting. Not an ideal situation, but they handled my madness well and were able to get my car up and running to "get me to the church, get me to the church on time." --- Any Sinatra fans out there? Everyone was knowledgeable and friendly. THE best customer service! Oh and because of an error by the last guys who changed my oil, we'll call them Liffy Jube -- they put in the wrong drain plug for my car -- I had oil leaking all over the place! They couldn't fix it that day because they needed a part so Matt gave me an extra bottle of oil just in case I needed it later. When I finished the wedding I was greeted by a pool of oil all around my car. So yes, I needed it! Crises averted. I wish they would move their operations out to LA. I have no idea how I'm going to trust anyone else to take as good care of me and my car are these guys. 10 stars!! read more

Very efficient and friendly. I took my car in for an oil change, and in twenty minutes, they called me to tell me it was done. They checked a slew of other things just to make sure everything was fine. They didn't try to sell me anything extra like jiffy lube does. They gave me what I wanted and did it professionally. I will definitely come back if my car had any issues that need fixing. read more

I recently took my car to Dakis for some service work. I called up and Talked to Matt Amigo, who I later found out was the owner, and he was very professional and informative. The quality of service was quick and fast, and he even drove me back to my work since I was close by. I would definitely recommend Dakis for honest work and pricing. read more

What can I say? I have found my auto repair place for life. I had brake work that I had put off and ultimately I had to get the pads and rotors replaced. After visiting jiffy lube for a oil change only to be told I was in the red on my pads. There was a auto repair right next door so the guy at jiffy lube got me a quote. Came back with it and it was 1,056.00 to replace the rotors and pads! I was shocked. I then did some research and came across Dakis. I was impressed with all the rave reviews. Gave Matt a call and he took me right away. Dropped off my car and told him I was going out of town for the weekend and if it was ok to leave it. No problem. Matt prompted called me the next day and gave me a cost over the phone. His quote: 300 plus dollars less than the other place! I was thrilled! I thanked him. He even allowed me to pick up my car on a Sunday when they were closed so I wouldn't have to try and get there on a Monday, work day. Matt was super kind and honest with me. I so appreciate not being gouged for unnecessary work. He did what was needed and nothing more. I highly recommend this place to everyone. I have been raving about Dakis to all my co workers. Thanks again Matt for doing such great work in a short period of time. I will be back for any future work on all three of my vehicles. read more

Matt is a good man. Had my vehicle back on the road pretty quick. I'm happy with his work.

I wrote this review to show my appreciation to Matt. He checked my car very carefully and did not recommend unnecessary replacements. He even fixed minor issues free of charge! I would definitely visit again and encourage all else to have a try. read more

I went there two weeks ago based on other people's reviews of the shop. Unfortunately, I can not give a favorable review like so many others can. My brake pads and rotors needed replacing, and I was quoted around $400 for the job to get done. About an hr later they called stating that my calipers were seized and therefore I would need new calipers as well, bringing the total price up to $750. I'm no mechanic, but I'm also not stupid enough to believe that a 2013 car would have calipers that needed replacing already. Long story short, I took my car to another mechanic and I was able to get the pads and rotors replaced, along with an inspection and light bulb replacement for $214 out the door. I would not trust them personally, as they attempted to scam me. Maybe your experience would be more favorable. read more

Rob Dakis and his Mechanic, Matt have been my mechanics since the day I started driving. They have always given me honest advice, done the repairs right the first time, and don't try to sell you on tons of un-necessary work if your car doesn't really need it. To me the sign of a good business is one that realizes its in it for the long haul, not the quick buck, and Matt and Rob have proved to me this is their approach time and time again. When my last car started having transmission problems Matt actually advised me not to spend the money doing repairs with him, but rather to use the repair money for a downpayment on a newer car as that one didn't have long left in it even if I did the repair then. I really remember that as he could have easily cashed in on a one time $2000 transmission replacement with me, and probably seen me for another 2-3 repairs over the next year out of that car too, but instead gave me good honest advice that only benefitted me. He's helped me keep that replacement car driving great since then too (though at far less cost and with less to deal with!) I won't trust my car with anyone else. I hope you'll do the same. read more

I had to write a review immediately after dealing with Daki's. I took my car in this morning because the maintenance light and service engine light was on. I have always had issues with mechanics over charging and trying to do un-needed work. However, at Daki's they ONLY do what is necessary. They were able to figure out a mistake of why one of the lights went on and suggested a cost effective alternative to the other problem. I am very pleased with my experience at Daki's and will continue to use them for all my car issues. I definitely trust them....which is hard to find and very valuable when dealing with mechanics and car problems. read more

Rob and Matt (and Bill on the weekends) are knowledgeable and honest. They won't tell you to fix something that doesn't need fixing. They will also tell you to fix things no one has told you about. They are true Ford experts, if that is something important to you. Do not expect them to use the cheap, secondary market parts to fix your car...ain't happening. I send all of my family and friends to Dakis and will continue to do so. read more

Great mechanic. My husband and I have both used them now and they are very honest. And they have a good warranty. My husband got his brakes fixed by them months ago and then they started Making a weird noise again and they Fixed it for free. Really good guys, reasonable prices read more

I took my car here based on the positive reviews about their honesty, but now it's shocking that they have gotten so many. After telling me that I needed my front and rear brake pads and rotors replaced and giving me an estimate of more than $800, I took my car elsewhere. I traded cars with my parents (who live an hour away) and they took it to their friend. My front brake pads and rotors were fine, but the rear pads and rotors needed to be replaced. He ended up replacing the front brake pads anyway to save me an hour drive in the future, even though they could have lasted. This cost me $160 compared to the $800 I was quoted from Dakis. Not only did i save a ton of money, but i also saved myself from some unnecessary work. This was pretty surprising based on all of their great reviews stating that they only do what is necessary. Moral of the story.... Befriend a mechanic! read more

