Mike’s Auto Service

Mike’s Auto Service is pretty awesome. I’ve brought my car in a few times for check-​ups and for a new steering rack. Service is fast, quality of work is excellent, and prices are reasonable.
What impresses me is they seem to put a lot of effort into finding the cause of an issue (e.g. what is making that weird noise?), explain it thoroughly (or give me their best educated guess), and present a plan for addressing it if needed.

These guys rock! Helpful and detailed. They really care about what they do and it shows.

Wasted my time and money. The young guy took my car and seemed nice. The tow truck driver showed him what the issue was. A blown fuse to the electrical board. The battery was also no good. The tow teuck driver said that might be the problem as well.
I get a call to come get the car. Told the battery was changed and the fuse changed out. I parked my car after driving home. The next day as I’m leaving for work, I have no power in the car.
I call Mike and was told to bring the battery in for testing. My question is if I’m reporting electrical issues, wouldn’t a quality mechanic check this before sending me on my way?
The battery was tested and reported to be bad. I was charges for charging a dead battery and a fuse. I asked for a break on a battery since clearly I was overcharged for the work the day before. I was met with attitude and refusal to help my car.
Only bring your car for nothing. The service sucks and they don’t go through the full steps to troubleshoot the issue with your car.

I live in the apartments across the street from Mike’s Auto Service, and was parked along their service lot this morning. When I tried to start my car the battery was totally dead. I popped the hood and tried to get someone to stop to jump me for a while, but I think because I was parked right outside the auto shop, no one bothered to stop or realized I needed help. (Everyone driving by was in a Prius anyway) I popped in to see if they could jump me. Usually they charge $ 20 to go out, but I explained that I was practically in their parking lot and no one would stop to help me out. They jumped me, on the house, and it took less than 30 seconds! He also told me he could clean up my battery (which is in pretty bad shape) for $ 20 if I brought it in later, which I will absolutely do. Friendly and quick service; thanks for helping out a damsel in distress!

I found these guys by reading positive reviews on Unilocal.And the reviews were true! This is the first (and often, only) place I bring my car. Polite and willing to work around your schedule. And always affordable and honest!

Jim and the team here are very helpful and reasonably priced.

I finally got my left headlight bulb replaced today by Jim at Mike’s Auto Service.
Customer service was amazing, and the costs are honest and as low as they get. He had me in and out within minutes, only charging me for the replacement bulb (in total under 20 $ for my Camry).
Highly recommended! I for sure will be coming back to see Jim or anyone else at Mike’s the next time I need a fix.

Mike’s Auto Service is AMAZING! Highly recommended!
This morning on my commute to work in Berkeley, my car overheated. I live pretty far away and wasn’t sure where to have it towed. I looked on my smartphone and searched for shops in the Berkeley area, and read the reviews of Mike’s Auto Service here on Unilocal.I decided to have it towed there, without them even being open yet! (i broke down early in the morning before they were open).
Not only was this not a problem to have my car towed there unexpectedly, but I received a call from Jim at 10am telling me what the problem was (minor — just a hose) and that I could pick it up THE SAME DAY! This was amazing considering that I was planning to have to call a friend/​family to give me a ride, then hope the car would be ready on Monday (today is Friday).
I am so happy to have my car back. Jim was very friendly and knowledgeable and I would recommend Mike’s Auto Service to anyone looking for a good shop in Berkeley.

I think my previous review was erased. Why?
It is a rare joy to have not only car repair at the end of your short block but one where you are happy to take your car to. They will find out what it is, call you and tell you, do the work competently and charge you appropriately.
Today I had my PCV valve hose/​tube replaced (total $ 51) and although my car got mechanic (stage) fright, preventing him from being able to fix the other problem, he showed me the relevant wiring diagram, not that I would have known how to read it.
Straight up, honest, reasonable, no b.s.

