Belmont Auto Repair

Brought my Jeep here I need to control arms got an estimate better deal than the dealer was very impressed with the one day service and also were kind enough to give me a ride to work and pick me up afterwards to get my car what a difference in how my car right now would highly recommend this place hello

They also have the best detail that I have ues in years he done thing to my car at no other detailer had done for the money and the price and quality love lt. Ed thankyou so much

My experience was marginal. We are new to town and Belmont Auto was recommended because they worked on Jaguars. I told Tony we had 3 cars and needed a good mechanic. He was my man, and initially was friendly and accommodating (he wanted our business), however once the Jaguar was in the shop, I had identically the same negative experience as the other reviewers. He was condescending, and made many lame excuses for their extremely slow service. And, neither Tony, or Pam his partner, communicate proactively… They answer the phone, hurry you off and say they will call you back, and never do. Additionally they never called us to let us know what the final work recommendations and cost would be. I had to initiate all the communication to be informed as to damage, cost and timing. They had the car for almost 2 weeks to repair a front suspension air bag. They did detail the car and did a great job. The work was satisfactory and their pricing is good, but I have a much higher expectation on service and attitude. I’m going elsewhere. Sorry Tony, you lost good loyal customers (we had our prior mechanics for over 20 years) that refer business.

very expensive and goodluck trying to get your car done right the first time… dont bother

I will NEVER take my cars anywhere else. They are honest, fair and just a down right awesome crew. I love the brother sister dinamic and always make me laugh:-). The work they do at BA is always spot on and fast (usually same day). Finally… An honest mechanic that knows their stuff!!!

I am sad to write this, being a customer for over 20 years.
Belmont Auto Repair was my go to back in the day, when Glen Thornson ran the shop. He had a 67 Galaxie, I had a 68. Perfect. I got reasonable quotes and turn around times… and good work.
Over the years, I don’t know if it is just me, turn around times got longer… phone calls didnt get returned as often. When the work was done, it was good work… always seemed to take longer than it should.
Latest: brought my truck in for work, which was probably going to be warranty work in the short term, but ultimately big work in the big picture… my truck sat for 2 weeks without Tony or Pam returning phone calls about what we were going to do despite my at least 3 – 4 phone messages to them. Tony did leave one message after a week of sitting on the street, but did not return my call to him later in the day.
When I went to get my truck without work being done, it was on the street, unlocked, and almost no gas. I did not bring it to them that way. I asked for my keys, I got some «I called you back» blah blah blah… he didn’t. Not the way to treat a long term customer. Tony knew I was pissed off, did nothing to try and keep me as a customer despite our long term relationship. And really, I don’t expect him to.
Belmont Auto Repair does do good work, when you can get them to do it… but I will not be going back. I am tiered of getting jerked around when I need work done. They have a couple of guys that have been there a long time and care about what they are doing, but the management (Tony) prevents them from getting to it. Jamie, thanks for all the good wrenching you have done on the Galaxie and the Truck, but it is time to find a shop that takes care of their customers.
Again, maybe it is me and my relationship with Pam an Tony, but it is not the shop I started going to when Glen (RIP) ran things. I won’t be going back. Time to find another mechanic.

We went there to get an estimate. The entire time, the owner (Tony) had this condescending tone and arrogance as we we asked questions to get clarification. We’ll definitely take out business elsewhere.

Extremely honest and knowledgable family owned shop… Their mechanics are older, wiser heads who’ve seen every problem in every car a million times. May come across as blunt at times, which some may mistake for rudeness, but I’m the type who values a direct approach (especially when it comes to cars and such!) — highly recommended! — Rory

