H & J Auto Repair / Atherton, California

Rating: ★★

Auto Repair & Service

Address: 15 Pioneer Way, Atherton

Postal code: 94041

Phone: (650) 965-3166

I think it was back around March of this year that my 82 Volkswagon vanagon broke down. Overheated, and apparantly the cylindar head was cracked. Anyway, I had it towed to H&J because it was close to where I broke down. After looking at the car, he informed me that the cylindar head was cracked, I would need a new one and it would cose about $900. My father and I decided to do it, and gave him a $300 deposit. That wa... view mores 8 months ago. After a couple months, we wondered why we hadn`t heard anything about the car (I had bought another car and moved back to sac at this point, so it wasn`t at the front of my mind). We called and he said that the part he got didnt fit my car, and he was looking for a new one. More time passed and we weren`t contacted, so we called again. He said he was having trouble finding a part at the price originally quoted, but he was still looking. Even MORE months passed, and a few weeks ago we called again, and were told that a part couldn`t be found, and now our best option was to replace the engine. My father is still debating about what to do with the car. This man as good as stole my car. He`s had it for 8 months, and sometimes went months without calling us to give us an update on the status of the repair. What kind of mechanic does that? If you like your car, don`t take it here.
((side note, recently my friend said he saw a car that looked EXACTLY like mine, it had the same new front passenger side blinker with a dent around it that was caused by a small accident I had, and missing front hubcaps, except it had Washington plates. I haven`t actually been in the shop since I left my car there, so I actually have no way of knowing if my car is even still there.))

mmmcitrusy / 11/13/2008

What a nightmare. Do NOT trust Jay. He and his crew took my civic that`s been in good running condition for years and created one new problem after another within a course of two weeks. Now my only option is to replace the engine and this will cost me the value of the car. It started early Sept 08 when I tried to save time by finding a mechanic near my workplace for an oil change. My car was in perfect running con... view moredition then and had been trouble free for the longest time. H & J was the closest so that was my pick. A few days later, I checked the oil to make sure it got changed, and noticed I was losing coolant. My coolant had been full the whole year so this was strange. So I brought the car back to H & J and Jay said there was a leak in some hoses. He said I needed to change 4 or 5 hoses. So he changed them the next day. Within an hour after he returned the car to me, it overheated and broke down on the freeway while I was driving home to SF. When I looked under the hood, there was no coolant at all. The next morning I had it towed 30 miles back to H & J. The tow truck driver, who was a former mechanic at SF Mercedes and an auto enthusiast, took a look at the car and told me this was totally H & J`s fault because they used an aftermarket hose that got bent in such a way as to block the flow of coolant. He also said that H & J did not bleed the system (to get rid of the air in the cooling system). He explained this to me in detail and when I confronted Jay about it, Jay told me that 1) there was no such thing as a manufacturer hose, and 2) he did not bleed the system because Japanese cars like Honda Civics did not have bleeders and did not require bleeding. He told me that European cars like the BMW had bleeders and required bleeding but not Civics. Yes, he actually said this to me. I wish I took an audio recording of him saying this. He really takes you for a complete idiot if you give him the impression that you don`t know about cars. He kept the car for 6 days, said he didn`t know what caused the overheating, denied all responsibility, and wanted big money for major repair work. I filed a claim with the Bureau of Automotive Repair and towed the car to a shop I trusted for repair. If this sounds like the kind of experience you want to go through, H & J Auto is right at the corner of E Evelyn Ave and Pioneer Way in MV. Jay has an honest appearance and demeanor that will disarm you but he has shown himself to be a crooked liar to me. These guys don`t do proper paperwork. They never gave me an estimate form or any paperwork after taking my car. Good and honest mechanics do. Good and honest mechanics like the ones I frequent are also busy...insanely busy. Drive by H & J and you will see more empty parking spaces than cars. They are the prototypical dishonest mechanics that give such a bad name to the auto repair business.

bluesky94116 / 9/31/2008

Do NOT trust Jay. He and his crew took my civic that`s been in good running condition for years and created one new problem after another within a course of two weeks. Now my only option is to replace the engine and this will cost me the value of the car.

It started early Sept 08 when I tried to save time by finding a mechanic near my workplace for an oil change. A few days after the oil change, I checked to ... view moremake sure it got changed, and noticed I was losing coolant. My coolant had been full the whole year so this was strange. I brought the car back to H & J and Jay said there was a leak in some hoses. He said I needed to change 4 or 5 hoses. So he changed them the next day. Within an hour after he returned the car to me, it overheated and broke down on the freeway while I was driving home to SF. When I looked under the hood, there was no coolant at all. The next morning I had it towed 30 miles back to H & J. The tow truck driver, a former mechanic at SF Mercedes, took a look at the car and told me this was totally H & J`s fault because they used an aftermarket hose that got bent in such a way as to block the flow of coolant. He also said that H & J did not burp the system (to get rid of the air in the cooling system). When I confronted Jay, he told me that 1) there was no such thing as a manufacturer hose, and 2) he did not burp the system because Japanese cars like Honda Civics did not require this. He told me that European cars like the BMW required it but not Civics. Yes, he actually said this. He really takes you for a complete idiot if you give him the impression you don`t know about cars. He kept the car for 6 days, said he didn`t know what caused the overheating, denied all responsibility, and wanted big money for major repair work. I filed a claim with the Bureau of Automotive Repair and towed the car to a shop I trusted for repair.

bluesky94116 / 9/30/2008

I can`t say enough about Jay. He is a great mechanic, does great work, and is a fantastic person. The kind of place you don`t mind going to take your car because you know you are going to get the truth.

rlt5437 / 7/20/2007

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