Japanese Auto City

It went very well. He test drove the car for about 15 minutes. Then he put the car on the machine and found that the sensor was bad.

We continue using them.

You can get about a hundred testimonies on the internet. They are really highly rated and they are very good. They are probably as good as you get. In some things they have been cheaper. We have 3 cars and 2 of them are older but probably at least 6% of the time they beat market, and the rest of the time they are pretty much within market. We have used them probably 4-5 times in the last couple of years. They keep their word. They pretty much know when I can leave my car and when they can have it finished. They have never been wrong yet.

Excellent and ontime

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They are reliable and reasonably priced, very honest.

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Three days earlier, car had developed an engine knocking noise upon acceleration. Oil had been checked too soon after operation and gave false indication of being full. A mechanic had taken it for a drive, not checked oil, and diagnosed either bearings or transmission, indicating take to dealer as transmission might be under warranty. Before resorting to dealer ($129 diagnostic charge), Googled 'G35 Infiniti auto mechanics' and found reference to Japanese Auto City. Both their Yelp and Angie's List reviews were very encouraging, so made appointment (they immediately mentioned oil) and drove car gently to them. Again they said oil, but leave it with them and they would get back to us. By mid-morning they had confirmed the missing oil situation, made observations and recommendations, outlined price breakdown, most expensive of which was the lightbulb plus labor, and were approved to go ahead. Just for verification, we called dealer parts department to check on their lightbulb price ($305 for part alone) and fervently hoped it was only a bulb problem as a whole unit costs over $1,000 (understand that dealer may source different manufacturer). Upon picking the car up at lunchtime, was advised that the noise had gone, but a slight noise from the exhaust area had been noticed, perhaps relating to some rust. Took the car for a test drive up hills and at a decent speed up I395 - engine very quiet, and only faintly aware of a noise coming from exhaust area, which can be investigated further if it gets worse. Feel very grateful for the reprieve, considering how neglected this car has been for major services, and very much appreciate their expertise and keeping the costs down.

For anyone who enjoys working on their own car, finding the right mechanic can be a real challenge. The owner / mechanic of Japanese Auto City is an excellent mechanic, but also an especially good fit for someone like me, who can diagnose a problem and source replacement parts myself but just doesn't have the time or tools to tackle some jobs. In this case an engine bracket and two tensioner pulleys needed to be replaced on the front of my engine. The dealership was going to charge me over $1000 for this simple (but time intensive) job. The dealership labor rate is $165/hour (billed down to the 1/2 hour). Japanese Auto City's labor rate? An unbelievable $88/hour and billed down to 15 minutes! This is akin to those 80 year old barbers who will still charge their clients $12 for a haircut, just as they have for the last 20 years. And just like an experienced barber, this mechanic has the tools, know how, and integrity to make a random customer (like me) a "customer for life."

I came here after years of getting ripped off by Yates Automotive on Braddock road. The Yates guys had proposed doing both the front and rear breaks completely on my Nissan Murano, as all components were rusted through. However, they wanted $1200 for just one axle. When I said that was too high, they reduced their bid to about $1000-- still too much. I picked Japanese Auto City due to the favorable reviews on Yelp. They did everything both front and rear for about the same price as Yates proposed doing just the front. And the Japanese Auto owner is extremely honest and does only work that is necessary-- no scare tactics or upselling here. If you live close by, just go!

He is knowledgeable. He generally will tell you the truth about what you've got wrong with your car and if something's wrong with it, he won't charge you to fix what the problem is.