Japanese Beetle

My experience. at least 4 stars… I started using Mike and David a few years ago, at the recommendation of a friend who had used them for years on the same vehicle. On multiple issues they’ve always been very helpful in resolving the issues with an older ’95 vehicle, and I’ve found their work excellent, along with their being enjoyable to deal with, and very high integrity. Are they perfect? No, they’re human, but they understand customer service, have always been very competent and knowledgeable, and will work hard to resolve your problem, and/​or advise you as to the best course of action. As an engineer, and someone who for many years occasionally wrenches on vehicles, I know and greatly have appreciated their service.

I’ve taken all my past cars to these guys, and my family has been going here for years. They’re fantastic professionals who have always been honest with me whenever I had a problem. They always seem to have my interests in mind more than making money, and I’ll always recommend them for that.
To illustrate that: When I had my very first car long ago, someone hit my front end and since it was an old car the insurance company wanted to total it. I was devastated and took the car to Mike and Dave to see if it would be worth taking a salvage title and fixing it back up. After looking it over for a day, Dave called me and told me that while they could fix the damage from the accident, the transmission had some serious issues unrelated to the accident and was going to end up needing replacing in not too long. He told me to take the total, even though it meant he’d be passing up a big chunk of money.
I love these guys and the only reason I don’t take my car to them right now is that my new car is on a manufacturer maintenance plan. But you can bet when that’s up, I’ll be back at JB for all my services. And you can bet that anyone with a Japanese car who tells me they’re having car troubles hears an enthusiastic recommendation for Japanese Beetle.

My family has been going there for 32 years now. I live out of the area now but i still go to Japanese Beetle because i know my cars will get the best service and repair and my wallet will not be emptied out with overly priced not needed services or repairs. I love how when they do fine a issue with my cars they give it a priority on when it is needed vs scaring me it needs to be done today. And their recommendations and honesty on what «they» would do! And they pride themselves on not doing anything on your car they wouldn’t do to their moms or wives cars. Including the same parts. Its a family owned and operated business for 40 years now and its nice to know when you have a question or issue the same people are there when you need them vs a new person at a dealership. I highly recommend Japanese Beetle to anyone with a Japanese or Korean car, truck, hybrid or SUV. FYI they are near the new Apple building. 3 short blocks away.

You have to ask if they are using refurbished parts in your car! While in no way dishonest this is a practice that you should inform the customer about ever time. Especially if your only giving a 6 month warranty on the part. A cleaner more organized shop would be nice too. The bottom line, the shop did good work at a higher but fair price. I feel good about referring them.

If you own a Japanese car, this is the place to go to get it serviced.
I have an older Toyota and find that when I take it to other places I’m told that I need to repair things that add up to more than the value of my car.
I’ve never found this to be the case at Japanese Beetle. They always give an honest assessment of what work you «should» get done versus what you «could» get done and what the effects of doing so would be short-​term and long-​term.
My parents and I have been taking our cars here since a friend told us about the place a couple of years ago.
Service is efficient and done at a fair price. However, they do tend to get busy so sometimes it’s hard to get an appointment so definitely call as soon as you know you have an issue.

I was in the market for a new mechanic, and after reading the reviews I came here.
I wasn’t disappointed, and I’ll continue coming here. These guys are honest with you, and want to make sure you’re getting the best… and you are. They’ve solved several of my car problems, and are a pleasure to work with. Even routine car maintenance is a breeze.
I feel good after each time I do business with them, and so does my car.

The guys here are very honest and polite, but they handle only routine issues. For my car, in a routine oil change, the lights stopped working and so did the keyless entry. The guy at the counter asked me to read the manual, as he did not understand what happened. On my other car, they changed the catalytic converter, and now it has started making a fearful noise. As always, the response js that the noise is hard to figure out.

