Howard Auto Service, Inc

I had a flat tire and needed it patched and put back on. They were about to close but still said, «come on in.» Super nice and super speedy and less than $ 20!!! Thank you so much!!!

First Unilocal and it’s gotta go to Gary and George at Howard Auto. These are fantastic as you can tell be all the other reviews. As I tell as tell my friends, these guys are honest, and know their stuff. My family and I have been going to HA for over 20+ years! They make is easy to be a loyal customer. Easy 5 STARS!

Tony from Howard Auto Body helped to repair my car from rear bumper damage. From quote to finished product, Tony provides detailed information regarding the work required and fights to make sure the job is done right. At one point my adjuster approved a refurbished bumper and Tony made sure it was from the company. I am so glad I found him. Great employees, wonderful service. Tony is someone you can trust.

These folks are great. Great service, honesty & customer focus.
I originally brought in a flat tire on a busy Saturday morning, with no appointment or even a call-​ahead. It was clear their schedule was more than full and I figured I’d have to wait until Monday to get my tire fixed. I dropped off the tire & they had it fixed in a couple of hours. It cost $ 20.00. They were friendly and I was very glad they could fix my tire the same day.
I had a second car that needed 4 new tires. I had a specific tire in mind, but they were honest and said they couldn’t match a price I got from another online retailer. No worries… I was able to ship the tires from the online retailer to the folks at Howard Auto & they mounted and balanced them for me (for a reasonable price).
At the same time, I had them service the car, do an alignment and inspect the brakes and such. I expected the normal upsell of filters, wiper blades and service after the inspection, which a lot of shops do. The folks at Howard Auto didn’t hassle me at all. They gave me an idea of how much break wear there was and gave details on what else they had inspected. In short, they were honest, but also made sure the car was safe to use.
If you visit, you’ll probably talk to George or Gary. They are both awesome people to deal with. I’ll be going back for sure. 5 stars.

Can I give this place 0 stars please?! I took my car in due to my TCS light coming on as well as my brake light all warning lights meaning brakes… well I dropped off my car when they opened, they called me and explained they would be taking the seat out of my car due to a part being broke which cost 750 brand new. uhm ok? That has been broken since I bought the car and these lights never came on until now. Well they told me I needed an oil change and tire rotation at about 4 they call and ask if I’m going to need my car and I said yes I have work in the morning, the guy told me he would have his tech put the seat back in. so after having my car the whole day they stated that it MIGHT be an airbag problem… no oil change done no tire rotation. I was charged 205 dollars for them to tell me what it could possibly be, I have learned my lesson I will NEVER take my car to a place because of their Unilocal reviews. I really hoped I would like this place but even the way I was talked to was not the best… I pretty much paid them 205 dollars to take the seat out of my car and that’s it… NEVER AGAIN. In regards to this reply it is false, i never tried to have anyone fix this problem and i was told you would «work with me» on the price IF I DECIDED TO GO BACK TO YOU, just wanted to update this because the information is false I am not trying to bash you as I stated I wanted to like this place, if you were looking for a part all day you could’ve done an oil change or that tire rotation while you waited for a reply since you said I needed those things done, if you were busy and needed me to come in another day that would’ve been fine I understand that, maybe you guys have 205 dollars to throw away like this but now I have to continue to save for this repair and now I have minus 205 dollars to add to my repair so thanks a lot for that update!

Honest, nice and great service. George and Gary are great.

Best service I have gotten at an auto shop ever! Had to get brakes repaired, pads and rotors the price was reasonable and great service. George the front desk guy very friendly explains the work to be done very well. Go here you will be happy with the service.

I ended up with a flat tire just down the street from this place. They were nice enough to send a truck out with air to fill my tire enough to get it to the shop (which saved me the cost of a tow). Their prices are reasonable, and their work is excellent. These guys are now my go-​to auto shop. :)

I wish I could give Howard Auto Repair a million stars. They provide amazing customer service and high quality, honest auto repair at reasonable prices. I live down in Lakeview and make the trek up here anytime I need anything done on my car. That is how awesome they are!
In the summer of 2012, I bought an oil change groupon/​living social type deal from them. From getting my oil changes performed at Howard Auto, I saw how amazing and honest George, Gary, and the crew are with their customers. So when my car started having issues in the fall of 2012, I knew I needed to take my car up to Howard. Since then I have had my brakes repaired, my power steering replaced, my rear light case replaced, handle replaced on my trunk, as well as little things like running diagnostics on my check engine light and topping off my fluids. They have always been incredibly fair on their pricing and do a great job. I never felt like I was being oversold on repairs. They have also pointed me towards the dealership when they though the repairs need could potentially be under a warranty, how honest is that?! I have never heard of an auto repair place that does that!
About two weeks ago, the electrical panel in my car started to dim out and then my car battery died. This was on the day that I was moving to a new apartment and I really needed my car to work the whole day. I called up George slightly hysterical and he calmly explained to me that either (a) my alternator maybe failing and I would need to get it replaced or (b) that the connection between the battery and the alternator slipped, but that the alternator was still fine and I just needed to reboot my battery. He then walked me through how I could get my car up and running again if it was option (b) – get it jumped, drive around for 20 minutes to let the alternator reset and start recycling the battery. Sure enough I was able to get my car running for the rest of the day with his advice. The car ran fine until this week, when my alternator finally died. I had my car towed up to them and they immediately had the alternator fixed. Thanks George, Gary, and everyone at Howard Auto!!!

