Truckee Auto Repair

What a great experience! Not the fact that our motorhome's transmission blew up coming up the Donner grade or that we had to hire a huge tow truck. But we were fortunate the tow truck driver deposited us in the Auto & Tire Doctor parking lot. This was a Sunday. On Monday morning the staff went right to work diagnosing the problem. Ordered a transmission from Indiana which arrived on Thursday and we were out by Friday. Thanks to mechanic Paul. Every person there was concerned about our predicament and John the owner continually provided us with updates and reassurances. These guys are so professional, competent, considerate, and caring. If you are a local, you are so fortunate to have these guys, if you are a stranded traveler, you are treated like a local! Thanks John and staff! Tom & Lynne San Diego

I knew I shouldn't have gone back. But it was a Saturday and an emergency and they were the only auto place in town open. I had to have my truck towed there because the serpentine belt tensioner locked up and the belt was burning around it. Got it there and they said I could pick it up Monday, perfect. Go to pick it up Monday, and the guy says that it was around $400!!! What?! I said "that's a bit much", he says "sorry, that's what it comes to." Told him I wanted to look at the break down...They tried to charge me DOUBLE (good thing I looked, someone else might have been easily scammed). He tries to blame it on someone else in the shop, and fixes it...no sorry. Ok, paid for it and went home. Next morning, I figured I'd take a look under the hood to see if they in fact replaced what they said they did...They snapped the bolt off the old tensioner and gave it back to me (couldn't have been an oversight, it was pretty obvious). Bring it back down Tuesday, "Oh ya, wonder how that could have happened" they said, and ordered the new tensioner for Wednesday. Brought the truck BACK DOWN on Wednesday and said they would have it done by the end of the day and would call me. No call, so I call them and they said "all done, but you have to pick up tomorrow because we are closing". Go back Thursday to pick it up, tensioner had been replaced, and gave me the keys. Not a single, "we are sorry", or "sorry for the inconvenience". I have some choice words to say here but will refrain. All I can say is, stay away from the "Auto Doctor" at all expense, but if you do happen to bring your vehicle in there, make sure you look that the cost breakdown and find out if they are scamming you too!

Anti-semitic comments are tolerated here. My husband came home after having $500 worth of work done at the auto doctor in Truckee. He was originally quoted $200-300. When he went to pay today, he presented the local's coupon for $50 off labor of over $200, or $20 off labor over $100. The young man ringing him up tried to give him only $20 off, and when he said he thought he should be eligible for the $50 off, the man reviewed the bill with his boss and then said to his boss, "I tried to Jew him" or something to that effect, attempting to use the phrase "to Jew" as a synonym for "rip off", which was audible to my husband, who is a Jew. He was stunned and just wanted to get out of there. When he got home he told me about this and I am outraged that the boss did not tell the young man that it is not okay to talk that way, that anyone would talk that way in the first place, and that we have spent money here over the years. We will never go back and feel violated. Do people really talk and think that way in 2013? Evidently some do, which is shockingly horrible.

Broke down near truckee on a saturday - not only were these guys open they fixed me up and had me on my way in no time. Even told me where to have a good meal while I waited. Also AAA certified. Good honest people.

I took my car in knowing what the problem was. It was a torn cv/boot on the right hand side that was causing clicking sounds from the passenger side. I thought as a local I should give back to local businesses'. I had hear mixed reviews about them from friends especially women who had had problems in the past. I thought to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I would have a different experience. I was wrong. I went in thinking I would get trustworthy mechanics and an honest service. Instead I got my car back with the same exact problem it went in for. After leaving my car I get a call telling me I was wrong and the problem was not on the right side but on the left and that the left axle should be replaced. I disagreed but relented in their diagnoses. I am a women who doesn't know much about cars. I shouldn't argue with the mechanic. So they " fixed" the problem. Not even a week goes by when I start hearing the clicking sound in the exact same spot I had heard it BEFORE I took it in. I let it slide for a awhile until I felt like I should really have it looked at again. So I took it to a different mechanic. He ended up fixing the problem and showing me what the auto doc had done. They replaced the axle alright but replaced the wrong one and with a rebuilt part not a brand new one like my new mechanic had done. I guess the saying is true. You can always tell if a mechanic is good in how they treat women. That will be the last and only time I have the Auto Doc work on my car. However, I am giving them one star not because they did something right but because if not for them misdiagnosing my car, swindling me out of money and treating me like an idiot when they were the idiots, I never would have found my new mechanic. So thanks Auto Doc you helped me find my future mechanic and he is amazing!

