A+ Japanese Auto Repair, Inc.
As promised I took my 2000 Infiniti I30 for regular maintenance. The car has 116K miles on it and runs very well. This time Eric helped me with the service. I called A+ to schedule an appointment and find out what is needed. I thought I would need an oil change and nothing more. Eric did his homework and confirmed what I had suspected. I scheduled an appointment with Eric and took the car in the very next day. I reached A+ right around my appointment time (+- 5 min). Eric was courteous, prompt and very friendly. The car was in and out in about 30 minutes. The best part about the experience-- I did not have the service adviser or someone in the shop come out with a dirty filter asking it to be replaced. As you all know, this is something that happens at every 30 min quickie oil change shop. I had replaced my filter just a month or so back so I knew I will not need a new one so soon. A+ passed with flying colors. They also did not ask for the wiper to be changed-- another common ploy with the quick and easy shops. I had replaced the wipers with expensive Bosch ones about 2 weeks back so there was no need for a replacement (by the way the wipers are great!). Eric did recommend a few preventive repairs that I plan to get it done before the 120K service.All in all, I am very happy with the service, and with Adam's comment to my previous post, I think I have found the shop to go to for my automotive repair needs. I hope the rest of you also have the same experience that I did.
I took my 2005 Siena (which by the way is a crappy vehicle!) after it started running rough and the check engine light came on. The problem started on the 31st so it was the most inconvenient time. I moved to the Bay area recently so I had no long standing relationship with a mechanic. The mechanic I had used in the past (once) on my Infiniti I30 was closed on 2nd and given the time commitment for the next few weeks I had to look for alternatives. After bad experience with a Toyota dealer (what a surprise!) a few months back, I was left with no choice but to look on Yelp, Google etc. A+ seemed to have relatively decent reviews so I decided to take the plunge. It turned out to be a good move. The service manager, Rob, took time to explain the procedure and the timings. He also explained the charges for the diagnostics and how they charge for that service and the repair that would be recommended. I liked the fact that unlike lot of the dealers they did not bury the cost of the diagnostics in the repair cost. Rob promised to get back to us by the afternoon with an estimate. He did call back as promised with the issues that they had found. The rough idling was due to an engine misfire which in turn was caused by a bad coil. He also pointed out that the belts were worn out and needed replacements, as did the wipers. We knew about both problems (belts squeaking and wipers not doing a good job cleaning). He also confirmed that they did not find any other obvious problem including the one that the dealer had quoted us a few months back for a cost of $1500!!! We knew the dealer was trying to pull a fast one because some if the tell tale signs one would exist with the cited problem did not exist in our minivan. Anyway the analysis left us feeling good about A+'s honesty. The price they gave us for all services including the diagnostics was about $500 which we felt was reasonable. We asked A+ to complete the repairs. They once again completed the service as promised and on time. When I went to pick up te minivan the service manager spent time explaining how they came to the conclusion about the root cause and all activities that were conducted. I found that refreshing and valuable.Having said all this, it seems A+ pays a lot of attention to reviews on Yelp and other social networking services. Since the probability of someone writing a review is the highest after their first encounter it behooves A+ to provide excellent services to the new customers (like me). In my mind the million dollar question is if the quality and price of the service will remain the same the next time I go in? Only time will tell that. Nonetheless I certainly plan to take my Toyota back in for service in a few months for regular maintenance. I also plan to move the service for my Infiniti to A+. Hopefully they will continue to provide the excellent service they provided me this time and end my quest for finding a reliable and honest mechanic in the Bay area.
- A+ Japanese Auto Repair, Inc.