I highly recommend this shop. It's truly a relief to find a mechanic like Carlos who is both honest and takes the time to explain everything. ​Finding a trustworthy and knowledgeable mechanic can be tough. I'm not going anywhere else! read more

We've been going to Howard Auto for 22 years. Great honest service by good people. Carlos and Aturo are really great at what they do. Don't go anywhere else! read more

I've taken my car to Carlos a few times and he's always so fast and very good at communicating .

Our friend found Carlos, and we tried the shop when we had an issue. We have been bringing our cars for the last 4 years. Very honest and trustworthy, how often can you say that about anyone in this business? It's like an actual small-town repair shop in a big city, almost afraid to post a great review because they will get even busier, but they deserve all the kudos they get--an excellent value for all car owners. read more

If you live within an hour of this place then it's the only shop to bring your car to. Honest, courteous, fairly priced, and not just friendly, but they become friends. Carlos is the Mgr and he is a hustling go getter who treats every customer like a close friend. I go nowhere else. read more

I've enjoyed the great good fortune of being a customer of Howard Auto Service's for over four years and counting. Allow me to offer the following anecdote: Earlier this month, my nearly 16-year-old car's driver side quarter panel and I had a most unfortunate encounter with a utility pole's protective - and protruding - metal plating which, due to its placement at car level, I was unable to see while driving by. By the by, the rear bumper also split in two along a preexisting fissure as a result. Brilliant. Upon surveying the damage Carlos, the shop's highly capable lead mechanic and manager, proposed and subsequently effected a quick and cost-effective solution to restore my jalopy's roadworthiness and enable me to continue to enjoy the privilege of its ownership and use for (hopefully) at least the next couple of years. Well, gentlemen, thanks (yet) again. See you in June - hopefully, not sooner... read more

This is the best place around! Carlos was so helpful, friendly, patient, and knowledgeable about the issues I was having. He really went above and beyond to help me quickly and I'm so grateful! I will not be taking my cars anywhere else! Thank you so much!! Leslie Smith read more

I was backing car out of garage. Knocked mirror off. Took it over to Howard Auto Body. Antonio and staff did a great job repairing it. I've been going there since 2005. Antonio is fair and honest. read more

Howard Auto Service - The white one. - Auto Repair Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

i wrote a prior review that was intended for howard and california auto down the street from this business, which isn;t affiliated in any way(to my knowledge) with howard auto service. i don't have any negative things to comment about this business, because i've never dealt with them. read more

I've lived in this neighbourhood for four years, and only just discovered how awesome Howard Auto Centre is. When you find a garage that actually cares about their customers, you go back time and time again. They're honest, hard-working, and highly approachable, and we can't stop singing their praises. I wouldn't dream of going anywhere else. Update: I have taken my car into the dealership a few times, as it's still covered by warranty, but I wish I could bring it here instead for every issue. Love these guys. read more

I've been going to this place to get my cars fixed for over 20 years now. I work at a local business and many of my colleagues take their cars here. Gary, George and Carlos have always taken good care of my wife and I. Fair prices, quality work and most importantly, no BS! I hold every other shop to the standard set by Howard Auto and they rarely have the quality of service Howard Auto has. As soon as each of my car's dealer service agreements expire, I take them right over to Howard Auto to get the best, most affordable work in the area. read more

Don't buy time from here nevertheless a car. They have terrible customer service. Once you down your money they will not repair anything for you. If you buy a car from them you'll be posting bad reviews. This place sucks. read more

Engine light etc started blinking 2 days before major holiday weekend. They diagnosed and fixed same day. Reasonable price. Thank you Howard Auto. read more

My dude bought a Groupon for a card full of services from Howard Auto Service. I was a little weary because sometimes businesses get the "Groupon Effect" where their customer service sucks and they're swamped because of all the added business. But my concerns were unfounded! I called and made an appointment a week in advance for an early morning oil change and was able to get in, no problem. When I arrived, I chatted with the owner for a while who was SUPER nice and friendly. So friendly, in fact, that I know that his son and mine weighed the exact same amount at birth. See! That's friendly! He even turned on PBS when the little dude got a little wiggly and needed distraction. The service was quick and efficient. I'm excited that our card has two more oil changes on it and that they're not far from us because we'll definitely be using them again! read more

