Truckee Auto Repair

Don't bring your car here. Don't waste your time and $$! Long story short: My car broke down in Tahoe. The Auto/Tire Doctors misdiagnosed it, then said it would cost $2500 - 4500 to fix because the engine was nearly totaled. I decided to get another opinion and tow it to a DIFFERENT mechanic, who looked at it, fixed it, and charged me $400. Problem fixed. This story is very much like Steve R's -- it's probably one of the scams they run.

I wish there was a zero star rating. These guys use scare tactics to trick you to get work done at that moment. I live in Truckee and learned years ago from personal experience to avoid this business. Too many stories from friends that have learned the same lesson. avoid if possible.

My 1997 Chrysler Town and Country died in Tahoe and AAA towed me to The Auto & Tire Doctor in Truckee. They diagnosed the van as having a dead Fuel Pump and replaced it, total price after all done: 875.00! EIGHT HUNDRED and SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS for diagnosis, parts, and labor on a fuel pump. I was basically stuck with them because I had to make it home and I was stranded where AAA dropped me off. I think they ripped me off for 300+ bucks because my local mechanic said I got ripped off (he would charge $500). Diagnosis: $105.00 (some shops wave the inspection fee if you have the work done with them, but not here) Install pump labor: $262.50 (2.5 hours work for fuel pump ok) Fuel Pump Assembly: $379.00 (MU143 AC Delco pump that I can buy new online from Amazon for $167.00, or SummitRacing for $230.00) Fuel Filter: $63.46 (I can buy this (a Wix 33577 filter) online for $20-30) Parts Degreaser/Sealants: $14.58 Hazard/Waste: $10.00 (They never offered to give me the old fuel pump, for all I know it was a bad solenoid that could have been fixed) Total after tax: $875.10 They should be able to get these parts for a reasonable price, but they have some wack deal with a distributor in Reno with jacked up prices. I wouldn't recommend them. My local mechanic says he would do the job for $500.

I had my car towed into these guys after it suddently lost all oil. I was pretty much stuck with no way home, so I stayed a few hours while they fixed it. They kept me totally informed, and the waiting area had plenty of space, comfort and free wifi that was super easy to access. They looked after the car and if you have to be stuck anywhere for a few hours, this is as good as it gets. They are reasonable and informative and they have created a great situation with their whole waiting area.

On a Saturday our BMW X5 starting a grinding noise with a burnt oil smell on our way to Northstar. Several folks recommended The Auto & Tire Doctor in Truckee and we managed to limp into the shop mid-morning - it turned out to be well appointed and modern. Andrew an Audi specialist (with obvious BMW knowledge) was immediately available and gave us the bad news that our front differential was going - he demonstrated this by pulling the drain plug and showing the many metal particles in the fluid. I checked with my own mechanic and an on-line service and confirmed the symptoms and what it might cost. On Monday Andrew found a rebuilt differential but the price savings wasn't worth it so I elected a new BMW part. The car was ready on time on Friday and the price was as predicted, a bit lower than at home due to the lower labor rate in Truckee. Overall a very satisfactory experience once I got beyond my BMW needed a new front differential at 60,000 miles. Tom G Los Altos CA

Amazing service again today! Rushing to work when my truck starts drifting to the left and of course it's a flat tire. Limp it into the lot and before I can even get my laptop setup up in the waiting room to try and work while I wait the flat is fixed and I'm on the road again. I know a flat is pretty simple stuff, but seriously this was fast and professional. Fantastic service every time!! Nice work guys!

never EVER go to the auto doctor here in town. they quoted me $700+ to put in new tie-rods so they could do my alignment. "parts and labor" is what I was told. this was something i knew needed to be done but $700 seemed insane. so I bought the parts put them in myself in an hour. parts were $100 shipped. so $600 in labor for one hours work. oh, since I know not everyone wants to put in parts themselves, i was quoted by Discount Tire to have the job done, including the alignment and parts, for $230. Auto Doctor in Truckee are a bunch of criminals!! do NOT shop local in this case!

