Joe’s Auto Services

I will NEVER go to this place again, and I suggest you look elsewhere first. This Joe character is a complete Crook! BEWARE!
Truthfully speaking, it’s my own fault. My first impression of him wasn’t too favorable, I could sense the crookery almost instantly, still I placed my trust in this person. How foolish of me. But he has great reviews I thought… That’s why I did it, that’s why I trusted.
The car was stalling, it wouldn’t start right away, it didn’t have much drive power, and the service engine light was blinking. I now know this means my Ignition Control Module needed to be replaced. But let me back track. I pulled up to Joe’s (I had already called to ask if I could bring it in to get checked out, he said yes), he plugged the scanner up and the code comes back as 2 cylinders misfiring. Then he says he needs to check it out to see what’s wrong with it, but since it’s Saturday he can’t check until Monday (why didn’t he just tell me to bring it on Monday then?). I requested an estimate and he said he’d give me one when he finds out what’s wrong.
As I went to the car to transfer our things from our car to the rental car, he decides to ask my gf how much the max was that we were willing to spend (red flag that I totally ignored) to fix it. She came to get me immediately. I told him no more than $ 500 (it’s an older car, 1999 Buick Avenue), and asked how much he thinks it will be. He says he’s not sure, but it won’t exceed $ 500.
We ended up leaving the car there. He calls us within 30 minutes of us leaving saying it needs a new Ignition Control Module (but I thought he needed to wait to Monday to check it out). Anyway, I decided to buy the part and just have him install it. This is where I get robbed blind by this crook named Joe. I asked how long it would take to install the part, he says a couple of hours. I did some searching for the part and finally found one. I take it in and ask again, how long and how much?
He’s still saying a couple of hours and it’ll be $ 175. I asked why so much to install the one part? He says they have to install it, drive it and reset the service engine light. I said that’s too much and I rather take it elsewhere (at this point it’s Wednesday, the car had been there since Saturday). He says ok but he has to charge for parking and diagnostic test. I was totally fine with paying for the test, but he never mentioned parking until I wanted to take the car elsewhere. So I decided to leave it there and asked if he could work with me on the price, he said sure.
Thursday comes and the car is ready. I get there and he’s now saying $ 150 total, because I asked him to ‘work with me.’ Instead of argue, I paid, got my car, and left as quick as possible.
I reached out to my mechanic friend (who I should’ve got the car towed to in the first place, but he lives too far from me) to ask if the price was fair for the work that was done. He said that he robbed me pretty badly. He said that job takes .3 hours and that it should’ve been about $ 75 max, depending on where the shop was. So I spent all last night researching how long it would take and how much a job like this would run, my mechanic friend was right, of course. I even came across a 5 minute video (2 minutes was the guy talking) showing you how to install an Ignition Control Module. But Joe said a couple of hours, smdh.
In conclusion, I was robbed pretty badly because I’m not that knowledgeable about cars (like most Americans, I assume). The job took about 5 minutes and this crook charged me $ 150, but initially tried to charge $ 175. It’s my fault because I should have NEVER left without a written estimate in the first place. You live and you learn I guess.
I will be contacting the BBB and all appropriate local and/​or state departments about this guy. I don’t care to get the money back as much as I care to warn people. This Joe guy is no different from any other mechanic in LA, he’s a crook and you’ve been warned!

So far my experience with Joe has been nothing but good. I feel as though he is straight up and honest about what is needed and not needed. He has also been very helpful in my fairly limited schedule.

Joe is honest and reliable ! — My family has been using Joe’s services for over 17 years!

I came to Joe’s today after hearing some solid recommendations from friends. I got a ridiculous quote and some shady upselling from another garage in Hermosa earlier in the day and decided to try Joe’s out. His price was exactly what I was expecting and hundreds of dollars less than the chop shop I went to previously. He is a good man and I hope he lives forever. Do not hesitate to give him your business.

Excellent auto repair shop. Been using Joe for 15 years+. Last week I dropped off my Mazda CX9 and told Joe to replace my alternator. Instead he figured out that the belt was slipping. He easily could have installed a new alternator and charged me. Saved me $ 450 bucks. Thank you Joe.

I went to Joe’s because of the high rating on Unilocal.
I took my 2012 2.5 liter jetta for an oil change with synthetic oil. Cost 95.00

I have used Joe’s auto services twice, once for oil change and the other time for headlight bulb. Both the times, the fix was done in a few minutes. Prices are very reasonable and mechanic gives honest advice.

As previous Unilocalers have said it, Joe is truly an honest (and awesome) mechanic. I brought my car in for front brakes (pads and rotors). A previous mechanic charged me an arm and a leg for my rear brakes since the rotors were rusted and labor took longer than expected. I knew this would have been an issue for the front brakes since my car experienced salt and snow living in Chicago.
He said they were difficult to take off, but he barely charged me extra for labor. The new rotors and pads were a great price. Joe and his crew will be my mechanic from here on out. Aww yeeeeah!

