Boulevard Automotive & Towing

i have been going to Boulevard for 20 years from when it was Boulevard Texaco. I initially tried them out when i wanted to find someone closer to home (golden valley) than the roseville chrysler dealer for my caravan. my husband made me get 3 estimates, but as Mike came out more reasonable after 3 times, we switched. i remember asking about his hourly rate, which my husband felt was high at the time. Mike responded that he did not round up hours like the dealers. if it only took 10 min, that was all he charged.
over the years, we have brought in all of our cars (dodge caravan, olds silhouette, kia sedona, mazda protégé, smart passion, scion iq, corolla) to be serviced. if he sees something, he lets you know. Mike will talk you through all of your work and give you options. I may not understand cars, but my detroit husband does. we appreciate that mike is capable of jerry rigging things, can find salvaged or new parts, and is willing to say when a fix is not worth it anymore.
sometimes whether to do a job is iffy, and he will give you the pros and cons as to whether something may or maybe not worth doing. he always calls to inform you of estimates and lets you decide what’s best. we initially had a conversation about the caravan, the first car that we brought to him. we drive all of our cars into the ground. i told him to tell me when it wasnt worth fixing anymore. one day he called after dropping off the van, and without even saying more than hello, he simply said, «today’s the day.» and i proceeded to donate the car to the courage center.
when i shop for a new (used) car, we ask for his advice and pay for his inspections. he will tell you what models he has had problems with or if admit he is unfamiliar with a model (not seen enough of them to judge). if they have problems, but i am determined to continue looking at a model, he will point out what parts of the car to inspect. my sons now bring in their cars to have them serviced.
he has always offered to pick me up or drop me off if i could not get a ride to or from the shop. most of his guys, greg, geoff, etc, have also been with him long term, which says something for how he treats his workers and keeps a certain depth of knowledge in the shop. i trust what the guys, Geoff and Greg, say as well.
Lupient uses Mike to service all of their used vehicles. over the years, i have seen Jim Lupient’s personal collector cars along with others, being serviced. when i was getting some warranty work done on my sedona, a brookdale kia shop guy said he knew Mike and agreed that he was a reliable and knowledgeable guy.
i let all of my friends know about Mike. i consider him to be a competent and trustworthy guy as well as owning a reasonably priced shop.

Never go to this place for ANYTHING!
I have a Jeep Cherokee that wouldn’t start, and I have an honest mechanic I go to in Minneapolis, but I was in Golden Valley when it broke down. I thought it was the starter, and I was willing to pay a little more just to get it fixed, as I really needed my car to go out of town by the weekend. Boulevard Auto towed it to their shop, and told me it was the Main Engine Computer (PCM), which was going to cost me $ 800. I thought that price was a joke, and then they were going to tell me what the real price was. $ 500 for the PCM and $ 300 for labor. If you buy a rebuilt one, the highest I found was $ 225 for the PCM.
So I brought it to a Jeep dealer after they told me that, and they still charged me $ 200 for towing and diagnostics. The Jeep dealer said that it was not the PCM, and that a garage like Boulevard Auto does not have the right diagnostic equipment to even find out what the problem is. It turns out, it was the crank and cam sensor instead, and I’m wondering what I paid them for? They couldn’t even find out what was wrong with it. You just can’t make this stuff up…