I started going here due to a Groupon offer of a punchcard for oil changes. It was a really good deal and they sold the cards again for awhile. The one brother was very friendly and outgoing. I brought it back to have other work done and they seemed competent, honest and would work with you on price if it was a challenge. However I have to say the 'friendly' brother is no longer there when I go in and the other one has 'resting bitch face', always seems unfriendly and finally has made me feel uncomfortable. Took in my car to have it looked at today. Wasted 2-3 hours. They told me over the phone what was wrong and when I went in I said I would call to schedule if I wanted the work done. They refused to give me paperwork on the work needing to be done. Said I could come back in a few days if I wanted to pick that up and they 'erased it'. This along with the creepy attitude of the guy have made me want to go elsewhere. Guess I'll go somewhere else. I don't appreciate being treated this way and not getting what I came for. I guess they have lots of great reviews so those people can be their customers. I'm done. read more

The other day, my fiance and I were driving down Howard when my car started making very funny noises and the check engine light came on... After checking under the hood ourselves and looking over some Yelp reviews, we decided to go to Howard Auto Service. The guys here were amazing! George helped us and checked out the car in a timely manner. They didn't charge us anything. Apparently the air filter had come off, so they put it back on and sent us on our way. It's hard to find a trustworthy mechanic, but I think we've found ours now, and we'll definitely go back if something else goes wrong with the car. read more

This shop was recommended to me by a friend, and with excellent reason! I needed a simple fix to my tire - although it was a tiny job, the shop made me feel really well taken care of. I noticed their friendly, attentive service as soon as they answered the phone. I wasn't able to wait for my car to be finished, and the shop was over the top accommodating! They told me they'd lock my key in my car (I had another) and I could pick it up after hours. When I asked, "When will I pay you?" their reply was, "Just come back tomorrow - we know you're good for it." I didn't think a trusting, customer oriented place like this existed! Come here if you want amazing attention & honest service. read more

I've been going to Howard Auto since late 1998, when I first moved to Rogers Park, in Chicago, from North Carolina. They have never once done me wrong and in fact have gone above and beyond ordinary good service every time I've gone to them. I even bought a used car from Gary (this is before they also had a used car business) that I drove for years before someone ran a stop sign and totalled it for me. Gary, George, and the rest of the team at Howard Auto are fantastic, ethical, hard working, friendly, and always in good spirits. They're one of the gems of the north Chicago area, for sure! read more

Howard Auto was at the right place at the right time. A friend of mine highly recommended this place to me just before I happened to be car shopping in the neighborhood. I test drove my 2005 Honda Civic into their shop to have her looked over by a pro before purchase and afterward, after a straightforward assessment ("this battery won't make it through the winter, but otherwise it's in great shape"), he refused to take any of my money, just asking that I bring the car back. I love that this place is so honest, and that the pricing is so reasonable (my "maintenance required" light was on and I left the car there all day today and they didn't charge me a dime. Just the cost of the new wiper blades I requested, and a heads-up about the expense I can expect at the 60,000 mile, replace-the-transmission-fluid-and-air-filter visit coming up). I love that I can call the day I want to bring it and get in, no problem. I love that I pay $10 less for my oil changes than I used to. I love the friendly thorough service. Perhaps even better is the Target and Best Buy in the shopping center down the street:) I can't recommend this place enough. They'll earn your trust just as they earned mine. read more

This is the only honest and fair auto mechanics I have ever been to. They are reasonable and I have continued to recommend them.

This is one of the most well-kept auto shops I have ever seen. I went here to get an estimate for my car and was so surprised to see this clean, well-kept, and organized shop. And the staff was great as well. They gave me an estimate in a very short period of time. I did find their services to be a little bit more pricey than other service shops in the area though. read more

Howard Auto Service - Auto Repair Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Very pleased with the relaxed and easy going service these guys provide. They are reasonably priced and pretty fast. When i asked them to check my brakes they told me I had about 3-4 months in which to get them replaced foregoing all that sales hype and pressure. read more

Howard Auto Service seems to find a way to take care of my service needs without having to wait days or weeks for an appointment, and in the more than 20 years of doing business with them, always given me good advice, a reasonable bill for work done, and excellent care of my vehicles. Hats off to their integrity and skills. read more