Have been taking my Honda exclusively to Japanese Beetle for years. I first went there because of a top score comparing prices to nearby repair places in the publication «Checkbook Bay Area». As a woman, I’m concerned about getting overcharged by repair shops. Japanese Beetle has always seemed more than fair.
Went in recently to have broken front door lock fixed. JB pointed out the (in retrospect very obvious) fact that my key was quite worn down. A spare key in great condition seemed to work fine, so JB sent me on my way without any charge.
When the spare key turned out to occasionally jam, I called JB again. They pointed me to «Santa Clara Locksmith». This organization turned out to be hard to find online. After a few searches and calls, I finally found
. Their website does indeed say «Santa Clara Locksmith» at the top.
They sent a guy out to my workplace in Mountain View who was able to fix my lock for $ 300 (included $ 45 fee for drive from Daly City).
JB explained the key and lock had worn out together, and that I shouldn’t use the old key anymore. I needed to get the spare key copied to keep it as a «master» key in mint condition.
Santa Clara Locksmith offered to make a copy on the spot for $ 80. I thought I could get a better price elsewhere. ACE Hardware told me on the phone that their Almaden store can make copies of car keys with chips, so I drove out there only to find out that my Honda Civic key was laser-​cut. The South Bay ACE Hardware stores don’t copy laser-​cut keys.
I decided to throw in the towel and just go straight to my local Honda dealer, Larry Hopkins Honda in Sunnyvale. To my surprise, they were able to make copies on the spot (on a Saturday) for $ 40 each! They don’t offer on-​the-​spot copies for all Honda makes/​models, so it’s better to call before you go.

Since moving back to the Bay Area, I have been searching for a reliable mechanic that does a great job and is HONEST!
I have found the place!
Mike and Dave and their team do a fantastic job and they are very realistic with time/​price and honest if work needs to be done.
I will continue to use their shop and I tell everyone I know to do the same.
It is always a pleasure working with them… Just hopefully not too often right?! :)

As the name suggests, they specialize in Japanese cars, so my Toyota truck is right at home here. Unfortunately, they failed to understand my clutch problem last month — they pronounced the clutch fine, and my differential suspicious which was (not bothering typing the entire long story) ridiculous and incorrect. I had to take the truck elsewhere for proper diagnosis and repair.
They’re honest, competent, good for routine maintenance, but for wierd problems I would have to question their capabilities.

Was recommended Japanese Beetle by my friend who heard about this place from some people at his work… this was nearly 20 years ago. When I had my Honda Civic, I would bring it here to be worked on. Will have the husband’s CR-​V serviced here whenever it starts running rough and he realizes it needs to be maintained. After I purchased my Acura TSX, told myself after a certain amount of miles I’ll stop bringing it to the dealer for maintenance and come here. Well, when my service light came up with B14, I knew it was going to be a huge one in terms of cost. I called the dealer and sure enough they wanted my left kidney. I called Japanese Beetle and when they quoted me a price I had to ask again to make sure I was hearing correctly.
I don’t feel like I’m being taken advantage of because I’m female; Mike and Dave are honest and will let me know if they find something wrong ahead of time, not pressuring to get the work done at that time.
Will continue to get my cars serviced here as long as they’re around.

I brought the car in for 65K service. Every car owner should do a little homework by going over the automotive maintenance manual ahead of time. Mike was helpful in answering my questions on what included in the service. The car was done at the time promised.

The engine light has been on for months but still ok to drive. The shop I have used 2 – 3 times told me that the EGR Vacuum Mod is bad and needs to be replaced.
From BBB and Unilocal,I found this shop and decided to get a second opinion. I took car in around 8:00 am and there were already 3 cars ahead of me. This is my first time here.
Mike said you can not determine the EGR is bad by the computer code alone; he added, Toyota cars very seldom have EGR mod problem but Honda’s do break a lot.
After the check, the EGR is solid and no need to replace it. He reset the computer and the engine light went off. In the end, he didn’t charge me any.
Thanks, Mike, you saved me close to $ 300. From now on, you will have our business.

vroom

I took my Mitsubishi in to Japanese Beetle with a difficult to diagnose idling issue. Other shops in the area had given up on the issue, but they were eager to help. They spent about 2 hours with the car and made some recommendations for futher diagnostic work, which we proceeded to do.
The diagnostic work wasn’t revealing, but the price was very fair for the peace of mind it brought. The car runs fine otherwise, and they invited me to come back if there were any changes. I’ve been in a couple of times since; they remembered my case and took time out from their work to discuss options.
Though we still haven’t found the cause of the issue, I’m convinced they’ve considered every possibility and are committed to finding the root of the issue, whatever it takes.
I have a Japanese brand and American brand car – I only wish they could work on both.