i bought myself quite a little lemon a few months ago, which i realized pretty much as soon as i got five minutes from the seller’s location. i called the dude back and was like, ‘hey, i think there’s a hot mess of shit wrong with this car,’ and he was gracious enough to tell me to have a purchase check done on it and if it turned out the car was a disaster, he’d take said car back. no harm no foul. so, that was awesome.
i quickly rifled through Unilocal for an independent local shop with good reviews (i haven’t gone to an indie in ages, so had no personal experience to go on), and belmont looked good, so i dropped it by.
it took tony awhile to get to the counter, and when he did, he was pretty gruff, but that’s fine — it was a saturday, they were busy, and he’s a car dude — those types aren’t known for their sunny dispositions. no problem. he assured me they’d do a thorough inspection and call me when they were finished. i felt fine about it.
six hours later, i called to check on the car, and lo and behold, it had been completed an hour prior to my call. that was kind of annoying, but whatever.
i went down there to pick it up and was surprised by the $ 125 charge, but the inspection itself was, indeed, THOROUGH, and they uncovered a heartwrenching number of serious issues with the car. none of which i doubted for a second; a good half of them i predicted.
i asked about how much these repairs would cost, and tony said he’d have to work up an estimate and he’d get it to me on monday.
in the meantime, i took the car back to the seller and got my money refunded (screw that noise, sez i), so when tony failed to get back to me on monday with that estimate he’d promised, i was like, whatevz.
SO. fast forward to a few days ago:
i bought ANOTHER car and had a reasonable amount of confidence that this one was in pretty good shape, but i still wanted to have it checked out. since by this time i trusted these guys to do a good inspection, i didn’t hesitate to call and schedule another check, even knowing it was gonna cost me.
i called tony on saturday to see if i could bring it by monday around noon. he told me i had to drop it in the morning, because they needed enough time to take a good hard look at it. i was kind of surprised by that, since i dropped the prior car off sometime around 11:30, but fine, whatever. so, i dropped it monday at 7:30ish. he told me they’d call it when it was finished.
as with the last time, i didn’t get a call, but when i followed up myself around 1:30, it was done.
i went in there and received the good news that though there were a few little things going on with the car, the bulk of it was just general service-​related stuff, and the other coupla things were normal wear and tear for a 14 year old car.
i felt pretty good leaving, because i knew that if these guys said that was all that was wrong, it was more than likely ALL that was wrong. they definitely seem to know what they’re doing, they don’t hesitate to explain in detail anything you have questions about, and they don’t talk to you like you’re an idiot.
so, positives all the way around. but here’s where it gets a bit negative. believe what everyone else says; this place is SPENDY.
when i called back the next day to get an estimate on the service, and to schedule an appointment time, not only was i informed i’d have to leave it for an entire day (really? for a tuneup and tranny service?), but that the cost would be $ 401 — and that was EXCLUDING the $ 95 flush.
keep in mind, these were the services i was asking for:
replace fuel filter
top off brake and power steering fluid
replace spark plugs
replace burnt out taillight bulb
transmission service — undecided on whether to do drain and fill ($ 18 plus fluid) or full flush ($ 95)
that’s IT. $ 400 — $ 500 for the above? REALLY?
i called another well-​reviewed shop and was quoted $ 150 for the same work. my car is currently there being serviced, so we’ll see what the bill comes to in the end and how the work was done, at which point i’ll write that review as well.
of note, i was chatting with one of my son’s friends last night — an 18 year old kid — and told him how we needed to get some service done on the car but the first place we called quoted us a small fortune. he laughed and said, ‘belmont, right? they told me the same thing when i needed the same work done on mine.‘
and honestly, i feel bad for writing this review, because i really do like the shop and the folks, and i completely trust them insofar as dedication and quality of work. i guarantee that if i’d taken my car in to have the service done there, i would’ve been pleased as punch with the results. but $ 400+ for some spark plugs and fluid on a 14 year old car is kinda beyond the pale.
that said, if i ever need major work done on the car, belmont is probably the first place i’ll call. but for basic maintenance, their prices are easily beat.

I am giving TWO STARS because they looked at my truck without charging a diagnostic fee. When they quoted me around $ 1500 for new water-​pump/​timing belt, I was shocked. I scheduled to have it done another day. After looking at water pumps/​timing belts on– line and realizing I could buy this stuff for almost half what they were quoting, and after reading about the installation, I decided to call the dealership. Not only did they quote me less than half of what Belmont wanted, but the dealership will also lend me a car to go to work when I drop it off! Maybe they just didn’t want my business but they did me a favor making me see I would be better off going to a Toyota professional…

We have been taking our two cars here for several years and can always count on our cars getting fixed at an honest price. We take our cars here to get fixed and not to be pampered or to have our cars cleaned. Great having an auto repair shop that you can trust! Our repeat business demonstrates our confidence in Belmont Auto Repair — they have gotten the job done for us.

