What clients say about Village Auto of Bellmore in Bellmore (NY)
my car’s security system was acting faulty and the alarm would go off every time i tried to unlock my door. it was a big nuisance whenever i had to drive. when i took it here to figure out what was wrong i was advised by the staff to get the whole system removed since the car was old. on top of that they did it free of charge! very helpful and friendly staff, the owners are kind people. you won’t regret bringing your car here! everybody is good at what they do. thank you!
Let me start off by saying, if I could give 0 stars I would. This was without a doubt the WORST experience I have ever had at a auto mechanic ever before. I brought my truck in for new timing belt ( this is why I broke down. This was an insurance claim from endurance car warranty. (I found them from their app) I brought my truck in the in the beginning of Oct and I didnt get it back till the very end. It took them 30 DAYS to get my truck done. This should have taken 2 weeks tops. I had 0 issues from endurance. Pat the owner kept giving me the run around for weeks. I had to call them every single day to get updates, i even had to go in person because i could never get hold of him. The endurance company gives you 150 for car rentals. I had to spend 3x that, because Pat would not work on my truck they kept claiming the insurance companies take time, blah blah blah. Everytime i called the insurance company they said "they have everything they need to start the job"
So one day I go down to get some things out of my truck and I noticed a nice scratch in my door. I knew it was from them because it was fresh. You can clearly see it was prob from when they opened the door on the lift. I told Pat that someone scratched my door and he said " oh that scratch was there before and he also said your truck has lots of scratches.I said I know my truck and this wasn't here. He said " it's probably from the towing company lol. I was watching the tow guy the whole time and that was impossible. He said let me look at the camera. He looked over days of work in a few hours..... he did offer to buff it out. Which I had to remind him several times to do. He did do it but it did nothing. So minus the 4 weeks it took, i get the truck back and started driving it i noticed my 2 front tires are inflated to 50psi (which could cause a blowout) also noticed my 2 tire caps are missing. I called them and said why did you guys touch my tires. PAT says... we didn't, which was a blatant lie. I also knew something was off with my trottle but didnt quite understand what it was. I noticed the acceleration was off (slow and it stuttered..) I do some research and online said it might be the air filter. So I go to replace the air filter and THE ENTIRE INTAKE TUBE ISNT SCREWED IN. im like are you serious. I also noticed the the battery terminal was loose. Take off the intake tube and noticed the throttle body was all black and they dont even bother to clean it. Lazy workers and complete idiots. I call Pat again and said, my trucks been having an issue and he says the issue was from before we got it or it was the other shop who looked at it. HE NEVER ONCE TOOK ACCOUNTABILITY. I said the entire intake was loose. He said oh we can fix that, not apologizing or nothing. Get this one. He told me word for word "the loose intake wouldn't cause a acceleration problem" this is coming from the OWNER of the repair shop. I also asked him to clean off the old oil off the valve covers once they were off. He didnt do it as well. He said of we dont clean that.... i said to him how would you know if the new ones leak???? He didnt have an answer. Both shops i brought it to said they would always clean that off. So I bring it down one last time and they look at it and he says you need a new valve cover. Once I heard that I knew they were scammers. The intake cover isn't going to warp. So I bring it to 2 other shops they couldn't figure it out. They told me its something with the engine or computer. One shop reset something and seemed to fix it temporarily but itd back to how it was. So I will have to bring it to another shop when I have time off and have this thoroughly look into this. This has cause me nothing but aggravation and headache. I noticed the same thing happened to someone else a few months ago from the review. Knowing this now, I would advise you take your cars elsewhere. This seemed like a blatant attack on me personally or they just really don't know what they are doing there. Pat is a liar and will do anything to not take accountability.
My Son recently bought a house in Merrick, I was looking for a local repair shop for his car. I found Village Auto and could not be happier, The owners Pat and Sandra are terrific. I had a tire issue and they proceeded to correct, the same, No big up sell or trying to do extra work. I was so impressed I told them to put on four new tires, which they did at a great price.
After that, one of my wheels which was not right before I came in started to leak. They fixed the same at a low price and I was very Happy.
The service manager Jeff was very helpful and friendly also. I am very happy to know that my Son has a local repair shop he can count on, Especially since he is expecting his first child, That makes me Soon To Be Grandpa sleep well at night.
Thank You
I've been taking my cars to Village Auto for 11 years now and have always had great experiences there. The prices are very fair, the work is done thoroughly and everything is always explained in detail. Highly recommend them!
I would definitely recommend Village Auto of Bellmore. Been going there for years, because they are very accommodating, very honest and friendly. Bravo Village Auto.
