Alliance Transmissions & Auto Repair

Once again my reviews are few and far between however when someone gets it done I take notice. Rex runs this shop a good ol boy from way back honest, fair and just does the work that needs to be done, nothing more. I’ve sent my Mother, my best friend and an x-​girlfriend everyone loved him and thanked me and will go back. So if you live in San-​Diego go to Alliance this place ROCKS. Tell Rex George sent you and you’re looking good and that’s Gospel my friends.

Was quoted $ 550 for trans flush on a 2013 Hyundai Accent. Got it done for $ 79.95+tax down the street.

Professional, efficient & fair.
Nothing worse than feeling like you’re being bluffed by a mechanic. This is farthest than the truth with my experience at Alliance in San Marcos. I was very confident with Rex’ no pressure advice on replacing breaks pads and rotors. The bonus was the very competitive price AND (though not always available) they provided me with a loaner car so I didn’t have to take time off of work.

Best experience I’ve had with any mechanic shop yet. Benjamin has excellent customer service skills and gave me options with my 350z. I went to three shops before this one and I don’t regret my decision.

Having been in the auto business 15 years ago I was fortunate to meet the new owner of Alliance Auto Repair and Transmission, Kris is a great guy. One of his service writers Ben is a nice guy as well and even lent me one of his tools as I am refurbishing an old VW Ghia. Saturday May 30^th I brought over my brand new 2015 VW Passat and had it lowered. Kris swapped out the springs in an hour and had the car aligned. Looks great and drives great!

Worst service i’ve ever experienced!!! I’ve been going here for a while now but finally went back after a year of no problems with my car. This place went downhill fast.
Service was horrible. Dropped my car off at 1pm was told they’d call me to tell me what was wrong and give me an estimate. Well didn’t hear anything from them. Walked by the shop at 4:30 to see they were closed. No call what so ever and kept my car over night without any communication. Had no ride to work. Well next day I had to call them and he finally gave me an estimate. I said ok because it was a quick fix. Didn’t get a call until 4:30 that day. They kept my car for literally 26 hours and the problem isn’t even fixed!!! Only reason I went there was for a certain mechanic named Al which I found out works next door. After this experience I’m going next door to someone who I know cares.

Do not go to this mechanic shop! They steal your money and waste your time and they don’t fix the car either. I went in to fix a leak on my car and instead of them replacing the part as promised they did a temporary fix which caused the leak to come back. I went there today to talk to them about it and they want to charge me again! I highly suggest you guys find a different mechanic shop cause this one will take your money and not to a good job at all.

I have been here twice now thanks to a living social deal I bought and will definitely be coming back. The staff is always super friendly and they always get me in and out in no time at all.

I had a screaming fan belt under the hood of my 1969 Chevy Pick-​up. It was so loud that other drives pulled over thinking it was a siren. I went to Pep Boys and got an oil change and asked if the tech could look at it. The tech told the service manager he couldn’t hear anything… really? All the lazy fool had to do was to get in and drive it. I went to a highly recommended shop in Vista and the shop manager said «We don’t work on vehicles that old» I suppose my money was too old for him too, or without a computer today’s techs would be lost.
The folks who re-​built my transmission recommended a classic hot rod shop in Escondido but it had so many negative comments in Google and Unilocal that I wouldn’t take the chance.
I finally found Alliance Transmission and Auto Repair in San Marcos and called them. The man in the office made and appointment for me and assured me that the age of my car was not a problem. I went to the shop and the mechanic showed me it was the wrong belt on the engine. They ordered the correct belt and fixed the problem reasonably and promptly. Now I can cruise the streets without embarrassment and still hear my oldies tunes. I will be returning to Alliance the next time my 44 year-​old «Green Machine» acts up. Thanks Alliance!

My transmission went on out in September 2013 and I came to Alliance via a recommendation from a coworker who used them years ago. Had I asked around more I would have received another recommendation to not go to Alliance from another coworker.
I will say this before I continue on with my review, Ray the owner is a good guy but unfortunately my experience with the transmission service I received from Alliance was a nightmare and the nightmare continued for me. I was hoping my latest visit was the last time I had to go to Alliance with my car.
I brought my car to Alliance in September 2013 with a transmission problem. Hoping for the best but was expecting the bad news because my car was at 102,000 miles. It was confirmed the next day that my transmission requires a rebuild and the cost was 4000 plus another 400 for motor mounts. Alliance had my car for 7 days to complete the rebuild. When driving my car home I noticed it did not run the same as it did prior to my transmission going out. I figured I was paranoid and had to would drive it more.
Unfortunately, the next day coming home from work my car would not shift from 3^rd to 4^th on the freeway. I immediately called Alliance to let them know it is not shifting from 3^rd to 4^th. The next morning I was going to drop it off at Alliance; however, the check engine light came on, so I was not going to drive my car to prevent any further damage. Alliance said they would send over a tow truck to pick me up. It took 4 ½ hours for the tow truck to get to my house.
Four more days. I was told it was just a dirty connector. They said they cleaned the connector and test drove my car and everything is good. After I picked up my car at their closing time, I drove it home and noticed that there were lights on. I know they must have seen the lights when they test drove my car. The next morning the transmission was rough from the start. After I dropped my kids off at school I called to let them know that it was running rough. Not even 10 minutes later I noticed my car making noises as I slowed down. Once I got on the freeway my car went from bad to worse. I called Alliance again and I told them I am bringing my car in again. So I spoke with Ray the owner and expressed my frustration with the whole situation. Ray assured me he would make it right.
A few hours later I get a call to let me know that the transmission is completely gone again and they are going get a re-​manufactured transmission. Another 7 days. The 2^nd transmission was running smooth. Ray also upgraded my warranty from 12 months to 24 months. I took my car back for the visual inspection and everything was still good (No Leaks).
A little more than a month and 1500 miles later, I get home from work and I noticed a burning smell. I looked under my care and saw transmission fluid was leaking everywhere. I called Alliance and spoke with Ray the next morning (Tuesday). I wanted to make sure it was OK to drive my car to his shop, which is about 2 miles from where I live. So I took my car back. I get a call Wednesday stating that they are going to replace my whole transmission again. I appreciated Ray doing this. He said it should be Friday when I get my car back. Once again I was renting a car. Friday came and no call, so I gave them a call to around 3:30PM to get a status. I was told they could not get to it and they are having someone come in on Saturday to take care of it. Saturday comes, once again no call. I give them a call around 3:30PM for the status. I am told it will be Monday now. Monday comes and Alliance calls to tell me it will be Tuesday before I get my car back.
When I picked up my car I noticed that the paperwork no longer stated a 2 year warranty. I asked Kris if I still have my 2 year warranty. He said, «it should». That was not reassuring so I called Ray the next day. Ray assured me that the warranty is still 2 years from the original date of the 2^nd transmission and not the 3^rd transmission.
The 3^rd transmission just did not seem right. When traveling down hills and slowly breaking my car would downshift and the RPM’s would shoot up. I could no longer feel confident in my car getting to my destinations without breaking down again. I took my Acura back to Alliance for the 10 day inspection but it was the last day with car. The next day I traded it in for a new car. With my experience with Alliance I knew I had to get a different car before the Acura was in the shop again.
Recommendation: If you have a Honda transmission, please take your car to a dealership or an independent Honda mechanic. I also recommend asking for a remanufactured transmission over a rebuild. While Ray is a good guy and he did try to make things right, the fact that my car had 3 transmissions in 1500 miles must same something. As I mentioned earlier I have a coworker who took his Honda Odyssey to Alliance and has had issues where he has gone back.

