Houston European Auto Repair

As always the experience was great. The staff is friendly and professional. The best thing about BAR tuning is,they always get the job done right. Mike is great at diagnosing the problem and getting it fixed without going through multiple costly steps before eventually getting to the real issue. It took me years of horrible experiences at dealerships before I found BAR. The search for a great shop is over. Thanks Mike.

BAR Tuning is a European auto repair / tuner / life saver shop located in Houston. Similar to another review here, I recently relocated to Texas from Florida looking for a reputable shop to fix what I thought was bad CV-Joints or Axles. After searching Google and visiting the APR (Performance Parts Manufacturer) site, I found BAR Tuning as a authorize dealer. I called them up and spoke to Clint and with my usual cautious "I'm not ready to get ripped off attitude" I asked if they could fix CV joints and how much would it cost. He was patient and responded in a kind manner stating that they would need to see the car and diagnose the issue in order to determine if and what needed to be replaced. I drove over and they did exactly as stated which was pull the car in the bay and onto the lift to examine the axles. After looking everything over the owner Mike came out to introduce himself and asked me to go for a ride with him to confirm the noise that I was hearing. We drove about 50 yards and he explained that the issue is with the wheel bearing hub. He showed me the exact part needed in order to resolve the problem along with the cost to complete the repair. Zero up selling and absolutely no gimmicks by Mike or anyone at the shop. Once the parts were delivered to the shop, the work was completed in a short period of time. When dealing with people, I am able to easily determine who's being genuine and who's not. Without a doubt this is one of the most trustworthy places I have ever visited for service. Mike's knowledge about general automotive is extremely vast, but his tuner knowledge is unparalleled to any other that I have spoken to in the industry. After having the maintenance issues resolved I advised that I will be heading back for upgrades.It's extremely easy to write a book about BAR Tuning, and how unbelievable their quality of service and work ethics are compared to other shops. However nothing will do this place justice except recommending someone to experience the same as I have.

Here's my story... I moved to Houston from Hawaii about 2 weeks ago. Somewhere along the 10 between CA and TX, I hit my 40k mile mark. Having spent countless nights reading VWVortex to prepare myself for the upcoming services and issues one would expect in owning a European car, I knew this service was crucial. I spent most of my first week here Yelping and scanning forums for a good shop to get the work done. My first stop is the dealership, where I am quoted upwards of $490 for what is ultimately just an oil change, the DSG transmission flush would cost me another $400. Luckily, I met a few Houstonian's who pointed me in a few directions. One of them HIGHLY recommended BAR Tuning, specifically the owner, Mike Staley. At this time, I had already set up an appointment at a different shop. I call Mike and talk with him briefly about what was needed. From a simple phone call you really get an idea of how friendly and helpful this guy is. It was very refreshing in comparison to the various other shops I spoke with. He explains to me the procedure for the 40k service INCLUDING the DSG service (I like this guy already), requested to see the car before he could quote me a price, gave me a time frame and set up an appointment for the following morning.Judgement day. I jump in my car and head over to BAR Tuning. Which might I add, is easy to find! I enter this very clean, furnished office and am greeted by the most friendly staff I've ever met at a tuning shop. They check out the car and determine what is required, explain it to me, and give me a price. I'm still a newbie to the whole VW scene but I've been in to cars for a while so I know when someone is telling me the truth. Mike Staley is definitely an honest guy who really cares about his customers. He gave me my options; what needs to be changed and what doesn't. The price was astronomically less than the dealer price, but slightly higher than the original shop I was going to go with. This increase was understandable because we went with premium oil and that definitely upped the price for good reason. The DSG fluid and filter replacement was a big deal for me and Mike proved to be a pro at that. The guys replaced the fluid and filter, and then took it step further to recalibrate the DSG - something the dealer and prob a bunch of other shops won't do for you. Mike kept me really involved in the whole process so I knew what was going on and I could clearly see them working on it through the shop window.After I left, I could immediately sense the difference with the oil quality and the DSG service. Everything just seemed smoother. I am really thankful for Mike, Clint and everyone else at BAR Tuning. They're really great. They gave me a bunch of pointers on what to do with the car in the future, what to do in Houston, and just really kept me entertained with conversation while I waited. I definitely recommend BAR Tuning for anyone with a Euro. These guys know what they're doing! I'm definitely going to them for my next service, and so forth. Hopefully for an APR chip in the future as well. :)

Excellent Service and Quality Repair! Bartuning will provide you with excellent service at a fair price. Look them up on Facebook or just stop by and visit the shop. They are not your typical automotive repair shop. They are a dedicated group of enthusiastic guys that enjoy working on European cars. Highly recommend.

