Team-BHP - Mechanical Works & Repairs - Nakita Motors (Bandra West, Mumbai)

Products sold: Mechanical Work & Repairs

Services offered:

Mechanical repair of all types of vehicles except Fiat & Tata.

What I like:

I have used the services of Nakita Motors since 1998 when I owned a Maruti 800 and have used their services again recently for my 2005 Maruti Suzuki Swift after its warranty expired.
Can identify an issue in your car by just test driving it.
Mr. Joseph D’Souza is a very friendly guy and answers to the point with no nonsense. He takes the trouble to explain the issue and the hazards of it.
Will recommend the best and cheapest solution to the issue and is not one of those local mechanics/garages who will look for an opportunity to take you for a ride.
Never had to ever go back for the same problem again.
Always uses genuine parts.

What I don't like:

Garage is situated in a very narrow lane which could be an issue to park at times. Garage bay is very tiny. Accommodates just one car at a time.
Not open on Sundays.
Denting and painting jobs are outsourced.
Car washing given to the local petrol pump.

Pricing: Very reasonable and even if a bit expensive, the job is always worth the price.

Specialty / USP: Specializes in Maruti vehicles as Mr. Joe himself is an ex-Maruti employee and mechanic.

What I have bought from him: Got my front hubs of my Swift changed from him and it was a problem that he managed to identified on the spot which even the authorized services centre (Vitesse) couldn’t for months on end.

Contact Information

- Name of the contact person: Mr. Joseph D’Souza
- Phone numbers: 26458724 / 26416462
- Postal Address: 1st Carter Road, Chimbai Village, Opposite Dheval-Gange, Next to Municipal Pump House. Near Jogger’s Park. Bandra (West). Mumbai – 400050.
- Helpful landmarks / directions: Near Jogger’s Park & at the side of Mad-O-Wat Saloon.
- Email / Website: N/A
- Google Map : N/A

I was contemplating on taking my 800 to this garage for some time now for a decent tune job ,only i was hesitant as i live in Vile parle and this place is in Bandra.So a couple of weeks ago i take my car for a routine tune up job at some other place close to home only to find out the job was done pretty badly.

The car was idling erraticaly and the engine dying off during signal waits.So decided to give Nakita motors a shot.Went today in the morning after searching and driving for a while managed to find the garage.(Actually called up Mr Joe and i was not able to locate the place,he asked me to wait where i was ie in front of jogger's park , drove up to where i was waiting and guided me to his garage).

I showed him the car, and on checking the carb, he mentioned the secondary butterfly was busted and would cost around 1400-1600 bucks.Since i didn't wanted to spend so much on the carb for now i asked Joe to just do a proper setting of the carb and would get the butterfly job done later.He obliged without pressing me for going for a new butterfly.

When the job was finished the car felt absolutley smoooth and as good as knew.I have "never" been able to get such a beautiful job on the carb done over the past many years for my 800.The car is absolutely a delight to drive and i was almost jumping in joy.:D

Thanks to Epic for posting about such a excellent person to get my 800 fixed.Hats off to the team-bhp directory section.:thumbs up Mr Joe is truly a skilled and honest mechanic i have come across.

Epic , i even mentioned to Joe that i come all the way from Vile Parle to Bandra to get the carb fixed.He smiled and asked who sent me here.I was not able to give your name but i did mention i got his name from t-bhp.

Truly thanks a lot for the post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epic (Post 1917915)

Products sold: Mechanical Work & Repairs

Services offered:

Mechanical repair of all types of vehicles except Fiat & Tata.

What I like:

I have used the services of Nakita Motors since 1998 when I owned a Maruti 800 and have used their services again recently for my 2005 Maruti Suzuki Swift after its warranty expired.
Can identify an issue in your car by just test driving it.
Mr. Joseph D’Souza is a very friendly guy and answers to the point with no nonsense. He takes the trouble to explain the issue and the hazards of it.
Will recommend the best and cheapest solution to the issue and is not one of those local mechanics/garages who will look for an opportunity to take you for a ride.
Never had to ever go back for the same problem again.
Always uses genuine parts.

What I don't like:

Garage is situated in a very narrow lane which could be an issue to park at times. Garage bay is very tiny. Accommodates just one car at a time.
Not open on Sundays.
Denting and painting jobs are outsourced.
Car washing given to the local petrol pump.

