Don't confuse the Joe's Auto Repair on Humboldt Street with the Joe's Auto on Metropolitan Avenue. Two VERY different shops from a quick look at their respective Yelp and Google reviews. Joe's Auto Repair on Humboldt St is a great mechanic. He's honest, doesn't do unnecessary work, usually can get your car in quick, gets the work done quickly, and charges a fair price. Make sure you go to Joe's on Humboldt. He'll take care of your car quick for a fair price and will access the work needed honestly. He's direct and no nonsense, but I'm glad to have found an honest and fair mechanic in the neighborhood. read more

I took my car to them today. "Could you check my battery please?" "Why?" "It seemed weak this morning. Do you have the battery tester?" "No." "You don't have a battery tester?" "No. It's being fixed. I can't check your battery." "You can't check my battery. What can you do?" "If you want to change your battery...." I've never heard an auto repair shop not having a battery tester, nor have I ever heard a battery tester being fixed before. What it looked like was, he didn't want to do business with me. read more

I can't speak to quality of their work, but I can speak about the quality of the people whom work there. I live in the neighborhood & as I was walking by with my dog they stopped what they were doing came to the sidewalk to gawk & make me feel extremely uncomfortable. As I was about to turn the corner to get away from the unwanted inappropriate attention they HOWLED at me like a god damn cartoon dog. So, if you are a woman or have one in your life who you believe deserves respect & to be treated like a human and not a dog or piece of meat I would avoid this garage at all cost. They've made me feel unsafe in my own neighborhood, and I now avoid that block at all cost. read more

Joe's Auto "Repair" is a first rate example of the good ol' boy's club looking out for "their own" and taking advantage of other schmucks that don't know any better. After my myriad of attempts to get my inspection sticker, upon a recent visit to rectify my current problem I'll explain, I saw a young man they "knew well" throw some cash in Neil's hand, and Neil explain, "Yeah, just run the machine and give him the 10 day sticker", whatever that meant. Just speculating on what I saw. Also, I'm fairly sure any positive reviews are ringers. Nothing personal, I know we all need to make a living, but I'm not going to get my money wasted for other people's negligence. To initially get my car to pass NY inspection, my check engine light was on and I needed some mechanical repairs (the identical ones it seems EVERY new mechanic I see recommends, anyways...) so I get the mechanical problems fixed, of course his quote is tax NOT included which you find out after the fact. Really, a quote should just be the quote you pay in full when it comes to this work being done, not then the surprise 10% tax added on afterwards. SO then I pay to run ANOTHER test when he knows that my check engine light is on with nothing done to remedy THAT yet (mind you, I'm new to NY state inspection laws and make that known to him), and of course it fails on the emissions end, which could have been determined with out another 27$ test. I ask if I can still get at least the 10 day sticker since it's expired by then, and he explains "that's only if we run the test AFTER you attempt to make a repair to fix the emissions". Okay, well NOW I know. I do my OWN research on my code, and determine to replace some gaskets, and while they're at it, the plugs and wires, and research multiple sites to order the correct ones online (try to save SOME money with my own parts). Bring the car back, and of course no one likes to be asked to do a repair that they don't get to diagnose for 90$ first, but he obliges, for what seems almost the same labor quote as if I just went to the dealer to begin with. Within an hour and a half, he calls to say it's done, which of course makes me wonder why I'm paying for over 3 hours worth of labor cost... PLUS tax. Upon picking up my car, he hands me back my gaskets and says they weren't the right fit, and added to the bill an extra 30$ for HIS parts i didn't approve. Great. They're still sitting in my trunk. A few days of driving later and returning for him to REinspect "on the house" (considering I've paid him around 800$ by this point, a real courtesy) and much to his chagrin, the engine light stays off and I get my sticker! Yeah! On that cloud nine, I figure "What the heck, lets check my air conditioner that doesnt work and try doing a Freon recharge while the going is good!" He gets going on administering the fluid to the "correct" pressure, and within a minute, there's a LOUD POP. No one says anything to me, but when I go to see for myself, he explains that the charge burst my air conditioning suction line, but I can just get another one from Chrysler for 90$ and try again! I ask if he should reimburse me for what HE just did, and he says, nope that's the risk. Okay, knew the day was too good to be true. At least I had my sticker... Flash forward to within a week later, and my car is starting to feel a little rough at idle again, and behold, the same error code appears! I'm mystified, because the repair was fixed with new parts, and this is really becoming a mystery. At this point, I just want to get this diagnosed and DONE so I cave and go to the dealership mechanic. Call back within the same day of repair. Diagnosis "SPARK WIRE WAS LOOSE. WIRE CORRECTLY PUT ON. CLEARED CODES. CAR TESTED FINE." So, I paid the dealership another 140$ to fix Joe/Neil's negligence. They apparently placed the throttle cap back on after breaking it and GLUING IT (a 5$ part, the cheapness) and since it wasn't clipped properly in, just sitting on top, the vibrations of the loose cap undid some wires. Yeah. I have all of my invoices, paperwork, receipts, and parts as evidence. (On a side not, when I explained the AC hose scenario to the dealership people, they said if that happened with THEM, they would replaced it for free, since it's a result of incorrect pressure being put into the hose to make it burst.) I went to see Neil to get a reimbursement, and got the classic "Our work is guaranteed. You should have brought it to us. I can't give you money back for that." Who was thinking about the guarantee when they put a broken cap back in my car? When I asked the dealership, even THEY said they never saw anything like it. Neil was even starting to laugh when he said "It could have shifted"... you know dang well a clip is CLIPPED in and not suppose to shift around. It shouldn't be my fault I trust a place of business. So instead of just at least getting my diagnostic fee back, I will now be filing a claim in small claims court. And BBB. Best. read more