Integrity and honesty are present in this shop which is rare. Pat took care of my “coolant fluid leak” that some one from a different autoshop told me I needed to fix. Pat filled my car with antifreeze since he checked that my level was a bit low. He was honest that there was no huge leak. Will be coming back here for any car related issues. Highly recommend!
The mechanics here are knowledgeable and sort of handy with dealing with car issues. Main problem is one guy never around to really talk to. About pressing issues with a car that I was dealing with on behalf of a friend I had a vested interest in the car. Every time I would call there was off communication not a way to conduct business sometimes they meant well put value to salvage customers they want to deal with.
My car broke down on the highway sometime in January 2023. Since I'm a CarMax warranty customer I was referred to this place. They charged my warranty at the time about $10000 to change the transmission, drive shaft and axle. It took about 6 weeks, during which I could not get to work, for me to get my car back after calling daily to check in, I was finally able to pick it up in March 2023. In August 2023 I moved upstate to Albany. While I was job searching, On September 13th my car started to have transmission problems, September 15th I got in touch with Village Auto because the transmission was under a 12 month warranty with them. For more than a month of daily calling and being lied to that they were working on getting the car transported to them so they can fix the transmission, I begged them that I needed the car for work and to take my elderly parents to their doctors. I finally had no options left and decided to drive the broken car from Albany all the way to Long Island. On October 22nd I dropped the car off at Village Auto and went back to Albany. In the next few days, after calling daily again - they told me that the transmission needs to change. I kept calling daily begging that I need the car for work that I can't pay my bills and all my credit cards are past due. The week of Thanksgiving, they told me that they were going to get the car fixed before Thanksgiving. That was another lie. Throughout December I kept calling and hearing different reasons as to why it's not fixed yet. The second week of January I hitched a ride with my brother in law to go see what was happening. I got there and saw that the car had been sitting for months untouched even though they told me on several occasions that they were working on it, they were waiting on a special part, they were waiting on a programmer, etc. I meet Pat, he looks me in the eye and tells me they can't find a transmission for my car and that they should get one next week - more blatant lies. On January 28th 2024 I took my car back from them - it had been sitting in their parking lot untouched since October. I brought my car to a Nissan dealership and within two days those people fixed my car so I know Pat was lying about not having parts. Pat wanted to wait past January so the work they did would be past 12 months and they wouldn't legally be responsible for fixing it. Throughout this entire ordeal I was deliberately never given any paperwork. After the dealership fixed my car in February 2024 I was able to commute and get a job and go back to work but it's now July 2024 and I have irreparable credit damage, all of my credit cards have been closed and sent to collections - my goal of moving to Albany to buy a house and start a family has been severely handicapped by Pat's greed. The amount of stress and suicidal thoughts that I went through caused me to have anxiety, high blood pressure and popped blood vessels, among other issues. I nearly lost everything because of Pat's greed, including my life. The suffering that you put me through, Pat, I hope you suffer a million times worse, I really hope you suffer a million times worse.
I have been going to them for a few years. The staff is extremely friendly and always accommodating. They never do a repair before calling you first to let you know what exactly is wrong with the car and the price it will cost. Highly recommended!
This place is great! The mechanics know what they're doing and they're willing to break it down to you explaining what's wrong. Everyone here is professional and friendly and the prices are fair. This has easily become my go-to mechanic shop on the island.
I really can't say enough good things about Village Auto. I was 2 hours from home and about an 2 hours on where I was going when I had an issue with my car. I left the highway and eventually found Village Auto which was kind enough to look at my car immediately even though they were very busy. They were able to address the issue so I could continue on my trip safely. The staff was so kind to me as I was completely stressed out. I am not a local but if I was it would be my new go-to auto repair. Thank you!!!
What a pleasure!! After years of searching for the right mechanic's and service station, my search paid off! I had been referred to Village Auto. Pat and his staff are extremely professional and accommodating. I first had my vehicle in for service a few weeks ago. They offered me a ride home and then picked me up after my car was finished, in less than 2 hours! Then, I had an urgent situation with my car today.. I showed up around 8:45am. They were very busy as usual. Pat had me wait in the waiting room after I expressed I needed to get to work. They had my car ready in about an hour, which was incredible! Thanks once again to Pat and his staff at Village Auto for their great work and expertise! I urge everyone to take their vehicles to village auto, whether it's domestic or foreign. Great job, guys!! ??Gary..
Quick, fast, productive and effective experience! Thank you to Pat & all of his lovely staff for all their hardwork on my car getting fixed the same day! I truly appreciate you and all of your hardwork. As a teacher for many years, I can truly see the hardwork and dedication in this place. They will take care of you here & be flexible with you! Again, thank you so much for the great service and will be returning!
