B & J Garage

Frank was absolutely wonderful, no doubt about that. I just wish he was the first person I met when I first got there.
When I first got there, I was seated with the receptionist and she seemed like she did not want to be there at all. I’m all about customer service, and she definitely did not care at all by her demeanor. Even when I payed for the work, she completely pretended like I wasn’t there and continued counting the checks as I sat there in front of her waiting.
I was then handed over to Jim where I spoke to him about receiving the quote, unfortunately he wasn’t able to because he didn’t know what was wrong with it. I didn’t want to drop off my car and go in blind so I asked for at least a rough estimate and when I kept asking his response was, and I quote, «look, if you don’t want to get your car fixed here, you don’t have to»
They definitely did fast and efficient work, but their customer service wasn’t great. Props to Frank though because he definitely knew how to treat his customers.

Fantastic service. They were attentive, and helpful. I came in for my check engine, and they resolved my issue (a loose gas camp) fairly quickly. They didn’t even charge me for work! This place is amazing

Absolutely the best garage in Riverside. Frank (the manager) is probably the most honest mechanic I’ve ever met. I’ve taken my car in there several times now and I’ve been really pleased by how fast their turn-​around is, their pricing, and their honesty in dealing with you. This is the first time I’ve ever rated a garage 5 starts and they deserve it.

After getting a ridiculous estimate from the «stealership» for some basic service, I gave these guys a call. Was quoted a MUCH more reasonable price for the work. Brought my car in on a Friday at around 9am, and they were pretty busy, but they went out of their way to get the work done in a timely manner. Car was ready by lunchtime and running as good as new. Jim and his crew are straight shooters, no BS. Very knowledgable and good at what they do. I’ll definitely be taking my car back to them when the time comes.

I just want to say how greatful I am the John Bruyneel is owner of B&J Garage. It is rare to find a auto mechanic that is as trustworthy as B&J. I have referred two people to B&J and they are so please to have a place to bring their vehicles. BTW Thank you for the great work on my brake booster today.

I brought my car to B & J Garage thinking it had brake or axle problems as it was making a terrible, clanking sound. Jim and his crew did a wonderful job quickly diagnosing and fixing the problem at a reasonable price. Thank you to everybody at B & J Garage, you guys are true professionals and I would definitely bring my cars here again. Highly recommended!

A Godsend!!! I have finally found a shop I can trust!!! Honest, fast and helpful. Diagnosed my car for 3 hours for an hour labor. Found the problem no one else could seem to find. I will never trust my car repairs to anyone else.

So… The Ford dealer told me it was gonna be over $ 800 to replace my alternator because of the coolant system the labor was going to be extensive. That’s crazy expensive. So… The first place I called in the area from Unilocal was B and J auto garage. I saw all the raving reviews and had to give it a shot. Jim quoted me over the phone $ 316.00 out the door. The price never changed even when they found one more issue with and inline fuse. This place is a true gem and I will always go to them first for all my auto repair needs.

The work I had done here was questionable HOWEVER John (the owner) called me once he became aware of the issues and took care of it.

Found this place on Unilocal and Google, came highly recommended. All I needed was my radiator replaced and they had the highest rating. I called several places in Riverside, and this place had the best price, period. They never tried to upsell me on anything, or recommend anything I didn’t come in for. Don’t let the area or the look of the shop fool you, this place is legit, and I recommend this shop for all your major repairs. My son just found out the freeze plugs in his jeep need replacing. It’s a pricey fix for a cheap part, but they told us a rough estimate of how much it «could» cost. I knew it would be pricey no matter where I took it. But they have been 100% upfront and honest so far.

I have been going to this garage for YEARS — multiple decades and have always had fast and friendly service. The reason I am finally writing a review is that they were able to fix a problem for a car that three other garages couldn’t figure out. They figured it out within minutes. After they resolved the issue I drove the car over 1000 miles and there were NO problems at all. This is a huge relief and saved us so much worry about our car having a major issue possibly making it unsafe to drive. Thanks to all the mechanics and staff at B & J — you have done it again!

First and fore most… a good mechanic isn’t cheap and cheap mechanic isn’t good.
This place is not the cheapest but they do quality work. I have taken my truck there twice over the the past three years and I do believe that I have found my mechanic.
I like to think that I am somewhat mechanically sound. I can repair just about any issue with my vehicles; however, I simply do not have the time that I once had. Knowing what I know, I always interview mechanic shops to see if they are giving me bogus information to make an extra buck or to simply check their understanding. I am usually disappointed by either lack of knowledge or lack interaction they are willing to engage in. At B & J Garage this was simply not the case. They took the time to go over he problem and walk me through the repair process. They are good,
They are receiving four stars and five for two reasons… one, they add the diagnostic fee as a separate item on the final bill. Normal practice (at least what I believe is normal practice) is to include the diagnostic into he repair if the repair is done at the time of diagnostic. They didn’t do this. Two, they are not very good with electric work.
Other than that, this is hands down a solid garage.

It was quick (20 mins). But I could’ve gotten a cheaper price for an oil change. I have a 1994 Toyota Camry and the oil change was $ 41. The man who changed it said I had other issues with my car such as grease in the axels and breaks – & said it’ll be about $ 950 all together. My car is not the best looking car, but I thought it ran just fine. I took it back to LA for another mechanic to look at & he said there’s nothing wrong with it. I mean I’ll take it to a third mechanic just to see what he says, but I became a bit skeptical of what this man said at this garage. Anyways, if you’re looking for quick service, this is your place. I like getting my oil changed for $ 27 in Los Angeles.

