About Godwin Automotive

Fifty Years & Counting on Godwin Avenue

If you've lived in Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, Midland Park, or Waldwick for any length of time, you know the shop at 178 Godwin Ave. For more than fifty years, Joe Smolinski has taken care of cars here, through decades of Bergen County commutes, teenagers' first cars, and neighbors who kept coming back because Joe told them the truth and charged them fairly. That kind of reputation has been built one honest estimate at a time. Soon, the keys are being passed to Neil Amaral.

From One Family Shop to Another

Neil grew up in a shop not unlike this one. His father opened an auto repair business in Harrison, NJ in 1978, and after graduating from Drew University in 2003, Neil went to work there. Cleaning cars. Parking customers' vehicles. Filing parts receipts. Running to the DMV. He wanted to learn every corner of the business, and he didn't want to be known around the shop as the owner's son.

He worked his way up to General Manager. Along the way, he spent his spare hours in the bays with the technicians, learning to diagnose problems, inspect vehicles, and understand why a failing part makes a particular noise. In 2016, the family business was named New Jersey Used Car Dealer of the Year by DealerRater, and the Township of Lyndhurst presented it with a Commendation for its service to the community.

Neil later spent years on the franchise dealership side, including as Used Car Manager at a Volvo store in Summit, where he oversaw technicians, a service writer, and a sales team and helped build one of the top Certified Pre-Owned operations in the country. That's where he saw the industry from the inside and decided he'd rather run a shop the way Joe has been running this one.

Neil watched too many drivers pay nearly $100 more per hour in labor at a dealership service lane, sometimes to have their car worked on by a technician still finishing trade school, while assuming a master mechanic was under the hood. We'd rather show you than tell you. 

A car is the second-largest purchase most households ever make. Protecting that investment is the whole job.

Come See Us

We're family-owned and operated; our technicians are ASE certified, and we service everything mechanical. You'll be offered a shuttle ride or the option to utilize after-hours drop-off. Plus, financing is available when the timing is tough. Every repair carries our 12-month / 12,000-mile warranty on parts and labor.

Stop by 178 Godwin Ave in Wyckoff, NJ, or give us a call.