We've all anxiously awaited the car repair shop's call with the news on cost. It's worst if you're not sure the job will be done right or the price fair. The best way to cut that anxiety is to find the right shop. Our evaluations of hundreds of area repair shops will steer you to shops that are rated tops for quality and price.

Read our article and findings (available exclusively to CHECKBOOK subscribers)

Back to Bay Area Consumers' CHECKBOOK Table of Contents.

Sample Subscriber Comments/Reviews About Auto Repair Shops

CHECKBOOK provides subscriber comments on their experiences with the firms they use. Please remember that individual subscriber comments are informal. Subscriber comments may give you insight into the types of features and problems that exist in a service field, but are not the best basis for selecting or rejecting a specific firm. To assess the quality of a firm's performance, we recommend that you give more weight to the percentages of favorable ratings. Those percentages are generally based on much larger numbers of consumers' ratings (the number of consumer ratings is noted above).

As You Can See Below, Some Auto Repair Shops Get High Praise from Their Customers. Some Others Don't. So Choose Carefully.
Here Are a Few Samples of the Thousands of Comments CHECKBOOK Has Collected on Hundreds of Different Auto Repair Shops.

• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Shop: I can't recommend Steve's enough. I've been going now for 8 years or so. They've..........
• Subscriber from PIEDMONT, CA wrote Another Shop: So helpful and honest.......
• Subscriber from LOS GATOS, CA wrote Another Shop: Headlight switch still broken replaced 3 times........
• Subscriber from PIEDMONT, CA wrote Another Shop: Best auto repair shop in America........
• Subscriber from SAN RAFAEL, CA wrote Another Shop: Has changed hands, but some of the old crew remains. Honest and prompt. A bit..........
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Shop: The mechanics get the job done fine, but the guys who deal with the public..........
• Subscriber from SUNNYVALE, CA wrote Another Shop: Have gone there for years. Excellent service........
• Subscriber from FREMONT, CA wrote Another Shop: Took more than a week to check & repair Brakes on our BMW. Had to..........
• Subscriber from MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA wrote Another Shop: Very nice staff, but inferior service; will not use them again.......
• Subscriber from PALO ALTO, CA wrote Another Shop: In addition to taking care of regular maintenance work, on several occasions, they've dealt with..........
• Subscriber from LIVERMORE, CA wrote Another Shop: Car was stalling. They said it was a failed sensor. The car is having the..........
• Subscriber from CORTE MADERA, CA wrote Another Shop: The sign of an excellent repair shop is its absolutely spotless shop floor and repair..........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Shop: Exceptionally good service! Honest and knowledgeable as well as friendly and pleasant........
• Subscriber from CONCORD, CA wrote Another Shop: They work on Honda's. I will never buy anything but a Honda as long as..........
• Subscriber from MORAGA, CA wrote Another Shop: This poor rating may be somewhat severe since the most recent service was to fix..........
• Subscriber from CUPERTINO, CA wrote Another Shop: My car's especially old and difficult to find parts for. They take the time to..........
• Subscriber from SANTA CRUZ, CA wrote Another Shop: They were less expensive than the dealer and another independent garage for replacing a headlamp..........
• Subscriber from DALY CITY, CA wrote Another Shop: Took my CRV in which had 15,000 miles on it. Said I just wanted and..........
• Subscriber from SUNNYVALE, CA wrote Another Shop: I usually work on my own car - Scandia is the only shop I trust..........
• Subscriber from HAYWARD, CA wrote Another Shop: Always have been happy with service. They do not always charge for exploratory services if..........
• Subscriber from MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA wrote Another Shop: Extremely nice and helpful.......
• Subscriber from DANVILLE, CA wrote Another Shop: Good work. Fair price........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Shop: I recommend them extremely highly!.......
• Subscriber from LIVERMORE, CA wrote Another Shop: Good work. Sometimes work got delayed because they are so busy........
• Subscriber from CARMEL, CA wrote Another Shop: Yarnell's has serviced all three of our Toyota's over 20 years. Outstanding........
• Subscriber from SAN MATEO, CA wrote Another Shop: I really like Lisa--she does a great job.......
• Subscriber from PALO ALTO, CA wrote Another Shop: My Saab 9-3 had some recalls and other repairs. Service was excellent and the staff..........
• Subscriber from LOS ALTOS, CA wrote Another Shop: Have used them for service on a 1995 Ford Ranger........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Shop: These are my mechanics, which means I can trust them with my life. Superior doesn't..........
• Subscriber from SAN RAMON, CA wrote Another Shop: It is wonderful to have total confidence in the honesty and competence of an auto..........
• Subscriber from ALAMO, CA wrote Another Shop: very thorough, reliable and honest not your lowest estimate but no hidden charges.......
• Subscriber from SUNNYVALE, CA wrote Another Shop: Always reliable ande good service........
• Subscriber from SAN RAMON, CA wrote Another Shop: Tend to up sell some of their services. Friendly van takes my wife shopping while..........
• Subscriber from LOS ALTOS, CA wrote Another Shop: The main thing I really like here is the on-site rental car facility. Makes it..........
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Shop: I am a 79 year old female. I believe I was treated improperly - -..........
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Shop: What a first class organization. I will go nowhere else.......
• Subscriber from WOODSIDE, CA wrote Another Shop: Since old owner left a few years ago, much worse. Inflated jobs to unneeded work........
• Subscriber from FREMONT, CA wrote Another Shop: Honest, competent, reasonably priced. My last car had 353,000 miles when I gave it away..........
• Subscriber from MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA wrote Another Shop: Dawn and John at Autoquest run the best shop in the Bay Area, bar none,..........
• Subscriber from SUNNYVALE, CA wrote Another Shop: This auto repair facility was a recommendation by a friend many years ago, and I..........
• Subscriber from SAN MATEO, CA wrote Another Shop: Jay is a mechanic you can really trust. My wife's family has been going to..........
• Subscriber from LAFAYETTE, CA wrote Another Shop: Very honest and reliable. Let's you know if you can get the work done someplace..........
• Subscriber from EL CERRITO, CA wrote Another Shop: I only buy Honda vehicles because I know Berkeley Minicar mechanics are the best........
• Subscriber from BRISBANE, CA wrote Another Shop: Dave at Tony's is an honest soul. We are never been disappointed when Dave and..........
• Subscriber from SAN FRANCISCO, CA wrote Another Shop: We found Emerald Auto through a previous Checkbook article and have been very happy with..........
• Subscriber from CUPERTINO, CA wrote Another Shop: We have been using Yarnell for several years now for both my 1996 Lexus and..........
• Subscriber from SCOTTS VALLEY, CA wrote Another Shop: My last visit there, for a major service and new brakes/battery - cost me $600..........
• Subscriber from SAN RAFAEL, CA wrote Another Shop: Nice people, loaner cars. Not creative, a replace-the-whole-module-every-time sort of operation........
• Subscriber from PLEASANT HILL, CA wrote Another Shop: I really have confidence in the quality of the work done here. it may be..........
• Subscriber from DALY CITY, CA wrote Another Shop: Mechanic showed me replaced parts and showed me where they had gone bad........