Union Bay Garage

Paul has been our trusted mechanic since the day my family met him. He does amazing work, quickly, and won’t overcharge or charge you for anything you don’t need. I will definitely be going to this garage the next time I have a car problem, and every time after that. Would highly recommend this shop to a friend!

I have been very dissatisfied with Union Bay Garage. I brought my car because water got into the fuel tank. I was charged over $ 1,100 for this. In fixing the water in the fuel tank, the senior mechanic broke the side panel of the driver side door, which now does not close and causes the alarm to go off. When I pointed this out to him, he was very rude and basically said that he did not break it. And that I should find a new mechanic to fix. It is quite incredible that some-​one in the service business can behave this way, damage a vehicle, and refuse to fix. [car door closed fine and the panel was attached to the door when car was towed to garage]
Work done is shoddy, over priced and the mechanic is extremely rude. Writing a negative review for me is very rare. It only happens if something is really wrong, people are rude, and they waste my time and money. All three happened for me.
I would not recommend. Not coming back here ever.

This is a great local shop that does good work at fair prices. I took my Audi to multiple shops for repairs before trying Union Bay and I am glad I finally brought it here. They always keep me informed and don’t try to sell me anything extra. The few times they have noticed other things were wrong with the car they have called me and provided quotes and let me know whether it is something that would be cheaper to fix while they were already in there or not. Never any pressure put on paying for additional repairs.

Amazing shop. They pushed up a major repair for me because I had to leave on a 30 hour trip in a couple days. They kept me informed about everything they were doing throughout the whole process, and were incredibly nice. Amazing people and amazing work.

So wanted to like this place. My old Subaru’s brakes suddenly went, and though we usually take our car up north to Subaru Smart Service, we live right around the corner from Union Bay so I took it there. They diagnosed the brake cylinders as having broken and replaced them for about $ 300, quickly. I appreciated that but just about a week later something felt wrong with the brakes again. My husband took the car in again and they said nothing was wrong. Long story short, they continued feeling wrong and my husband finally drove the car up to Smart Service, and low and behold, the brake fluid is leaking out and has clearly been for some time. Guess we can’t cut corners by going here again, as I really don’t want to be messing around with brakes. Spent over $ 300 for them to not really be fixed.

This place has been around since 1930 according to their sign and if they keep up their great work it will be up there for a hundred more years. I took a car there for inspection before purchase, they were really nice on the phone and set me up with an appointment the next day. The gave me a very accurate quote and explained everything to me with patience.
I am new to the Seattle area but I think I just found a garage for the next few years.
Thanks !

My family and I have been taking our cars here for as long as I can remember. They always provide a terrific work product as well as great customer service.
On top of that, they won’t sell you on work that you don’t need. I recently took my car in to have the turbo checked as I thought it may be broken. Paul checked the codes, drove the car around the block, and determined that there wasn’t anything wrong. He then took the time to explain all of the reasons the turbo was fine and tried to think of other reasons I might be feeling a difference in the engine. He did this all while be patient with a relatively naïve car-​owner and without any charge/​fee.
Would highly recommend for their terrific customer service.

Customer service here is not what it’s cracked up to be by all these reviews. I brought my car in two days before christmas for a diagnosis, and the front desk girl told me that it would be a major repair. Due to the time of year, and the cost of the repair, I decided to get a second opinion at another lot, and picked up my keys but due to busses and having to pick up things for the holiday, I missed the time for the lot to close. I called but they had left, so I realized the only option for me to make it to my family’s holiday the next day was to leave the car locked up in the lot as they were likely closed the next day, as it was Christmas Eve.
The next day (Christmas Eve) Janelle or whatever her name is (she has significant facial piercings) calls and simply repeats to me «We can’t have a car in our lot that we don’t have the keys for.» I say that I am surprised they are open, sorry for the misunderstanding on my part, but I sadly have ABSOLUTELY NO WAY to get from my family’s house to the lot to pick up the car on a holiday (as I don’t have a car, and my family is an hour from the university district). I tell her repeatedly that I will be in to pick it up on Thursday morning. AT NO TIME did she mention that they would be CLOSED on Thursday. She simply repeated over and over that I had to somehow overcome the IMPOSSIBILITY of coming to the lot before they closed to pick up my car THAT DAY as if she was deaf. She had no ability to wrap her mind around the fact that I had no way of doing what she was blindly repeating.
It’s possible lot can provide good repairs. However, they will not be getting my likely over $ 3000 worth of business thanks to her absolute stupidity and inflexibility on a national holiday.

