Berkeley Minicar

I started off taking my Honda CRV here and now I take my Pilot here, too! The service is always timely, reasonable, pressure-​free, and great customer service! Sean has worked on my car multiple times and I always trust his recommendations and have been more than happy with the work performed on both my vehicles! I’ve recommended many friends to get their car serviced here, too and they’ve all said the same thing I do – great service at affordable prices!

I have brought my Honda Elements here for years. (And recommended this location to anyone else seeking Honda service.) Very upfront and honest as to what they feel needs (and doesn’t need) to be done. In fact, they are several times just a phone call or email away. I cannot say enough about them. And their prices are extremely fair. In my mind, once you have found a good mechanic that you trust, why would I go anywhere else?

Berkeley Minicar did an amazing job! The staff is incredibly nice and very helpful. Jim talked me through everything that I needed to know, and even explained how the system in my car will indicate which services I need. I will definitely be using these guys again in the future!

BEST MECHANICS EVER!!!
As a girl who just moved to the area with non-​Cali license plates, I could have easily been taken advantage of by any mechanic. I don’t know about cars and I was clearly freaking out about how much noise my car was making. I got it towed to Berkeley Minicar and they said everything was fine. They put my car up, drove it around, checked everything and still couldn’t find anything. Turns out, there must have been a rat or something in car.
HOWEVER, any other place would have charged just to take a look at it. They didn’t charge me anything! And they were so nice and helpful. Best personalities to deal with!!!
Very honest. Very concerned. Even amazing manners (which you can’t say for many mechanic/​car shops)! They definitely got a customer for life! They even called back a couple days later to check up on me! What more could anyone ever ask for from an auto shop!!!
Definitely check this place out! You won’t be disappointed by Jim or the other nice gentleman (forgot his name though). They’re amazing people!

So… I get a call from my son, who’s up at CAL, for school (I live So. Cal). His car over heated on freeway and spitting out all its coolant… I went on Unilocal, found Berkely Minicar (great reviews), had car towed to them.
I get a call from Jim yesterday (Monday), Good news, bad news… Your Engine Block is CRACKED! I about fell to floor! asked him if that was the bad news?
He said, good news is Honda knows about this problem and has a TSB for it, and there is a 10yr. ext. warranty on it. Have car towed to dealer and they will replace under warranty!
How many places would do this? He could of easily gave me the bad news, and the dollar amount to fix it, and id be none the wiser. Being 500 miles away and son at school, id have no choice but to have him fix it!
Thanx! car will now be serviced regularly at Berkeley Minicars!

I’m on my third car since moving to the Bay Area, all of them Hondas, all of them serviced by Berkeley Minicar. I’ve come to them with leaking radiators, drained batteries, mangled transmissions, and cars that just generally needed a lot of work. Jim and the team have always done great work, been very honest with their assessments and pricing, and have always given 100% with respect to customer service.
Today, I came in with what I thought would be a simple fix. Busted headlamp on a 2007 Fit. Turns out, you need to unbolt the fender liners to get at the headlamps. Man, such design! Oh well. Jim got right on it, and in a manner of minutes, I was back on the road with 2 new front headlamps (the second one burned out on the way to the shop, or some time last night!).
The best part: Jim didn’t charge me labor! Parts only for the headlamps. Great folks. I’ll go back to Minicar for as long as my Honda vehicles will put up with me.

I had a great experience at Berkeley Minicar and I will definitely be a repeat customer.
My Acura needed immediate repair work and I dropped it off before they opened and without having an appointment. They called me a couple of hours later to get my OK on the estimate. They finished the repair work, and also some scheduled maintenance, all in the same day. I was impressed.

There is no other place I will take my ’08 Honda and soon to be new Honda. I live over 20 miles from them, but it’s worth it. These guys are honest, professional, friendly and will take great care of your vehicle for the appropriate price. It’s refreshing to know there are still businesses like these that aren’t out to screw you. I am always confident that I’m getting the best service and products.
They are also able to get work done in a reasonable time and will work with you on your appointment time. A couple of times I had to have my car back before a certain time and they were accommodating. My only wish is that they were open on Saturdays or after 5PM on weekdays so I wouldn’t have to take time off work.
Do yourself a favor and never use the dealership for your car. Berkeley Minicar is truly exceptional and I always recommend them to others.

Went in for routine servicing, as usual all was explained clearly and no one talks down to customers. All promises are kept. My license was crooked and when I came back they had fixed it without me asking. I feel they care about my car. It also feels like a neighborhood place. Most clients have been going there forever and their cars are running great with big numbers on the odometer.

We recommend Berkeley Mini to all our friends. We say. «For friendly people and excellent service, go to Berkeley Mini.»