I have been taking my vehicles to The Auto Doctor for 20 years and have had supreme service with every visit! John is the personality behind this bussiness and he always treats me like I was part of his family. They are very proffessional …More

Crooks and Inconsiderate! I have gone to the auto doctor before, left feeling a little taken advantage of. Today was the final straw and my last visit. I made an appointment for what should have been a 15 min oil change, to get there and be …More

Such a great experience with the Auto Doc. You can really tell that it is a family owned/operated business, as the owner, John, made sure I had everything I needed. When my Ford started giving me some problems, I stopped by and even in the …More

Do good work but are pricier since they moved from West River Street to their purpose-built facility. I am not convinced that they don't invent unnecessary work. More aggressive than more trustworthy and more reasonably priced Quality Auto. They would be my 2nd choice in Truckee.

My car's voltage regulator (part of the alternator) gave up the ghost going over Donner Pass on a wintry Friday evening, and my car was towed to Auto Doctor. Even though they're open Saturdays, the guy who does German cars wasn't there, so I had to wait until Monday evening to get my 01 Audi S4 repaired. Now, as the driver of a heavily modified 12-year old German car, I'm no stranger to fixing the car myself or taking it to a shop to handle jobs I don't have the time or tools to tackle. I've been to a few shops, and what happened at this one left me thoroughly unimpressed. 1. The part in question cost $350 at a local auto parts store (I called when my car broke down to find out if the part exists locally). Auto Doctor charged me $475 for it. 2. When I first walked in through the door on Monday afternoon, the owner (?) was sitting with his side to the door talking to two of his mechanics. It took about 30 seconds for him to turn around and acknowledge the existence of a customer standing like a schmuck in the middle of his shop. Even a "hi, just a second" would have been good, but to not even acknowledge my existence was definitely a calculated power play. Further, in the hour I spent there, I couldn't get their wifi to work (I needed to do some work on my laptop). When I asked the owner (?) if he could reset the router for me (as a computer engineer, I knew that would very likely fix the problem), he gave me some BS excuse "oh, it's locked away somewhere, plus your car will be ready soon". So -- pretty shitty customer service, unless you're one of the locals who comes in regularly. 3. And finally, the big one -- the repair was done with no attention to detail. The job in question requires the bumper and the headlights to be removed. That caused 3 problems that I found pretty much immediately: a. I specifically asked the mechanic to make sure to realign my headlights, which was not done. Luckily I keep the proper wrench in my car and adjusted them after pulling out of the shop...otherwise I would have had to drive to San Francisco with my headlights illuminating only 15 feet in front of me. b. I noticed the low windshield washer fluid light when I first went to check up the finished product and asked them to fill it. After I'd paid and got my stuff in the car, the light was still on, but not wanting to deal with their crap anymore, I decided I'd fill it myself. Of course, as soon as I did that at a gas station 3 miles away, the fluid poured out all over my feet. A T-fitting broke in the headlight washer system (which is in the bumper). Now, the fitting was old and has been previously repaired, and the tech helped me repair it so I wouldn't lose all of my fluid when I brought the car back, but the fact that this little detail wasn't checked before handing me the car is a travesty. c. And finally something I only discovered when I was 20 miles away and not coming back -- they failed to reconnect one of my foglights (also in the bumper). Also a 15 second check, also not done. So these little details make me question just how well the rest of the $1200 job was done. Bottom line -- if you have a choice -- look for a better alternative.