All of the previous reviews of Union Bay Garage are spot-​on. First and foremost, Jordan is amazing. She works at the front desk, but I don’t think she’s just a front desk person. She’s clearly running the place and she’s amazing and smart.
Enough of the mush. I took my car here the first time last week for an oil change and to get a clicking noise checked out. They did the oil change and gave me an estimate on the clicking noise, which turned out to be the radiator fan hitting the shroud. The part was nowhere to be found in the state of Washington, and the only one that they could find would cost $ 300 and had to be shipped from California. She didn’t seem as though she was particularly concerned about this replacement part, however, I tend to err on the side of caution, so I told her to go ahead and order the part.
Fast-​forward one week. I brought my car back today and 3 hours later the work was done. I came back and picked it up, and to my delight discovered that they charged me about half of what the estimate had been for the part. Apparently they dug a little deeper and found something less expensive. She didn’t point it out or expect a hardy thanks or anything like that, I didn’t even notice until I got to my car and reviewed the receipt. This place is down-​to-​earth and honest and I will come back here anytime I need work done on my car.

Professional and fast. I was able to book an appointment online. Brought my car in and the issue was diagnosed quickly. My car was fixed on time.
My favorite thing about this place is that the woman running the front desk knows her stuff and was able to translate to me without making me feel like an idiot.
Highly recommend, and will go again (should a need arise).

Took my car to Union Bay Garage after a bad experience with another University-​area garage. After getting my oil replaced at Affordable Tire and Brake, they claimed I needed my brake pads and rotors replaced, and talked about charging $ 400 — just for parts.
I went to Union Bay Garage and told them I thought the rear brake pads needed replacing and the rear rotors might need turning (machining on a lathe to flatten the disk) or replacing. They told me the wear I was seeing on the rotors was normal and that only the pads needed replacing. They charged me $ 65 for the pads, about 15% less than any price I could find on the internet for the same part, and $ 115 in labor.
These folks were quick, professional, and didn’t try to upsell. I will recommend them and bring my business here in the future.

You know why these guys get good reviews? Because they are actually interested in fixing your car, not just taking your money.
I took my wife’s Lexus in because of a loud ‘thunk’ coming from the front end. The vermin at Lexus of bellevue had told me that it would be $ 3000 to fix the problem!!! Right there in the driveway, Paul took off some covers, and poked around. We went for a test drive, and he located the problem exactly. A shot of spray lubricant, and the problem was solved!!!
Instead of trying to sell me on some crazy expensive repair, he basically said, «lets try this first, and if we have to do something larger, we will. But lets just monitor it.» What!!! An honest auto repair shop, that actually wants to fix the problem?
AWESOME!

Pete and Paul at Union Bay have been maintaining my 1987 Ford van for 22 years. Recently, during a Trip Check test drive, Pete noticed a problem in the front end and replaced the left outer tie rod end. It solved a steering problem that I’d noticed, but thought was normal because the noise increased so gradually over time. It’s this sort of preventive maintenance that I get from their experienced test drives that have kept me coming back.
A trip check includes all belts & hoses, brakes, fluid levels, antifreeze, exhaust, tires, steering, suspension and lights for less than $ 100. In 22 years I’ve never had a problem on a road trip. One warning however, when leaving your car, ask Jordan at the desk to call you if any repairs over $ 50 are needed so you’re not surprised by the bill. The shop has a very good AAA record.

Overall a bad experience for me.
Twice, they said my car was ready for pick up, I went after work (and after their hours) to get it and had it died on me driving it less than a mile.
On top of that, two weeks after everything was done with (car was fixed and payment was processed) they charged my card AGAIN! Like I wouldn’t notice a $ 500 charge on my card. They even told me that they discard my credit card information immediately after payment… so how come they still had my information two weeks later? hmm, i’d be carefull with your credit card information with them as well as them screwing you over on repairs.