These are good guys. Al has been the family mechanic for years, keeping a lot of cars running smooth.

This place was amazing. I was referred by a brake shop nearby. My car was dumping transmission fluid, and they diagnosed it as a seal, which could be replaced in a much faster and more cost effective way. 15,000 miles later and everything is running perfect!!! I’m grateful for them. They’re honest and really take the time to explain the problem to you. I’m actually going back Wednesday for a different issue not transmission related. I trust them.

I have taken my 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer to these guys and they have always been very professional and honest about the work that needs to be done on the car. They have gone out of their way to make sure I got the repair that I actually needed and did not try to sell me anything I didn’t need. Highly recommend!

My car broke down 40 miles away from home in San Marcos and I was stranded. The gear was stuck in park and I could not switch gears. Per the recommendation of another mechanic, I got my car towed to Alliance Transmissions. Rusty, the manager, was very friendly, helpful, and accomodating. They repaired my car for a reasonable price and in a timely manner. Rusty went out of his way to give me a ride to Escondido to get me closer to home while I waited for my ride, which was above and beyond the call of duty.

I was a loyal customer of Al Cerda of Auto Tune for 20 years. Now that he’s at Alliance, I’ll be taking my fleet to them for all of my repair needs.

First of all I am probably like most of you that are hesitant and suspicious of small, independent shops (as well as plumblers and appliance folks). I am very familiar with cars and I wrench on my on Land Rover but when it comes to transmissions, I leave the to the experts.
So here is the scoop. About a month ago my friend dropped off my tired 1995 Land Rover Discovery I tranny for a rebuild. The quote was reasonable at $ 1700 and only certain techs can work on ZF trannys. My friend has taken about 5 trannys to be rebuild all from different Rovers and have never had an issue with the quality of the rebuilds so they came very highly recommended! Well, I finally picked up my car on Sat. and noticed that the car would not shift after about 3^rd gear if you punched the accelerator. It would downshift but would not shift after that so I would have to stop, and play with the tv cable to get it to retract. At this point you know what was going through my head… my worse nightmare to have to deal with a small shop and fight tooth and nail to get it fixed. To have to explain that it wasn’t my fault and put up an argument. Well, to my pleasant surprise, we called Rusty at Alliance on Monday and he said bring it in on Wed. first thing in the morning. I showed up and was quickly greeted by Rusty the service manager. He was very professional and courteous and sensitive to my problem. He made me feel like he was going to take care of everything without hesitation and did not question it being my fault. This is Golden for customer service!
I asked if it was going to be an easy fix so I can wait for it and he said it would have to be left over night. I said no problem because I would rather them take their time and get it done right. I know they were slammed because all the bays were full except for one. He immediately pulled a tech and they lifted the car and started to inspect it. I had just put new Amsoil synthetic in the whole car and asked to save and reuse it. He said no problem they would wipe down a pan before draining it.
I got a rental car and several hours later (about 5hrs) he called me and told me it was fixed and good to go. I called him and he was very detailed in his explanation of what the problem was and how they fixed it. They did a lot to fix the car. Dropped the pan, Y-​pipe, X-​member just to access the inside where the tv cable was. They ended up winding it one more loop to tension it. If you don’t know about labor… that is a lot of work just to do that. The next day I went to pick it up and wasn’t sure if I would have to pay anything for getting it fix. WELL, no sir! Rusty and the boys said it was under warranty and that I would not have to pay a penny! Wow! I thought that was Fantastic customer service! The best part of it was not that I didn’t have to pay but that they did everything with a smile and were very HONEST! Never did they make me feel like I was going to have to put up a fight. I highly recommend Alliance for your transmission needs. If they can pass my customer service expectations believe me they are worth it. There is no price for HONESTY!
Thanks Rusty and the gang!
I will definitely continue to refer all my friends to your shop!
Sincerely,
Eddie
Land Rover Club of San Diego
Carmel Valley