The reason I came here is because I ASSUMED (like most small repair shops) that they wouldn’t charge you as much as the dealer.
I was wrong on that one, they charge RIDICULOUS rates on labor, so you’re pretty much paying dealership repair rates.
Decent work, but they can’t even give you a car wash after dirtying up your car and getting greasy handprints on your doors… instead, they REFER you to a «special rate» to their car wash next door.

Called for a quote.
Guy was extremely rude. I usually have a mechanic locally that I go to but it’s a Saturday. I ordered the part online in advance because every place was charging double for the part. The man on the phone said «of course you have the part, everyone buys their parts online but can’t install it these days.» He then went on to say «put it on» tauntingly, which I could not do because I didn’t have a 32 mm combo wrench.
Take your car anywhere but here. They must make significant money off the parts people buy through them. He could not provide a quote on the spot, just a «I’ll call you back.»

I don’t know a darn thing about cars. In fact, I know so little that when I put a hole in my transmission pan I thought it was my transmission instead. I called multiple places, got quotes for a new transmission– when I called Belmont they were the only ones who said, «Hold it, it’s probably not a transmission– you could save a lot of money since it’s more likely just the pan.» I had a good feeling about them so I went with them.
Their service was amazing. After having my car towed there, they offered me a ride back to my house without even knowing how far I lived so I wouldn’t have to wait. There was no pulling teeth on their quotes– I was told the price for labor, the price for the part I needed, even how much new transmission fluid cost by the quart and how much they planned to put in my car individually without even prompting them so I knew exactly what I was putting my money towards. There is absolutely no shady business going on with their pricing; everything was very reasonably priced according to a relative mechanic who lives in another state.
After having the part replaced, they told me a few others things about my car– a dent here and there underneath my car– but specified that I shouldn’t have to worry about those things instead of telling me I needed a costly replacement.
Excellent customer service skills, timely responses, downright honest folks who aren’t out to take me to the cleaners. Didn’t have to use a mechanic once since I moved to California, but now I know exactly who to go to should I have any more problems in the future. They have a lifetime customer thanks to their services.

I’ve taken my car in a few times, and my experience has always been the same: They are honest people that do decent work for very high prices, and they are generally crabby and short to me. I always get my car back having the problem fixed, always do a double-​take on what I paid for a simple service, and never feel like they were the least bit happy for my business. They are also extremely poor about calling me: Once, they went through with an expensive service that I didn’t approve ahead of time. I would have told them to go ahead with the repair, but they didn’t check with me first. And I always have to call them to ask when the car will be done, not the other way around.
Maybe they are too busy all the time? Whatever the case, I’ve moved on to another mechanic that is more my style.
UPDATE: I recently discovered a motor mount that was not replaced after seeing this on my invoice: «Remove and replace engine mount at radiator and install customer inserts.» I called Tony, and he attempted to justify this by telling me he had to «remove and re-​place the part on the car to install my inserts».
Replace DEFINITELY means install a new part, not take off and re-​install the old part. Extremely shady business move, and very disappointing. I will not be going back.

