Montclair Auto Tech-Volvos & More

Fast, friendly, and knowledgeable! Ali and his team are wonderful! Had oil on top of my engine and thought I might need the pcv breather system replaced. Turns out it was a cam solenoid issue. Replaced the same day. Couldn’t be happier. Thank you, Ali!

If you have a Volvo and it needs repair — take it to Ali. It will be fixed and you will be on the road again. I trust Ali with whatever needs to be done with my car. After three different mechanics had taken a look at my car, analyzing why the battery kept dying, and I was out of town on business, I had the car brought to Montclair Auto. Ali kept it in his shop for ten days waiting for the battery to die while he figured out the source of the leak. He takes the time to get it done right, and for that I am appreciative. He sourced it to the car alarm slowly draining the battery dead. I’ll always take my car to his shop when it needs repair. When you need it done right — take it to Monclair Auto.

Love this auto shop! Reasonable prices, excellent service — what is not to like? The owner Ali is a a caring and knowledgable person who never pressures you to get extra service done to your car.

Thank goodness for Montclair. Both headlights went out… They had them in stock, and switched them out on the spot just 5 minutes before the closed. Also super duper nice. Yay!

These guys are great! I recently took my Volvo C30 for a scheduled maintenance service based on the good reviews on Unilocal and after a couple bad experiences at McKevitt Volvo. I talked to Ali the owner and he took my car in for the same day service. The experience was great. Ali found some potential problems and told me the truth about which ones were important and which ones were really not. He also gave me a couple referrals for other services my car needs. The bill was absolutely on the fair side. All said, I walked away as a happy customer. I’m definitely coming back. Outstanding service. Solid work. Excellent pricing. Thank you Ali.

I lucked out. These guys are my first mechanics, for my first car, and they rock. Very reasonable prices for the service, and I’ve never felt pressured to pay to fix something superfluous. Ali is the wonderful, savvy head of this garage, and more than likely he’ll be the one you talk to about your car, either in person or with a prompt phone call or voicemail. Lately I chose to perform some preventative maintenance on my 20-​year-​old, recently-​purchased, used Volvo myself, and Ali was generous enough to field two questions from me and provide advice free of charge, over the phone. (I thought mechanics were supposed to constantly try to rip me off!?) He was my backup plan if I had failed. And he still is. If anything happens to my car that I can’t handle (and I presume this includes a lot of possible scenarios), I’m going straight to Montclair Auto Tech.
Quick tip: you’ll get more out of *any* mechanic if you bother to look into your car’s problem yourself, even for just 10 minutes. Ali happily sold me the proper replacement headlight when one of mine burned out this past winter, saving me at least $ 60 in labor for the bulb change. The wait for that labor to start was about an hour anyway, so I glanced at Google, saw how easy it would be to replace the bulb myself, and asked him for the part using its part number. $ 15. All Googleable. Use your brain and feign at least a passing interest in how your vehicle works. You’ll be a much happier car owner in the process, and you’ll get along better with your mechanic.
THANK YOU ALI AND MONTCLAIR AUTO TECH! :D

Long before I had a car, friends told me ‘find a good mechanic before you buy a car’. I was referred to Ali and Montclair Auto Tech, well, before I had a car. My bestie in College had a Volvo, and we would drop it at Montclair Auto Tech. So, eventually, in 1995, my first car was a used Toyota pick up, and Ali took care of it, until after 5 years, he finally said– ‘might be time to sell it!’ I gave the (impeccably maintained) truck to my brother, who drove it for 4 more years before selling it. Since then, Ali has helped our family stay up to date on the factory maintenance with Mazdas and Volvos. We just said a sad goodbye to our 10 YO Volvo after Ali’s advice. They have always told us — you need to do this now– you can wait on this– in other words, very helpful and sensitive to price questions. Oil changes include a look over, and they can have factory scheduled maintenance dialed in! I make a point to do these, as they extend the life of your car and help with resale. Ali has helped us to choose cars, let go of cars, and keep cars running with stellar maintenance and a keen ear. Right now I’m driving a Mini Cooper under dealer maintenance, which is great. The only down side is – I will miss seeing Ali, Mike and Charlene for the next two years. Guess I better buy a Volvo next!

Before I could find the time to contact Ali at Montclair Auto Tech about my car problems, he quickly contacted me and left a voicemail. I returned Ali’s call the following Monday and he was nice enough to squeeze me in for a same-​day appointment. Great!
Immediately after my arrival, I was greeted by the friendly receptionist, who informed me that Ali had a call, but would be right out to help me soon. Ali insisted that we take a quick ride in my car to see and hear the perviously mentioned problems himself. He explained to me what the problems were and what he could do to fix them.
My car was rolled into the shop while I left back to SF to attend classes at my University. Near the end of my final class I was informed that my car was already ready for pick up. Perfect timing!
Soon I arrived back at Montclair Auto Tech and picked up my car free of charge. On my drive back to SF, I inspected for any sounds — I found none. Though my transmission problem mentioned earlier still exists, it definitely doesn’t occur as often as it did before. But, thats okay because I didn’t pay Ali to fix it, yet. Now, since having experienced this amazing customer service and honesty, I’m pretty sure I’ve found my families new Volvo mechanic!
I would also highly recommend Ali and his excellent service to not only Volvo owners, but other foreign car brand owners like BMW.

