Not sure if this post is in The right area, my apologies if not, but I’m Looking for a good, reliable, inexpensive mechanic to bring a 99 maxima back to life in the central New Jersey/Staten island area. Someone who actually cares about the work there doing so that I don’t have to go back a 2nd time cause it wasn’t fixed/installed properly. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I’m not sure you’ll have any luck as you’re hoping for things that, IMHO, just don’t exist anymore ... “good”, “inexpensive”, “cares” ... mostly the cares thing.

Probably the primary reason I do and have done my own work in my own garage.

Sorry for not helping. I just saw an opportunity to whine and I took it.

 

lol it’s all good. I’m with you on that. No care at all. Almost impossible to find these qualities anymore.

 

Do you have a place to work on your car?

Do you have,a modest set of tools?

Do you know how to work on csrs, or really want to lesrn?

Many members do extensive work on their Maxima. This forum and it's members can be very helpful.

Please tell us what kind of work your car needs.


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no place to work on it and unfortunately i am not handy with anything cars. Which is usually why I rely on shops. I’m looking to get rid of old exhaust system that’s on it and have a complete new one installed. New shocks and brake pads.

 

I would use Yelp and read reviews for shops in your area.

 

There are good shops out there, just do research and see customers reviews. Unless it's one of those "Shady" shops, then sure they may do some shady things. But again it's all about who works at the shop and how professional they are.

No customer is going to go back if the shop is not trust-worthy. Doing that over and over is sabotaging their customers. Their mission is to create customers who will be loyal to them and trust them. The more clients they have, the better the shop will be recognized as a trustworthy shop.

 

too bad djfrestyl isn't doing suspensions anymore, he's in jersey and was key in saving me a lot of money on mine. exhausts aren't that hard or that expensive to do unless rusted out. you can buy a used set up from 4th gen classified most likely, then look around to see who in your area will install your parts. it is a pita to find anyone worth a crap anymore, sure as $hit can't trust the stealership to help you w/o raping you.

 

#1 rule is to never take a car to a dealership for service unless you have a warranty. They increase the repair costs by 3-4x in hopes you will trade-in your car for a new one. I've heard people bringing it in only to change those new CVT transmission fluids every 50-60k miles because it is required to stick to OEM fluid. Heard its a $300-400 service. It costs a lot of money to run those dealerships...

And yah, It may be difficult to have a shop install parts you bring because Customers will complain if the part is defective and go on a rampage-blaming game. Where I live they do have a shop called "Bring your own parts" and they will install it for you. Though you can run a risk if the part is defective after installation, you still end up having to pay for labor costs. But if the shop buys the parts, then it's all on them after that.

 

You can try Mclaughlin Auto Service. 139 U.S. 9, Englishtown, NJ 07726. For what you're asking for, they do that. Honest. Cares. Expensive or not that'll be kind of subjective. I've used them when I didn't want to do something myself. They're busy, though. Should make appointment and to range your car a couple of days for the work you listed.

 

I have a good mobile mechanic that can help you. He does not supply any parts though so you'll have to source that yourself.

He takes care of things on my cars if I'm feeling lazy or am just unable to. Good guy and was a Maxima owner. Great work and reasonably priced.

http://tuneonthego.com/

 

I would try GT Japanese in Edison, NJ. They allow you to provide parts as well. If you provide parts, no warranty, so have to weigh that. Good luck.

If something is not worth your while from a cost perspective, they will say so.

https://www.gtjapanese.com/

 

I'm going way back, summer 2002, and my car was 4 y.o. I was sitting in a 350Z marked up thousands over list, and salesman goes, what are you doing? I say I'm dreaming, as I move the stick and step on the clutch (you know when cars had a clutch). He goes what is your car in for? I say oil change (I was one of those who felt have to have record of oil changes through 60k). Salesman says c'mon now you don't want to drive home in that old car, let's put you in a 350Z.