I asked my friend to take my car in to get a flat fixed. She took it to the wrong "joes auto repair"... This guy "fixed"my flat tire which flattened again while parked two days later AND he screwed in the wrong size nut and stripped the whole thing!!! When I couldn't get the screw loose to put the spare back on I had to drive it to the REAL "joes auto shop" where they had to SAW THE NUT OFF!!! Don't go here. Don't go here. Don't go here!!! read more

It's hard to find a place to fix your car in NYC, so when the Nissan dealership gave me a laundry-list of things I needed and a quote of over $2000 I took it to Joe's who did that and more for $600. Everything I needed honest and fast. In fact, I'm writing this because I just avoided the dealership again and went to Joe's just last week. My cigarette lighters were both broken on my 2004 Nissan Murano and I need them for my nav system recharge and iphone charging. My husband tried other working fuses and it wasn't the fuses. I figured replacement. So back to Joe's I went. The bill-- $10. That's it. They could've taken me over the coals, but they're honest and fast...did it while I went to the diner for a cup of coffee. They're nice, fast and only do what you need professionally and correctly. That's all I need for my car(s) and recommend them to lots of friends! Worth the trip I make from Brooklyn Heights right off the Metropolitan Ave. exit on the BQE. read more

I've been using Joe to keep my 1991 Camry alive for the last several years. It's been a good experience, the repair bills have been modest. Timely work. read more

we found Joe from the Car Talk website a few years ago. He's the best. He will not screw you over. We got our timing belt changed at the Subaru dealer and they gave us a list of 3 very expensive things that needed to be done RIGHT AWAY. We took it to Joe and he did one of the repairs (for way cheaper) and told us there was no need to do the other two right away. He totally could have just agreed with the dealer assessment and made some $$ but he didn't. read more

I used Joe for a solid four years and I always found he was fair and honest. From little things like a broken AC vent to a near-total of a used car, he'll work with you to get as reasonable a price as you'll find anywhere. He's an old-school, no-nonsense guy, so if you get overcharged, it may have to do with how you talk to him. read more

Michael L was given a written quote for 1400.00 for the work requested on his car. Work was previously done by others where parts were basically glued together. He gave the go-ahead for the work and when the work was done, after numerous phone calls from us, we were informed that he didn't have the money and was going to Montreal. He asked if we could hold the car for two weeks. After the third week, and more phone calls we informed him that we were putting the car in storage because it was tying up our shop. He was definitely told about the storage fees. He did come in to pay part of the bill and said he was going upstate. Finally after two more weeks (and more phone calls) he came in to pick up the car. After paying only 1800.00 of the 1900.00 bill (which included storage), he called to complain that he never agreed to the storage. And yes, everything IS documented and signed. Obviously he's taking some heavy medication or if not, he should be. I feel sorry for the next person who has to deal with this individual. read more