We had a problem with our car window, it would not close and rattled loudly.
Stopped at Howard Auto and George told us it was off track and would take a couple of hours.
They took care of the problem — fixed it in a few hours with a good price. It was due to the Chicago potholes we keep trying to avoid this year.
We appreciate what George and the group do and will always come back.
Thanks for prompt, excellent service at a reasonable price.

For almost 35 years, I have found Howard Auto to be not only highly competent, efficient, honest, and courteous, but I consider Gary to be a friend. I wouldn’t go anywhere else for car repairs and my kids drive half an hour to continue servicing their cars there. When i have a small problem, they take care of it immediately for me. The car is ready when promised and repairs are done right the first time. Every employee from George to all the guys in the bay are terrific. When my car needs body work, I have found Imperial Body on Oakton takes over and professionally and beautifully restores my car to new with the same coureous and neighborly attitude.
Rhonda M

Love George and the crew here. They are very personable and never out to rip me off like when I went to Midas where they were always trying to up-​sell me on stuff that didn’t need replacing/​fixing. Highly recommend!!! Makes my trips to the car shop pleasurable, thanks guys! I’ll say that they always honor your appointment time too. Fantastic!

An autobody shop that actually communicates with their customers? Doesn’t overcharge and/​or add hidden charges? Presents a bill that I can actually understand? In Unilocal terms– WOOHOO! As good as it gets!

This is my first review for Unilocal but I had to do it. I am amazed with these people: they solved a tricky electrical problem on my Honda CRV and they charged more than a fair price (6 times less than the dealership estimate). They were honest and straight with me, and that I appreciate the most.

I had some brake work done here and overall, everything about the experience was great. Friendly people working there, and a reasonable price (not cheap, not expensive, but reasonable).

My experience with Howard Auto Service was excellent; I only had a battery replaced, but the staff was friendly and professional, the turnaround time was quick (less than a day), and the cost was great! They had a 20% off deal on Unilocal,which knocked the price down even further. It was probably the best overall experience I’ve had at an auto repair shop, and I’ve (unfortunately) had to deal with quite a few. I drove away happy, and I’m sure we’ll be back next time!

SO happy I asked my Facebook friends for a recommendation for an auto service shop, and this place was mentioned. I cannot praise this place enough, especially the GM Gary!
The A/​C in my car stopped working last year, so I took my car into PepBoys. After talking to the guy behind the counter, who sounded like he had no idea what he was talking about all while telling me it would be over $ 3,000 to fix my A/​C, I decided to look elsewhere. I stopped into Howard Auto Service, who you could immediately tell are incredibly knowledgeable in the industry, and they let me know there was a tiny leak somewhere, but recommended just refilling the system for now, as I should be fine as the leak is very small. No insisting that they fix the leak immediately, which he told me would cost around $ 500 not $ 3,000, just a quick in and out to refill my system for around $ 100. He even through in a discount.
Unfortunately, this year my A/​C went out again. The leak strikes again. With it being a busy time for me with me needing my car a lot, and it being over 100 degrees right now with the heat index, they once again very cheaply refilled my system again, and recommended I come in over the winter or spring to get everything repaired. Hopefully, they will be able to find cheaper parts then, which should keep the repair cost down then. Not only a relief, but I now completely trust them with all future repairs.
Also, over the winter my husband’s car, which never has problems, was dying every time it came to a complete stop. Literally every stop sign or red light, and the car died. We took it to the shop a block away, and the mechanic who clearly had no idea what he was doing, told us it was the battery. He hooked the battery up to a reader, and said that the reader should read 14.0, and it was reading 13.9, so the battery needed replacement. After turning off the headlights and heat in the car, which the mechanic had turned on, it shot up over 15 on the reader, but he still insisted in the battery. I told my husband to walk out of there, and take the car immediately to Howard. Howard had the car for two days, and determined it was bad gas. They let the gas run out, put some new gas in there, and didn’t charge us even a penny for all two days. If that’s not a sign of an honest shop, I don’t know what is.

This shop was recommended to me by a friend, and with excellent reason! I needed a simple fix to my tire — although it was a tiny job, the shop made me feel really well taken care of. I noticed their friendly, attentive service as soon as they answered the phone.
I wasn’t able to wait for my car to be finished, and the shop was over the top accommodating! They told me they’d lock my key in my car (I had another) and I could pick it up after hours. When I asked, «When will I pay you?» their reply was, «Just come back tomorrow — we know you’re good for it.»
I didn’t think a trusting, customer oriented place like this existed! Come here if you want amazing attention & honest service.

The other day, my fiancé and I were driving down Howard when my car started making very funny noises and the check engine light came on…
After checking under the hood ourselves and looking over some Unilocal reviews, we decided to go to Howard Auto Service.
The guys here were amazing! George helped us and checked out the car in a timely manner. They didn’t charge us anything. Apparently the air filter had come off, so they put it back on and sent us on our way.
It’s hard to find a trustworthy mechanic, but I think we’ve found ours now, and we’ll definitely go back if something else goes wrong with the car.

My dude bought a Groupon for a card full of services from Howard Auto Service. I was a little weary because sometimes businesses get the «Groupon Effect» where their customer service sucks and they’re swamped because of all the added business.
But my concerns were unfounded! I called and made an appointment a week in advance for an early morning oil change and was able to get in, no problem. When I arrived, I chatted with the owner for a while who was SUPER nice and friendly. So friendly, in fact, that I know that his son and mine weighed the exact same amount at birth. See! That’s friendly! He even turned on PBS when the little dude got a little wiggly and needed distraction.
The service was quick and efficient. I’m excited that our card has two more oil changes on it and that they’re not far from us because we’ll definitely be using them again!