Parker Automotive

My second car is a Saab which I bought when my first car was not suited for city driving. I had not found a reliable repair service for my Saab until Parker Automotive was recommended to me. The few times I’ve been here prompt me to write this review. This facility is fair, honest and tries to accommodate my needs even if I have an emergency. The repairs are done timely, quickly, professionally, competently and creatively, if necessary. Don’t hesitate to bring your Saab here. You’ll be thankful you did, believe me. I bring the sick Saab in and it is returned to me a couple of days later like new and maybe even better. I’ve had a happy Saab story, every time I’ve been in to Parker Automotive. No baloney.

Best place to service Saab. The garage is great place for all small and big job. Saabs are peculiar cars but I never had problems with repairs find here and never had a problem misdiagnosed. Prices are reasonable. I am a happy customer since 2002 now taking my second car there.

My saab’s bkup sensor, rear lights and trunk was not working and I found Parker automotive on Unilocal.After reading his reviews I decided to take my saab to the shop and chuck was great! He knew the problem right away, gv me a great quote and fixed it the same day! He is fair and very knowledgable of Saabs. Will definitely go back to him.

OMG, Chuck is the best SAAB mechanic ever. My 2004 9 – 3 has had overheating problems for the past year. My regular mechanic kept telling me that it’s no big deal and that this model always has that problem. Duh. I took it in this week and he fixed it. I am sooooo happy. At an incredible price also. My regular mechanic will never see this car again. It’s Parker’s from now on! I was hoping to keep this car for the next 100k – 150k miles and with Parker’s I believe I can do that. On top of fixing the overheating problem he also fixed my back brake light electrical system. My regular mechanic was telling me that I needed a new set! Yes, it is Parker’s from now on. I LOVE THIS PLACE!

More like museum! Prices are slightly higher thank in LA, but OK for the Bay. If you have a SAAB, it makes sense to get it here rather than a random shop, Chuck seems to know what he’s doing really well.

I just used Parker Automotive to diagnose and repair a 2002 Saab 9 3. I tried a couple of other shops and they were clueless, not to mention expensive. Chuck had the issue diagnosed and repaired in one day at a very reasonable price. His knowledge of Saab is exceptional. He has another customer here as long as this Saab is still on the road!

Great service, honest guy, fair prices.
I definitely recommend Parker Automotive!

I’ve been cruising in the Silver Fox (’99 Saab 9.5) since my high school days, and we’ve shared a lot of firsts, so I’m very careful about who does mechanical work. I came across Parker Automotive a few months after a cross country roadtrip from New York to Cali, and have been a loyal customer ever since. Chuck always gets the job done and helped me fix up an old 9.3 as a Christmas present for my girl. Technically skilled, honest, and reliable. If you still own a Saab, go here.

My 03‘ 9 – 3 got kind of noise from back… kind of metal‘s noise. Left my car at Chuck‘s place to fix it. He checked everywhere to find the problem and took a long time (almost a day) in the end he found it and just charge me fair. Always take care my SAABs at Chuck‘s Parker Automotive! 5 stars!

Just took my Saab here and I am fully satisfied. Chuck is helpful, honest, and efficient :)

Like others, I’ve kept my Saab much longer because of the excellent service Chuck and Parker Automotive provide. They are fair, know Saabs inside and out and get the job done without upselling you into maintenance you don’t need.
No fancy stuff or loaner cars, just good quality work and honest dealings.
Most importantly, Chuck stands behind his work and gets to the bottom of problems without spending oodles of your money. Examples:
— my 99 SE had a quirky check engine light problem that was preventing me from passing the smog test. Chuck stuck with it through replacing an ABS controller twice and finally figuring out only my Saab’s ORIGINAL ABS controller sent the right signals. Thankfully he had kept the original broken one from a year ago and sent it back to be rebuilt and solved a very tough problem
— a rebuilt alternator installed failed after 2.5 months. Chuck replaced it no charge.
— Once he couldn’t get the sunroof deflector installed correctly after struggling with it for hours… no charge since he couldn’t get it done.
Bottom line Parker Automotive is a reason to buy or keep your Saab. If you are fair, he is more than fair back to you. I like supporting a great local independent business owned by a nice and fair guy.

I have never met a more honest or personable auto mechanic than Chuck Parker. Over the past 8 years, he has replaced the clutch, radiator and vacuum advance, in addition to doing all oil changes and preventative maintenance, on my 1995 Saab 900 SE Turbo. He does excellent work at a fair price. Nobody’s prefect, but I always appreciate what Chuck does for me.

I searched and searched for a good place to get my Saab repaired, and was very happy to see all of the good reviews of Parker Automotive. I used to do most of my own auto repair and have pretty high standards for who works on my car, but now I’ve «retired» from the messy jobs, and was looking for a shop to do my front brakes and rotors. I was really happy with Chuck and Parker Automotive. Chuck carefully explained the pros and cons of the different parts options I had, and his prices on parts and labor were very reasonable. The work was completed quickly and with high quality, and now I’m back on the road with my new brakes. Chuck also topped up my tires and checked a couple of other things out on my car for no charge.
I’ll gladly go back to Parker Automotive the next time I have a messy job to do!