It is hard to find an auto mechanic that you can trust. But, every time I take one of my cars to Matt at Dakis Service Center, I know I will get great service and the price will be reasonable. We have been using them for 25 years and wouldn't go any where else. read more

I was referred to Dakis Service Center after my radiator blew up on 95 - and the shop where the car was towed tried to rip me off for $1000 to fix it. Rob and Matt were great to deal with - and calmed my nerves after the maddening experience of the other shop. Just this past week, my engine started to run hot again - and Rob had the car towed back to his shop - on his dime. When we realized the problem was probably an air pocket in the coolant line, Rob never even charged me for his time to diagnose - or for the towing. Who does that?!! Unbelievable service at Dakis - Rob and Matt are the best - and honest - mechanics E V E R. read more

We have been long term customers as well, and I can only hope that when Rob decides he wants to retire he sells the business to his main man Matt. These are the best, most honest mechanics around. Be prepared to get some good spirited ribbing from them if you drive a luxury or an import (my Mini is the object of much amusement). These guys are pros and very fair and I won't go anywhere else. read more

Customer service is great. Work is quality and timely. Price is not cheap, but not outrageous. I've serviced my vehicle a few times here, and they have not only done a good job, but also educated me along the way. I recently took it in after running over something on the road, and they fixed the hanging plastic under the car no charge. read more

I called up Rob after seeing all the positive reviews on here and couldn't have been happier with his help. He and his guys checked out my car, told me exactly what I needed to do to fix it, and sent me on my way without asking for a dime. They didn't even pressure me to come back to them when I decided what I wanted to do. Suffice to say, they've got a new customer. Rob was up-front about everything and didn't try to BS me into getting 48 other things fixed. On top of that he actually spent some time explaining how to better care for my car so I wouldn't have the same problem again. Not sure you can ask much more when you need help with your car. read more

I've just went to this place, and the service was really awesome and fast. Rob is very attentive, 100% transparent and clear about what's needed. 100% recommended. read more

Fast courteous service!! Opened on time on Black Friday and saved me from having a flat on the road! Thanks again!

I wish more businesses operated like Matt runs Dakis Service Center. They are welcoming, attentive, down-to-earth, and thorough. They explain the problems in a very matter-of-fact way and don't push or scare you into decisions, they just tell you what they found and what the numbers are to make it right. The pricing is very fair and I will be back. read more

They saved me when I would have ended up in Baltimore with a dead car. They helped me out quickly and were really efficient. They were extremely knowledgeable and honest. I will be bringing both of my cars here from now on! read more

True to some of the prior reviews, I can confirm that this is the rare honest mechanic. We took our car in for a brake inspection because it was making some funny noises. We were informed that our brake was fine and no work was necessary. When we went to pick up the car, he came out to explain at length on what caused the noise (the extended rain we've been having). He went above and beyond, especially since they were not getting paid for anything. We will definitely plan to use them in the future and will let our friends and family know that we finally found an honest mechanic. read more

I've been bringing my cars to Matt since I moved to MD....it's convenient for me, rather than going to the dealer....he does a fabo job, I get honest and great service...with a fair price...THANKS MATT!!!!!! read more

Rob Dakis helped us out of a big jam while we were driving home this Thanksgiving. He turned a two day repair into a one day super job and even road tested it before we got back on I 95. He thoroughly explained the repair to us and kept us informed throughout the day. We made it home to NJ without a hitch, and it warmed our hearts that he cared enough to call the next morning to make sure we'd made it home safely. We highly recommend his service center. Wonderful service and a great mechanics and a fair price. read more

I took my car here on Tuesday, January 13th. 2015 because I was hearing clicking noises under the car as I was driving. I came here because of all the positive reviews. However, I did not receive the best service. I was told that I needed brake pads, rotors and calipers and that the cost would be $1,050. Thinking that my car was in worse shape than it was, I agreed to bring the car back for service. I could only bring it on the weekend because of my work schedule. I was told that Dakis would order the parts and my car could be fixed Saturday. I dropped it off Friday, January 16th . I received a call Saturday morning saying that the parts had not come in yet and to bring it back Monday. I called Monday morning and still no parts. I took my car to TNT Auto Repair in Columbia and they told me all I needed was front brake pads. Wow. I should've known better. I know next time! $1,050 really????? read more

I have been a customer for about 10 years and highly recommend Dakis Service Center. Matt is very knowledgeable and honest. Plus, he is a very nice guy, and they are very accommodating to my schedule. You might get an oil or tire change cheaper somewhere else, but the saying "you get what you pay for" applied perfectly here. read more

Matt always does a great job with our cars. He is personable, will explain in easy to understand terms what needs to be done. Does quality work at a fair price. read more

Great, honest service. My car wouldn't pass inspection and they gave me a cheaper option at another shop to remedy the problem. Definitely coming back here for any future auto work. read more

One more great review from a single mom... I had my car serviced there for the first time last weekend. Doug, Bill and Matt are really great guys - knowledgable and honest - and a pleasure to talk with. I consider myself more mechanically inclined than some guys. And, despite not being too busy that day, they didn't try to high pressure sell to me. Doug gave me the option of the regular oil change or the more expensive one with synthetic oil, in great detail. I ended up going with the cheaper option but have to say, no one has ever bothered to ask before. As my oil was being changed, I remembered that I was having some vibration when hitting about 60mph so also had them do a full tire rotation and balancing. My 8 year old Pacifica is running like new again. read more