Clairemont Auto Care

Head mechanic John is honest in the services required and in prices he doesn’t beat around the bush nor sell you a product just for profit. Mechic is in his blood, it’s a passion. I trust him with all my families vehicles and wish allechanica should the same honest policy.
You won’t be dossapintwd with this shop or all the employees. 5 stars across the board!

This place is a rip off, surprised they are still in business. Came with one problem, they did not believe me and ran expensive test just to find out I was right. They still charged me for the expensive test, all my arguments were useless, and the manager was rude. Avoid them at any cost!

I totally got gas here, they were only three cents more expensive than Cosco. No debit fees. They always seem to have gas when you need it

So my DMV renewal notice said I need to go to a STAR certified smog center. OK, Clairemont Auto Care is listed as such and close to my house and off I go. Upon arrival the service writer tells me that they APPLIED to become STAR certified but didn’t make it yet. Huh? Well, then have a good one. It’s Saturday afternoon and I need to go and have it done someplace else. But the service writer starts asking questions, like if there’s any light on in the dashboard and if he may see for himself. So he leans inside my car and sees the check vehicle light is on and and tells me this car won’t pass smog anyway and other smog stations can’t repair it but he can. What a shabby way of getting costumers is this? First they misguide you to their shop with a false listing and then they try to get your business by making other places look stupid. Also, a check-​vehicle-​light is not a check-​engine-​light and has nothing to do with smog! So I told him to get the hell out of my car and drove off to Speedy Auto Repair and Smog at Kurtz Street for a much better experience.

I took my van and told them the left front caliper needed replaced. The service writer advised they would do a brake inspection for $ 40, and if I had repairs done, $ 40 credit towards the repair. They called to say the back brakes needed redone, the calipers were fine-​told them no. Picked up the van, the front left caliper was froze again, took it to our trusted mechanic who replaced both front calipers. I am out the $ 40 and will never take a vehicle to them again!

I’m not too knowledgable about cars so it’s really important to me to find a great mechanic that I can trust to be honest and fairly priced. I have have found that in Clairemont Auto Care. Albert and his staff will take great care of you. No need to shop around, I highly recommend this place.

My alternator broke and I was stranded on balboa ave. I got my car towed by AAA. The tow guy was amazing and recommended this place to me. I called them and said Mark had me call you guys, they gave me a discount and had my car down and running in 3 hours. A new alternator was only $ 306 and comes with a 3 year warranty. Usually they run from $ 500-​$ 600 with no warranty. I wanted a month to write this review because I thought it was too good to be true, but I was wrong. My car is still running amazing and works perfectly! The guys were super helpful and I will be going back to them in the future.

The auto store is unique. They have a grocery here, with several old broken chairs outside. I was sitting there waiting for my test result when the sunset make me feel I was on trip alone. Anyway they did smog test quickly. And the price is reasonable.

I was referred to this place by a coworker, and I was not disappointed in coming here. I came right before they were about to close but they didn’t mind at all and were quick to diagnose the problem and help me.
Location: A crosstreet off Clairemont and Genesee. Easy to find
Staff: Very friendly! One of the techs greeted me right away and AL was the one who helped me out along with another tech, unfortunately I don’t remember the name. I sat down on the sidewalk to watch them and another tech brought me a chair to sit on without me having to ask. So nice of them :)
Service: Was quick and they were careful moving around the things in my car. They answered all my questions and seemed very knowledgeable and knew what they were doing. I had originally come in thinking that I would have to get my alternator fixed but turns out, after AL checked my car and tested it, that it was just the battery (Phew thank God!)
Price: Fair priced!
Overall, this Auto Place has gained my trust and will be coming back to them next time I need something fixed. They didn’t try to haggle more money out of me or anything of that sort and I was 500% satisfied with their service. Thanks again!

This place is super chill. Always come to get my smog checked here. Today I was in and out in about ten minutes. It’s also really nice that they have a super friendly team as well.

I needed a brake job and didn’t know of any trustworthy auto shops in SD, so my coworker recommended this place, and I thought I would check them out. Prior to my visit, I called them twice for a quote and each time I spoke to someone different. However, they both quoted me the same price $ 295 for everything (front brakes/​pads/​rotors replacement, and labor) with 1 year warranty.
Apparently, this place is a family owned auto shop and gas station. During my first visit, I met Albert, who is the owner. He was very nice, competent, accommodating, and honest! He quoted me the same price upfront and gave me an expected waiting time of 2 hours and 30 minutes, but they ended up finishing earlier than expected. This shows great professionalism, promptness, and efficiency. Albert also took off $ 40 inspection fee and checked/​cleaned my rear brakes for free! He didn’t try to upsell me or recommend other parts that needed repair like other places would. He only inspected/​fixed what he was asked to do. His staffs was very nice and performed quality and efficient work.
It’s unfortunate that this place received such low ratings for their reasonably low prices, excellent customer service, and fast quality service. I feel this place deserves more business and better ratings. I recommend that you should go check them out for yourself before eliminating them from your list of auto services. Overall, I had a great experience and they did a great job fixing my brakes. I am satisfied with their customer service and speed of service. I would definitely seek their help again for any future car problems! (*crosses fingers* hopefully no more after this!)

