Uptown Auto Repair

My car needed minor repairs and my «regular» repair shop (a place I’ve tried twice, with mixed results) was booked 5 days out. I called Uptown; they said come in first thing tomorrow so I gave them a try. Dead tail light turned out to be a loose wire. The dashboard alert went off after they checked the wire so, no charge. Stuck fuel door just needed grease; again, no charge. I’m giving them 4 stars because I actually didn’t need any repairs so I can’t review their mechanical skills. But I’m a fan of their friendly service and have found a new repair shop!

Quick, reasonably priced, friendly. I was almost due for an oil change when the ‘check engine’ light came on in my car. I called a place I’d bought tires from, but they wanted $ 130 just to run the diagnostic, so I started searching on Unilocal,and found this place. On the way in, the ‘check engine’ light went back out, but they were able to diagnose it anyway — an O2 sensor. They advised me that it wasn’t an urgent repair, but if I wanted it done, they could handle it, so I gave them the go-​ahead. Reasonable price on the repair, competitive price on the oil change, no charge for the diagnostic, and I was back on the road in less than 3 hours. As a bonus, there’s a great coffee shop ¼ block away that served as a fine waiting area. As a bonus, I asked them about repairing my bumper, and the quote they gave me was about ½ of the price I’d been quoted elsewhere. I’ve got a new favorite mechanic.

I have had 3 bad mechanics in ABQ, so I was nervous… Luckily, I was worried without reason. They had my car in and out in 1 day, and they managed to fix EVERYTHING for less than expected. They were BEYOND helpful and took pictures and explained everything they had done so I would understand what was going in with my car. I cannot express enough how WONDERFUL this shop is and how awesome the mechanics are. Hands down, best mechanic in the ABQ area. I will never take my car anywhere else!

GREAT JOB. I had an accident and Marty Gomez and his excellent staff worked professionally with the insurance company and expertly repaired the car. The shop allows the customers I the shop and shows the customer the problem. It is refreshing to find a garage with honesty and reliably, especially in Albuquerque. It is the Best shop in town. Thanks!!!

Visited this shop because I ran over a rock in the road. The staff were able to take in my car and get it fixed in a day, also were able to find a part that was within my budget. I am not from the area but if I were this would be my mechanic of choice!

Nice and cheap. I needed a quick fix and they gave me a quick fix, took them 30 min but the charge was 20 $ only. The boss and a nice and easy going guy

We went to these guys to get a new alternator put in our car about two months ago and they were reasonable … Then our car died two days ago and since we know nothing about cars we thought they might have given us a bum part … So they looked at it again and they figured out it was a busted belt this time… They replaced the belt for free and topped off all our fluids … They were very nice and really helped us out!!!

Absolute best auto manager and auto mechanic in the city, bar none. I’ve been taking my car to Uptown ever since they were at the old location on Menaul. It was about 2003 or 2004, and I was at my wit’s end paying $ 65 dollars a diagnosis on top of unhelpful go-​by-​the-​script ‘fixes’ to places like Pep Boys and Firestone to find out why my Corsica was stalling out at intersections. I was stuck in some pretty dangerous situations while paying a lot of money (for me). The final straw was when a ‘mechanic’ at Pep Boys was going to charge me $ 150 as a diagnosis fee on top of their other fees for an unnecessary repair. I was done with dishonest mechanics, and looked to the phone book for local guys not associated with chains. Uptown came to my rescue, told me that none of the other crap the big chains were telling me (and I was paying for) was necessary, and that my true issue was a TCC solenoid. I had been having this problem for about 3 to 4 years and this was the first any mechanic had told me this while replacing alternators and fuel pumps and computer chips and what not. Uptown did this, and did it without charging me a diagnosis fee on top. I vowed to never go anywhere else again if I could help it. The only downside is that he doesn’t have payment plans, but that’s to be expected of a local mechanic. Last year, a local chain wanted to charge me $ 2000 after my car started billowing white smoke. They couldn’t tell me on their itemized bill what was really necessary, and what was really optional. So I called Uptown. Uptown gave me a free tow away from the chain, looked everything over, explained what my options were and what was really going on, and charged a mere $ 400 to get me back on the road, parts and labor included, but not extraneous markups. Listen to the reviewers here: if you need work done, do it at Uptown. Free towing, free diagnosis, and the best manager and mechanics in the city. You won’t be sorry you did. You’ll wonder why you never went there in the first place.

I was skeptical about stopping here because of previous ratings, but these guys were quick and fairly priced. I was in & out with a battery replacement within the hour. Front desk guy was friendly & chewed the fat with me while I waited. Mechanic also pointed out the source of my oil leak at no extra charge. Give em a chance!

Pros: Accurate diagnosis and repair, warranty, potential for same day repair, fairly reasonable pricing, friendly manager
Cons: Had to call to get info, wrong part delayed repair time
Had a whirring noise coming from the engine and kind of grinding on turns. I took it here despite a couple bad reviews as it’s a convenient location. They diagnosed the problem and gave me a quote a couple hours after I dropped it off. It was the rack and pinion and the quote was for $ 600. I would’ve felt more comfortable with a quote in writing as opposed to a verbal quote, but I imagine that isn’t exactly common practice. He did said they could potentially have it finished that same day. Unfortunately it turned out that the first part was wrong so they had to overnight another one. I did have to call the day after to find this out.
I dropped it off on a Monday 9 am and got a call that it was done 8 am Thursday morning. In all fairness this was on new years so that should be taken into account. I checked the pricing online, it seems $ 600 is a somewhat reasonable price. I ended up paying $ 644. Most importantly the problem was fixed. And the work includes a warranty (I think it was a year), which I appreciate. I would feel comfortable taking my car here again and/​or recommending this location to a friend.