After my first experience with Union Bay Garage being a positive one, I have to state I am a fan, but based on other reviews, I am tentative about forming too strong an opinion until I have bigger car issues. In which case, this garage will not be an automatic go-​to.
In any case, I had a broken side mirror and they remedied the misfortune quite satisfactorily. They got the $ 67 mirror the same day that I called and fixed it in about 2 hours the next day. The estimate was $ 110 — $ 155, which another garage told me was a really good price. Plus, for some reason, I’ve had this problem several times (!) and its about what I have paid before. Since the door panel had to come off, it was on the higher side of the estimate and $ 167 after tax. The customer service was fantastic.
I can recommend this place for cosmetic issues, but I would take other reviews into consideration for bigger issues.

They may do a good job at general repairs but for A/​C forget it!
I specifically asked when I brought my car in if it was possible to check for leaks before filling the system with the $ 90 per pound R-​12 freon, use some kind of dye? or something else?
Just to make sure we are not wasting time and money and polluting the environment?
«Sure, no problem» was the answer.
So, 2.5 lbs of R-​12 freon and $ 190 later, the A/​C does not work. The answer from the boss? The only way to check for leaks is to fill the system with freon; oh, and we can refer you to an A/​C specialist. Duh! So I just threw $ 190 away, you wasted your time and pumped another 2.5 pounds of ozone layer destroying freon into the atmosphere. Great job, guess you should have actually listened to my first question, eh?

Great first experience with a non-​dealership garage!
I have a 2002 Buick Century and it has been fairly low-​maintenance. A few months back a number of sensor lights came on– brake, low coolant, and low tire. The brake light scared me, but my coolant levels were fine (checked the reservoir) and I had plenty of air in my tires, so I took it to Union Bay on my girlfriend’s advice.
The lady at the front desk couldn’t have been nicer– very courteous, and also very knowledgeable about cars in general! They fixed all of my cars issues in timely manner (had my car back that afternoon), and the price seemed fair. When my low coolant light came on a day later, they attributed it to a faulty sensor– they asked me to bring it back in for a 20 minute visit once they got the part in, and sure enough, that did the trick!
I will absolutely be going back to Union Bay Garage for my vehicle needs.

It was a dark and rainy night…
…as I was driving back on I-​5 from Southcenter to Seattle, I saw a darkness ahead of me… to my horror I found both my headlights were DEAD!!! dun dun daaaaaaah…
70mph, rainy weather, busy commuter traffic, no headlights… i did noticed that my high beams still worked so I had to drive the 20 minutes with those on instead. (apologies to all those I blinded/​annoyed)
I was baffled as to why both the bulbs died at the same time, so I figured it was a fuse or something. I checked the fuse boxes and there was nothing wrong in either one. Called the dad to get his opinion, he said fuse, maybe the switch. hmm… no luck there.
I barely use my truck so I kept putting off bringing into a mechanic. Partly cause i’m poor and hate paying extremes amount of money on something i use less than once a week and partly because I moved here about a year ago and haven’t had to get anything on it fixed. It’s always kind of stressful trying to find a mechanic you can trust and rely on. Back East there was always a mechanic friend of a friend or a mechanic friend of my dad or even my mechanic dad that could do the work.
I finally caved one day after getting released early from work and searched a bit online for a mechanic. I looked on Unilocal,and looked on CarTalk’s website and I saw that Union Bay Garage had a bunch of good reviews on each site. It was in the UVillage area and I headed over there before I went to class. I figure if they needed to keep it overnight, I could just take the bus to class and then back home.
They got me right in immediately, (Tuesday afternoon, 330ish?), I grabbed my books and headed over to the Tully’s across the street. less than 45 minutes later I get a call and they said it was all fixed. Turns out it WAS just the headlights. 15 bucks for parts, 40 bucks for labor, It was reasonable because the headlights are mounted in the most awkward spot to get to behind the battery etc etc, and I wasn’t gonna be able to check em.
I am going to need a general tune up soon, so I will definitely be bringing my truck back to Union Bay Garage.

I’ll pretty much just agree with the previous reviewers. I went here a couple of months back when my beloved Subaru was making bad noises and losing power on hills. My father recommended the place to me and I called and talked to Jordan who made me feel immensely better after she explained in simple language what she thought was wrong with my car.
I brought it in a few days later and got a call saying that my front brakes were almost finished so I told them to go ahead and replace them, knowing that Union Bay wouldn’t jerk me around.
There’s something to be said for a garage where you can leave your car and walk (or bus) away knowing that everything is going to be ok and nobody is about to screw you over.

Agree with the other posts. Won’t up sell needless repairs and the work is done both speedily and competently.
HIGHLY recommended.