After 4 years having my car being serviced by B&B Saab it was urgent to find an alternative solution (due to overpricing and average quality of service). If only I had discovered Parker Automotice earlier.
Excellent service. Fair pricing. Highly recommend.

I had a beautiful 1990 Saab convertible that I drove to nearly 300,000 miles. The main reason I kept the car was because I had Chuck from Parker Automotive who I could rely on for a straight diagnosis and reasonable costs.
Here are some examples:
— Some auto repair shop on Utah St in San Francisco told me that my brake discs were warped and that I needed to spend $ 1000 to replace my brakes and discs all around. Chuck took a close look and said that the discs were a little warped, but within the safety margin and that I just needed to replace the pads. Ending cost: $ 200.
— When my alternator first went out, I had to have it replaced in the Tahoe area ($ 600). Within a week, my alternator died again. Chuck knew that my model of car has a history of faulty ground wires, which he replaced at a cost of $ 20. Over the decade or so that I went to Chuck, he replaced the ground wire another 2 times. Any other mechanic would have replaced the complete alternator at 30x the cost.
— About 5 years ago, I gently rear-​ended a car in front of me. Not a scratch on their car, but I took out my lights and grill. When Chuck told me it would be pretty expensive to fix, I asked if I could try to find cheap replacement parts on eBay and have him do the installation. He was happy to do so, and I saved hundreds in repairs.
— I had a small oil leak that every other mechanic suggested I fix at a cost of $ 350. Chuck could see that the amount of oil lost was trivial and explained that I could easily live with the problem.
I used Chuck’s services for about 12 years total. Because of how reasonable Chuck was, it was easy to take Chuck’s advice when he did recommend a repair to keep the vehicle safe. Sadly I wrecked my left quarter panel making a lane change in stop-​and-​go traffic earlier this year. Not much damage, but it was such an old car that there just wasn’t any fiscally responsible way to rescue the car. I miss the car, but mostly I miss having a mechanic I can trust.

I gotta be honest, there are some things about Parker Automotive I love and some things I really don’t like. Unfortunately, the things I don’t like have a much higher role in how many stars I give them. I’ve taken my 2001 9 – 3 there twice, but I probably won’t go back.
Likes–
–I think the owner is incredibly nice and helpful enough when it comes to telling you what the problem is.
–I liked the vibe of the place. It’s really a Saab museum!
–He’s always got KNBR on, so I can get some Giants updates when I am in the office.
Dislikes–
–My check engine light was on, I took it in, he claimed he fixed the problem, two weeks later it came back on. When I took it back, he charged me for the exact same service he had done previously.
–My passenger side window was getting stuck halfway up so I had him fix this. Same story as the check engine light – problem came back and was charged again.
–I honestly don’t think their prices are THAT great.
Like I said, they’re very nice people and the shop is cool – but I’m not paying for nice personalities and the «experience.» I want to see a repairman as little as possible and, unfortunately, I had to see Parker a bit too much!

I ended up with the famous broken remote problem. I called B&B Saab and they wanted $ 140.00 for the remote plus two batteries. Then I said, OK what about programming it to my remote and I was told that would be an additional $ 120.00. I called the Saab Wrecking Yard in Sacramento who offered to sell me two remotes, I wanted a back-​up, for $ 40.00 including over night shipping.
Then I started calling around and first got a quote for $ 75.00 each from Swedish Auto Factory, then called Southbay Saab and they wanted $ 65 each. Finally I called Chuck Parker and he said it would take him 15 minutes and he would do it during my lunch hour for $ 30.00 for both of them. They were really friendly and while I was there I got an estimate to replace the rollers in my door windows and realign the doors. prices are great and I will be Having them do it. My wife is taking her 2005 Saab in this week for its next service.

I love my Saabs & I love knowing that Chuck Parker can fix *anything* that goes wrong and for a honest amount. First I had a 1989 SPG and now I drive a 1999 9.5. I trust him completely!

These guys have been so helpful. I’ve got an old Saab and have had small and slightly bigger issues as it ages. They have done a terrific job fixing the problems, finding cost cutting (used parts where appropriate) measures, and do it all with a friendly style.
Big fan!

So I’m driving along one day with my friend to get some food and he hops out of the car to get it. Just as he closes the door…*clunk* the window falls into the door.
Damn.
Three months later I decide it’s probably time to stop relying on duct tape to hold the window up, so I bring my good ol’ saab into parker automotive.
This place is a great little local shop, and they do great work. They were nice, the old saabs out front are great, and they came in on a day they were closed so I could pick up my car and have it for the weekend. My saab loves parker, so def. getting 5 stars.