Miller’s Automotive

Ever wish you had an uncle who was an experienced mechanic, and would perform honest and trustworthy repairs and maintenance on your vehicle? Just go to Miller’s Automotive instead. Before I discovered Miller’s Automotive, I’d dread taking my car for repair and maintenance because I was worried about being taken advantage of. Honesty, integrity, and fairness are what you’ll get here — something rare in car repair businesses. Just check out all the 5-​star ratings.

I have gone here twice now, and both times I have left extremely happy. I’ve never felt like they were trying to rip me off or trick me into thinking I needed more done than I actually needed. They honest and trustworthy and I completely recommend them to anyone!

John is amazing and I feel very confident that he looks out for all of us women and does not rip us off. He never tries to oversell anything tells you his honest opinion on what needs to be done on your vehicle and works with you with a great price point. I would never go anywhere else I trust John 100% with my vehicles he is amazing.

John has been my mechanic for years. He is the most honest, and best mechanic I have ever worked with. I have sent a dozen people to him, and they were all completely delighted. He has a wealth of experience, and learns how to solve problems quickly and correctly. And he doesn’t ransom your car with an absurdly huge «diagnostic fee.» You pay for what he does, and you can trust his work and his integrity.
He is simply the best.

Everyone that said «John and Rob are great» are right! They are the most honest and totally fair shop I’ve ever been to. They have countless years of experience with cars. and people! I have a nagging 2006 P/​T Cruiser that had the weirdest most unsolvable electrical problem ever! Like a ghost in the machine. John and Rob found the problem and fixed it. I had heard stories of Chrysler Dealers charging thousands of dollars and not fixing the problem. I would recommend these gentlemen to anyone. Look at their ratings and reviews here. They deserve each and every 5 star review, including mine.

John is great. He is super honest and guarantees his work. He charges a fair price. I have been going to him for 8 years and have referred many people to himm
He helped me find another mechanic when my clutch was going out in my bug — he said a clutch place could do it cheaper than him and he was right.
When my Acura was having electrical issues, he drive to my house to help jump it more than once to get it to his shop. I live close by but still that’s great service.
When same aforementioned Acura was overheating he repaired a valve for me and didn’t charge me for it at all.
He is my mechanic for life! Or until he retires. :)

John is great; always friendly and really knowledgeable. I brought my 93 Toyota pick-​up there with problems ranging from a broken door handle to a busted head gasket. He fixed all of them and I haven’t had a problem since. My uncle used to go to him back in the 70’s and he’s the one who referred me to him. There’s a reason he’s been in the business so long, and it’s not luck. He’s a very honest mechanic and won’t rip you off or try to squeeze a few extra bucks out of you like most mechanics around here. If you need anything from an oil change to an engine rebuild, go to Miller’s first; I wish I had.

I posted once before about Miller’s — which, since I’m not an overly-​active Unilocaler, disappeared (of course) — but had to do so again. Just got off the phone w/​John — estimates from other places to get my brakes fixed + belts replaced were topping $ 600. John? about $ 350. THEN my son’s car went phhhhttt over the weekend — assumed we’d have a chunk of change out on THAT one. Came in around $ 150. Dang, both cars fixed for less than what we thought for the first! John doesn’t «make work», or fix things that don’t need fixing — he’s simply an honest guy who you can trust to do the work your car NEEDS, and do it well. The ONLY downside is lack of «shuttle» — but, seriously, for the savings? I don’t care about the inconvenience.

John and his son Rob are great.
shop seems like a little hole in the wall type of shop and at first appearance you can tell it is a family operation. Don’t be fooled by outward appearances… John is probably one of the best most reasonable mechanics you will ever find. He and his son do excellent work.
Being someone who also like tinkering on my own car I usually only send my car in when I have a job that would take me longer to complete than I have time available. On that note John is great when it comes to a quick call and diagnosis to get me on track with something I may need a quick solution to that I can fix myself.
I highly recommend this shop.

I found John on Unilocal after calling a couple of shops to get an estimate to replace a broken serpentine belt on my Blazer. I got a range of prices and lastly tried Miller’s Automotive. John said, «If you can pick up the belt and get it down here, I’ll throw it on for free.» And that is just what he did! He quickly fit me in between other jobs and was done in no time. What a sweet heart!

I’ve been going to Miller’s for over 10 years now. I originally went to them because I have a modified Mustang and they used to specialize in racing and modified vehicles. I think they’ve kind of stopped doing that recently, but they still give great service and have VERY reasonable prices. I’m on my third Mustang with them now and I even drive to Campbell from Gilroy to have John work on my car, (we used to live in Campbell but recently moved to Gilroy).
The place is kind of a hole in the wall and the shop looks a little messy because John is always so busy, but don’t let looks of the place fool you. John does quality work. I would recommend Miller’s to everyone in the Bay Area. John has even worked on my wife’s Nissan 240.
If you’ve got a problem with your car and you don’t want to pay through the nose to fix it, go see John.

