Allston Auto Repair

I have been bringing my cars to Ming and recommending him for over 10 years. He always explains the repairs to me, which is extremely important, as far as I'm concerned. He's even the one who told me when it was time to retire my last car rather than put more money into it. If that's not honest, I don't know what is! I never have any reservations about recommending Ming to friends and family.

I have gone to Ming's for 5 years and recommended many co-workers to him. So far everyone -- including me -- has been very satisfied. His garage is small and doesn't have a place for you to even sit; he will have one of his guys drive you/pick you up if you live near for free. He is very understanding of your situation; he will quickly remember you by your name and everything about your car(s). I found Ming's from Cars.com and have not gone anywhere else since day one. Best recommendation I've gotten anywhere!!!

After getting a 2600 estimated repair bill for transmission fixes for my 2000 Passat from Boston VW, I decided to try Ming's Auto Repair. They diagnosed a water leak which was causing my transmission control sensor to malfunction. They fixed the water leak, dried the transmission control sensor and saved me $2300. Separately, Boston VW quoted $1500 to replace my timing belt. Ming's crew replaced the timing belt and other parts for much less. Friendly, honest, and competent service. They even offer shuttle rides to Harvard or Central Square.

A friend recommended Ming to me and I have been very happy. Ming gives great service, does a great job at giving you an upfront explanation of what is going on with the car and what he suggests needs to be done and he is reasonably priced. I would certainly recommend him to others.

Ming's been working on my VW Passat for several years. I took my car there upon the recommendation of a friend, which turns out to have been a fantastic recommendation. I subsequently had taken my car to the dealership for a recall repair, at which time the dealership indicated I needed to have other repairs to the tune of $1200. Ming did the repairs for just over $700. I only had one instance where a repair wasn't fixed the first time (heater system). I took it back over a year later when the heater issue resurfaced. Even though it was over a year later, Ming didn't charge me any labor charges to fix the heater system. I wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone as an honest, highly qualified superb mechanic.

I took my cars to Ming's for 10 years and always got quality care and repair there. The only reason I don't go there much anymore is that I moved across the river and I'm in a Mfg. warrantied car at the moment.I've been to garages that use shady methods and prey on people's ignorance of automotive matters to bleed money out of them. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. If Ming's tells you there's a problem they are being honest and that's a big deal when you're looking for a good shop.

Ming communicates very well with his customers and you feel like you'll get an honest assessment of what is wrong and whether it's critical to fix or not. I once brought in my car w/an issue and Ming alerted me that I could probably bring it back to the dealership I had purchased it from to get the repair done for free. Not only did he pass up the opportunity to make himself some money, but he was right, the repairs at the dealership were free. I also like the fact that Ming is very responsive over email and is able to send me a PDF of my estimate online - makes the process much easier than trading phone calls and taking notes over the phone.

Ming is reliable and honest. He has done excellent work on my car. He's very good about pointing out other things that could be addressed, while at the same time being very open about what can wait a while. I trust him, and he has never had that condescending attitude that some mechanics take. He also offers periodic deals on routine maintenance, such as a "winterizing" package.

I took my car to Ming's recently to fix a plethora of problems it was having. Ming called me as soon as he looked at it and identified one problem that was probably worth more than the car to fix. He let me know this, and then went on to fully analyze every other problem I was having, and informed me about them just to let me know what was wrong. He gave me great advice (that it would be less expensive to get a new car), and then charged me nothing for all the time he had spent! He explained everything and truely went out of his way to make my life as easy as possible.

I used to work right next to Mings Auto Repair many years ago and I continue to use him after I have moved many times. There are many mechanics a lot closer to where I live and more convenient to get to by public transport/walking but I take the time to go to Ming because of his outstanding service. I trust him like a member of the family. I ask him a lot of questions just because I like to know what is going on but I don't doubt his personal integrity or the quality of his work in the least. Most of the time I take it in for an oil change I tell him do just do what ever else he thinks needs to be done and unless it costs over $100 don't bother calling me. He treats the car like his own and knows when to make the judgement call of whether a repair can hold out till the next oil change or whether to use a generic component or an original. He intelligently advises me on the tradeoffs between paying the extra money for quality and not throwing money just to get a brand-name. Those are tough choices for a car novice like me but most of the time I just go with what ever he says he would have done for his own car. At my last visit he even talked me out of doing a repair that I was paranoid about but he assured me I could hold off till my next oil change. Ming is awesome and I would recommend him to anyone. Like the other posters say, he does not advertise but has plenty of business. And the location is not great for public transport but if you schedule an appointment he will drop you off to anyplace nearby (I live in Newton and he drops me there). If you want to check it out, he also now has a web site: http://www.mingsautorepair.com/ - Mel