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J H Barkau & Sons Cedarville
Cedarville, IL
1,359 Reviews
Since 1952, J.H. Barkau & Sons has served the Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin stateline area for their automotive needs. We can proudly boast to over 70,000 customers in those years and have had thousands of customers purchase multiple vehicles and generations of families that have allowed us to serve them.
When John H. Barkau founded the business, his goal was to bring quality, affordable transportation to the local area. Jim (2nd generation), Rick (3rd generation), and Willie (3rd generation) Barkau have continued in that tradition while expanding our marketplace to be worldwide. We have had vehicles shipped to Russia, Sweden, Australia, Turkey, Mexico and many other locations. We have vehicles purchased by customers in 49 states and commonly have customers fly in to pick up their new vehicles. In all of this, it has been a pleasure for the Barkau family to help fulfill the transportation needs of a varied clientele.
J.H. Barkau & Sons has accomplished this feat by continuing to offer quality, hand-picked vehicles at very competitive prices. We believe in offering our customers an incredible selection that is second to none, with over 1100 vehicles available for purchase. We believe in a no pressure sales environment and in quality reconditioning of our inventory selection. Our sales teams at our Cedarville and Freeport stores each have over a century of experience in helping fill the needs of our vast customer base. The funny part is, we remember a lot of you years later and we are genuinely happy to see you.
But selling cars is not all that we do. We believe in supporting the local community through donations, Toy Drives, Food Drives and many other local charities and fundraisers. We also run the “Excellerate” program for Aquin Catholic Schools and have facilitated over 113 donated vehicles. That may be part of the reason that we have been voted the “Best In Region” Used Car Dealership for 15 straight years. Great vehicles, great people, great exp
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This rating includes all dealership reviews, with more weight given to recent reviews.
Sales Price Transparency
Trade-in Experience
Purchase Time
Finance Experience
Hours
Sales/Showroom
Monday 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday Closed
Service
Monday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Tuesday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Sunday Closed
Parts
Monday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Tuesday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Sunday Closed
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Showing 1,359 reviews
January 29, 2026
Good people to deal with. Thank you Nils S and Jim B for making this deal Thank you Nils S and Jim B for making this deal More
by Walkers425
Employees Worked With
January 28, 2026
Nils always gets us what we want at the best deal. We appreciate your honesty and willingness to go the extra for us. We appreciate your honesty and willingness to go the extra for us. More
by jammey78
January 28, 2026
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 wan 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… More
by D.Roy.Rentals
Employees Worked With
January 26, 2026
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 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 More
by Outlawkevo33
Employees Worked With
January 24, 2026
Nils always knows what we are looking for even when we aren’t sure. Always very helpful. aren’t sure. Always very helpful. More
by awtw85
Employees Worked With
January 24, 2026
Always a large inventory to choose from from. Great friendly staff that goes that extra mile. Great friendly staff that goes that extra mile. More
by Keithpasch3
January 23, 2026
Good service and friendly staff. Tim was good with making sure I got the best deal. Tim was good with making sure I got the best deal. More
by kaydinrabey03
January 19, 2026
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. My experience with the dealership has always been good. Everyone is helpful and kind, making it a smooth experience. More
by margaritanunez72
January 17, 2026
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 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! More
by Emily Gottman
Employees Worked With
January 16, 2026
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 d 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. :/ More
by Bhelmers88
Employees Worked With