After doing much research to find the perfect shop to take my beloved Volvo 240, I found Ali at Montclair Auto Tech. I couldn’t be happier with that decision. Ali has meticulously cared for my Volvo and kept it in perfect condition for me. At a moments notice, Ali has worked me into his schedule when I’m having an issue with my car. He is an expert with older Volvo’s, and I trust him implicitly with my car. He does excellent work, charges incredibly fair prices and is honest about what work needs to be done. You are in good hands when you place your vehicle in Ali’s care. Thank you Montclair Auto…

We have a Honda Civic but we don’t care. We take our car here for routine check-​ups as well as issues that come up because we trust Ali and Mike. They are professional and are experts at what they do.
Always a positive experience.

No question about the five stars whatever. I’ve never been anything like as satisfied with any garage as I am with this one.

I’ve found my new mechanic.
More specifically, my girlfriend found Ali on Unilocal,and insisted I take my vehicle here. I’m glad I did.
My recently purchased Volvo is 16 years old. I expected repairs would be needed, and some in deed were. The diagnosis was straight forward. There was no pressure or up-​selling. Every recommendation was explained with specific detail. I appreciate and find value in service like that.
I picked up the vehicle and it was clearly driving better than when I dropped it off.
Since I’m a first time Volvo owner, I asked what sort of regular maintenance would be needed. Ali told me what to expect. Based on the service provided on the first visit, I can say with 100% certitude that I will take my vehicle back to Ali for all future service needs.

Loved my experience working with Mike from Montclair Auto Tech. I took my 98 Volvo in to get checked after it randomly died on me one day. Mike was helpful, informative, and even went so far as to repair two of my bulbs he noticed weren’t working. These guys know what they are doing and can be trusted to provide quality service and accommodate their customers. I will definitely be coming back!

Ali has worked on our various Volvos and BMWs for 15++ years. He is top notch in quality of work, competitive price, and promptness getting the job done. My family would not use anybody else and I would send anyone to him in a heart beat. I know car problems and maintenance can be a head ache but Ali makes it incredibly easy and hassle free. Definitely check out his shop he will take care of you.

This is a fantastic business! They let you know what you do and do not need to have done. Give you options and do outstanding work once a plan of action is in place.
Recently I totaled my car after a new rain and an unfortunate chain of events. I was able to drive my car to the shop at 5 miles per hour. They were really good to me when I arrived unannounced. First they made sure I was okay. They seemed genuinely concerned for me and wanted to do whatever they could to help. Then they allowed my car to stay at their shop (when I know they are always hurting for space) for several days until the insurance group came to pick up the car. This is a business with heart! Thumbs way up! Will keep bringing my Japanese cars here because even though these guys specialize in volvos there is no one else in the area that can compete!

How I wish I could give this place higher praise than 5 stars.
I took my 2007 Chevy Impala to Montclair to have the air conditioning system vacuumed and recharged. First off, the price that I was quoted over the phone was about $ 30 cheaper than any other place that I had called all day (yaaaay). When I got there and talked to Ali, the owner, he was very patient with me as I told him what I understood the problem to be and he told me exactly what was probably wrong and what needed to be done to fix it. After rummaging around the car for about 30 minutes, Ali came back and told me that there seemed to be no problem with the system (it was fully charged up on Freon) so either the switches or compressor needed to be fixed. Now since his shop specializes in Volvos & I was pressed for time, he told me that he couldn’t do it himself but referred me to another mechanic who could.
I really appreciate that he was upfront with me about the situation and told me he couldn’t fix what he didn’t know instead of just pretending to do something and charging me ridiculously for it. Thank you sir.
Oh and did I mention he refused me to pay him for the check up he did?
Yeah, you don’t find people like this anymore.

I used to do a lot of work on my own cars, including having rebuilt an engine or two. So, I know good mechanics when I see them. And these guys are great. This is basically the only place I now go to have my Acura MDX serviced.
A local dealer wanted a small fortune to work on the axle, and Mike at Montclair auto tech said there was no urgent problem. Instead, he just inspects that area when I bring in the car for scheduled maintenance. I also take me daughter’s car and my wife’s as well. Lots of trust in these guys…

i want to add my praises to this well established business.
we had a volvo for years for the kids. i took it to 2 other places in 2 mo. for servicing and they never fixed it. Took it to Ali and he had it fixed on the first visit.
That was 10 yrs ago. i have brought my other cars in since then and he has always has come through.

So it’s been a long time since I had an old Volvo, as I do again, and I needed the best and most trustworthy mechanic (don’t we all?!).
I’m so pleased to report that Ali and Mike are still just as dedicated, honest, and generous as they presumably were when all of these folks gave them five stars. Being top rated on Unilocal has not gone to their heads! They are great, making efforts to get me back on the road in a hurry for two emergency stops, juggling their bustling garage, charging me as little as possible. Ali could tell that I was on a budget and a tiny bit mechanically inclined, and even suggested some minor maintenance things I could do myself in order to keep my car running sweetly.
Ahhhh. A mechanic you can trust. One of life’s great joys! Thanks guys!

I’ve been bringing my 1989 Volvo sedan to Montclair Auto Tech since I moved to Oakland 13 months ago. Ali and Mike offer incredible customer service, from fitting me into their schedule to telling me how to coax a little more life out of the idle control valve before it eventually dies.
They’ll install parts that I provide, too, without charging me extra for labor. Their labor rates are on par with other Volvo mechanics in the area, but you can’t put a dollar value on trusting your mechanic — I’ll keep coming to Montclair Auto Tech until this Volvo is beyond repair or until I leave the area.
A place with service and repairs of this caliber has a pretty full schedule, though, so try to plan your regular maintenance appointments at least a week in advance.