- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Ocana Tire Repair
Rating Details »
12 reviews for Ocana Tire Repair
I went to buy 4 new tires for my Escape. The guy told me that my tires were still pretty good, but I wanted new ones anyway because my car slides all over the place in the snow and even in the rain. I had done research on tires to see pricing and was expecting to pay between $600-700, but Ocana only charged me $400 for 4 new Goodyear tires, including everything! They look really sharp and I can go back to Ocana for free rotations.
Also, the tire installation took less than an hour! I highly recommend this place for anyone looking to purchase new tires at Sears or other places.
I ended up at A Speedline after a frustrating search for new tires. I was very pleased.
In the interest of time, I will paste my story under all tire repair shops I tried based on Yelp recs. Hopefully it will be of help to people in a pothole predicament as I was a few weeks ago. The story is exhausting, I will put it in bullet form:
DUXLER in EVANSTON
Started out at Duxler in a jam. Hate that place, but it was a holiday and a stressful day, so there I was. (See separate review.) They scammed me into putting a very expensive, rather rare tire on, knowing I was in a pinch, needing my car asap for holiday travel. I only took the one for my flat, I couldn't afford all 4 and didn't want to give them another dollar. I could have gotten by for a few more months with the other 3, but I was stuck with one pricey oddball, so the car was riding like something from a fun house. Had to get the other 3 asap.
Enter the tire tornado ... days of calling around in effort to find 3 more of this fancy tire that no one carries and didn't seem to want to bother ordering. Perhaps the economy isn't so bad.
OCANA
I started out calling this place. I really wanted to give them my business. The guy was nice on the phone, and I like to give businesses to small businesses with reviews like I'd read. Plus, the price he quoted for installation was very inexpensive. However, he never called me back. I called there over a period of several days and kept getting someone else who would give a different reason for not calling me back. One reason was the number was written down incorrectly. Not true, because I was called back once at that number. Eventually, I gave up. I will go ahead and give 3 stars to avoid spoiling their stellar rating, and because they were inexpensive and pleasant on the phone. I'm very disappointed that I had to try so hard to spend hundreds of dollars with no return call.
RUNGE'S
I moved on to them. A quick return call, but they were on the high side, coming in even higher than Duxler, which is goofy.
CLARK TIRES
Rude person on the phone. Yet another person not interested in helping me spend hundreds, cutting me off while I was speaking.
A SPEEDLINE
I ended up calling here last, about ready to park the car and start walking 20 mi. roundtrip if need be because I couldn't take any more aggravation initiated by this flat-tire-at-the-worst-possible-time mess. [Happy frikkin' new year!]
A Speedline called me back within minutes to tell me they could order it same day, then called again in an hour to let me know the tires had arrived. I was shocked at the prompt communication at this point, and I would have paid whatever they wanted in exchange for finally reaching someone who had completed Phone Skills 101. The price was the lowest I'd heard. The job was done quickly, charged as estimated, and I am finally ridin' in style! I highly recommend them.
No reason to go ever go anywhere else if you just had a flat and need a tire patched up. Extremely quick, friendly service...like the guys are racing to get you back on the road. Occasionally you might have to wait in the alley for a moment but this will be the fastest service you receive in the city hands down...and the cheapest. My repair cost $13!!!
Oh, I think it's cash only so have cash in hand. And the below review giving directions is very accurate.
This is a great place! I went here a few days ago based on the reviews I read on yelp. Totally lived up to what everyone was saying. I had a slow leak in my left rear tire, and i finally knew it was time to get it fixed. I took my car there, and within 10 minutes the tire was patched, I paid $10, and I was on my way. At no time did they pressure me to buy a new tire or rotate my tires....nothing like that. Very honest guy who works quickly and seems more than fair.
I definitely recommend this place to anyone who has any issues with their tires and wants to go to an honest and fair place. I will definitely be going here next time i need anything fixed with my tires. Also, it's a quick drive from downtown chicago. I live in gold coast and it was just a 15 minute drive via lakeshore drive.
Due to the recent construction activity on Clark just north of Lawrence, I ran over a rather large screw that some worker left in the middle of the road. I didn't realize what it was at first, only noticing a peculiar sound that seemed to occur with every revolution of the wheel. When I got home for lunch I realized what happened and got very annoyed at the prospect of having to buy a new tire.
