Dr. Import

Excellent auto repair and smog shop! I found Dr. Import for my boss, which was great because they were located right around the corner from the job. Mark and the team fixed a couple of problems for a great rate, my boss was pleased! This will be his #1 go to place for all of his auto repair needs.

The staff at Dr. Import are top notch! Thry are professional, hospitable & above all, honest people! So thankful for their services!

If you want a trustworthy team of mechanics to keep your Volvo pristine and trouble-​free, you will want to go to Dr. Import. They are so consistent, so very focused on service and very, very good at what they do!

I always feel safe and have a peace of mind when I have my car services here. Thank you so much for taking care of my car in the last several years.

Once again, the Dr. Import shines in service and value ! You owe it to your car to take it here for service. The peace of mind you obtain from knowing what needs to be dealt with now and what to expect down the road is priceless. Repairs are performed promptly and, most importantly, things are done right first time. Five star service, always.

This is a great auto shop. Excellent service.

I would like to give them a higher rating however, unfortunately I cannot. I found Dr. Import online on September 15. It was raining and in a panic went online to find a highly rated mechanic to fix the back window to my 2004 Toyota Sequoia would not close. My husband had tried fixing it since a friend of his had the same issue and was told it would cost less than $ 100 and maybe a few hours of work to get it fixed.
I called in at about 7:45 am and Jack answered the phone he was very polite and after explaining the situation he stated that he would move around other clients and he would make sure that we could take care of the issue right away. I was very impressed with the quick and speedy response.
I arrived at about 8:30 and true to his word he immediately accommodated me. I was very honest and told him that my husband had already tried working on the truck however, due to the rain I did not want to wait any longer and needed this fixed ASAP!
He advised that a mechanic would need to look at at that point have the ability to tell me what the problem was and the cost. I stayed at the shop and figured that it might not take very long to obtain a response and estimate. Based on the issue and the information I found online I was expecting an estimate that would range between $ 600– $ 700.
2.5 hours later, I am still waiting and Jack finally tells me that the estimate is going to be $ 700 and they still do not know if there are other issues. One of the the comments that he made and I did not appreciate and felt that it was very condescending was stating that the cost would be a lot less if my husband had not «tried fixing the issue» and if they had worked on the problem from the beginning. I did not need a reminder of what we did wrong, I understand that our meddling does not make it easier. I know that.
i agreed to the estimate and advised Jack that I did not want any other surprises and did not want to may anymore.
What did $ 700 get me: Fix bent release handle, bezel under window license plate replaced, clean up excess slathered grease and obviously many, many hours of many power.
At 5:30 pm I receive a message from Jack stating that they found «problems». I immediately called him back and was floored. I was now being presented with a new proposal of $ 1195. The reason ??? He kept listing other broken items that needed to be replaced
What did the additional $ 495 HUGE increase hike for a new total bill of $ 1195.00 get me: refit window regulator & retest. How did I come to this conclusion is the before and after estimate that I was given.
I do not have much patience and truth be told I do not take bad news lightly. When Jack initially called me to give me the higher price and how he presented the new «findings» I thought that the laundry list of items he was naming where all new and when I asked him do I really need to do everything right now? I really cant afford this and I am spending too much. He quickly stated yes. He did note that I was not happy and the question that set me off was when he asked if I was unhappy with Dr. Import and would I be placing a bad review? What bloody difference does it make? It didn’t make the price go down and I felt that I was part of a bait & switch.
I agree and accept that I am ignorant when it comes to car mechanics, this is why I come to the experts. After going online & researching everything that was done to the truck ½ of the crap turned out to be exactly that, crap. Not changing ½ of the parts that I was told where needed was not going to cause any further damage to my truck if I didn’t change the parts right away.
When I told my husband what happened he was livid and stated that I was scammed for being a woman. I agree.

Our 2005 Volvo xc90 still runs like new even after 120,000 miles thanks to Jerry, Marc, Jack and all of the mechanics who take great care of all our cars.

Had an issue with my 2007 Volvo S40. Was quoted as much as $ 11,000 to fix an issue that the doctor fixed for $ 1,600. They’ve earned my business indefinitely.

easy to work with, and very friendly
they communicated well and no surprises on the final bill.
enjoyed the free ride to enterprise RAC.

