BEWARE! I had my…read moreHonda Element towed here after reading positive Yelp reviews. My Honda Element overheated in Paso Robles, so I immediately had it towed to Moonlight Mechanic. Julie and Shirley seemed like great peopel as everyone else has mentioned. THEY OVERCHARGE FOR PARTS: I was charged $99 for a $30 part ( Thermostat housing ), which did not fix the issue, then... I was quoted $210 for a $80 part ( TYC Radiator fan assembly ) fortunately, the part they ordered did not fit, then... I was quoted $380 for a $100 part ( Radiator fan motor ). feeling hoodwinked, I ordered the part online and picked up the car that day. THE SLOW SERVICE: After they ordered the wrong replacement part, "luckily", today I picked up my car 6 days and $400 dollars later and it's still not completely fixed. I feel misled. I believe that a "retail" markup of 300% to 400% is very dishonest. I would rather have been charged higher prices for quality labor than to be misled and charged high prices for low quality automotive parts. They might be an alright place to get a standard Oil Change, but I would ask that they sincerely revisit their business practices. Avoid for auto repairs! - Mike

After what we've been through this weekend, I can't extoll Julie's virtues any higher. She…read moreliterally salvaged our weekend, and made a very bad situation tolerable. We also found a jewel in Paso Robles - you are very lucky to have a good, honest, 24/7 car repair shop right in your town. Long story short, our car broke down on the side of the highway outside Paso. We were headed down for a birthday weekend get-away of wine tasting from the Bay Area. This was a mini-vacation we'd planned and to which we'd been looking forward. After the car stopped and we pulled off the road, I called AAA for a tow and called all over the area to try and find a mechanic who could look at the car over the weekend. Found Julie's shop, the Moonlight Mechanic. Her mechanic spent a couple hours diagnosing this problem, for a very reasonable fee. Turned out that without warning, our car ran out of oil and the engine seized... not good news. This was something the last shop that worked on our car needed to fix. We were not going to get back to the Bay Area anytime soon and all rental car places were closed for the weekend in Paso. So Julie helped transport us over the weekend, which included letting us use her car for a bit. She allowed us to keep the dead car at her shop, and helped us coordinate another AAA tow and gave us advice and diagnostic information to help with the fix. She is absolutely the most accommodating, generous, and warm-hardhearted person - she knows customer service. If we lived in Paso, I wouldn't hesitate to ever give her my business as she has a wonderful business ethic. She is honest and the work is quality, and all at a very fair price. She will even come to your location if your car is stuck. This is one of the best car repair experiences I have ever had despite that our car was in such bad shape. Moonlight Mechanic is a woman/veteran-owned business that deserves yours.

BEWARE!!! IT'S NOT MIKE HOWE'S ANY MORE!…read more I USED to take my car to Mike because he was the most honest mechanic I've ever known. Unfortunately, Mike Howe sold the place to a guy named Obeleo, who I learned is not as honest and upstanding as Mike Howe was. Here's what happened: I brought my car in because the engine light was on, the windshield washers stopped working and the battery was dead. I was charged $119.86 each to diagnose the three problems I brought it in for. I didn't have them fix the windshield washers. They replaced the battery and said that the new Battery took care of the Engine Light because the code was from low voltage. Total cost was $642.82. On the way home, the Engine Light is still on. I brought it back to "Mike Howe's Automotive" the next morning and complained. The new Owner, Obeleo tells me that he's going to have to tear into the thing to diagnose what the problem is. I then asked if the $119.86 I had already paid to diagnose the Engine Light would be applied to this job, he said no. He said that the Engine Code he's getting now is different than the engine code he got yesterday, so he wants me to pay the $119.86 again to diagnose the problem I already paid him to fix yesterday. The problem for Obeleo is, I have a FIXD auto diagnostic tool that shows a readout of the Engine Light error code history. The P1004 error code has been appearing since April. It shows that code also appeared when he ran the first diagnostic test. He's now claiming that code didn't appear until I took the car home. I have proof of the contrary. I will never bring my car to Mike Howe's Automotive again. It's sad these guys are dragging Mike Howe's name and reputation through the dirt.

Great repairs topped off with excellent service…read more I was having this terrible sound coming out of my front wheel. Took it in. Sue at the front desk was awesome, caring and very helpful. I did not get to Meet Mike but I saw him working hard in the garage bay. Got my truck back and it sounds awesome. I dread any problems with my car, but I feel good knowing I now have such a great place to take it if I ever have a issue. Would recommend to anyone..

