Mark’s Japanese Auto

I had my car in for service here, tire rotation. Less than a year later a reputable tire shop had a great deal of difficulty removing the lugs, ultimately cutting some of them off. I think Mark’s over torqued my lugs. Not happy.

They wanted to charge me three hours labor for a 1.5 hours tops job, and when I said the other two shops that I got a quote at said it would take half that time, the owner got belligerent and told me to get the heck out (in not so nice words.) Avoid these shady scammers at all cost, they give mechanics a bad name!

Let me start by saying I fit the «girl & cars» stereotype. I don’t know how to fix anything on my own and can only hope/​pray that where ever I take my car, people are being honest with me about costs and repairs. I have an 07 VW Jetta that had many electrical problems. I kept taking it back to Chaplins over and over again but the problem persisted with no solution in sight. And of course, the minute the problems escalate, my warranty just happens to expire — and all of a sudden Chaplins comes back with «It’s going to cost around $ 1800 to make the repairs necessary.» These mysterious repairs that they couldn’t have made while the car was still under warranty.
A friend recommended I check out Mark’s as that is where she’s been bringing her vehicles religiously. Hamid has been nothing but wonderful. He’s sincere and does not try to sell you a bunch of sh! t you don’t need. He is straight forward and wants nothing but the best for people — even outside of his work, he has a genuine concern for people. He stands behind his work. If there’s any problems, just let him know and bring the vehicle back in. He’s fast, friendly, SUPER experienced with all vehicles (ask him about his 15+ years in the business working in different countries and attending special training for different kinds of cars). I cannot say enough good things about him.
The other man that is usually there (my apologies I cannot remember his name — John?) is also super friendly and sincere as well.
If I ever have any problems with my car, I will definitely go back to them. They are always willing to take a look no matter the hour I call them, and their recommendations are straight-​up, no bullsh! t. That $ 1800 estimate from the other guys ended up only being a $ 300 part + 1 hr of labor by Hamid. Awesome.
I highly recommend this shop.

I wish there was a way to give a lower score. This guy was rude and tried to scare me into spending $ 2500 right then and there.
I bought a groupon for an oil change for $ 29 to Marks Japanese Auto (in Redomd, WA). I took my car in there and it was the worst experience. He said my car was damaged beyond repair, I shouldn’t be driving it and that it could blow up at any second. (My family mechanic quickly confirmed that those were all lies.) He said he couldn’t change my oil because he couldn’t ‘put his name to my car’ for liability reasons. However, he did say he could fix it for $ 2500 and he just so happened to have time right then to work on it. I told him I wanted to take it to a family mechanic and asked if I should take back roads or the freeway. He said it didn’t matter and that it could blow up going 60 or 16 and he was surprised I’d made it there. He saw I was a woman that knew little about cars and tried to take advantage of me.
Ladies, avoid this place like the plague. Guys, you can do better.

I wish there was a way to give them a highter rating. John is very kind, and they are not one to take advantage of you. A few weeks back finally got the correct diagnoses of why my engine light had been on for 2 years (after taking it to several other garages). Bad news was that it was the engine, good news, I didn’t have to pay them for unnecessary repairs that didn’t fix the problem (like I did at the other garages)…
They were able to do a rebuild and completed the work in about 24 hours…
2 weeks later unrelated to the engine one of the pulleys for my belt system broke off. Limped the car into the shop and they did the work that day, and because of the timing of the engine situation they did the work for free.
I am not saying they will give free work to everyone, but they did not have to do that.
I will tell anyone and everyone to take their cars to Mark’s!

Took my old Volvo here for an oil change, break inspection and tire rotation on a Groupon deal. The only reason I came was because it was cheap and close to work and I was driving down to Portland that day. After dropping off the car, I got a call from the mechanic, telling me that my front brake pads were «worn down to the metal» and that I should replace them immediately, especially if I was making the trip south. I got nervous, but declined to have the work done because he quoted me $ 300 (!!) for the work. (FYI, replacing two brake pads shouldn’t cost you $ 300 unless you drive a freakin’ Batmobile.)
While in Portland, I elected to have the brake pads replaced by a family friend. Lo and behold, there was still quite a few miles on those pads. Fool me once, Mark’s, shame on you. You wanted to make more money off of me because I was getting a sweet deal with a Groupon and thought I’d be an easy target because I’m a young woman. Think again.

Took my car here several times. Too slow for me at pickup/​payment time.