Steph’s Garage

My go-​to shop when I’m in this neck of da woods. I’m a real paranoid maniac when it comes to cars – I always think there’s something wrong, and because of that I’m super easy to take advantage of. These guys have told me «nah, you don’t need that» on more than one occasion. And when I DO need that, they’ve always found a reasonably cheap way to do it.
Case in point: when my muffler started falling off, I thought for sure I’d need a new one. They were all like «nah bro» and just soldered some shit together. And it lasted until my car died three years later!

I hate to say it, but Steph’s garage definitely does try to upsell. I left my car overnight one day to get a specific repair, and the the next day they called me while I was at work to tell me there were more issues with the car and wanted me to okay an additional job without me coming to the shop to see the issue myself. It’s hard to tell if a car mechanic is trustworthy, and at Steph’s you really get a dishonest vibe from at least some of the people who work there.

I used Stephs garage for almost 2 years before I had any issues with their work and thought they were very honest and trustworthy. My A/​C stopped working in my car so I decided to have them look at it and see what was wrong. They replaced the compressor, pulleys, and a few other parts totaling $ 600 and the A/​C worked for about 3 months before going out again. They installed a new switch to bypass the computer and did a terrible wiring job. I wasn’t aware of the awful job they did on it until I brought it to a friend of mine that is a mechanic. He informed me that I would have to replace the computer AND a $ 1000 wiring harness, totaling $ 2500 to get it fixed and that «they had really done a terrible job» on my cars wiring. They also charged me $ 40 to diagnose my check engine light and replace the gas cap — which costs $ 3 at a local parts shop. Prior to the A/​C issues I was informed by them that my head gaskets were leaking and they suggested an entire engine replacement for between $ 3500 – 4000! My mechanic friend told me that this misinformation is typical of shops that do not know how to work on subarus, I had it done somewhere else for $ 1500.

I got back to my car at the Louisiana Ave park and ride last night, and disaster — I had a flat tire. I knew Steph’s was just across Louisiana on Wayzata Blvd, so I carefully maneuvered over there to seek some help. I did not catch the guy’s name who helped me, but he was awesome! Brought my car right in and took a look — told me a few minutes later that the tire was not punctured (hallelujah) and I just had a bead seal leak — he took he time to show me what the issue was and explain how he would fix it and was up front and reasonable with pricing. No upsells, and they were very friendly. They had me back on the road within 30 minutes. Amazing and a life saver. I also noticed that are open until 10 PM – yes 10 PM! — so super convenient for people who would like to handle their car business afetr work. I inquired about oil changes while there, and they told me they’re only $ 25.99. They do any and everything here car related though, so a real one stop shop. If you work downtown, it’s ride by a park and ride, so it’s an easy drop off and grab the bus to go to work. Sold. I will definitely be back here for future car needs!