HONEST, SMART, DOWN-​TO-​EARTH, AMAZING.
I’ve been a little down on LA lately. people that don’t say hi back on the running path, people that pretend to be on their phone in an elevator with no cell reception to avoid eye contact. it gets a little old sometimes when you could use a little «good morning» back.
But when my long abused but rarely complaining Lexus wouldn’t talk to me after a long day of work, I was over it. We’d been through hell and back for five years and the presence of me and the key-​fob doesn’t even warrant a spark of life? Bitch.
She completely ignored me, the roadside assistant guy, the battery store guys and all their friends– tormenting each of them for hours at a time, never even once flashing a warning light. We gave her a new fancy battery and still, not even a «thank you». Finally, we hauled her ass over to Belmont Auto Repair where my hubbie swore they’d whip her into shape.
These guys not only said hello, they told stories, they took her in even though the place was packed and, by the afternoon, their crack team of detectives had it all figured out.
Not only did they refuse to whistle and say «Oh wow, that’s a crazy electrical problem… EXPENSIVE!» but they also refused to assume the obvious, give up the cause, or worse, charge me thousands for a non-​fix diagnostic. Within hours, I got a call saying that underneath it all (literally), was a simple issue of the electrical current not being grounded. a tiny little fix and shazam… perfectly normal. I didn’t even have to reset the radio stations.
Now, not only am I the proud-​by-​association discoverer of a brand new Lexus design flaw, but I saved hundreds probably thousands of dollars because these guys were HONEST, SMART and SAVVY. Oh, and they were awesome. Fun, down to earth, nice and straight forward.
Tony and his team were so stunningly good, fair and honest that I had to come back to Unilocal after a long absence to shout about it. I can guarantee that no other repair shop or even the dealer itself would have found that issue. Not only did they find the issue but the only charged me for the work completed which was EXPONENTIALLY less than I was expecting to pay.
Thank you Tony and team. I now have faith in LA again (and my sad little Lexus!)

I’m sure most of us can share horror stories about auto repair and being screwed over. Happily this isn’t any one of them! My husband took my MINI in after I was driving on the freeway when the car stalled. The crappy dealer told us it would be $ 149 for the diagnostic only. (Just after warranty, of course.) We wanted a more economic alternative, so we came here for $ 49. He dropped off my car in the morning. My husband called me with many compliments about the service he received from the woman that worked at Belmont. (It’s a rare moment when he doles out those types of compliments.) A few hours later they called him and said the car ran beautifully, they couldn’t find anything wrong. (I must’ve accidentally put car in neutral.) They ended up not charging us anything for their time.
We were very pleased by their efficiency, honesty and great service. Hopefully, we won’t need to any auto repair in the near future, but if we do– we’ll return here.

This place rocks. Tony is a total straight shooter and super down to earth about the condition of your car. The service is top notch, super efficient, most importantly in the neighborhood and not tied to a price driven dealership trying to take advantage of customers.
I took my 2006 Nissan 350Z in for some brake work and got my brakes fixed and a complete review of all the stupid recommendations the dealer told me i need when in fact i did not.
I cant say enough good things about them… GO GO GO…

I’ve never taken the time to write a review on Unilocal before– but these guys are definitely noteworthy. I recently moved to Belmont and am just getting acclimated. I was on my way home from the grocery today when my check engine light came on. I’ve never had any issues with my 2004 Toyota Tacoma and rarely take it in for service. So, as I often do, I turned to Unilocal for advice. This shop happens to be around the corner from me and they had great reviews. Why not?
I called first and Tony (the owner) answered the phone. He told me to come on over and they would check it out. Within 5 minutes of arriving, he had found the problem (something with my O2 sensor). He explained exactly what an O2 sensor in and how it works. Then he looked up the part. He did some searching for the lowest price and gave me a quote on how much it would be to fix it.
While we were chatting up the area and he was searching for the part, one of the guys fixed my leaky tire… for $ 15. Less than half of what Big O was going to charge.
All of that is great and the staff what fabulous– but this is the kicker: He told me that although it would need to be fixed, it was not urgent. He explained my options and told me to give him a call when I was ready to have it repaired.
Overall– this was the best experience I’ve ever had with an auto shop. They can count me as a loyal customer, for sure.

I have been going to these guys & 1 gal, for the past 3 years & I love them.
They are so honest. I will go to the dealership for cheap oil changes & they will do their free inspections & always tell me there are things wrong w/​my car. So I will take my car to Tony & the team & they always tell me if something really needs to be done, or if it can hold off, or if it’s not a problem at all. Belmont’s repair cost are always hundreds of dollars cheaper then the dealership. Thanks Belmont for allowing me to trust a mechanic again.