My daughters Prius died due to a water pump failure while she was home on Spring Break. Dwight was…read moreable to diagnose and fix it very rapidly. His fees were reasonable and we were thoroughly impressed with his professionalism. Upon picking up her car he showed us the damaged water pump and answered our questions. His shop is kind of hidden on the north end of Spring St. but I would recommend you find it if you need honest professional auto repair. Great Job Dwight and Thanks again!!

Honest, not cheap, thorough and integrity. These guys know what their doing. A lot of experience…read moreand excellent work

We have taken our cars, a Honda Pilot and Infiniti G35, here for regular maintenance. Always a…read morequality job at a fair price and sensible suggestions for any other work needed. They have also been very helpful when we had a starting problem with the Honda. Took it in right away and fixed the issue (battery) by that same afternoon. Highly recommended!

If you have ever wanted to meet an honest mechanic, I know they are rare, you need to meet Corey…read moreand his amazing wife Julie. I can't believe that I've lived in Paso/Atascadero since 2012 and it took our family this long to find them. Both Julie and Corey (not sure on spelling) are sincere, reasonably priced and just easy going people. A local tire shop was changing my oil recently and said that I needed to replace my valve cover gasket because it was leaking AND they also said we needed to replace the drive belt. I thanked them for their notification and asked them to please just change the oil. I then contacted Julie at SMELTZER and she was able to schedule me in to see her hubby for a second opinion. My husband and I took our car to have Corey look at it. He looked at the engine and found nothing wrong with it. I was shocked by two things, shocked by his honesty when most other mechanics would tell you what best benefits their pocket books- but I was more shocked that a local tire shop in Paso Robles that we have trusted for many many years would try to take advantage of their customers like that. They have lost a customer and SMELTZER has earned a customer for life. Thank you for being a good human and not seeing people as dollar signs Mr & Mrs Smeltzer. I am also a local small business owner and I believe in earning my $$ honestly and with integrity. It's good to know that integrity still exists in this small town, thank you!

I had an urgent car problem and they got me right in. Very friendly, helpful and expedient…read more Reasonable price and quality service. I will be back if needed.

Used him several times thinking Eric was a honest person. I brought my 2012 Chevy in and paid $526…read morefor a sensory issue that popped up. Said it was something to do with my transmission sensor and he replaced it. He had to keep it two extra days. Which on the first day of keeping it he never even informed me that he would need to keep it another night. Long story short the next day the I drove it and the sensor was already back! Not only that but the car is acting up even worse and the engine is revving really high in park. Down shifting really hard when coming to a stop. Honestly think he did something to make it worse so I can keep coming back to spend money. I'm so disappointed my baby is due in 20 days just wanted my car to be safe before she got here. Now I have more issues on my hand and more money to spend. What a headache and a waste of money. Also the wife Connie has had attitude several times on the phone for no reason. She also got pen marks all over my dash by the key ignition, and never told me about it. Do NOT use them. Take your money and car somewhere else.

Paso Robles Radiator is as fair as they come. I have been going here for years and they have never…read moresold me anything I did not need. They back their work. Prices are very fair. It is always nice to do business with a mom and pop business and get great service and at a good savings.

I have brought radiators to paso radiator before foe several companies and every time I get it back…read morehe has cleaned them but never repaired them.Charged for repair but only cleaned.Never pressure tested either.no star rating but because I have to........

I dont wanna rate this any star.. please be aware of these people. Not happy with them at all…read more Sold my good family friend a car said nothing is wrong with it and he left check engine light on and went to talk to them the guy was not there who sold the car. I mean your a business said if anything is wrong with car to bring it back, we did and they guy was not there! I can write more but im not we are really looking into a laywer for this because they took advantage of an elderly who just needs a car. Bad service

My tire was flat.Julio came to my house to take my tire to go patch it up at 8:45@ night in…read moreAtascadero thanks Julio..now I can go back to work...

From out of town and my truck broke down... Mike, the owner and main mechanic, was able to get me…read morein right away and on the road the same day! With 43 years of experience, Mike really knows what he's doing! The pricing was fair and reasonable And I am grateful I took my truck there!

My check engine light was on. North County Diesel was unable to diagnose glow plug issues on my 7.3…read moreford f250. My neighbor diagnosed the problem with a hand held monitor. I wouldn't recommend this place.