Called mechanic asking about oil change for the old beater I’ve been driving for a decade. «Sure, come on in.» When I arrive, he seems upset and starts complaining about an engine noise and laying a guilt trip about the car’s state. He has the attitude of a snarky ex-​girlfriend and refuses to touch the car, saying the engine sounds messed up so he won’t do oil. «Take it to Jiffy Lube, they won’t care» he says. I asked if he can fix the problem, as this is an auto shop and he is a mechanic, after all. He gives me a lot more attitude and says he’s not touching it because it could potentially require expensive engine costs. I’ve never met a mechanic so averse to making money fixing cars. Not to mention rude. He didn’t drop the attitude until the very end of the conversation when it was clear I was only going to respond to his bitchy mood with kindness. In the end I took the car elsewhere and got the oil changed, fluids replaced, and the engine noise stopped completely. If I could give this guy zero stars I would. Unprofessional and lazy.

Best deal for the area and great service!

Joe is amazing. Really honest and a truly nice man. On two occasions I have called him right before he closed to bring in a car and he waited for me both times (once with a tow truck and another time with a car that was acting up). He is reasonably priced (way cheaper than the dealer) and does great work. Highly recommend!

Not impressed. I needed a last minute oil change and called around. Everyone I normally go to was booked so I called Joe. He was nice, friendly, close by and off I went. I made the cardinal sin of NOT asking how much for the oil change. To be fair, Joe didn’t pressure me to stay when I balked at the price. But I was pressed for time and long overdue for an oil change so I stayed. The work was done quickly. Why the 2 star rating? $ 67+ for AN OIL CHANGE ON MY ACCORD? NO WAY! Joe said otherwise he «loses money» on a synthetic oil change. In addition, no other «wellness» checks like other places such as fluid checks or tire pressure checks, etc. like other places do. Good Unilocal reviews or not, I’m not coming back! I keep good records. My last oil change at the DEALERSHIP (4 months ago cost $ 44!!! This place is nice but a rip off.

Very friendly, honest mechanics.
I needed an A/​C recharge and they completed the job in A very timely manner. I appreciate their level of integrity, finding an amazing mechanic, is a needle in a hay stack.

Joe is an honest guy who does good work for a reasonable price. I’ve been to him twice: once he advised me my car was still under warranty and that I should take it to the dealership. He could’ve taken advantage of a dummy like me, but he did the right thing instead. What an honest guy! The second time, he fixed my flat tire for 15 bucks! And it took like 10 minutes. I’d recommend anyone go to Joe.

Great, honest, and efficient service. Needed a starter replaced in my car and it was ~$ 300. Seemed a bit pricy but the service was convenient and fast.

Very friendly, efficient and reasonably priced. I went there for oil change, and did a 50k mile service. Joes very professional in suggesting what needed to be done. Didn’t up sell me anything like other repair places that I’ve experienced.
One complain I have, the place is a bit hidden.

Joe and his staff were very accommodating and efficient! I had gone to a Pep Boys and then wanted a second opinion so I went to Joe’s. His estimate was essentially the same as theirs but the prices were a little more reasonable. I would definitely consider dropping my car off here in the future for a fix!

I’ve been going to Joe for the past couple of years and I have been very satisfied with the quality of service. Good prices. good service

I went to Joe with a dash light on my truck and intermittent stalling. Truck hadn’t been there an hour and he called and said the the computer was giving him a code that was dealership only stuff, but if I wanted he could try and blow out the injectors to see if it worked — no promises. Got truck back, paid him $ 35 and it ran for a while longer before it went dead and went to the dealership where it turned out to be one of those fabulous «GM SUCKS» problems that should never have happened.
In the end, GM still sucks. Their dealership which I will be giving a blistering review to soon also sucks, and Joe charged me $ 35 in an effort to stave off the very expensive and inevitable disaster that we all knew was coming. Upside is that when I did pay a billion dollars to get the truck fixed it’s now quite a bit faster because of the injector cleaning — so the $ 35 was well spent anyhow.

Friendly, honest and provides a great service at a good price. We recently brought my girlfriend’s car in for brakes. Another repair shop said the front pads and rotors needed to be replaced and that the rear brakes were leaking. I searched on Unilocal and found Joe’s.
We brought the car in and Joe told us the front pads needed to be replaced, the front rotors could be turned, not replaced, and the rear brakes were not leaking. We had it repaired for less than half of what the other shop quoted.
I’d strongly recommend Joe’s for your car repair. Call first to see what his schedule is as he is well liked and well visited.
Good luck!