Pros: Its obvious to me that this is one of the very last trustworthy mechanics out there. His service is honest, quick and fairly priced. I’ve been going to Honda for years and every time I leave with a pain in my wallet and feel like I couldn’t trust anything quoted. I never feel this way with Japanese Beetle. In fact the owner is down to earth and tells it how it is, which I greatly appreciate in today’s unfortunate masked communication methods.
Cons: Their not closer to my home, they only work on foreign cars. Now I got to find someone to work on my GMC.
Thanks Japanese Beetle.

I love the way these guys seem to do business. I came in on a Tuesday morning right when they opened and there were already a few people lined up or waiting, so it was mildly busy. Even though the guy out front was dealing with other people he made sure to acknowledge me and said he’ll be with me in a few minutes.
I needed an oil change and to check my steering fluid or something because it was really hard to turn my steering wheel. The guy said it would take 45 minutes so I walked to the nearest Starbucks and came back and to my surprise they were already done with my car. Probably took 30 to 35 minutes.
My oil change cost $ 37, which I believe is standard. He also said I should replace my power steering rack, which would cost $ 1,100, but he said he didn’t want to pressure me into buying it, which I really appreciated. He was honest about it and said it wasn’t dangerous — just that my little Kia Rio would drive like a truck.
These guys are honest, efficient, polite, and knowledgeable. I do recommend!

Japanese Beetle is a fabulous mechanic to take your Honda! Before I owned a Nissan I was a die hard Honda gal!
They are honest and fair and explain things thoroughly. I constantly refer people there and have NEVER heard a negative review. I think you are crazy to go anywhere else if you own a Honda.

Pros: Honesty. Trustworthy service. Great pricing. Fast Service. Communications.
Cons: Not open on weekends
I work on my car myself and don’t trust the dealer or most shops to work on my car. I’ve been taking my car here since 2009 for 120K service, belt replacement, AC, amongst other things. Like any place, they could have told me I needed all these things fixed, replaced, etc but they always come out with a simple fix. I’ve only had to replace things when they actually needed replacing/​repair and the price was always great. The one thing you need to look for in car repair shops are the people, service, pricing and trust and they surely have it all.

I made an appointment to come here and drop off my car for them to check brakes, change the tranny fluid, radiator fluid, refill AC and fix an exhaust leak.
They didn’t work on the car on the day of the appointment and i didn’t get a call all day, until i called them at 4:30, at which point they said they are waiting to hear back about the brake part price. I asked him how much it would cost (since «they do this all the time») he said he wouldn’t know until he got a price from some «place» he was «waiting to hear from». Nice.
Didn’t get a call until later on that night (7:30), saying that the brakes would cost me about $ 750 to fix the calipers (which they said was a MUST) and that it took them all day to get the price. On top of that $ 250 to change the pads and the rotors. $ 1000 brake job on a TOYOTA ECHO or 90% of cars is unbelievable.
Now all that isn’t a big deal… well if you like to get rip off.
The problem is this: The guy there told me i had less than 1 mm left of my brake pads and my rotors were almost on their way out, as my calipers NEEDED to be changed.
That weekend i went to autozone and bought a pair of brake pads ($ 30) and 2 rotors ($ 100). Went to my friends garage and changed the brake pads myself. When i was working on my car here is what i found out:
#1) They never took off the tires to even look at the brakes. As it took me a long time just to break the lug nuts. Which it never takes that long on this car, as i’ve always torqued the lug nuts to the factory recommendation when i changed my brakes before or rotated my tires. They complained that this car had been on the east coast and it would be tough to work on (???). Amazing.
#2) Brake pads had about 9 mm of meat on them vs him saying 1 mm.
#3) The rotors didn’t need changing at all.
#4) Here is the kicker, the calipers were perfectly fine. This is the biggest money maker for mechanics. You can buy a fully loaded calipers at autozone for $ 120 today (go look it up on their site). You’ll need 2 of those for my car and about 2 hrs of your time max. That’s definitely not $ 1000 even if you consider the hourly rate to be at $ 125. (which is what dealerships charge)
I’m hoping they changed the transmission fluid, radiator fluid as they said. The exhaust leak was fixed for sure, which they had to send that to someone else to get it fixed. They didn’t charge anything for the AC refilling though… They said all it needed was topping off… guess what my AC is still at the same pathetic temperature as it was before i brought it there.
Too bad… try at your own risk.