Hands-on Garage

Got in the truck to leave and was afraid to go out of the parking lot. Pedal went almost to floor and vehicle only slowed, pumping etc did not help. Immediately returned to speak with mechanic. After two mechanics argued who should come out (could hear them complaining through open door to the shop) we started with "what's the problem?" Seriously. One guy hopped in the truck and went tearing out of the lot to "test drive it again."He came back in disgust and said that the work was fine and everything checked out. After going back into the shop, I could again here two mechanics saying how I didn't know what I was talking about, and that I expected my truck to be "like new." So I left and had someone else look at it.

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This was my first experience with Hands-On-Garage and it made me a loyal customer ever since. I'd taken my car into Jack Safro Toyota for it's regular maintenance and they told me I had a power steering leak. They'd gone ahead and diagnosed it and informed me that it was a bad power steering pump, so I needed to replace it. Cost: ~$750. It wasn't an emergency fix so I decided to shop around. I quoted at Midas first—who was eager to jump in and replace my pump for $600. Less than the dealership at least, but still painful. I'd heard about Hands On Garage and thought I'd head out there and see what they quoted me. The first thing Griff asked me was, "Are you sure it's the power steering pump?" I said, "Well, yes—the dealership already checked it out and told me that's where the leak is coming from." He said he'd like their mechanic to look at it too—that dealerships don't always diagnose things properly. I'd been going to Jack Safro for anything I thought needed to be done well for many years, so I was a little skeptical with that comment. I went along with it though and low and behold—the power steering pump was just fine!
This is where Hands On Garage is amazing—not only are the people there trustworthy and helpful, but they want to teach you about your car and they'll show you what they're doing, tell you why they're doing it, etc. The mechanic who checked out my car, showed me where the power steering pump was, they showed me where all the leaky fluid was. They were a good 3 feet apart, so I'm not sure how Jack Safro managed to misdiagnose that. There was no fluid over by the pump. The mechanic then showed me the leaking piece was a corroded piece of metal. He said, we can order this special metal piece from Toyota and I'll place it on when it comes in, or I can use this $5 piece of tubing and it'll do the same thing. I said, go or the tubing! I then stood on the floor, under the car with the mechanic while he did the work—asking questions while he explained anything I wanted to know about my car.
So I paid $60 for about $5 or so in parts, 30 minutes of a mechanic's time, power steering fluid refill and taxes. Not bad considering Toyota would have charge me $750 and not even fixed the problem! This was over 2 years ago now and that little $5 piece of tubing is doing the job just fine.
I am a customer for life!

Let me preface this review by saying that I am the type of person that prefers to do the work themselves on their car.
I came in to do my own oil change and they had a technician put my car up on the lift, raise it, provided me with a full set of tools, had an Oil Change container to collect my old/used oil (which they recycle for free). I did not have to wait to get in. We noticed some oil on the oil pan and the technician gave free advice/assessment of what they believed to be the issue and when we were done the technician lowered the car and helped us on our way. They have a clean up station with cleansers that run the gamut from regular hand soap to soap with pumice in it to help get all the grime off your hands.
All of this and they only charged me $9.34. I would call this a steal as otherwise I would have been laying on the ground in my apartment complex parking lot fighting to get under the car and change the oil. Also, I would have had to find a place to take my used oil and transport it. This place is a one stop shop for DIYers as well as those who would like to have their technicians work on your car.

It was an excellent job. I can't say anything bad about them. They are wonderful. They are friendly and they do good work.

Excellent overall experience. My daughter had a good experience with Hands-On Garage, so I thought I would give them a try. They let you participate in inspections and even do repairs yourself with their advice and/or assistance. I elected to participate in the inspection of my car, but let them do the repairs. Participating in the inspection helped me understand a lot more about my car. I could clearly see wear on the front bushings and brakes, and I could see that the rear brakes were also worn, but not as badly. I was shown the condition of various fluids, such as power steering fluid. I observed the battery testing. I discussed other possible maintenance needs, such as spark plug replacement. I already knew the price for the same services from my dealer, and the price quoted by Hands-On Garage was less expensive. They were able to schedule service as soon as I wished to have it done. I am happy with the quality of the work. I would have had the work done there even if it weren't less expensive, just because they were so informative. I now understand my car and its maintenance needs much better than in the past, when I felt more at the mercy of the dealer and whatever they said the car needed.