I guess this is two reviews in one. About 2 years ago as I am driving to work my (former-​thank God) car started smoking. I get to work and a colleague reccomends B & J. I go, they are polite. One mechanic even gave me a ride back to work (my boss brought me back). They were very polite, and until I got rid of that vehicle didnt have any problems again. Fast forward to yesterday… I knew I needed and oil change and I am about to take a long drive tomorrow so I drop my car off there and mention to the owner «I know I need and oil change, but I’d like y’all to check out my car to make sure it safe to drive a long distance.» I then mention «I have budgeted $ 150 for this trip» and that they should call me 1. If they find problems that go over that price or 2. when my car is ready. They guy says. they look over everything thoroughly and that they just know so far that it’ll be 30 for the oil change. A few hours later they called that my car was ready. My total was $ 31.00. They put air in my tires and told me everything internally was fine.
I appreciated that they didnt try to edge as close to 150 as possible. the honestly is refreshing. Please note i have a car under warranty for oil changes. but I just feel that they would have told me all this extra BS to dip into my pockets. God will reward your honesty B & J! :)

One of my tires was leaking air slowly. Based on helpful Unilocal reviews, I called and was told to come in the afternoon. I stopped by. The lot looked really full, but the owner actually came out and parked my car for me to get it checked.
I went to McDonald’s across the street. Within 30 minutes, everything was all done, $ 15 — reasonable, fast, friendly service. Will go back again!

Very fair price and quality work. John, the owner, very knowledgeable and courteous. I would recommend this shop to anyone concerned about «being taken advantage of».

Excellent work and the most competitive price I could find in the area. The place isn’t much to look at, but there are plenty of restaurants in the area within walking distance if you need to wait.
The owner is extremely friendly and puts you at ease. I got no surprizes on the price I was quoted.

This place is amazing!
I had my car towed here yesterday. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with it, but they took a look at it on the same day it was towed in (around 2:30 in the afternoon, too) and had already figured everything out while I waited! Turns out my gearshift cable had snapped, and I needed to order the new part. They took care of it for me, and it was shipped/​fixed/​returned to me TODAY! One day later, I’ve never had service so quick.
This place is the best, the employees are all SO friendly, and the receptionist even waited while I transferred money from one account to the other (ooops, embarrassing) to cover the fee.
Speaking of the fee, these guys did NOT rip me off, something I’m always a little afraid of. I knew the price of the part and labor before they even started work on it, so I didn’t feel like I was roped into anything.
All around very professional, efficient, knowlegable and friendly.
Will definitely be back for all my auto needs!

My friend’s old 1998 or so Toyota Camry broke down one week. It was overheating ridiculously after short drives.
I tried to troubleshoot the problem the best I could with my limited amount of tools. I filled the radiator with some coolant and drove it around. Same problem, overheating.
My next step was to determine whether there was a leak, so I filled the radiator with coolant and left it on a dry spot overnight. No leak. Good.
That narrowed the problem down to several possibilities — a possible broken water pump, an in-​operating thermometer/​heat sensor, or a burnt out fuse/​relay.
No matter what the radiator fan wouldn’t turn to cool, so I kind of tossed out the water pump idea (being that it was the most complex and expensive fix) so I figured it must either be the relay/​fuse for the radiator fan or the thermometer/​heat sensor.
So there were a few problems:
1) Replacing a water pump would be a bit out of my league anyway
2) I didn’t have the socket wrenches or tools necessary to do a replacement even though the thermometer/​heat sensor is SO CHEAP (and if it were my car I’d replace it myself just to see if that was the problem because its under $ 10 fix)
3) I didn’t have a Voltmeter to physically check every fuse/​relay. I tried to play around with fuses in my 97 Corolla and switch them out for the radiator fans/​etc but it was futile because several key ones were totally different even though our cars were separated by 1 year and the difference between a Corolla and Camry!
So I had narrowed things down a lot to negotiate with the mechanic.
We took the car to B&J because frankly the car couldn’t drive for more than a mile or two without overheating so based on a few favorable reviews I saw on Google Maps I picked this place.
The place seemed «family owned» and the they were friendly enough. We arrived at 4 or 5pm when they were closer to closing. They couldn’t diagnose the problem that late in the day so they said they’d give us a call tomorrow.
Well they called my friend the next day but she is a completely dumb with automobiles. They told her something was wrong with the relay and threw a bunch of technical terms at her. I think they said it would cost $ 80 or so to fix.
She approved it and they went ahead and fixed it. It was ready by the afternoon so I went with her to pick it up and look it over.
At the time I was extremely upset because I thought $ 80 was overkill for a part I thought I could get at AutoZone or Kragen down the street for pennies on the dollar. I kept my mouth shut, popped the hood open after she got her keys and saw that they had nicely put in a new relay in her radiator fuse box.
We started up the car, no problems driving around. I stopped the car and saw the fans finally turning properly.
I went home and looked up the information. Turns out the part is about $ 50 or so online at some places. I was at least happy my diagnosis of the problem was correct because if I were at home with my tools, I would have replace the relay first if the Voltometer showed my relay as not allowing a current go through.
Anyway $ 30 for labor and $ 50 for a part? Not a bad deal.
I admire B&J’s Garage for being honest and not fleecing my dumb friend. I would definitely come back to them if I was living in Riverside and I think I would refer people to them too if they asked for a mechanic in Riverside.
Keep up the good work guys. They could have very easily said we needed a new water pump, and frankly I wouldn’t have 100% known (although I’d be extremely suspicious, given my prior diagnosis).
They are a good honest garage! 5 stars!