In December 2008, I made postings all over the Internet regarding my bad experience with The Auto & Tire Doctor. I ended up filing a formal complaint with the BBB, requesting a partial refund for unauthorized work they performed. In the end, they gave me a full refund. I received an email from them recently, and have now lodged an additional complaint with the BBB. I assume by the way they have my name that I am banned for life (which is actually in BOLD print in the email), which is laughable since they are simply mad because I told the truth about them in the first place. Like I would ever go back there. Let's not forget that when I first bought the snow tires from THEM, they mounted them incorrectly on the vehicle. Shouldn't they know how to mount directional tires? The incident I complained about to the BBB was when I gave them a 2nd chance after that screw-up. I did NOTHING but tell the TRUTH about this business. The email is below: From: "The Auto & Tire Doctor" theautotiredoctor@demand… Add sender to Contacts To: Problems reading this email? Please visit d38.demandforced3.com/cp…. This email is provided as a service by The Auto & Tire Doctor. To remove yourself from future mailings, you may unsubscribe. The Auto & Tire Doctor 12000 Pioneer Trail Truckee, CA 96161 (530) 587-2178 theautodoctor@sbcglobal.… theautoandtiredoctor.com Need Directions? Map It! Dear KRIS-BANNED FOR LIFE !!!!!!, Welcome to our online community. We appreciate your business and invite you to participate in our online community, available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You have access to the following: * Manufacturer Suggested Maintenance Reminders * Money Saving Specials * Online Appointment Scheduling * Online Customer Satisfaction Surveys * Online Referral System and more. We are offering the following special to online customers only. Click to schedule your appointment online and take advantage of the following offer. Request Appointment Feel free to call us at (530) 587-2178 if you have any questions. We appreciate your business and look forward to seeing you soon! Sincerely, The Auto & Tire Doctor (530) 587-2178 theautodoctor@sbcglobal.… theautoandtiredoctor.com

I took my car there here three times and all three times were an expensive nightmare. 1) I went in for an oil change, and they performed a major maintenance without asking me first and I ended up with a $500 bill. 2) I went in for snow tires and asked them to save my old tires since they had some life in them. They got rid of the old tires (with on 20K on them) because "they were crap girl, you wouldn't have wanted them." Nobody called to ask or notify me of this. 3) They told me my car would be ready by Tuesday (after having it for a week while I was on vacation) and it wasn't ready until Friday and then they made me feel like I should be thankful they got it to me by then. They aren't transparent and I don't trust them. Buy your tires from Stone's down the street, get your oil changes at the Chevron in Tahoe City, and take your car to Reno or Sacramento for major maintenance. Would love to recommend someone local, but as Tahoe goes - most mechanics there are overpriced and under-deliver

I've had two prior experiences with the Auto Doctor that have made me scratch my head but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Being a local business, I wanted to give them my business so I went back for a third time and then had price checks done. I now hope I never have to go back. First head scratching experience was replacing my timing belt at the tune of $1000. A labor intensive project done every 90K miles. Gas usage slipped from 27-28 MPG to 23-27 MPG highway. Car lacks power and sometimes surges. I took the car back to them a couple of weeks after the work was done and insisted nothing was wrong with it after running their checks. Check engine light came on. They fixed it with $200 of labor and $400-600 dollars of parts. Check engine light came on intermittently afterwards. Ugh. Finally, check engine light came on and took it in to find out what was going on. $1500 estimate - $105 of labor and $1400 worth of parts. :-( Price checked down in Reno. While labor was constant at $105, two different quotes were $600 and $900 for parts. That choice was clear. While John and the Auto Doctor are only a couple miles away, they appear to be going out of their way to gouge customers on parts. :-( While they gave me a little bag of Hershey Kisses thanking me for supporting a local business, I'm not going to pay over 133% for parts to support a local business. Suppose if you are stuck in Truckee and can't get down to Reno, say Automotion, one should consider the Auto Doctor. On the bright side, the Auto Doctor does have WIFI and comfortable sofas while waiting to be gouged.