Steve is experienced and honest. Provides quick reliable work. AutoZone said my alternator is bad. Steve tested it and it was fine. He saved me $1000 repair I didn't need. read more

I have taken my cars to Steve at Top Notch for over 16 years . Hes never been anything but honest and helpful. I would trust him 100% . I recommend him to EVERYONE that asks if anyone knows a good , cheap mechanic in Tampa. Hands down the kind of mechanic you thank your lucky stars you have. read more

Knowledgeable, friendly staff at reasonable prices. They operate in a timely manner and always get the job done.

This has been my favorite auto repair shop for 10 years ! Since I moved here They don't just offer honesty and quality work They are very convenient, very dependable, I have always received Quick Service, They know Advanced Auto Repair, Also they are very personal to work with. I would absolutely refer them to any of my friends and family members or anyone who needed Auto Repair assistance !!! read more

Great service, my family and I have used Steve several times over the past 5 years, he's worked on 3 Corvettes for us, two C-3s and a C-5 that each had different issues (vacuum and electrical) that no one else could seem to figure out how to repair them, not only did he repair them correctly, that once he did, the issues never came back for any of them, he's also did an A/C repair on one of our other cars for $180.00 after another shop gave my daughter a price of $800.00, saving us $620.00 on just one repair alone. He know his stuff and his staff seems to know theirs. Well Pleased, 5-Stars ***** read more

I just wanted to take the time to give Top Notch Auto and Steve, the owner, the kudos they overwhelmingly deserve. I had the good fortune of finding out about this shop many (20 or so) years ago when I was asking around for a good, honest mechanic. Whenever I move to a new location, I make it a practice to ask around about auto mechanics to find a good, honest mechanic who provides a good value (get what you pay for and is often priced much better than standard shops - especially the franchise guys). From day one, he has provided the best services at the best prices! Before I wrote this review, I read the three other reviews already on here and I can attest they are all 100% spot on. Even though I don't live in Tampa now, I still have family that does and when I am asked about automotive repair/care, this is the first and only place I recommend. To put things in perspective, I understand auto maintenance and repair as I used to do my own back in the day. But as automotive care has become more complicated and my time to deal with these things personally has become less, I have become more appreciative of those like Steve and Top Notch Auto who provide a great value. This is the first review of this kind I have ever done and did this out of the appreciation of the honest work he has done for me, my family and friends over the years. He stays busy and deserved so. But, from my experience you would be hard pressed to find a better auto mechanic in the area. Keep up the great work!!! read more

In addition to this review, I had a bad experience using Steve to fix my BMW's a/c system. Look for my other review. This review is about how my father decided to use Steve recently to have the valve cover gaskets done on his Mercedes at "top notch" .. I am very sensitive to smoke and was driving his car after it was supposedly repaired and I could smell the smoke from oil dripping off the engine. My father took it back to Steve and Steve said that it was fine and sent my father on his way. I decided to take it to Mercedes of Tampa and had it checked because I didn't trust Steve and was physically affected by the oil burning.. I followed the car into the back at the Mercedes dealership and had the tech show me where it was leaking from the gaskets while it was up on the rack. It was hard to see unless looking at it from under the car at the back of the valve covers. My father brought it back to Steve to have it re-done under Steve's repair warranty and he didn't do it right a second time. I brought it back to Mercedes a second time and it was still leaking, he said he would do it a third time and it still wasn't done right so we eventually had it done at Mercedes.. Again, I followed the car to make sure there was no foul play on Mercedes' part. Steve is either incompetent, a crook, or both. Don't waste your time trying to save a few bucks because time is money and your time and health are the most important things in this world.. COULDN'T WRITE A SECOND REVIEW ABOUT ANOTHER REPAIR SO THIS IS A SECOND ISSUE. Worst repair shop you'll go to.. Brought it to Steve after freon leaked out of my BMW and the air was blowing warm. He filled it with freon, put die in it and said he saw no leaks. Because of this I decided to keep the car and put some money in to the suspension. About a month later, the air was blowing warm again. He told me it was a heat exchange valve,charged me for a repair and said the a/c was not leaking. A month later the air was blowing warm again. He filled it up again and probably put in too much and the freon leaked out in a cloud through the dash about 5 minutes after I left his shop. He then said it was the evaporator, he replaced the evaporator and cleaned the other a/c parts with something very harsh.. and when I drove it afterward, my entire mouth was bone dry.. Made him buy the car from me after that because I could no longer tolerate what was bothering my nose, mouth and throat. For about three months I was getting dizzy driving the car because he wasn't fixing the a/c and was probably breathing freon coming through the vents read more

My daughter Mazda Tribute recently started to run a little rough. She was referred to Top Notch by a friend so she took it to them. The owner , Steve was very nice and said it was a coil on one of the cylinders that was bad and replaced it, It still ran rough and he apologized and said he had put the new one on the wrong coil so had to keep it another day to switch it. As my daughter was going out of town for a few days I had to pick her car up. So Friday afternoon I picked it up, paid the bill and left. I started the car and noticed that it as still running a little rough, left and got on the road and it was very noticeably really rough. I immediately called Steve to tell him and since he was closed for the weekend we agreed I would bring it back on Monday which I did. We did not hear back from him Monday or Tuesday so Wednesday after my daughter had returned she called to see if her car was ready. Steve proceeded to tell her that her engine was blown up. He had taken it to run errands and see how it ran and as he sat on a "hill" (here in Florida??) it started to make loud noises. After returning to his shop he claimed it was 4 quarts low on oil. When she asked him what she should do he told her to set it on fire. After getting over the shock of what an how he said it to her she called another mechanic (who was the husband of her hair dresser) to asked what she needed to do. She then arrange to have it towed to his shop which was on the other side of Tampa. After taking a quick look at it he checked around to see what a used engine would cost but also took hers apart to see what real damage had been done. Turns out it was the timing chain. He replaced it and while it was torn apart replace various gaskets and some of the other coils that could be done while engine was torn down as prevention of any future issues. When she picked up the car it is running perfectly plus it was cleaned inside and out like it was detailed. Sorry do not have the name of this mans shop but as soon as I get it I will write a great review about him. Steve's Top Notch Automotive is so far from "top notch" that it should be illegal to call it that. If you do go there that a look at the garage and his office as it will tell you a lot about his work. This is once case where you can judge a book by its cover. read more

Steve has been taking care of my family's and extended family's vehicles for over 10 years. He is consistently dependable and his prices are always fair. He has gone the extra mile for us many times. My last experience with him went like this. I was out driving on my day off and my car started acting like it was going to die. I called him up and he told me to drive right over. I made it to his shop (just barely). He made time to look at it right away and found the problem almost immediately. He wanted to keep it overnight since he needed to order parts for it. But when I explained to him it would be inconvenient for me to pick it up another day because I get off work after 8 PM, he hustled up the parts delivery and got my car back to me before the end of the day. Super Awesome! He is really the best! and I couldn't believe the great price he gave me. It's really great to know a mechanic I can trust. read more