I had bought a groupon card for oil changes 7 years ago from Howard Auto Service when I moved to Chicago, and let me tell you it was one of the best decisions I've made regarding my vehicle. It may be a little bit out of the way for me, but I wouldn't take my car anywhere else in the city. They take great care of my vehicle and have had many opportunities to "pad" the bill with unnecessary items but have never done so. I trust Howard Auto and refuse to let any other shop touch my car. read more

The work was done expertly and a very, very reasonable price. I could not be happier with the work they did on my brakes. Thank you George for a job well done. I highly recommend them, read more

Gary and George are extremely honest and do great work. I would not go anywhere else. I brought in a used car I was buying for my elderly mother, and George was a big advocate for us. He asked some good questions of the seller after he found a few issues. Great place! read more

I pulled in here earlier today with an unexpected issue for my car. The took care of me in an hour and we're incredibly nice. Didn't try to sell me on a bunch of extra work I didn't need done. Highly recommend! read more

Can I give this place 0 stars please!? I took my car in due to my TCS light coming on as well as my brake light all warning lights meaning brakes... well I dropped off my car when they opened, they called me and explained they would be taking the seat out of my car due to a part being broke which cost 750 brand new.. uhm ok? That has been broken since I bought the car and these lights never came on until now. Well they told me I needed an oil change and tire rotation at about 4 they call and ask if I'm going to need my car and I said yes I have work in the morning, the guy told me he would have his tech put the seat back in.. so after having my car the whole day they stated that it MIGHT be an airbag problem... no oil change done no tire rotation.. I was charged 205 dollars for them to tell me what it could possibly be, I have learned my lesson I will NEVER take my car to a place because of their yelp reviews. I really hoped I would like this place but even the way I was talked to was not the best... I pretty much paid them 205 dollars to take the seat out of my car and that's it... NEVER AGAIN. In regards to this reply it is false, i never tried to have anyone fix this problem and i was told you would "work with me" on the price IF I DECIDED TO GO BACK TO YOU, just wanted to update this because the information is false I am not trying to bash you as I stated I wanted to like this place, if you were looking for a part all day you could've done an oil change or that tire rotation while you waited for a reply since you said I needed those things done, if you were busy and needed me to come in another day that would've been fine I understand that, maybe you guys have 205 dollars to throw away like this but now I have to continue to save for this repair and now I have minus 205 dollars to add to my repair so thanks a lot for that update!! read more

I had some brake work done here and overall, everything about the experience was great. Friendly people working there, and a reasonable price (not cheap, not expensive, but reasonable). read more

Gary and George have been my go to guys for over seven years. They are friendly, professional, and most definitely reasonably priced... Not to mention the fact that they do excellent work on my cars in a timely fashion...!! They've serviced my Land Rover, Miata, Saturn & Subaru. They do it all... with aplomb!!! read more

An autobody shop that actually communicates with their customers? Doesn't overcharge and/or add hidden charges? Presents a bill that I can actually understand? In yelp terms- WOOHOO! As good as it gets! read more

SO happy I asked my Facebook friends for a recommendation for an auto service shop, and this place was mentioned. I cannot praise this place enough, especially the GM Gary! The A/C in my car stopped working last year, so I took my car into PepBoys. After talking to the guy behind the counter, who sounded like he had no idea what he was talking about all while telling me it would be over $3,000 to fix my A/C, I decided to look elsewhere. I stopped into Howard Auto Service, who you could immediately tell are incredibly knowledgeable in the industry, and they let me know there was a tiny leak somewhere, but recommended just refilling the system for now, as I should be fine as the leak is very small. No insisting that they fix the leak immediately, which he told me would cost around $500 not $3,000, just a quick in and out to refill my system for around $100. He even through in a discount. Unfortunately, this year my A/C went out again. The leak strikes again. With it being a busy time for me with me needing my car a lot, and it being over 100 degrees right now with the heat index, they once again very cheaply refilled my system again, and recommended I come in over the winter or spring to get everything repaired. Hopefully, they will be able to find cheaper parts then, which should keep the repair cost down then. Not only a relief, but I now completely trust them with all future repairs. Also, over the winter my husband's car, which never has problems, was dying every time it came to a complete stop. Literally every stop sign or red light, and the car died. We took it to the shop a block away, and the mechanic who clearly had no idea what he was doing, told us it was the battery. He hooked the battery up to a reader, and said that the reader should read 14.0, and it was reading 13.9, so the battery needed replacement. After turning off the headlights and heat in the car, which the mechanic had turned on, it shot up over 15 on the reader, but he still insisted in the battery. I told my husband to walk out of there, and take the car immediately to Howard. Howard had the car for two days, and determined it was bad gas. They let the gas run out, put some new gas in there, and didn't charge us even a penny for all two days. If that's not a sign of an honest shop, I don't know what is. read more

