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JH Barkau & Sons Inc

(1,394 reviews)
Visit JH Barkau & Sons Inc
Sales hours: 8:00am to 7:00pm
Service hours: 7:30am to 5:00pm
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Sales Service
Monday 8:00am–7:00pm 7:30am–5:00pm
Tuesday 8:00am–7:00pm 7:30am–5:00pm
Wednesday 8:00am–7:00pm 7:30am–5:00pm
Thursday 8:00am–7:00pm 7:30am–5:00pm
Friday 8:00am–7:00pm 7:30am–5:00pm
Saturday 8:00am–4:00pm 7:30am–11:30am
Sunday Closed Closed
2025 state dealer award
View 18 awards
2025 state dealer award 2024 state dealer award 2023 state dealer award 2016 state dealer award 2015 state dealer award 2014 state dealer award 2013 state dealer award
2025 consumer dealer award 2024 consumer dealer award 2023 consumer dealer award 2022 consumer dealer award 2021 consumer dealer award 2020 consumer dealer award 2019 consumer dealer award 2018 consumer dealer award 2017 consumer dealer award 2016 consumer dealer award 2015 consumer dealer award

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(815) 599-1598 (815) 599-1598

Inventory

See all 265 vehicles from this dealership.

About our dealership

This seller has been on Cars.com since March 2004.
Since 1952 J.H. Barkau & Sons has stood behind our large selection of used vehicles. We are a customer focused and a family owned business. Our sales staff does not believe in pressuring our customers. Instead we want to earn your business by making sure each and every single one of our customers can find something that is right for them on our lot.
We have been voted "Best In Region" for the 19th Year in a row by local newspaper readers and named Dealer Rater Illinois Used Car Dealer of the Year for three straight years.
Voted "Best in the Region" for 19 years in a row!

Service center

Phone number (815) 599-1598

Service hours

Monday
7:30am–5:00pm
Tuesday
7:30am–5:00pm
Wednesday
7:30am–5:00pm
Thursday
7:30am–5:00pm
Friday
7:30am–5:00pm
Saturday
7:30am–11:30am
Sunday
Closed

Meet our employees

Reviews

(1,394 reviews)

A dealership's rating is based on all of their reviews, with more weight given to recent reviews. Includes reviews of JH Barkau & Sons Inc from DealerRater.

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Good people to deal with.

Good people to deal with. Thank you Nils S and Jim B for making this deal

Good people to deal with.

Good people to deal with. Thank you Nils S and Jim B for making this deal

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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Joe was great to work with, especially being our first

Joe was great to work with, especially being our first experience with this dealership. The owner came over to thank us after the purchase. We would certainly do business there again. They had want we wanted based off Cars.com and the process was smooth from start to finish. Joe was never pressuring us to make a decision. 10/10 would recommend…

Joe was great to work with, especially being our first

Joe was great to work with, especially being our first experience with this dealership. The owner came over to thank us after the purchase. We would certainly do business there again. They had want we wanted based off Cars.com and the process was smooth from start to finish. Joe was never pressuring us to make a decision. 10/10 would recommend…

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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Nils always gets us what we want at the best deal.

Nils always gets us what we want at the best deal. We appreciate your honesty and willingness to go the extra for us.

Nils always gets us what we want at the best deal.

Nils always gets us what we want at the best deal. We appreciate your honesty and willingness to go the extra for us.

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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DO NOT, I repeat do not buy a car from these people….

DO NOT, I repeat do not buy a car from these people….straight cons artists and don’t give a sh** about their customers. Really bad customer service and they only care about one thing! That money

DO NOT, I repeat do not buy a car from these people….

DO NOT, I repeat do not buy a car from these people….straight cons artists and don’t give a sh** about their customers. Really bad customer service and they only care about one thing! That money

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 1.0
  • Does not recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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Nils always knows what we are looking for even when we

Nils always knows what we are looking for even when we aren’t sure. Always very helpful.