I have visited many car repair shops in my life but what makes this shop stands out the most is their behavior, personality and honesty that is hard to get in a typical car repair shop. Their pricing towards service is definitely a bargain with no cutting corners.
I am definitely recommending my friends and family to visit this place for their needs.
I came here in good spirits and faith that the place would handle the issues to my car through the warranty and everything would check out okay. This was not the case they've held my car for over a week claiming the insurance company needed to come check my car and make sure everything checks out which is fine I understand, but it took over a week to even hear a response I have to repeatedly call the place multiple times to even find out an update to my car. On top of everything they keep pushing me to the side, continuing to say I have to wait for the parts it'll come this week, it never came never heard any updates and it has just been a unprofessional back and forth and nothings been done at all, the customer service is poor and I have not been helped in anyway furthermore I received my car feeling worse than what it was to begin with. I called the warranty to see if any claims were placed and none were ever placed on top of everything. Never coming back to this place again
I recently had my son's engine replaced at Village Auto which resulted in an engine fire on the Meadowbrook - 3 weeks after the repair was done. Pat, the owner, has not taken any accountability for the shoty work done on the car. The car was well maintained and Pat himself even said the car was in great condition. I had been a loyal customer for close to a year. But I will never go back to Village Auto and I recommend you stay away too.
I would advise anyone considering Village Auto of Bellmore to look elsewhere for their automotive repair and maintenance needs.
I decided to try them based on the many good reviews I found online. Pat, who I believed to be the owner (though I've since questioned that fact), started out friendly. We agreed on a course of action which included replacing some hard brake lines and an A/C compressor.
Strike one was the fact that Pat took it upon himself to use a different type of brake line than the type initially quoted. Though he spun the decision as being better for me, it was most likely, as I’ve since come to know, because it was easier to work with. It’s not that the brake line installed was necessarily inferior, but to make a decision like that without consulting the customer first is unacceptable.
Strike two was the drawn out misdiagnosis of the A/C system Pat was supposed to repair. He insisted it was an “electrical issue” resulting from a faulty HVAC module. He charged me good money for a junk yard replacement unit which was in worse shape than my original unit and which didn’t correct the issue. I had to make an additional trip back to have him replace the junk yard module with an aftermarket module, which didn’t behave exactly like the OEM module and which still didn’t fix the issue. I had wanted an OEM HVAC module, if it needed replacing, but Pat diminished my concern. He said the OEM HVAC modules were of poor quality because they were made in Mexico by workers who are shot if they don’t produce (or something to that effect, but he certainly painted a distinctly morbid picture as I stood in the middle of his shop waiting room). As you can imagine, I was shocked, but not particularly convinced and certainly not amused. After several trips back and forth to the shop (which was not around the corner from me), I finally insisted he take back the aftermarket module and refund me for it.
In case you were curious, it wasn’t an “electrical issue.” The system wasn’t properly charged with refrigerant, so the “electrical system” wouldn’t allow the compressor to operate, which is expected. Unfortunately I had to spend time and money elsewhere to figure that out after I had spent precious time and money at Village Auto of Bellmore.
Strike three was Pat’s seemingly bipolar behavior where he’d flip from being friendly and customer-focused to impatient, defensive, and grouchy. After being without my vehicle for longer than expected due to a misdiagnosis (which any basic car tech should not have pursued), I asked to have my vehicle put on a lift to show me the brake lines that were repaired. Instead of being gracious, Pat took an antagonistic stance saying how unreasonable of a request it was. Rather than take a little time to put the customer’s mind at ease, he went off about how he’d have to move a vehicle off the lift and out of the garage in the rain at the end of the day to do so.
So to summarize…
1. Repairs were conducted in a manner inconsistent with the details agreed upon by the customer and without alerting and consulting the customer regarding the proposed changes in advance.
2. Customer’s time and energy were wasted waiting and following up on a misdiagnosis and superfluous service caused by a gross oversight of the mechanic, who was supposed to be Pat (and possibly was, scarily enough).
3. Pat was unprofessional, minimizing customer concerns, and flipping the script by trying to shame the customer for wanting to be shone the completed work after he had broken the customer’s trust and diminished his and the shop’s reputation in the eyes of the customer.
Pat and his team are very knowledgeable and do phenomenal work. On my 2006 Hummer H3, they've fix all my OBD2 engine codes and other issues I've mentioned to them within a day while another shop I've taking my truck to had it for months and couldn't fix it. VA has earned my business for all my vehicles; I'm making them my go to auto repair shop.
Came out to Village Auto to switch out rims on my truck and to install new sensors. They did a really professional job and answered all my questions along the way. The staff was really great and knowledgeable. Will certainly be coming back to get more work done in the future.
