Shade Tree Garage

Shade Tree is a great find! They take care of our entire family's cars. They are honest, thorough, affordable and very friendly!

Incredibly friendly and accommodating staff. Skilled mechanics who have worked with me as to prioritizing the repairs needed on my car. SO GLAD I switched to shade tree from my previous mechanic! Thanks Shade Tree!

Shade Tree conducted inspections on both my Ford Ranger and Honda Civic at a reasonable price. Throughout the process Megan, John and Marge were extremely communicative, friendly and helpful. I will certainly be bringing future mechanical work to them in the future, and would recommend them to anyone needing a good mechanic in the area.

We have been using Shade Tree Garage since we moved to Morristown 12 years ago! We would not go anywhere else! The service is always excellent and they are extremely knowledgeable. John and the whole team are also really good people. This makes a difference to us! Services: Oil change, General repairs & maintenance

Don't take your car here for an inspection-- They charged $82 for it when it's free at the DMV. They didn't quote me a price at the beginning of service, then slapped the fee down at the end. Wish I'd have known better and not been so trusting. Shady indeed.

The display screen on my Audi A6 went completely dark. The Audi dealer in Mendham quoted $3,500 to replace the screen. I brought the car to Shade Tree and they determined the problem was faulty the wiring and not the screen. Jim rewired the system and I saved $3,000. The staff at Shade Tree is cordial, knowledgeable and most importantly professional. I highly recommend them. Thank you Shade Tree! Al Leonardi

John O'Connor and his senior Mechanic Jim are the "gray-haired" older automobile mechanical experts that I was looking for to work on my 1961 Mercedes-Benz 190SL. As many folks know, the COVID-19 virus has motivated many older/senior auto mechanics to retire, causing a shortage of mechanics who really know what they are doing on older foreign and domestic automobiles.

Both John and Jim, not only have gray hair, but are very knowledgeable and experienced with all aspects of these cars, specifically traditional carbureted engines, manual transmissions, drum brakes, etc. As importantly, they take the time to listen to their customers concerns and work closely with them. During the summer months of 2021, it has been a pleasure working with both of them to perform some much needed, complicated and time consuming work to keep my 60-year old roadster running properly and ensuring that it is also road safe.

For those who have older, special interest automobiles, don't trust your car to younger, less-experienced auto mechanics who might be using a trial-and-error process working on your car to learn. Go to Shade Tree Garage and find out for yourself.

Brought my car in for a problem. When I drove it out nothing on the dashboard was working. The speedometer, odometer, etc. were frozen in place. They told me they could try tomfix it but since they didnt have the computer codes, and Saab was out of business, that after charging over $1000 it still wouldn't work. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but this was the third time that something new was wrong as soon as i picked up the car. A friend just this week reported to me a similar problem.

I had a situation with my wife's car. Major problem that the dealer mechanic said would cost many thousands to fix. Shade Tree Garage gave it much closer consideration, and came up with a solution which repaired the car at almost no cost. This is at least the second time shade Tree has gone above and beyond to repair one of my vehicles and save me a lot of money in the process. I will continue to bring my cars to them. They put a lot of care into their work.

Thank you, Marge, Megan and Jim! This was my first visit to Shade Tree Garage. I was treated with simple respect and friendliness. Additionally, clear open communication with regard to the problems with my BMW. To be talked to as a valued customer is becoming rare these days. 100% thumbs up for Shade Tree and employees!

I had a few issues with my Jetta and thought I would give Shade Tree a try. They were quick, perfect and easy communication, and provided amazing value. My car is running like new. For all future needs, I will be coming here. Wonderful business, thank you so much. Services: General repairs & maintenance, Engine repair

Excellent service for my BMW 3 Series. Staff very professional and explained clearly the service needs and provided a written estimate for the work. Very neat shop and expansive work area. A good experience. Service: General repairs & maintenance

Great shop! Trust-worthy and dependable. John takes the time to answer all questions and explain in depth, going above and beyond to give you peace of mind.

Not good. Felt taken advantage of. 1. Threatened to charge me $400+ just for looking at the car (never was brought up until I was making a decision on the repair quote). 2. Also, the final bill was $1k more than the quoted repair (original quote was "worst case scenario" they said). 3. Next, they offered me a 5% cash discount, only to avoid honoring the full 5% once I brought the cash.

The place is a mess. Stains all over the 1980's carpet. Smells like greed. Dealership would have been cheaper. Reach out to me and I will be happy to send you the proof of all this via emails.

Pleasant people, great technicians, perfect execution on the extensive list of repairs for my BMW. For improvements, better selection of hard candies on the desk Marge! lol.

Shade Tree Garage is a local auto repair shop that provides an excellent level of service. The staff is knowledgable, professional, and organized. They anticipate situations prior to occurrence so that clients can be prepared. We appreciate the use of a rental car when necessary and a ride to / from work if requested. Their pricing is competitive and they offer incentives for return service. We highly recommend their services to others.

I've brought 2 cars to them for brake work and am very happy with the service, and entire experience. Booking an appointment is easy, communication is excellent, and there were no surprises. I'm very picky where I bring my car and am happy to have Shade Tree so close. I definitely recommend them if you need work done.

