Complete Automotive

I called Jason to help my daughter out on the West coast. He was very professional, understood my concerns & took great care of my daughters car
Excellent service, good pricing & quick turn around time. Great job by Complete Automotive

I went in here as a girl who knows nothing about cars, that had no clue what was causing a leak in her car aka. as a very easy target for an upscale. Complete Automotive fixed the problem in under an hour for a fair price--saving me from a lot of damage with an upcoming storm. I have been scammed by other mechanics in the slo area-- and I was terrified this would be a similar situation. After this honest service I will only come here and will recommend it to all my friends.

Great service, great people, I've trusted Complete Auto with my car repairs for years now, and they have always been trustworthy and professional.

Doug Pittam

These guys are the best around. When I was in a pinch, they fit me in last minute and provided invaluable details on a pre-purchase inspection. Their reporting is useful and intuitive - showing photos, providing commentary, and listing how immediate the issue is. Thanks to Jason, Cole, & Tyler, I knew exactly what was going on with the vehicle prior to making a decision. Thank god I did, because she was a complete dog!

I know why Complete Automotive has five star reviews. I just took my Nissan in to them because it was hesitating going uphill. They gave me an estimate of $190. to check it out. They sent a text saying that they had tried it on hills and in stop and go traffic and weren't able to duplicate what I described. They assured me it was safe to drive--and then told me there would be NO CHARGE! They charge for results! All this was done in a timely manner. The office looks clean and organized and the man who helped me was friendly and polite. Highly recommend.

Sorry for this long review, but I want to include all of the facts.
If you'd rather skip my diatribe, here's the bottom line:
Don't have your work done here if you can help it.
At the very least, ask what they charge for performing diagnostic testing and confirm that they will not charge for that if you have your work done there.
This rating is not so much about the work performed (as it's only been a few days and so far everything is running fine.)
Rather, this rating is based on business practices and unnecessary charges.

I was visiting family in Grover Beach when my van started overheating on Sunday 09/17/23 as I started to head back home to San Diego.
I searched on Yelp for a mechanic and found these great reviews for Complete Automotive.

Without hesitation, I scheduled an appt. online.
Received an email from John recommending I have my car towed in, which I did through my insurance policy. He also recommended not coming into the shop as it would take awhile to diagnose the problem.

Shortly after my van arrived at the shop, I received a text message with an estimate of $197. to perform a chemical block test which I approved. Let me add that it was slimy business to wait until my van was already towed there to inform me of this cost.
An hour or so later I received a breakdown of the work that needed to be performed and it was quite expensive as you can see from the attached invoice.

When I requested that he not charge for the diagnosis since I was having the work done at his shop (as this has always been customary when I've had work done at every other auto shop) he stated that the diagnostic work was considered labor and it's standard practice to get paid for that as well. We haggled and he finally stated he would only charge 50% of the diagnostic fee.

When I came to pick up the van on 09/19, there was a customer waiting at the counter while John was computing the cost for what sounded like a radiator leak. As John broke down the cost, he stated that he WOULDN'T CHARGE for the CHEMICAL BLOCK TEST if the repairs were performed at Complete Automotive.

When I got to the counter I said, "Well I hope you won't charge me for that test since you were willing to do his for free."
He then realized I was the customer with the van (he hadn't seen me up to this point) and he said, "we spoke about this yesterday and I told you I would only charge you half."
I reminded him that he wasn't going to charge the other customer AT ALL!
John said, well that was only if he was going to have the repairs done here.
And I said , I had my repairs done here to the hefty tune of $1600!

To the others who have raved about how solid and trustworthy John is...WTF!? Politeness while being screwed over is the worst.

In closing, should John respond to this with some lame excuse, hey John, give me back the $97.50 you charged for the diagnosis.

PS. My mechanic at Smart Auto Repair in San Diego, would have only charged me $1,100 for the same job.
Unfortunately I was 300 miles from home when this issue arose so I was at the mercy of a mechanic that I had no history with and the only way to know if they were honest was to trust the reviews on Yelp.

Brought my 2018 Lexus ES350 to them after the dealer said my car needed a new water pump and Toyota/Lexus water pumps were on a nationwide back order. John was super helpful and found the correct water pump for my car. Customer service here is excellent and I'm happy with the work they completed. I highly recommend Complete Automotive.

Thank you Gentlemen for the great service and patiences with questions! Never have I felt like I wasnt getting help with my Jeep. John and his crew is always great and helpful in all that they do.

I was there today to get my car 'smogged', perhaps a little sus about all the 5-star reviews.
I have to add my own 5-stars to this. Frankly, this unassuming shop in the middle of Tank Farm Road blew my doors off.
John was at the front desk and was kind, courteous and right on the money when he said (even tho I missed my morning appointment) "your car will be ready in 20 minutes".
I'm coming back now that I know about this place.

Driving down on vacation from Reno and the car went haywire.
Called in and John answered and from the get go we were at ease. Fearing a vacation debilitating cost we were so pleased when it was fixed in 30 minutes and charged so fairly.
Could not have been happier with the service and the team.
Hopefully will never have to visit them again but if we do we know we are in great hands and a reliable team.
Thank you for making our visit with you so pleasurable.