Do note that this review is specific to their new "Bimmer Experts Reno" subsidiary. Wife went in with her BMW with a check engine light, coolant leak, and oil leak. Estimate came back higher than what the BMW factory mechanics estimated, despite that being the place where paychecks go to die. How is that possible? They do a lot of "double dipping" on labor. For example, say you need to replace the spark plugs and coils. With a coil-on-plug design, the coils have to come off in order to replace the plugs. As such, most honest mechanics would charge no additional labor since putting a new coil on or the old coil on is the same amount of work. But they bill 2 hours of labor for the plugs, 2 hours of labor for the coils - and at $130+/hour, that adds up quick. Now this isn't illegal - it's still quoting book for each repair. It's just dishonest and not in the customer's best interest. My wife is a "29" year old blond with no real automotive knowledge, so when she pulled up to the repair shop in her convertible, they saw moneybags and pounced. If she didn't have me look over the work estimate, she easily would have fallen for their scam. So if you do any BMW repair work with them, make sure to shop around or at least ask someone who knows BMWs whether their price quotes are reasonable. Otherwise, you could think you're saving money by avoiding the dealer, but actually end up paying significantly more. read more

Took my Ranger to them because one of my freeze plugs had fallen out of the block. They told me that there was some leaking coming from the front end of the engine as well, and that they needed to replace the gasket around the timing chain cover. $1400 later, when I got it home it was leaking oil like a sieve. Took it to another auto repair place to see where it was leaking, and they told me that all of the bolts holding the timing chain cover were loose, and one had almost fallen out. Also, when I picked up my truck it was 20 degrees out, and my drivers side window was all the way down all night long. I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy! read more

We have been taking our older cars to Jim for decades. Best kept secret in Sparks. They are like family now, keeping our tired, older, used cars running deep into the 180,000+ plus range. And, the prices are *very* reasonable, with rock-solid advice. They won our business years ago, when our son's 1999 truck was having electrical problems & hard starting - a worn battery cable. Replaced at no charge. They can get busy, and unfortunately they cannot bring back crappy cars from the dead. They got one of our sedans to give us 250k+ miles, when it finally passed. And, they don't do foreign cars, other than Toyota-Nissan, I think (worth a call). Wouldn't you know our daughter bought a Fiat! No dice. read more

Not a super bad experience but definitely not good either. Had my tie rods replaced and they quoted me a good price. When I came to pick it up, Jim was pretty gruff and grumpy with me and told me that there was a huge laundry list of things wrong with my car, some were correct that I knew about but most of them were not true. When I got the car home and went underneath the car to check out their work, I found that the legs on two cotter pins were not spread out and were pointing right at my tire. They are sharp and are less than 1/4 inch away from the tire. I felt lucky that I caught that before I had a blow out on the freeway. The next day I was taking off the tires to adjust my brakes and found that EVERY lug nut was barely tight. I got them off with only light pressure with one hand. I am actually astounded that they didn't come off just driving it home from Mooney's. A few days later, I took the car to Les Schwab to have a front end alignment. The mechanic told me that one of the new tie rod bolts was not tightened down, which could have caused a problem but they tightened it for me. I won't be going back. read more