I know him since 1987 and his name is Joe Parmar he left Enpak Motors and started his own workshop on road opp to his building where he stayed in Bandra, then he moved to bandra east opp provident office, Ilost track of him after that , he was at bandra east for quite some years, and there also he worked on roadside, he attended to many cars at a time those days, he used to do paint job also.
I was introduced to him by another mechanic and ex Enpac Motors in 1987 Mr, Owen who stayed at mahim but he migrated to gulf in 1990 or so.Mr.Owen also worked at his compound in mahim and stored his tool box in a old Ambassador car dicky which belonged to his dad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IQBAL VEERJI (Post 2124532)

Hi Iqbal,

I think you are talking about someone else. The owner of Nakita Motors is Joseph D'Souza and not Joe Parmar. He stays at Santacruz West and his brother, Deigo D'Souza stays at Bandra West. I believe you have confused him with someone else.

I visited Nakita today. I went there for my Alto's rear suspension. Wanted to take a 2nd opinion on whether to just install spacers or go in for higher rated springs like that of a Wagon R for my Alto.

Joe is technically extremely sound. He's got dedicated workers and they seem motivated. There are several people who visit him from far, and I too drove down from Borivali just to visit him at Bandra. His garage is near Joggers park, you just need to continue and take the road into the village. It's one of the first shops on the right. There's no board or indication, but you can find it easily using the attached map.

He seems extremely honest, technically sound and dedicated. These traits are hard to find in mechanics today.

There are only 2 downsides I feel:
1. his garage is pretty cramped. Somehow he manages to work on nearly 3 hatchbacks at a time
2. He's closed on Sunday, but so are many other workshops, so this may not be an issue for many.

Hi Guys,

Update - Given my baby 'Zen' to Joseph this morning for a full suspension overhaul.

Work to be done

1. Lower Arm Bushings
2. Struts
3. Coil Springs
4. Ball Joint
5. Rack
6. Axle (if required)
7. Spacers
8. Full tune up (tappet, throttle body, spark plugs, air filter)

I guess its going to be around 12k damages on the whole :)

He would be using Gabriel Struts.

Lets see how the car handles after this overhaul.

Next in line after this is a tyre upgrade. I'll post it on the tyre thread.

Mod's - If this post doesn't seem appropriate on this thread, probably may be moved to the 'Zen and the art of Maintaining it' thread.

I have been visiting Joe for many years now and would completely agree that he is one of the best when it comes to technical knowledge and the patience to explain the issues to inquisitive customers like us.

His ability to identify any problem quickly without much trial and error is a clear result of his in depth knowledge and no nonsense attitude.

I also agree that his workshop is a little small and hence i visit him only when there is an unidentifiable/critical issue with the cars which cannot be taken care of at other regular garages. He is a specialist for me.

Just to prove how helpful he is - I was somewhere in Ladakh and somehow managed to get network. My 4X4 GB of the gypsy was stuck in neutral and guess what i call Joe. He guided me on the phone and i opened up the GP removed the gear stick from the GB, slotted 2X4 with a screwdriver and was only then able to move my car forward.

Just got back my Civic within a day with a complete front suspension overhaul. With a little bit planning on my part Joe was able to deliver the car with the suspension job in just one day.I had dropped the car at 9:45 Am in the morning and got it back by 9:15 PM today itself.

I had given cash to Joe a couple of weeks ago to buy parts for the suspension in advance.A 3 member team worked on my car for the day to deliver the car on the same day.The job was done to my satisfaction and touch wood i have no complaints with the work. Joe did not even take many cars and asked his other customers to drop the vehicle the next day as he was working on my car for the day. Which garage or organized or even authorized workshop would be able to do this ? It's no wonder people come from far to Joe's garage.There are not many like Joe that's for sure.

Quote:

And man with soo much attitude

:Shockked:

Yes this is true i am afraid. Probably the man has changed. No longer my friendly and heck it was not even in my neigbourhood garage. His attitude changed when my car had repeated problems and i took it to him. Not that he fixed it wrong it's just the car got several issues which he found a pain to fix simply because he is more into Maruti's and less into Honda's. The latter are more of a problem for him. I had also sent a colleague and the guy on my recommendation went to him and he came back today with a fat bill of 10k..for a Wagon R service and some general repair. Anyways i avoid this person after he insulted me several times for bringing my Civic to him for repairs. All he had to say was "Sir i don't want to take this job" and not whatever he said to me. Funny earlier i was singing his praises and now i am stating otherwise. Life sure has a funny way of showing people's true colors.