We took my GF’s Mazda 3 there after the check engine light came on. The transmission was also making a «thunk» when you shifted from 1^st to 2^nd. They called back in a few hours, and they said that the check engine light was due to the thermometer, but NOT to replace it and just wait and see if it happens again.
They earned my trust by recommending against the $ 250 fix and instead only charging us $ 50 (½ hour labor) to tell us there was basically nothing wrong with the car.

it’s close to the bus stop, making it easy to get to/​from if you don’t have a ride. the mechanics are nice, and honest. it’s around 95 dollars/​hour for labor.
the place looks a bit crappy (the opposite of going to the dealership) but they do a good job

Bruce is the man with a master plan. I’ve adored him every since he owned Yaz on San Pablo. Most of my close friends, my mom, her coworkers; we’ve all taken our cars to Bruce for years. I appreciate his no nonsense approach, his honestly and integrity. Never once have I felt like he was trying to cheat or misinform me. I will follow him all over the bay.

Extraordinarily helpful mechanics … Jim called me several times to give me updates on how my car was doing. Overall, the price was cheap, the service was fast, the brake problem was fixed, and I would definitely come back should anything else happen to my car.

I have been going to Bruce for 2.5 years now, and he is absolutely the best and most HONEST mechanic I have ever met. He always works me into his schedule if my car has a serious issue, and he is friendly every time.
Recently, he did some work for me and the part failed immediately due to faulty manufacturing. He ordered a replacement and had the fix done the next day… no charge… even tough he did NOT get his time paid for by the part manufacturer.
He’s the best mechanic I know, and very inexpensive. I wouldn’t take my car anywhere else.

Do not let the looks of this place fool you! lots of clunkers and wrecks sitting around this place. it is like an obstacle course, but what the hey… you cannot find a better mechanic than Bruce anywhere in the east bay. you get an honest assessment of your car-​problem, excellent repair and all at a good price.
so what if they don‘t vaccum your car and drive you to the BART station with a courtesy car like the dealer repairshops do. For the money you save you can hire a french maid to vacuum and wash your car and take a limo to work!
walter o

I’m mechanically inclined and fairly knowledgeable, but lazy. So when my Jeep started to cut out, I didn’t get around to changing the distributor cap in time. Predictably, I broke down, and had to get a tow.
The tow truck driver recommended Mike’s. He seemed like a good natured guy, so I went with his suggestion.
Mike’s proved to be very capable, and properly diagnosed the problem without any sort of scamming or attempting to tack on other services. Their prices seem quite fair, and they’ll gladly show you exactly what was wrong with any parts they changed out.
The only reason I didn’t give them five stars is that it took them awhile to get around to my car, but then I did drop it off in the middle of the night with no warning whatsoever. Overall I’m very pleased, and will likely return for other maintenance chores I’m too lazy to do myself.

Cheap, no frills auto service. This is not the sort of place that will wash and clean your car, but it’s one of the cheapest I’ve been to.
And as the (former) owner of a Ford Taurus, I’ve been to a lot of auto repair places.
If you can get talking to the young guy, he is very helpful and informative.

I’m the kind of guy who is totally clueless about cars. That can make it embarrassing to find a mechanic I trust, who is affordable and who doesn’t make me feel bad about my manhood!
Bruce at Mike’s Auto is hands down the best mechanic I have had in my 13 yrs. of driving. Bruce is the neurosurgeon of automobiles (and will tell you so).
I own a pretty crappy Toyota Tercel and he has always been real with me about what needs to be fixed, what could wait, and what kinds of cars I should be looking to invest in. Not only that, but he actually surprised me by doing some minor bodywork to fix my side bumper and headlight after my car got side-​swiped (just out of the kindness of his heart).
He is a great guy, totally trustworthy and cost-​efficient. He makes it a point to always check out 2 – 3 different options for parts that are within your budget and are still quality. He can talk a lot if you get him started, but consider it an honor to listen to all his auto-​wisdom for free. :)