I have been bringing my cars to Dr. Import for the past 25 years. They are a great group of professionals to work with from Marc, Jack, Lisa to the wonderful mechanics. They are honest, knowledgeable, friendly and hardworking. They are even open on Saturdays which has been a real lifesaver. All in all, you will not find a better repair shop in all of Orange County! Go to Dr. Import today! You will be glad you did!

Hi. let me first start by saying ladies you can trust this place! They are the most honest and professional mechanic that I have ever experienced. They do not try to get you to do things to your car that is not needed. I will NEVER use any other place. They are truly the Doctors for Volvo. That is why they have been in business so long. I am a very satisfied customer. Adrienne San Pedro..

When our car’s heater suddenly got stuck on, my wife and I thought it would be a fairly easy problem to get fixed. Some online research indicated the fix could be as simple as a software reboot but we couldn’t find a garage that would do such a simple thing for us. Some of them wanted to replace expensive parts that didn’t make sense. One guy was very rude to my wife. Another wanted to replace the whole control panel on the dashboard at great expense. To make matters worse, we had to pay these people for their bad advice. In desperation, my wife started scanning Unilocal to try and find a garage that was not a rip-​off artist in disguise. Dr. Import had some rave reviews so we decided to go there.
What a breath of fresh air! The staff were very professional and we were treated with courtesy and respect. They did a diagnostic while we waited, found out exactly what was wrong and quoted us a very reasonable price. They even organized a hire car for us to use while the work was being done and called me with updates during the next day. There were two things wrong and they had fixed them both by the end of the day. The car was back to normal within 48 hours of discovering Dr. Import. A wise man once told me that the hardest part about owning a car is finding a garage you can trust. I only wish we had found Dr. Import earlier. We would have saved a lot of wasted time and money.

Great service. Ask for Jack he’s the nicest and most genuine guy you’ll ever meet. Definitely a place to go for quality work.

Marc at the smog check station has been very helpful. My story is I’m having trouble getting my old car smog checked because of California strict requirements. He patiently listened to my story, questions and offered very useful information. As stressful as this whole process is, I appreciate the help especially if he’s not making a dollar off me.

Thanks so much for your help marc! Wonderful service, friendly people. Dr. Import is place you can trust for your car troubles.

Honest Solid Service Over More Than A Decade
The go-​to independent Volvo repair shop in Orange County. We are on our second Volvo, and for many years The Dr. has been the shop we trust to fix our car. Marc and Jack always take the time to explain the mechanics’ findings, and answer any question I raise. We have never had an issue with service performed there. The shop even offers a customer workstation if one needs to get a bit of work done while waiting.

After about 10 days, Dr. Import refunded my repair bill for this incident, about $ 900. Unfortunately, this has cost me far more than the repair bill. After more than 10 emails, calls, text messages from Dr. Import (how about a nice written letter?), I will comply with their request to ‘fix their social media’; and I will add this update…
Understand that after this incident, my wife lost all confidence in this BMW X5, and made me go buy her a new Range Rover (God help me-​frying pan, fire…), as we had an impending family trip within the month. Also, when a CARFAX report was run on this BMW for trade, the two most recent visits to Dr. Import appeared. Hmm. I prefer my vehicle repairs to remain private, thank you.
I finally got a chance to look at the work performed, and try to diagnose/​repair the problems that the car was returned with (TPMS light on, Check Engine Light on).
1. The TPMS light extinguished when I reset it by pushing the dash button. Upon further check of tire pressures, all were filled to 45psi! As I was the only person to adjust pressures prior to this service visit, I can only imagine that this was an attempt by the wrench monkey to make the light go out. Pressures reset to factory, and ride and oversteer returned to nominal. I think somebody needs to buy a new tire pressure gauge-​not me, as I did a differential comparison between two known good ones.
2. An annoying tidbit, that I should report: the car was brought in to have a coolant reservoir tank and axle bearing replaced; I didn’t have time to do it myself. I got a call during the repair, that the coolant temperature sensor would need to be replaced ($ 100) because they get broken during removal. When I saw the removed part in the shop, the electrical connector end was smashed-​it looks like someone was unfamiliar with BMW’s brilliant locking/​latch systems for their parts. Finesse usually works as well as force. I believe this was $ 100 unnecessarily spent.
3. The Check Engine Light (Service Engine Soon, in BMW parlance) was a biggy, and cost me a lot of time in research. I reset it with my scanner, hoping it was just an anomaly. Not so lucky. The codes shown referred to an overly lean mixture, probably an air leak. This could be anything from the air filter to the O2 sensors. The most cost effective test, based on what I read online, was to look for an air leak in the intake system. Since the car was brought in for a coolant reservoir tank, and the problem didn’t exist before this, it looks like something was disturbed. I removed the intake system shy of the manifold, and checked for cracks in the old plastic or rubber. None found. I did notice, however, during assembly, that the two clamps securing the boots around the MAF (mass air flow sensor) were NOT TIGHT. Same problem my axle had… I have since reassembled everything carefully, tightening everything this time, reset the ECU codes, and driven the vehicle through three cycles, with no recurrence.
4. Upon inspection of the rear axle, where it meets the differential, I discovered that new bolts and retainers appear to have been used, and that there did not appear to be any damage to the threads of the differential hub. I am not taking it apart to find out. I also found that the inner CV boot had been replaced, most likely because when the axle dropped off the differential, it landed on the hot exhaust and burnt. This is further evidenced by the grease splatter on adjacent surfaces. This was not previously disclosed.
Summary: I have had Dr. Import perform work on my car satisfactorily in the past, and at a better price than a dealer. My most recent visit was a nightmare. I attribute these problems to a bad mechanic, and poor systems in place to check work.

