i spent over 500 bucks on my car at this place so this review will be thorough. if you want the short story, skip to the last paragraph
i had the check engine light on. now, i always price check places n shop around. every single major auto shop wanted $50 or more JUST TO CHECK MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I paid pep boys 50 bucks. it turns out it was something called the EVAP canister and EGR valve pep boys also said my axles were bad, which at first i assumed they were just trying to upsell. after i found out what it was, i called around for estimates.
so i asked a friend who knows cars for a good reliable repair shop and he recommended this place.
he said this spot does good work and cheap also, without cutting corners which im afraid of.
so i went to florida garage, and as soon as i pulled in, one of the people there, who turns out to be a mechanic tells me in broken english, "your axle no good." which was awesome, since pep boys told me the same thing after paying them 50 bucks to just check my car. i told them about my check engine light and they checked it for free. who does that?! i should of just went to them and saved 50 right off the bat.
they had 3 mechanics, who were swamped but i still had my car back the same day.(4-5 hours) there was a spanish guy and 2 asian guys in the garage who didnt speak english very well but there was a very young manager(?) who spoke for them. he said he didnt work on cars but he def knew his stuff. he was polite and explained it was his fathers garage. his dad went on vacation and he came to help after finishing college at drexel.
so, the mechanics were checking out my car, it was funny to me that the asian and the spanish mechanics were speaking to the guy in their languages, while the guy spoke english to me. they told me what i already knew so i asked the big question, how much?
i needed my evap n EGR(?) valve replaced. meinke asked for 900 for both, pep boys for 1200, and midas for 1150. the manager told me 550. i said for which part. he laughed and said for both. i thought about it, then asked again. he said 550 for both. i assumed the parts or the labor or both would be shoddy, but nope, same brand parts as the stores, and the mechanics were excellent.
i also got my pads and rotors done for less than 200, when the other stores wanted 400+.i was referred by a friend who i trust so im glad i came here. they repair everything like the chain shops without the chain prices.
there was quite a few customers who were locals so i assume this was like a local secret. i talked to a taxi cab driver there who was getting his oil changed and apparently all the taxi cabs take their cars here. i think if taxis get their cars fixed here, than its definitely a good place, considering taxi drivers are notorious for being finicky n there cars are probably used and abused more than us. the kid said that he charges about 30% higher than what he pays for parts, which is alot cheaper than the 400%, 500% markup the stores charge. and the labor is not done per hour, but per job, so i didnt have to worry about a mechanic taking his sweet ol' time,
basically, get your car fixed here for cheaper than any major shop without sacrificing quality. read more
