Vanguard Motors

My temperamental 335i had an emergency electrical failure that put the car in a fail-​mode. I can’t tell you how pissed off I was w/​the car. I took it to Vanguard because I had a very good experience with them in the past, and I feel comfortable entrusting them again. In my case, it was a super labor-​intensive process on their part because the diagnostic tool could not connect to the car to do what it was supposed to do. Gary and his crew had to manually go through a painful process by elimination. Well, not only they solved the problem, they were super reasonable with the rate. They could have decided to put in a replacement part just because, but they didn’t. Overall, I couldn’t be happier with their outstanding work.
My experience w/​the 335i has been mixed, and overall I can’t save it’s been a happy and trouble-​free ownership. But it’s the local, honest, competent shop like Vanguard that gives me the confidence to keep this car. Vanguard still respects and cares about the relationship between the owner and his car. Definitely can’t say that about the dealer.
Highly recommended.

Vanguard is the spot! I have brought my 1987 325is to Gary & Paula a handful of times now, and every experience has been quick, easy, and best of all, thorough. Gary is such a wealth of knowledge on E30s (and many other models!) and has really given me a lot of confidence in running an older car. The work has been high quality, delivered on time, and often under estimate. The best of all worlds! Highly recommended, especially if you have a «classic» (or borderline classic, in my case) BMW or Porsche.

I have owned two BMW’s and Vanguard is the only place that I will take my car to be serviced. Gary is hands down the best mechanic that I have used. His knowledge and expertise is amazing, his prices are always very fair, and Paula is also fantastic. Vanguard is the best!

Great service, they explain everything, and fair pricing. Gary and Paula are so great!

I’ve been a Vanguard customer for just over a year now after my 2008 BMW 535xi wagon fell out of warranty. They are everything you want from a non-​franchised specialist and nothing you don’t.
Gary and Paula make a great team and they know their BMWs better than the dealership. They have been able to diagnose problems with alacrity that is often appreciated when you are running an older, high mileage German car.
They are prompt, always looking to save you money, don’t cut corners and always use proper parts. They aren’t the cheapest in the area but I am wary of using the cheapest mechanics especially where the more complex German engineering is concerned. I would say that they offer a good mid spot price-​wise between the dealer and a generalist mechanic. For me this is more than acceptable because that extra money goes into proper factory training for all their techs as well as owning the proper equipment.
One thing I really like about Vanguard is the work they are not willing to take on. They steer clear of any aftermarket work and will advise you why, I see them as an extension of the type of service that the dealership provides you but without the crazy upsell and the un-​necessary work.
They are direct and to the point on what you need to have done and then give you a laundry list of the nices to have and also the advisories. They only use OEM parts, all of their technicians are trained to the same standard but they aren’t bound by the ‘by the book’ approach that our dealers use.
I’ve seen some very very high dollar amount cars in there, which is all I needed to know. If someone is willing to let them service their $ 100k 911 then I’m more than happy to let them work on my six year old wagon.

So after using Vanguard I had an issue that needed to be addressed immediately.
They upsold me on another service that they claim needed to be done.
Long story short I ended up overpaying by about $ 400.
If I were you you I’d save my money and go to a garage down the street, or go to any other BMW garage.
In total I overpayed a lot of money and I would seriously get a second opinion if you were to take your car there, you will end up saving money. My fix was 625 there and 400 at another place right down the street.
It really upsets me to write this review but it seems like they don’t care about repeat customers and therefore I don’t care about them.
I have been a customer for such a long time I have receipts totaling over 4 grand. Maybe more.
Maybe to them I’m not a good customer. But for me I was very very loyal and I was taken advantage of.
To Paula and Gary I wish you the best but you have lost a long time repeat customer.
They also charge $ 154 per hour for labor which coincidentally is about 35% more than other shops in the neighborhood.
Just an FYI.

I don’t know of a more trustworthy and knowledgeable car shop in the city.
It is akin to taking your car to the Tappet brothers, except it’s Paula and Gary, and maybe without the jokes, but the knowledge and care cannot be overstated.

super nice folks.
i don’t know much about cars but the prices seem fair and i didn’t get the impression that they were trying to up sell me on anything.
thumbs up.

Love Gary and Paula and would never take my older Porsche anywhere else.

I was heading south on the 550 when my BMr dashboard lit up. I called my Santa Monica Mechanic and he told me to get to repair shop quick. The place I was referred to was Vanguard… No one picked up when I was calling from the road (lunch brake) but when I arrived they were friendly to a traveler (me) and while they couldn’t help me they did help me find another organization up the road… that was helpful. Thx!

My experience with Vanguard Motors has been nothing short of exceptional. They do a thorough job at a fair price, and don’t take a year and a day. They provide clear explanations of the work to be done and they patiently answer all of my questions. Gary and Paula have scheduled my car at the last minute when necessary. One time Gary personally drove me to get a rental car when their transport van didn’t show up. They make me feel like a valued customer as opposed to a number like I used to feel at the dealership. I highly recommend this shop.