So sad that this place has excellent service and prices but their rating looks low and their good reviews are pushed to where u can’t view easily! (click on More Reviews to see how great they really are)
Extremely competitive prices, excellent service work u can count on. Just had my Catalytic Converter replaced here at a fraction of the cost elsewhere plus they always throw in little extras for free like greased my auto opening trunk door arms that were squeaking

I’ve been here multiple times in the past 4 years for smog checks and never had a problem. I was surprised to see the negative reviews on Unilocal.Yesterday I went in for a smog check and an oil change and my husband got a smog check. They were quick enough considering how busy they were on a Saturday afternoon. They were friendly and they stuck to the quoted price. They didn’t try to add on any services or parts, but topped off all my fluids, checked tire pressure, etc. It’s a bit of a grungy place, but it’s fine– can’t expect much from an auto care facility.

Extremely unethical and fraud business, total rip off. Came for smog test, they asked me to buy bunch of unrelated stuff (filter, belt, stupid stuff… etc_​) and I said no, I’m here for smog test…
Car passed computer test, but they failed the car in (inspection test) because I did not wanna be stupid and buy from them what they suggested. Sorry to say that this is very inappropriate, unethical, losers, not honest business.
By the way car passed the test after a few minutes in a shop a few miles a way… because if people lose their moral, can potentially do ANYTHING, I have never encountered a worse shop than this one — San Diegans need to be aware of good business versus fraud !

I have never come here for a car service, but as far as the rest of the station, it’s awesome. The guys that work the counter are always really nice, the gas prices are always low, they offer a large assortment of regular gas station things of course, but many things you wouldn’t suspect to find. I’ve seen custom order jerseys on sale there (good deal too) they have sports hats and such, but the coolest part is the well priced smoking accessories. I’m talking ecigs, flavored vape, hookahs, grinders, pipes, and yes, even a large array of beautiful and inexpensive water pipes, for smoking medical marijuana. Prop 215 & 420 compliant baby ah yeah :). I’ve picked up quite a few things here for myself and others, an I couldn’t be happier with my purchases.

Ive been here several times over the last few years. No complaints here. They are quick and do the best they can… Ive sent others here as well and so far, no complaints just more satisfied customers…

Not sure why Unilocal is filtering out all the positive reviews for these guys? Very weird. Here’s my review one more time that Unilocal filtered out:
These guys do a great job on all the quirky problems my car has had, ie window stopped rolling up and down and the AC started blowing hot air. The smoke shop inside always catches me off guard but I guess they’ve found a nitch!
Many auto shops intimidate female customers and that is not the case here. They explain the situation, give options on new vs. used parts and treat customers with respect. I have found their prices to be competitive when I call around for bids.
The employees have a courteous smile on their face and stop to say hello. Highly recommend to friends and family.

I am super surprised to see all the bad reviews. SO– I’ll specify that I only went for a smog check.
Everyone I interacted with was very friendly and they were speedy in terms of service. If you’re looking for a simple thing such as a smog check, I would recommend them.

I took over three cars to these folks. I brought my truck in and recieve brake service.
After I left I had a squeek on the left front brake. took it back nad they fixed it and they only offered a free oil change. It could of been my life. they seem not to care to take care of the customer. in my eyes the customer is always right. I WOULD STAY AWAY. they lost my parents, brother, and my cars forever.

Crooks.
I went here to purchase a car from one of the mechanics (Nic) that work here. I test drove it, looked it over (it was rough) but was just looking for a daily driver not a show car. I was told that Clairemont Auto Care had just put in a new clutch, that they replaced the transmission with a low-​mileage one, and all the other services were done all in anticipation of giving the vehicle to the owner’s son who later changed his mind because he didn’t want to drive stick. Nic being a mechanic guaranteed that this car was a solid daily driver. Within weeks the car wasn’t staying in gear. I let Nic know, and he couldn’t be bothered to really care other than express his surprise.
So, I took the car to a friend of a friend’s transmission shop (East County Transmissions) and was told that low-​quality parts were used, that the springs in the clutch disc were falling out, that the shifting cables were completely worn, and that the shifter plate was broken. So now I’m looking at a freshly-​rebuilt transmission, new shifting cables, and a new OEM clutch (like what SHOULD have been installed in the first place) and I can rest assured that it will be installed properly by a professional.
I am not a professional mechanic, but I have restored a few vehicles, performed engine/​transmission swaps and conversions and even built from the ground up the truck I drive every day to work 80 miles. I should have walked away from this car but really wanted to trust that Nic was as nice as he acted.
I was stuck hanging out at the shop for awhile getting the pink slip signed and what not and observed how they are with customers and how they do work in their shop. I concluded that they are all about getting customers in and out without much concern for doing a GOOD job. Sure, they’re nice and sure your car will make it out of the garage and home for awhile but you will have problems later on down the road. If all you need are fluids checked and changed, smog tests done, and air in your tires it might be safe to say these are your guys. Other than that, from the work that I’ve seen them do on major tasks… they are either completely incompetent or simply do not care. If you want a mechanic you can trust, check out: Wolf’s Foreign Car Service but make an appointment because he’s popular.