Thank you Pat and Henry for walking me through the process. Thank you Alec for the installation!
DO NOT get your inspection done at this dishonest place. I brought my vehicle in for an inspection and other services. The system passed my vehicle’s inspection/emissions without a problem, but the owner decided to manually fail my vehicle because "the tread on the tires was low" and "brakes were due for replacement soon". Instead of just advising me to get these "issues" taken care of, he instead went ahead with the inspection and failed it, so this way I'm in the hole $37 already. Then he called to tell me he failed the inspection because I need the above mentioned things done but will "pass me" if I do them. So now a customer feels obligated to get this work done at this place so he or she doesn't have to pay $37 somewhere else. When I called him out on this common sales scam, he said what he did wasn't unlawful. He may be correct on the legal part but miserably failed on the ethics portion.
I told him I would rather spend money on another inspection at an honest place than to feel obligated to do unnecessary work with him. It’s about the principle for me, not the money. I left at that point. He knows what he did was wrong so there was no need to emphasize it further. I rarely write reviews, but I feel I should warn others about this sales tactic that a lot of unethical shops like this use. Hopefully this will encourage the owner to just be honest & upfront with people. This change would also help his business, as it currently seems to be in despair, with no other customers being there. The only thing missing was the tumbleweeds going by.
I immediately took my vehicle to a recommended mechanic and got the inspection done without a problem. There was no mention of any “issues”. I just got the sticker after passing & received a list of recommended services to be done soon.
Amazing place, moved here 6 yrs ago and had trouble finding honest mechanics since until I found Village Auto. They can reccomend everything under the sun IF you want them too and if you dont they are totally fine with whatever you want/can afford to fix. They tell you like it is with no BS and only want you to leave happy regardless of what you decide in the end. Because of that I go to them for every oil change, brake change, and etc. But theyve also done power steering assemblys, CV joints and worked with my dealership to send it to them for repairs covered under a recall when they noticed bigger problems. Great people and even better mechanics!
Finally! Found a great place to take my vehicles. Prices are very good! Can't beat them! The owner Pat is a great guy and knows alot about cars and repairing them! Henry is very friendly and attentive to your needs. The mechanics do a great job working on your car. And there's no B.S. with these guys! I'm a happy customer! Keep up the good work guys!
My experience with Village Auto of Bellmore was nothing less than flawless. From the time that I walked thru the door to when I picked my car, a day before promised! Pat had his mechanics assessed the car that morning. I had an answer to the cause of the problem and he called me that same afternoon. Kudos to Pat, his mechanic and staff. So grateful I found this gem in the heart of Bellmore within walking distance of my home. It’s hard to find a shop that is honest, trustworthy and prompt. I plan on using Village Auto for oil changes, inspections, etc from now on. They have a customer for life.
Before taking my car there, I read the customer reviews. Virtually every one was 5 stars. I said to myself "This can't be real. Who ever heard of a car repair shop with this kind of a favorable rating?"
Long story short, they made a believer out of me. They did a great job on my car at a very fair price. I'm delighted to have chosen Village Auto for my repair work and I won't hesitate to choose them again. My only regret is that I didn't start bringing my car there years ago.
I've had my fair share of experiences dealing with auto repair shops in the past as my vehicles have always been used.
I have to hand it to these guys for being honest as I had an issue with my 2011 Camry where one shop told me I had to change the water pump and thermostat. I was shocked as the water pump was only 8 months old and their quote was, needless to say, more than I could afford at the time.
Long story short: I was recommended to visit this establishment and told them what I was informed was the problem ... Within 30 minutes the mechanic told me it was the coolant sensor. He ordered the part and 2.5 hrs later my car was fixed.
The other folks there told me they'd been coming there for years and that they were the best.
I give them 5 stars. Thanks Pat!
Paul Asencio
Village Auto of Bellmore basically saved our cars/jeep. We had just moved to this area and ours vehicles we’re giving us issues. We found someone near by and they basically took us for a ride. 1000s of dollars later we still had issues. We found Village auto and tried them out. Not only did they fix all 3 of our cars/jeep they are honest and reliable. I truly recommend them and appreciate them.
I have been going to this place to get my Van and my other vehicles repaired for 20 years +. The reason that I continue to go back is the honesty and quality workmanship that Village Auto (of Bellmore) has provided. That is something that is otherwise hard to find these days. Glen and Russ have taken care of my vehicle, no matter what needed to be repaired. The prices for repairs are reasonable and as I said before, they have never given me ANY reason to doubt their honesty and integrity. I wholeheartedly recommend them to my friends and family, without hesitation.
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