Park Street Automotive

I know nothing about cars, like legit nothing, so sorry ahead of time if my terminology is incorrect. My car made a loud popping noise and my charger stopped working yesterday. I figured maybe it was just that charger and so I tried another. When that one didn’t work either, I thought it was gonna cost me loads. My dad suggested going to this shop to get an estimate and to get it checked out. Turns out, it was just the fuse. The owner was so sweet and took the time to come right out to my car, check the fuse box, explain why I shouldn’t use cheap gas station car chargers lol and replaced the fuse for me right on the spot. He didn’t charge any labor fee or anything, just the cost of the fuse. He was so sweet and genuine and because of this I will definitely be referring all my friends and family here. Awesome!!!

Honesty is the most important trait you can find in an auto-​shop, and it defines what these guys do. I brought in some new brake pads for my car since the old ones were squealing a bit. After they removed the tires, they realized the brake pads were fine, put the tires back on, and didn’t charge me anything.
A couple months later, brought the car in for an oil change. I also had new headlights to install, but was having issues getting the cap off the back of the socket. These guys were able to help me with the lights for a small labor charge (~$ 10).
Gotta love an auto-​shop you can trust!

We found Park Street Automotive on Angie’s List some years ago, and we had been going there for anything beyond oil changes. Ever since our first visit we had found the owner Joe to be honest and capable. We’ll use our 7÷25÷2014 visit as an example. We ran a piece of metal on the highway, which bounced up and ripped open the exhaust pipe between the catalytic converter and the muffler. Joe called his supplier to get a price quote on the OEM replacement, and found that the manufacturer only provide the entire assembly from catalytic converter all the way to the end of the exhaust tip, something that costs over $ 1000. Joe knew that all we really needed was the pipe, so he spent the time to find an alternative, ultimately finding a third-​party-​manufacturer pipe that was made to fit our make and model so that we didn’t have to purchase parts that we didn’t need to replace. When all was said and done, even with the additional labor time needed, it came out to be about $ 600. This was not the only time Joe was willing to spend the extra time to do the job right, even when he could just as easily find the quickest fix (sometimes at a higher cost to the customer) so he can service more customers and make more money.
We moved to central NJ last year, putting an hour or two of travel time between our new home and Park Street Automotive. The greater distance had not yet deterred us from driving all the way to Montclair when we need car repairs!

Mr. Joe Bollo is very straightforward & honest.
He has worked on my automobile for years!
I recommend him to inspect or examine your automobile!

Mind blown… I dropped off my 2001 Toyota Corolla car early today thinking the CV boot needed to be replaced since I keep hearing a knocking noise every time I turned left or right especially on hills. So I am thinking the worst and Joe calls me up to say that there were loose brake clamps causing the noise. I also asked him about the brake pads — are they still good to use? He said they were still in good condition. On top of it he didn’t charge me. Now if I went to my old NY mechanic he would of taken me to the cleaners since I was a woman.
I’ll say it — this mechanic has a customer for life!

Moved to the area and needed to find a new mechanic. I had great luck in Brooklyn finding a great mechanic through online reviews so I tried the same and found Park Street Automotive.
I just had an oil change done by them this past Saturday morning. Scheduling on the phone with them was easy and the service took exactly the amount of time they said it would. Dealing with Joe was smooth and pleasant. I brought my own oil filter and they discounted the service because of that. (Not everyone will do that.) Very reasonable price, too (so there’s no reason to go to a «quick lube» place at all, where I’d be dubious about their quality of work.)
I’ll definitely keep going to them for routine maintenance.

Joe takes a lot of the stress out of going to the mechanic. His prices are reasonable, he doesn’t try to find problems that don’t exist, and he’s a nice, amiable guy. You can drop your car off with him and be assured that he’ll do what needs to be done without padding the bill. Another benefit is that Park St Auto is in an elegant downtown area where you can walk to things while waiting for your car.

Joe Bollo at park street auto is the best. Smart, knowledgeable, fair and kind to a fault. I’ve been taking my car to him for a decade. He never does work that isn’t needed, and what he does do is quality work and he stands behind it. When there were problems with my car that we were puzzled by, he stayed with it and worked through the problem. He has also made good recommendations to other vendors. I consider myself very lucky to have found him, and his kindness is really spectacular. I cannot recommend him highly enough. Joe, you’re the best.

I think over the years Joe has gotten sloppy in his diagnosis. I have repeatedly had to take my car elsewhere to get a second opinion and found that not only was he wrong but the estimate was far higher than what others were charging. To be fair I gave him at least 4 — 6 more attempts on different occasions. Every time it was the same. The last straw for me was his estimate was for $ 4000 for a problem that didn’t exist.
If you need your oil changed… maybe. But Joe isn’t the honest, careful man he used to be years ago when he was building his business.
Sadly, even though Joe can come off as a nice person and I like him, I’ve lost confidence and don’t want to be overcharged.