This is a very good repair shop, and honest. They did a great job on my brakes for a very fair price. Would recommend them without hesitation.

I would not go to any other garage. These folks are honest, professional and service oriented. Everything is explained thoroughly and options are provided. There are no "surprises" and you can always depend on them to go the extra mile. I highly recommend them for regular service and large repairs. Outstanding people.

We came here to have our car seats inspected and it was a fantastic experience. I left very confident about how to reinstall the seats and the ladies who helped us were so knowledgeable. They were super nice and not judgmental at all about how the seats were previously installed, they just wanted to share all of the car seat safety info they had! I'd definitely recommend anyone in the area to get their seats inspected here.

The program is run by volunteers so leave a donation if you are happy with this free service. I found their info on the nj.gov website and details of when they check car seats are: Hours: 8am - noon, 2nd Saturday of each month; 5pm - 8pm, 3rd Tuesday of each month For more information call: 973-540-9880

It's very hard to find auto mechanics that combine quality and honesty. I'm glad to know that Shade Tree is available to keep our cars running. Having a family owned business that quotes you the right job at the right price where you can talk to the owner is a much better experience than dealing with the big dealers.

Reading some of the other comments, I'm baffled by anyone who could give these guys a bad review. (Maybe someone has an ax to grind and is never satisfied?) I've been coming back to Shade Tree with several of my cars for many years and have had consistently great service. Yes, sometimes it costs more than I'd like to pay - who DOES want to spend money on car repairs? But, their prices are always competitive. And I never feel like I'm getting upsold on repairs I don't need. They've always been honest with me and they do know their stuff.

I will not return because they did not honor the quote given (the job did not change) and for a service they were more expensive than the dealership. I called and told them the exact repair that I needed. I knew what I needed. They quoted me a price better than the dealership. When I arrived they tried to talk me into doing a diagnosis to ensure that I was correct.

I declined because I didn't want to pay for a diagnosis. Well they called me after they had the car apart and told me it would be more than the original quote which now was a price match of the dealership, I agreed and asked them to do a fluid flush. They offered a quote that was $200 more than the dealership and when I told them it was more they stated that they had to drop the exhaust. I ended up going to the dealership for that service and they told me that they did not need to drop the exhaust.

I have used this garage for years. I started going because the owner is a parishioner at my church and had a reputation for being honest. I kept going back because I was generally happy with the service. Not anymore. I have heard it is under new ownership and, if so, it shows. Recently went because my wipers were finishing each cycle at the top of the windshield.

From research, this is normally a problem with the lynching and it needs to be reset. Not a huge issue. If the wipers wipe, it generally is not the wiper motor but it can be. Anyway, dropped it off to be looked at. Got a call that the problem was the motor (this despite them not being able to remove the plastic cover that protects the lynching and motor.) Also, I had some leaky values (about $600 to replace) and other assorted work (about $1,400 worth) not to mention the $650 for the wiper motor!

The serviceman thought the timing belt probably needed replacing as well (until he realized they did it last year.) Needless to say, I had them do the work on the wipers (since I would have been charged for some labor anyway) but that's it. I won't even slowdown as I drive by let alone go in again.

This place used to be great. They were family owned, honest and would never over charge for repairs or insist on work that wasn't needed. Now they are crooks. Two years ago, they laced me into several costly "repairs" over the course of the year and told me I'd have to go back in 3 months to replace something, a valve or something, otherwise my car would one day just blow up into flames while I was driving it, and i would die a fiery and charred death. Needless to say, I declined the repairs, never went back, did nothing about the "fire hazard" and a year later, my car still hasn't spontaneously blown up, and killed me by flames. Find an honest mechanic. These people just want your money, they don't care about repeat business.

These guys ripped me off. I brought my VW Golf TDI to this place almost a year ago, and they charged me almost $1500 for a repair that, at the dealership, cost me less than $500. If you have a VW to take in, do yourself the favor and take it to the dealership in Union. They're honest and they won't make unnecessary repairs.

Took my aging VW van to them to fix check engine light. While there I was told the tie bars on the front wheels had been installed badly, and they needed to be replaced. They said that the left tie bar had been installed on the right side and the right on the left. THIS is mechanically impossible, since both are marked L & R. After I paid to have the check engine light fixed, the asked me to sign a waiver that I drove the car at my own risk. Took the car back to my regular VW dealer, who said that the tie bars were installed correctly, and only a knuckle joint needed replacing, which they did for free. And the check engine light came back on while I drove 13 miles to the VW dealer. Not a good experience at all.

Finding an honest, helpful, and genuinely caring auto shop is a needle in a haystack these days. One day I hit a chunk of metal in the road that utterly destroyed a wheel. Having just moved to the area, I had no one to trust or ask for recommendations for a repair shop. I took a leap of faith and limped over to these guys hoping they wouldn't stick-it-in-the-rear and take advantage of my situation.

They showed nothing but kindness and compassion as I juggled getting a new tire, a new rim, insurance, and a busy work week. This family-owned operation bought a customer out of me, and have consistently impressed me in my subsequent visits. Reasonable prices, stellar service. Highly recommended.