So I called up Ocana Tire Repair. I had passed by the place numerous times walking down Clark, but had never needed really fast tire service like I did that day. I asked if they could replace tires. The guy on the phone said they repair tires and told me to bring the car in. Mind you all this happened in Spanish. You would probably do fine with gestures, or possibly by drawing a picture if you needed to. Give yourself credit for being able to communicate ideas non-verbally, especially since you're going to a specialist shop and the range of problems you're likely to have are not that huge.
I thought I would have to leave the car there, but the person who came out when I brought the car took off the tire in no time and, in a flurry of activity, extracted the screw, patched the damage, and replaced the tire, all in under 10 minutes. It came out to $10, which didn't seem too bad to me, considering I was able to do all of this on a lunch break in which I still managed to eat something and not be completely late getting back to work.
I love the crap out of Ocana Tire and am almost tempted to drive through a pile of screws and nails just to give them my patronage again! One of the employees drove to meet me at Foster and Sheridan (30 minutes after I called), took off my tire, drove me and my tire back to the shop, picked out a new tire, drove me back to my car and installed the tire all for the amazing price of $35!!! ($25 for the used tire/$10 for labor).
I just bought new tires at http://tirerack.com and my brother suggested getting them balanced and installed at Ocana. This is litterally a hole in the wall operation out of the alleyway. However, they still got the job done. I had brought my tires in and get them installed for $50, plus tire disposal, the total was $55. That's an awesome deal, considering I call 3 other places and it was ranging from $100-$110.
The only bad side is that is first come, first serve. We had to wait a total of 25 minutes before being waited on. Also, we stood outside to watch them do it since there is no waiting room. Overall, it's a great, cheap place to get tires fixed and any other type of labor for tires, but, I would NEVER buy tires there. There isn't really a warehousing system, the tires are just stored in a garage (think about your garage at home) in no particular order.
Nothing like a flat tire to throw your whole day off. After putting on the spare, I checked Yelp and saw the reviews for this place. I called to make sure they were open. The guy who answered the phone was not, I'll agree, charming, but I learned that this is not a reflection of his personality or service; he just has a crappy telephone manner.
I got there, and was the only customer. The guy was terriffic: after taking my spare off in about five seconds, he showed me that the tire was unrepairable (it was punctured in two places, probably from a pothole). He said I could get new or used, and suggested that a used was perfectly fine (this saved me about $50.). They are cash only, but there is a bank ATM right nearby.
By the time I got back, he'd but on a replacement tire I would swear was new. He was also filling the other tires because he noticed they were low. So for $35 I got a replacement tire in about ten minutes and excellent service. I'm a new fan.
As a woman, I'd add this: whenever I go to a new auto-repair place, I'm either treated like a simple child ripe for robbing, or I'm treated with courtesy, respect, and old-fashioned gallantry. Ocana was gallantry all the way.
They kept it simple & I loved it.
Not sure how I got the flat but I came here for suggestions and after reading Thane M.'s review called them up.
I live a couple of blocks away so I drove in, the guy came out, took off the old tire put on the other one, said it was $30 and I was on my way.
They are good and honest and FAST - (sometimes almost too fast if they are very busy)
I have used them a lot as Lakewood Balmoral alleys have tons of nails from all the Rehab - they are very good
Great used tires
Excellent - flat or slow leak repair.
I am 57 and like patches not plugs. Ocana will do either - but you need to (loudly) say patch if you want a patch -- as the default is the simpler/faster for them plug.
The store front is on Clark but service is from the rear garage
SO HERE IS HOW YOU FIND THEM AND GET TO THEM
Use Catalpa going west from Brdwy/Glenwood towards Clark
From Catalpa turn right at the last alley just BEFORE you hit Clark
Go north in the alley 4 nearly 1 block & u will see the Ocana sign -
It is a garage with a 30 x 35 space to drive into and park 4 repair
Someone is most often there in the back ---- If not walk into back of their building (between two garages)
Place is run by what appears to be a Father and son and one other as far as I can tell
They are not (yet) a restaurant on Clark (i.e they pay their rent!!) because they do a solid business - keep them there - we have enough restaurants
I brought in a tire with a puncture that the guys at Ashland Tire Shop said they couldn't fix (they wanted me to buy a new one, but that is a story for another review). Felix apparently did the impossible when he patched (not plugged) the hole I had. He was fast, friendly, and most importantly cheap. 10$ fixed my tire. (I did all the changing myself.)
Left with a slow leak in a tire due to a screw puncture, I turned to yelp for guidance. Thane M.'s review convinced me that this nearby option would do the trick. Simply enough, Ocana's was super fast, super cheap, and they fixed the leak. If you need tire repair in the Edgewater/Uptown/Andersonville area, this is your place.