They have taken great care of two of my cars, a Toyota and a Honda. I am always confident in what they tell me.

It was highly recommended by one of my patients. She was a customer for more than 20years and I can tell why. People here are very friendly and professional. A couple of weeks ago my Acura TL had the check engine light on right after passing the smog check. It was quick and they were able to fix the problem. Gave me recommendation but not to pushy about selling anything trying to get your car fixed ASAP !!! Jim was very nice and very accommodating. In a little over an hour i was out driving my car again. Prices are very reasonable too.
Will definitely go back here again for my car maintenance. Forget the dealership they just suck the money out of you. A+++ Highly Recommended

I’ve learned my lesson — going back to BM after trying out a Honda dealer in San Leandro (too close to home to resist). They just don’t have the skill of Berkeley Minicar. My last visit started with a diagnosis of a broken timing chain — something unheard of at 120k miles. An estimate of $ 1700 to repair. The likely cause? Infrequent oil changes. That couldn’t be, SL Honda did the last two in the recommended mileage and I had records for others. When I pushed back and said I wanted to speak with a factory rep suddenly the problem was solved. I can’t trust that.
I’m heading back to Berkeley Mini Car even though its inconveniently located in Berkeley. What would have happened if didn’t push back and ask for factory intervention? A quick call to Berkeley Mini Car for some advice resulted in the Service Manager emailing me bulletins from Honda and providing me a more thorough explanation than I got from SL Honda. THAT is knowledge and experience coupled with amazing customer service (and I wasn’t even a current customer, though I had been in the past). Mea culpa.

The people at Berkeley Minicar are Pure Professionals.
I find the people at Berkeley Minicar are friendly, honest and listening to you. A couple of weeks ago AAA dropped me off at the shop and I was pretty frustrated because my transmission broke down. Jim understood directly how to handle this and convince me that they took care of me and they did.
Normal price with a TOP service, I highly recommend Berkeley to my friends and family.

The best independent garage servicing Hondas. They take their time to definitively diagnose your car. They don’t sell you things that you don’t need. I worked with James who is candid and very kind. He spent a great deal of time diagnosing a problem. After he finally found the cause he said it could be repaired, but the repair would be expensive due to the cost of the part. He said since the repair is not mechanical that he advised against spending the money. A garage that you can trust.

After finding this place by rating, I decided to make an appointment and give it a try to fix my Honda Passport. I dropped it off first thing. By 2PM, I didn’t get a call back to I called them. They told me the mechanic was just getting to it. ???
I told them I’d be by around closing to pick up my car since they told me they’d have it ready by the end of the day. When I arrived, the mechanic told me he couldn’t find anything wrong with it. However he did hand me a report with three trouble codes he found. Bottom line, he didn’t fix anything.
They charged me $ 50 for connecting a code reader and jotting down the codes, then asked me to bring it back the next day. Sorry, I’m never bringing it back.
This place maybe good for routine or schedule maintenance work on a running car but not troubleshooting and fixing problems.

Usurers with no maners and probably Racists!
I took my civic hybrid to get connected to the computer to check the codes regarding the IMA and other light from the dashboard. IT WAS NOT FREE. They did not tell me that I was going to be charged $ 60 plus taxes beforehand, and when I disputed to the manager that I was not told about this charge, they did not correct their mistake. Obviously, if they were told me about the charge. I would have taken my car to another place. Secondly, and most important, I am hispanic. These honnkies might not honor hispanics as well as the people of their tribe. Right after, I went to the Honda dealer in Berkeley, and they laughed at me for the $ 60 charge since everyone else does it for free.

Had my 195k minor service done here, and I was very impressed. Professional service, super reasonable prices, and the work was done in less time than anticipated. Awesome.
I’ll definitely be back here for future services.
Thanks guys!

I love my Berkeley Minicar! I was tempted to switch mechanics to someone closer a few months back, but I’m glad I didn’t.
My timing belt didn’t take as long as estimated and came in $ 100 under the dollar estimate too! An honest mechanic: you can’t beat that.
Plus, they have this cool little laptop to lend while you wait and free-​wifi.

I brought my car here because no one else wants to work on a 31-​year-​old car anymore. Initially, they were great, even writing me a letter to defend against a DPT ticket. I brought my car in for a battery charge issue, they fixed a few things, then all seemed fine.
Soon after, the car craps out again, and we bring it back — turns out they replaced the wrong thing (only finding this out because they didn’t charge us for the correct thing), and we asked them to fix our leaks while they are at it.
Everything’s fine, then my car’s starts getting hot, the thermometer is creeping to the red zone (which never happens). Turns out there’s no water in the radiator. Did they drain the radiator, and not replace anything? Now we have a slow leak in the radiator, after asking them to fix the leaks. Sigh.