As honest as they come. I went here on the recommendation of my friend's mom, who has being going there for years, and I can see why. They don't nickle and dime you, and they're frank about what's wrong with your car and what your options are realistically. They're going to be my auto shop for years to come. read more

Love George and the crew here. They are very personable and never out to rip me off like when I went to Midas where they were always trying to up-sell me on stuff that didn't need replacing/fixing. Highly recommend!!! Makes my trips to the car shop pleasurable, thanks guys! I'll say that they always honor your appointment time too. Fantastic! read more

Honest people work here. These people are so nice and were accommodating in getting me in on a very busy day. They were honest about what problems were minor and major. With the Groupon, they charged nothing for the oil change. I will recommend this place to all my friends, even though it is 40 minutes away from where I live. read more

This is my first review for Yelp but I had to do it. I am amazed with these people: they solved a tricky electrical problem on my Honda CRV and they charged more than a fair price (6 times less than the dealership estimate). They were honest and straight with me, and that I appreciate the most. read more

For almost 35 years, I have found Howard Auto to be not only highly competent, efficient, honest, and courteous, but I consider Gary to be a friend. I wouldn't go anywhere else for car repairs and my kids drive half an hour to continue servicing their cars there. When i have a small problem, they take care of it immediately for me. The car is ready when promised and repairs are done right the first time. Every employee from George to all the guys in the bay are terrific. When my car needs body work, I have found Imperial Body on Oakton takes over and professionally and beautifully restores my car to new with the same coureous and neighborly attitude. Rhonda M read more

We had a problem with our car window, it would not close and rattled loudly. Stopped at Howard Auto and George told us it was off track and would take a couple of hours. They took care of the problem - fixed it in a few hours with a good price. It was due to the Chicago potholes we keep trying to avoid this year. We appreciate what George and the group do and will always come back. Thanks for prompt, excellent service at a reasonable price. read more

These folks are great. Great service, honesty & customer focus. I originally brought in a flat tire on a busy Saturday morning, with no appointment or even a call-ahead. It was clear their schedule was more than full and I figured I'd have to wait until Monday to get my tire fixed. I dropped off the tire & they had it fixed in a couple of hours. It cost $20.00. They were friendly and I was very glad they could fix my tire the same day. I had a second car that needed 4 new tires. I had a specific tire in mind, but they were honest and said they couldn't match a price I got from another online retailer. No worries...I was able to ship the tires from the online retailer to the folks at Howard Auto & they mounted and balanced them for me (for a reasonable price). At the same time, I had them service the car, do an alignment and inspect the brakes and such. I expected the normal upsell of filters, wiper blades and service after the inspection, which a lot of shops do. The folks at Howard Auto didn't hassle me at all. They gave me an idea of how much break wear there was and gave details on what else they had inspected. In short, they were honest, but also made sure the car was safe to use. If you visit, you'll probably talk to George or Gary. They are both awesome people to deal with. I'll be going back for sure. 5 stars. read more

I've gone to Howard Auto now for two years. They've done a number of repairs on my car, now 12 years old. They've replaced a wheel bearing, ball joint, sway bar, alternator, rear brakes, alternator belt, and radiator. They also fixed a pesky emissions issue. Given the age and condition of my car, I know it will need regular repairs. It seems that every three months or so, I give Howard Auto a call. It's great to have a trusted auto shop in the neighborhood. They're right down the street from where I live. Gary and George are good guys. They do good work, their prices are competitive, and they're more than fair. They're conservative in their recommendations. I never leave wondering if they did more work than was really necessary. Their first repair was a front wheel bearing in early 2013. I went to several shops for an estimate on this repair. I was in the market for a good, trustworthy mechanic. Another shop in the area took a quick drive and recommended replacing both front bearings and both CV axles. Howard Auto replaced the one bearing. For two years now, I haven't had an issue with the bearings or axles. As you can imagine, this experience spoke volumes. If you need a good mechanic you can trust, give them a call. I'm glad I did. read more