Amazing!
So, often on Unilocal you’ll see a 5 star rating for everything under the sun from restaurant to dentist to mechanic. The problem with that is a 5 star rating for an oil change ranks as high as 5 star rating for the most complicated of root canals.
Let me tell you, this 5 star rating is well worth it.
Background, my car a 2000 Chevy Prizm (Corolla engine) has had a check engine light issue for like 3 years. It first went off, I took it get it looked at by my parents mechanic in LA. I hate going to the mechanic… I somehow think it’s like paying to get ripped off. But anyway… I took it to «the guy.» «The guy» charged me $ 250 and the light came back on within 2 weeks. He told me to bring it back and he’d take it to «another guy» and there went another $ 150. The light stayed off for a little bit… a few months. Then it came back. I have to admit, I hated looking at it, but I really didn’t want to deal with it. I called around and asked people about it… most places $ 50-​$ 120 just to read the error code off my car. One honest mechanic said that it wouldn’t be worth his time to look at it. It’s a shot in the dark, you could spend hundreds of dollars and still not fix it.
I borrowed an engine diagnostic reader from a friend. The car was running lean (same code as before) and some unknown Toyota proprietary error code. GREAT!
So what did I do? Like any self respecting lazy @ss. I ignored it until I couldn’t anymore. My care needed to be smogged! FRACK! So, I asked around and a super nice friend (really great person) who’s into motocycles recommended John as a very reputable mechanic.
Fast forward a day, drive down at about 3:45pm on a Saturday (he closes at 5pm mind you) and he agrees to look at my car. 3 hours later!!! after driving around with me and the diagnostic tool, he says he thinks he knows what the issue is, but the part is pricey $ 250 to be exact. AND! if it doesn’t work, there’s no way to return it. BUT, he’s motto is, if I don’t fix anything, the customer doesn’t pay anything. So, after all that diagnostic, he said he’d look for a part and let me know. A week later, I had a car with no check engine light, my car smogged and all the paper work done and only a $ 190 missing from my wallet. All that diagnostic, the new part, smogging my car, all that time, everything!!! Under $ 200. I couldn’t believe it. And to think… I almost took it to someone to pay $ 80 just so they could read the code.
THIS WAS THEEEE BEST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! John is the most amazing mechanic. I’m an engineer and love to know everything about everything, but he went above and beyond explaining what was wrong and what needed to be fixed to the point where even **I** didn’t care to know anymore.
SO…TAKE AWAY??? John is the best. I would trust him with any car and every car. He knows his stuff and he’s honest. He’ll fix your car and not try to sell you something you don’t need. If he notices something else with your car, he’ll tell you and you can decide what you want to do with that information.
Anywho…best best BEST experience you will EVER have with the MOST HONEST mechanic EVER.

Fantastic communication and saved me $ 550 over the dealer’s quote to replace a fuel pump. No gender bias, which was wonderful!

John at Miller’s Automotive is an ABSOLUTE Rock Star! Very nice to work with — great friendly and honest service. I had an issue with my 97 Cobra Mustang, and the dealer could not fix it right. The owner of this Ford dealership recommended Miller’s since that’s where he goes for his speciality cars.
I used to be in the car business and I’m very particular and know what’s going on under the hood, and John never once compromised his integrity. In fact one time John was finishing a clutch job on a Lexus. He took the time to research to see if the Toyota clutch would work in the Lexus since it was the Camry version. Long story short after ordering the clutches, they were indeed identical and he saved his customer several hundred dollars, and let the customer have the final decision which one to use.
John has very good prices, he watches your back, he’s honest, and very nice to talk to and work with. The shop is kind of small and pretty cluttered, but John is clean dealing. It is rare to find honest quality service like this.
Thank you John!

I was referred to John by a friend after getting an estimate somewhere else for brakes. John’s price was MUCH lower and we’ve been taking our cars there ever since. He’s always great about checking out something for us whenever we call, and often he can fix it right then. After being told at a Wheel Works (free starter/​charging inspection coupon) that my battery would need to be replaced because it would not hold a charge, I went right over to John’s. Turns out it was a loose battery cable… hmmmmm. When we take a VW Jetta there, he can just walk across the way to the VW place if he has any questions. Everyone in the complex seems friendly and willing to help each other.

I took my big Dodge Ram dually truck in to have the starter replaced on 4÷3÷09 and I was pleasantly surprised and happy with the overall service. The owner John was VERY sweet and knowledgeable and kind and understanding and compassionate and he took me right away and he did the work in less than an hour and I called 6 other places and this place was the cheapest!!! I like B & C the garage and waiting room are impeccable but the prices are too high and they don’t offer any kind of payment arrangements — but Miller’s is what I consider a REAL mechanic shop and I loved hanging out and talking to some of the other store fronts everyone was happy and welcoming — you could feel the comradeship with everyone — it was great. I have and will continue to spread the word and we’ll keep coming back for all the work we need done on the truck. Thank you John! :)