Vehicle Acceleration issue with 2003 Buick Century Not Solved/Premature Wear of Front Brakes Got service done on a vehicle earlier in the year and the mechanic tried to act as a middle man for outsourcing to a 3rd party. Another issue I had was with a brake job where the brakes smoked after service was performed which possibly lead to hot spotting on the rotors considering I just had work done elsewhere only to find out that my rear brakes were out of adjustment and that the brand new rotors/brakes I purchase from Mooney's for the front brake job were no good. On the vehicle acceleration issue, the mechanic thought it was a component on the vehicle which required a computer re-flash. When I spoke to the person that I was referred to, he was uncertain that a computer re-flash would fix the problem. What my wife suggested after all was said an done is that we try using Techron fuel additive upon refueling on an empty tank and we did two treatments which seemed to correct the issue after being out money for replacing components & doing a computer re-flash at an alternate vendor based on the advice from the mechanic. In regards to the brake job, I think the mechanic just looked at the front brakes and never did a full brake inspection so I do question that but I think all I did say was look at the front brakes so who knows and uncertain if my brakes smoking due to so called premium parts not being properly cleaned off was also another cause of premature wear. Anyway for the amount I paid for a brake job, that same amount of money got my rear brakes adjusted and another set of rotors/brake pads for the front where everything is now properly adjusted and I do feel a difference. My main concern now is about Mooney Automotives expertise when it comes to diagnosing complex issues such as a vehicle acceleration issue and this goes for any repair shop in town that will try and take you for hours of diagnostic work when all that was really needed was to clean everything out internally with fuel additive because what my computer was doing was adjusting for that and increasing the RPM's which caused the vehicle to accelerate under its own power leading to braking against acceleration. Problem is the mechanic at Mooney's failed to understand that relationship and what I was paying for was that mechanic's years of expertise only to find out that he failed to diagnose the problem. Yes the mechanic I was dealing with might have seemed helpful and nice but my wife ended up paying out of pocket to finally get the brakes addressed yet again and I was initially out $700 out of my own money following what could be viewed as bad advice from the mechanic. Frankly in northern Nevada after speaking with other garages about my issues, no one could solve my acceleration issue on an automatic and it never occurred to anyone to try a $15-$30 remedy. So yes that is why Mooney's Automotive gets one star. As far as the brakes are concerned, I've never heard of brakes smoking before and did witness that. Brakes smoking was not normal based on my experience as a car owner. And again part of it is my fault if I told the mechanic not to do a full brake inspection and focus on the front brakes. So just a heads up that be careful where you take your vehicle and that goes for most repair shops in town that couldn't give me decent advice as to what I could try on my own in regards to a vehicle acceleration issue. So I won't be dealing with Mooney's Automotive anymore and initially felt I found someone I could trust. read more

When I moved from rural california I looked for a place for car repair. I went in for a smog certificate and had an issue that they fixed. Recently I had a transmission problem. Because of the excellent customer service I recieved before I did not hesitate to go back to mooney's. I have delt with Jim primarily and cant say enough positive about it. Straight forward no bs above the table friendy customer service. I will always take my car here and refer others. read more

My GF was trying to find an honest, reputable auto shop in town to have her vehicle diagnosed due to a check engine light. She left her vehicle there all day and all they did was reset the code and drove it to see if the light would come back on, which it did -- duh. On top of that, they smogged it which, obviously, gave a failed test. Unbelievable! So my GF is out $90+ for something we already did in the first place! It was a miserable waste of time and money. We are never coming back again! read more

I took my car to Mooney's for a second opinion after getting an outrageous estimate at Sunshine Automotive. Turns out that Sunshine Automotive was right about most of the repairs that needed to be made, but their estimate was double what Mooney estimated. The only problem was that I still could not afford it. So, Jim came up a solution for me. He told me which repairs could wait a bit until I could save uo more money. Jim is a very pleasant gentleman and I really felt like I was taken care of! I will definitely bring my car back here, and I wil recommend Mooney's to everyone who is in need of car repairs. Thanks again, Jim! read more

I took my old beat up 95 toytoa 4runner there to see if they can locate and fix an oil leak from the motor. I took it in and the next day, they had it all fixed. It was great cause Jim poured UV sensitive dye into the motor and had me come in for check ups to see if the motor was leaking any more fluids. Its good old fashion service they provide. I am impressed and recommend anyone to have their vehicle fixed there. There was no hassle like other shops and they did have fair prices. read more

Jim and his staff are all well trained and helpful and very friendly. I have been going to him for auto repairs and smog for over 20 years. I am always treated fairly and quickly. I would recommend Mooneys to anyone for their auto repairs and smog service. read more

I use to go to this company for repairs and work to my Buick Rendezvous but the last time I went to have a headlamp bulb replaced the shop owner broke the headlamp assembly trying to remove it and purposely did not inform me and glued it back together hoping I wouldn't notice. I discovered the broken headlamp and the fact that is was glued before leaving the shop and after having already paid for the replacement cost of the bulb. This shop is dishonest and cannot be trusted for any type of repairs! Stay away from this company! I confronted the shop owner about the broken headlamp and his response to me was that "he broke it and had forgotten to mention it to me!"...UNBELIEVABLY DISHONEST! read more

Came into town with coolant leak. Jim assessed the problem was the radiator. Replaced in a timely manner with fair price. Great customer service. Wish they were in Oregon. read more