Nils always knows what we are looking for even when we

Nils always knows what we are looking for even when we aren’t sure. Always very helpful.

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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Always a large inventory to choose from from.

Always a large inventory to choose from from. Great friendly staff that goes that extra mile.

Always a large inventory to choose from from.

Always a large inventory to choose from from. Great friendly staff that goes that extra mile.

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
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Good service and friendly staff.

Good service and friendly staff. Tim was good with making sure I got the best deal.

Good service and friendly staff.

Good service and friendly staff. Tim was good with making sure I got the best deal.

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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This is my third purchase from JH Barkau.

This is my third purchase from JH Barkau. My experience with the dealership has always been good. Everyone is helpful and kind, making it a smooth experience.

This is my third purchase from JH Barkau.

This is my third purchase from JH Barkau. My experience with the dealership has always been good. Everyone is helpful and kind, making it a smooth experience.

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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We are incredibly grateful to everyone at Barkau for

We are incredibly grateful to everyone at Barkau for their help in finding a reliable and safe vehicle for our family. A special shout out to Nils for excellent communication and helping our family for the many years he has! Thank you!

We are incredibly grateful to everyone at Barkau for

We are incredibly grateful to everyone at Barkau for their help in finding a reliable and safe vehicle for our family. A special shout out to Nils for excellent communication and helping our family for the many years he has! Thank you!

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 5.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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We honestly were generally very happy with the experience

We honestly were generally very happy with the experience and vehicle. We were also thrilled to hear they would deliver the car for us. A few things since we got the vehicle yesterday. We found out the drivers side power seat motor is broke and doesn’t tilt and there seems to be a rather loud noise coming from the engine bay, could be the exhaust manifold… we aren’t totally thrilled about that. We test drove and noted a noise but really didn’t think too much of it, but now that we have driven it for a day it is rather concerning, something I don’t think anyone would have picked up on a short test drive. Joe was awesome to work with, we appreciated the kindness and welcome we received when at the dealership. We just wish the seat worked and the engine noise wasn’t present as we truly love the car. We’d recommend the dealer again, in fact that’s what we talked about on our way home, we’ve never had a good experience with a dealership but this place was truly great to work with. Not sure if they’d do anything regarding our power seat and engine noise, but it’s disheartening to be excited for a nice car and have the noise it does and seat that won’t work. :/ Wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a car again from them I guess we’d need to be more picky when looking it over and take it into a shop before hand. We just thought it was thoroughly looked over in an inspection and trusted the car was good to go, it’s only got 62k miles on it. :/

We honestly were generally very happy with the experience

We honestly were generally very happy with the experience and vehicle. We were also thrilled to hear they would deliver the car for us. A few things since we got the vehicle yesterday. We found out the drivers side power seat motor is broke and doesn’t tilt and there seems to be a rather loud noise coming from the engine bay, could be the exhaust manifold… we aren’t totally thrilled about that. We test drove and noted a noise but really didn’t think too much of it, but now that we have driven it for a day it is rather concerning, something I don’t think anyone would have picked up on a short test drive. Joe was awesome to work with, we appreciated the kindness and welcome we received when at the dealership. We just wish the seat worked and the engine noise wasn’t present as we truly love the car. We’d recommend the dealer again, in fact that’s what we talked about on our way home, we’ve never had a good experience with a dealership but this place was truly great to work with. Not sure if they’d do anything regarding our power seat and engine noise, but it’s disheartening to be excited for a nice car and have the noise it does and seat that won’t work. :/ Wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a car again from them I guess we’d need to be more picky when looking it over and take it into a shop before hand. We just thought it was thoroughly looked over in an inspection and trusted the car was good to go, it’s only got 62k miles on it. :/

Rating breakdown (out of 5):
  • Customer service
  • Buying process
  • Quality of repair
  • Overall facilities
  • Overall experience 3.0
  • Does recommend this dealer
  • Shopped for a used car
Worked with:
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