I used to live in San Francisco and went to both Phaedrus and Vanguard Motors. I started going to Phaedrus. On my first service they did a great job and didn’t charge too much. After that, it seemed the prices for their service was outrageous. I moved over to Vanguard Motors with good Unilocal reviews in combination with a
membership. The prices are much better but seems like he was recommending work that didn’t really need to be done. Vanguard changed a head gasket to fix the burning smell coming from my 5-​series. The smell is now back after a few months. He also changed my activated carbon cabin micro filters and now I’m smelling exhaust from other cars again (makes me wonder if he used a cheap non-​active carbon substitute). He kept telling me that my front rubber bushings were really bad and needed to be replaced. I was skeptical at this point and took it to Custom Alignment Balance and Brakes in Mountain View (whom I highly recommend for tires/​alignment/​suspension work) and they said there was nothing wrong. I had a few similar issues with Phaedrus doing some service that wasn’t really necessary so I can’t really recommend anyone in San Francisco.
I just moved down to San Mateo and am searching for a new independent BMW shop and would love to hear if anyone has had a good experience with an honest BMW technician on the peninsula.

I’ve been taking my E46 to Vanguard for 7 years and he’s running as good as the day I bought him. If you take your older vehicle to the dealer shop, you get a ‘buy a new car’ sales job and the work is done by some trainees with very loose supervision. At a local generalist shop, you get generalist knowledge of cars. I want a shop that knows the car really well.
Gary and the team at Vanguard are great. They make your Bimmer part of the family and manage its maintenance with the professional skill and the passion of an enthusiast.
They only use quality BMW parts and lubricants — in addition to BMW (Castrol) oil they use Redline, which I highly recommend for stick shift gear boxes. If you care for your car, that’s what you want.

I was recommended to visit Gary at Vanguard Motors in SF, to take a look at my 2002 BMW 4.4i X5. My X5 is my daily driver and fully loaded but I had a «bumpy» problem with my air ride suspension. Being a some what ‘gearhead’ myself I know and understand cars in general but with high performance vehicles (BMWs or Porches) you need to find people and a place you can trust…
You can find them at Vanguard Motors in San Francisco.
Gary understood my problem addressing my concerns. It was evident he knew BMWs but he also knew all the workings of the vehicle as well. And I believe the entire shop knew BMWs! He was able to determine and resolve the issue and pass along other recommendations.
Great service, knowledge base and fair prices. I have already scheduled another service next week. Yup that’s how good I feel about these guys!
A+ to vanguard Motors and CHEERS!

Let me start by saying that I don’t Unilocal very often, but I was inspired to do so this morning after speaking with Paula. I called because my 2001 325ci wouldn’t start and nothing in the world stresses me out more than car trouble. Once I pathetically described the symptoms, she immediately diagnosed the likely problem as a dead battery. Giant phew!
Gary was recommended to me back in 2006 and I haven’t gone anywhere else since. They are always super nice and explain in terms that even I can understand. I also appreciate when they rank the problems (e.g. urgent, not so urgent, can probably wait another year) so I don’t get so overwhelmed and my checkbook likes it, too.

I trust Gary to work on my car. He is a solid mechanic who I was referred to a few years ago
I have a pretty rare and pricey Porsche, so having someone who knows these cars well means a lot to me
Gary has done a variety of work on my car– oil seals, clutch, as well as basic maintenance. He is able to work things out well with the aftermarket warranty I have for the car, and is reasonably priced

I agree with all of the other postings here. Gary and Paula are fantastic. Gary is super anal, meticulous, hard-​working, and extremely knowledgeable. I highly recommend Vanugard. He’s taken care of my E39 528i for over 5 years, and before I totaled my 911 cabriolet, he maintained that also.
Gary is extremely conscientious, and he always deliver on time and on budget (barring unforeseen circumstances, which can happen, of course).
Paula is a joy, and super responsive.
All in all, I fully trust Vanguard and have referred many friends there over the years.

A friend of mine recommended Gary to me for my 94 BMW 325i about 8 years ago. I will never take my car anywhere else. I have received nothing but the best service (Paula and Gary truly make me feel like family). I have taken my car into them on numerous occasions for problems on my aging car and have been completely satisfied with their work. Gary has also educated me tremendously about what to look out for by way of preventative maintenance as well.
Last time I took my car into them, I was given an estimate, then recieved a call back a few hours later… Paula had found out that a part that needed to be fixed was still under warranty, so it was my estimate was cut in half because of bothered to do the extra research.
Don’t know where you can get that kind of service elsewhere. Gary and Paula are my kind of people. Hard working and thorough.

Gary and the crew at Vanguard do a great job on my 29 year old Porsche. They did a correct rebuild of my worn synchronizers in the transmission, getting it right the first time. They know these cars well, and are great at troubleshooting problems, without having you spend unnecessarily. Want a detailed explanation of how something works, why it broke, and what will it take to fix it? No problem! Everything is explained carefully and understandably. My son has had great service there on his older BMW, too. Great shop!
Larry

I’ve been bringing my car to Gary @ Vanguard Motors for a few years now. He’s done work ranging from routine oil services to tune-​ups, to malfunctioning power locks, to exhaust work. I’ve always been happy with their service. In my experience Gary is exceedingly thorough and honest. If you bring your car to him for a certain problem, he’ll be comprehensive enough to highlight other issues if there are any. He’ll keep an accurate and thorough record of these issues and give you an estimate of how long before they should really be serviced. He won’t recommend work that isn’t necessary and he really gives you confidence that he cares about your car and wants to build an ongoing relationship.
Vanguard’s rates are reasonable compared to the dealer, and the location is really convenient (10^th Street in SOMA). I’ve found other mechanics that are less expensive, but you’ll trade off either quality of work, or location, or some other thing. All-​in-​all they’re worth the money you’ll pay them, much better than going to SF BMW three blocks away where you’ll be financially raped.
As a prior reviewer noted, Vanguard only works on BMWs or Porsches. It’s obvious, because they know your car inside and out. If your car doesn’t have one of these two badges you have to go to another shop.