J & E Automotive

I’ve taken my cars here for years. Great service and friendly staff. The mechanics are old guys that have worked on cars for years and seem to know their stuff. John is an honest straightforward owner. I have heard only positive comments from friends here in the desert.

Friendly and honest that’s what it boils down to. I now officially have my new mechanic these guys are just wonderful I brought my Ford F150 they did the necessary repairs and I am extremely happy with the quality thank you J And E so much

I recently bought a used car from someone off Craigslist after my last one was scrapped. Little over a week after having it, it wouldn’t start, and when it did start it would shut down after a couple seconds of running. This wasn’t surprising considering I didn’t spend much on the car in the first place. (broke college student here)
My boyfriend and I call around, and J&E sounds the most knowledgeable and trustworthy. (Us: «How much will a diagnostic cost?» Them: «No need for a diagnostic charge, we are going to fix your problem.»)
Unfortunately, they did not fix my problem. He calls and tells me the problem is the starter, I am skeptical, because why would the starter be the issue for the car shutting down? But then again, I know little to nothing about cars so I take his word for it. Later, at the shop I find out that they didn’t even get the car to do what was wrong. «Maybe it wasn’t hot enough out today, but we couldn’t get it to not start, so we just replaced the starter cause it sounds like an issue with the starter.» That didn’t sit well with me, but the car seemed to start up fine so I crossed my fingers and drove it home.
After about 10 minutes I go out to start it again to make sure it was working fine, and once it again it just shut off on me.
Keep in mind I am a broke college student who was barely able to afford my own car in the first place, now out another $ 400 for nothing.
It sucks that it ended this way considering the owners seemed like genuinely nice and helpful people, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place if you are unsure of the problem and looking for a diagnostic.

My car was having trouble starting on our way to Indian Wells and we found this place and read about it on Unilocal.John and his shop had great reviews and they were right!
This guy is legit, fast and very friendly! We were two young girls that know nothing about cars and there is always the fear a mechanic will take advantage of one’s lack of knowledge on vehicles. We left my car with John and his wife Dee gladly gave us a ride to our hotel as well as picked us up a couple hours later when it was convenient for us.
They were both VERY friendly and John is an honest man. It turned out just to be my battery and he cleaned out some cables for less than $ 150.00.
These are good people and you can trust your car with them! Don’t hesitate when you are in need of car service to take it to John! He is a long time local in Palm Dessert and all of his work and parts are supported and honored through Napa Auto (every city as at least 2) so you are covered once you leave town!
I will be back, but it will be to say hello to John, Dee, Little Bit the dog and her dog Samantha. I felt like I left with two new friends :)

Drove in for a few days from LA area. On the way my AC died in my SUV. Got to the hotel at 4:00 pm on with a holiday the next day. Doorman recommended John. I called and they said come over. I got there at 4:30 and they had me out the door under an hour and the bill was less than $ 50. This is an honest shop. John is a super guy. Thanks for saving my ride back.

We have been almost full-​time locals for the past 5 years. We have used J&E for both of our vehicles a ’98 Ford Explorer and an ’05 Prius. I fully trust John and his shop. I can stop by any time and ask a question about my vehicles or even take in a visitor’s vehicle when there are questions about a car issue. Never any pressure to buy or fix something just good practical information. Then I decide. J&E is on my list of good things in life to have: a damn good mechanic that I trust.

My experience was neither bad nor good. I was satisfied with the service I received, and did feel bilked, but they didnt really seem to care!

I trust these guys. I’ve seen them take in a car and spend an hour or two on diagnosis that they do not charge for, either because there will be billable hours for repairs or other maintenance or because the situation hasn’t improved. John always takes the time to explain the situation, before, during, and after work is done.

Amidst all the positive reviews here, I feel compelled to give my cautionary tale about J & E.
We had been loyal customers for many years and thought they were straight shooters until…
We brought our car in because we noticed a very strong gasoline smell. They advised us that it was a $ 1,200 job of replacing the fuel injectors. So being the trusting fools we were, we went ahead with their diagnosis and had the work done.
Fast forward a week. The gasoline odor returns, just as strong. Turns out the gas cap’s rubber seal had cracked and when the tank was full, gas was escaping causing the smell. A $ 7 gas cap was all that was needed… no, my mistake, it was a $ 1,207 gas cap. Yes I should have checked the gas cap, but we trusted them and honestly, I just didn’t think of it at the time. But that’s no excuse for fleecing us. Thanks J&E. NEVER AGAIN.
Yes they are capable mechanics, but are they honest? I have serious doubts about that. We will never return. Hope that $ 1,200 was worth it fellas.

We are a local business and John takes care of our fleet vehicles. They are extremely honest and only recommend what needs to be repaired. We sent in an old box van to be fixed that hadn’t run in years, when i drove it over it was smoking black and the A/​C didn’t even blow. They found that the A/​C was actualluy full and only needed a minor adjustment at no cost. The rest of the repairs were very resonable. Not too sure about the last comment about John not being able to fix a car doesn’t sound like the J & E Automotive we deal with. These guys are one of the busiest shops in town for a reason, next time you drive by look at all the cars!

We had gone to J &E for many years. I liked the original owners.
Happy all the previous reviewers had such wonderful results. John worked on my car for the cost of over $ 1,000 and never found the problem causing it to die in traffic. He just threw up his hands, never offered to refund any of the money. He volunteered to buy it from me for $ 100 and work on it for himself in his spare time. In frustration, I sold it to somebody else for practically nothing, but more than $ 100. John will never get his hands on another car of mine.
Incidentally, the person who purchased my car repaired it himself.

My wife and were on vacation from Sacramento coming into the Rancho Mirage/​Palm Springs area. On the way down we began experiencing some severe car trouble but managed to make it safely into town.
We didn’t know of any repair places in the area but J&E came highly recommended so we thought we would try them out. We couldn’t have been more impressed!
They had amazing customer service! John was incredibly helpful and found the part we needed that very same day. They were able to get us into their line up right away and even dropped us off back at our vacation home during the repair AND picked us back up once the repair was completed (which only took a few hours!)!
They are fairly priced and incredibly fast and helpful.
Because of J&E, we didn’t miss out on a moment of our planned vacation.

Honest, hard working and ethical people are hard to find. I have lived out in the desert for 10 years, and I finally found one! It is here folks. I got an estimate for some work to be done on my 2003 GMC Yukon due to an engine light. One place wanted over $ 2000.00 for that plus a tune up. I took it to J & E — without disclosing my previous estimate, and he came in at $ 650.00!
Call with confidence!