I was referred by a friend to Dr. Import. My 2004 C70 was having issues starting and I was told by my original mechanic to just wait until I was stranded and then have it towed and then they’d figure out the problem. Well, that was not an acceptable answer for me and my line of work.
So, I brought my car to Marc at Dr. Import. He was very nice and patient while I described the issues in a female version! He also took me for a tour of the shop and it was the most cleanest shop I’d seen!
After their analysis, I was told I needed a service so I authorized it to be done. When I brought my car home, I experienced the same issue of not starting right up (but then would start after few times). So, I called and they requested the car be brought back in and did another service on the car. After that expensive service was performed, I brought my car home and much to my dismay, the same issue occurred. I called and expressed my frustration to Marc and he listened and requested my car again and offered to pay for a rental car so they’d have it over a period of days to diagnose the issues.
Most shops would just send me on my way even after paying over $ 1,300 for services that did not address the problem. Dr. Import was more than accommodating and kept the car until they were absolutely certain that the issues were addressed.
I am very, very thankful for the customer service of Marc, Amy and the mechanics at Dr. Import for their precise and thoroughness of fixing the issues of my Volvo.
I highly recommend Dr. Import.

My Volvo was having some sort of transmission/​power loss issue and I could not pin point it. I brought the car in and he made note of exactly what I wanted checked out (check engine light, gear change trans issue, and replace a headlight bulb).
When I called the next day to see how things were looking, he rattled off a seemingly endless list of «problems» stemming from error codes. Error codes are great, but in my personal experience not every error code failure means a part has to be replaced. Regardless, my transmission had not yet been looked at, but so far the work was estimated at $ 2100. I told him that that was more than I was willing to spend and I did not want them to work on the car and I would pick it up by the end of the day. Total bill for labor and part (headlight) came to $ 160…I can stomach that.
When I got in my car in the parking lot and turned it on, it immediately began idling incredibly hard. I drove it down the street to see if it just needed to get going, but it got worse. My whole car was shaking and every time I came to a complete stop it felt like it was going to sputter and stall. I brought the car back and explained that my car was running horribly and it has never done this until now. After diagnosing the car, it turns out one of the cylinder coils was now failing and had to be replaced. I was told that this was not directly THEIR FAULT, but the «test» they ran could have caused an already damaged coil to fail… sure…I could not drive the car and I needed my car for the weekend so I had now choice but to have it fixed. Part was $ 40 (understandable) but the labor cost was $ 120…a lot considering other mechanics I’ve now spoken with estimate this to be a 10 minute job.
So in the end, I brought my Volvo in to be diagnosed and hopefully repaired, and I left paying almost $ 300 for them to plug in a computer to read error codes, break a coil, and then charge me to replace a coil.
Thanks but no thanks Dr. Import. Too many other shops out there that take pride and stand by their work instead of their silly customer service façade of fake smiles.