Great place I took my car here after I took it to a different shop and they had it for 3 weeks and didn't fix anything. I had a bad electrical problem and he fixed the whole problem in 3 days. I highly recommended this place.

BARTuning is an awesome shop full of honest work and integrity. My brother has had his modded VW tuned there for the longest time with fantastic service so I took my BMW there to get a problem fixed. Sure enough the problem was diagnosed and fixed quickly at a very reasonable price. I will ALWAYS take my precious ride there for any issues.

My wife took her truck to another shop with a exhaust leak from a possible cracked exhaust manifold on one side, but it turned out that the exhaust leak was from a broken bolt. The suggested fix was to take the head off and drill out the bolt, with the kit of $1,800. I took the truck to Bar Tuning and it turned out that there was a exhaust leak on both sides. The Bar Tuning was able to use a left handed drill bits to back out all of the broken bolts, without touching the head. In fact, the bolts were removed, exhaust manifolds machined, put in new hardware, replaced front breaks (upgraded rotors and pads), and spark plugs, for less than the suggested repair at the first shop.An added bonus was that the work was documented with pictures and posted, for review on the Internet.

The only reason I'm giving this four stars and not five is that I can't completely compare this place to any other just yet as I've only taken advantage of their pre-purchase inspection service, but let me tell you that it was a great experience thanks to Mike (a surprisingly friendly and outgoing owner) and his crew.My roommate decided to take a used Mercedes here before agreeing to buy it and Mike took us for a test drive, raised it up and inspected it himself along with another of his employees, brought us under the car and pointed out a few things, gave his opinion, and helped my roommate save around around $800 that was knocked off the final sales price once we showed BAR's documentation. Not to mention it gave my roommate some peace of mind that someone so passionate about cars gave a pretty glowing recommendation despite some minor issues. This comfort cost $115.Even though we didn't have any intricate service done, I must note that Mike seems very detail oriented and takes great pride in is work; I say this because while we were waiting for our turn I witnessed him take part in pretty much every other customers' service routine in some way. In addition, while we were being rung up and he was making notes on our bill, he had to quickly rush off and leave the task to his front office clerk because he needed to approve of a repair before releasing it to the customer.Admittedly my experience was limited, but I thought Mike's enthusiasm deserved some recognition. I'll update this review when I have some more encounters with BAR Tuning.

Took my GLI to them for a timing belt and also had them update my APR tune. Car was done and ready to go as promised. Afterwards I got a CEL so I took it back and they helped me troubleshoot even though it turned out not to be related to the work they did.

I highly recommend everyone purchasing a used car to get a pre-purchase inspection check, especially at BAR Tuning for european cars. I was in desperate need of getting a 2nd opinion of a used Jetta I was thinking of buying and thank goodness for the great yelp reviews, I called and took the car to Mike. They advertise that they work with integrity and honesty and I can tell you that Mike is definitely one of the most honest mechanics I've met and I knew that I could trust his judgment and expertise after him giving me advice on Volkswagen and about the used car I brought to him. I would have saved myself thousands of dollars if I didn't go to BAR Tuning. Mike and his staff immediately could tell the amount of damage the used jetta had gone through, all the way from a rear ended collision to the paint job. I was really thankful because I would have never caught some of the details he saw on the car - only because he knows so much about volkswagens and have worked on them.So any european car owners and those looking to buy used cars, BAR Tuning is the place to go without feeling ripped off or skeptical. Don't forget to call and make an appointment!