Johnny’s Auto Center

I cannot say more than enough about Johnny and his mechanics. Fast, Friendly & Honest. They are all very knowledgable in what they do and they explain what is wrong as well as summarizing what had been done. Excellent customer service.

Johnnys auto repair is great! Johnny is very honest when it comes to your car. I drive an hour to just to see Johnny and will continue to visit him anytime I need my car looked at because I know he’ll provide great service and I can see why he has great relationships with his customers.

Perfect place! Most honest guy I know. I’ve been coming here for years and will continue to do so.

Definitely the friendliest mechanic ever and super helpful. We rolled in with a busted ac that was going to mess up the rest of the car. Being from sf we needed to be on the road. Johnny bypassed the ac and got us rolling real quick. Thank you!

Had a loud ticking noise start from my engine. Fearing the worst on my 190k car (valves) I brought it to Johnny’s Auto Center here in San Marcos. After a thorough diagnostic he found that it was a lifter tick and used an oil additive to clean up the built-​up oil residue from the engine. The car sounds great now. He could have hit me for a bunch and I would not have known it. Fix– Under $ 100. Thank you Johnny!!!

This is by far the best mechanic I’ve ever used! I have a 2000 Chevy silverado and was experiencing a p0300 code which just indicates random misfire. After calling Johnny’s Steve took the time to ask key questions and giving ideals over the phone helping me diagnose and save money. I still could not diagnose myself so I called back and set up an appointment. Johnny met with me when I brought it in and again asked a lot of key questions.
Now this is what sets Johnny apart from other mechanics the symptoms could have been serious mechanical failure (which I was prepared for) but Johnny called me the next day saying he had great news and that I would have the truck back within a few hours. I turned out to be a fuel regulator. They could have gouged me but chose to get a customer for life instead of a one time gouge. I really wish more mechanics were like this!!!

I am new to the area and finding a mechanic you can trust is about as important as finding a good doctor as far as I am concerned. Needed my rotors and pads replaced quickly on a ’97 Infinity and was referred to Johnny’s. I have had some good mechanics in the past but have to tip my hat to Johnny as the best. Service was excellent, price was great and they even did a further free evaluation that included some extras at no charge just to make sure I was road safe and ready to go. Have to add that I have never felt more at home at a garage either. It felt like hanging out with an old friend. I highly recommend Johnny’s — he has a customer for life!

I googled a Lexus repair shop and Johnny’s was the first in line — next to the dealership, where I refused to go. When I called they were 15 minutes from closing; after I explained my situation, Johnny said he had the parts in stock and would stay late to help me. He was so nice when I showed up, and he knew exactly who I was. He fixed my car in a timely fashion and was very affordable. The dealership wanted to charge me double the price for just one light, he fixed both! I’ll be back. Thank you Johnny!

Reasonably priced, knowledgable, efficient, friendly, honest. What more could you want for your Bimmer. I will take all my cars here from now on.

Up until today, I believed the oil change service was okay. It is not really a big deal to get an oil change. I found Johnny’s on Unilocal just like others have found his site.
I have been coming here for a year and so far was satisfied until this past month.
Recently I had to take a long drive 120 miles away from my home in North County of California.
When I was returning home the check engine light and the oil light went on and I made an effort to contact Johnny’s Auto to find out why the oil light went on so early before the sticker number I was given to get a new oil change.
I could not reach the Auto Shop as the answering machine was on, and took it somewhere else because I was worried that there was no oil in my car.
The other shop owner told me that there was no oil in my car and that the oil had completed drained. The owner said there were also no leaks in the car either.
I phoned Johnny and asked him why this would happen so early before what the sticker number would be.
I was told that I should have check the oil engine level prior to the sticker number because my car is an older car. I asked for a credit because the oil had drained out of the car. Johnny got very angry and told me it was my fault that I did not check the oil level and that I should come back in today, 9÷20÷2013, which I did make a specail trip to discuss this issue with him.
He still told me that I was at fault with not checking the oil level and told me he wanted to call the owner of the place were I just got my oil changed. I said to him is that going to make a difference if you will give or not give a credit to me?
He told me three times it was my fault for not checking the oil level of the car and still was angry and would really not help.
I was told that he would call the Auto Bureau of California to have them vouch for him. The end of the story is that I got nowhere and told him I would no longer be a customer. Mind you this is a discussion of about $ 29.00, and he has now lost a customer who was once a satisfied customer, and someone who will now not give any referrals, either.

I have taken my cars here when I don’t feel like fixing them my self. They do a great job and don’t try to screw me… The prices are reasonable.
I have had Struts done here as well as a head job, both are still great many miles later.

I live in Carlsbad, so Johnny’s is not the closest shop to me. I first brought my car into Johnny’s at the recommendation of a friend. He is a Honda die-​hard and would not let anyone else touch his car. Anyway, I brought my car in because I was told by Big O tires in Carlsbad that I needed a brake job. I thought this was suspicious because I was having no brake issues and I just had my car in a shop elsewhere for regular maintenance. Sure enough, Johnny put my car up on the lift and showed me that my brakes were fine. No charge. The second time was similar, and again no charge. I knew from that point on that Johnny’s was going to be the only place I would bring my cars. He and Stephen are honest, knowledgeable, experienced, reliable, and great with customers. No matter the distance, Johnny’s is the only place I will bring my cars to.

I have heard how great this place was for years and finally went to have a full set of brakes and my brake light replaced. This place is fairly priced, fast service and friendly to boot. I found a new home away from home when my car needs some TLC!

Installed Eibach Prokit Springs and Sways on my 2012 Mazda Mx5 Miata. Great job. They torqued bolts on the ground and did everything proper. I get my oil changes done here as well.

Been taking my car back to these guys the last 3 years or so. I’m pretty mechanical myself and generally distrusting of how many service businesses operate. Mechanics really have people by the b***s when they don’t know what questions to ask. I’ve got to say in half dozen or so times I’ve have our cars in for major and minor service, they’ve been spot on with their diagnostics, priced their work fairly and stayed late to finish on time when they knew we needed our car back. 4 stars for a solid, friendly and reliable service. Coffee in the waiting room and spotless bathrooms would be 5 star, but I’m impossible I know. Good job guys!

I took my car in about two weeks ago for my 53,000 mile service on my 2008 Nissan Versa SL stick shift. My girlfriend and her parents had nothing but good things to say, but I was skeptical walking in…
… And my skepticism left me when I got my car back! They were very attentive with me from start to finish, calling me on my cell phone to update me of any changes they felt were necessary. They explained what each change could possibly mean, they kept the prices reasonable. Most importantly of all, they were not trying to upsell me ridiculous fixes that I didn’t need.
I even asked them to keep the expenses under a certain limit and they did just that! A synthetic oil change wasn’t even close to $ 50 for my car! (Then again I drive a little hatchback, but I’ve been to car service shops that charge stupidly high sums of money, over $ 100 just for a synthetic oil change)
Johnny and his techs made sure to go through every single one of the bullet points listed in the owner’s/service manual for my car, in addition to a few things I wanted them to personally look at that weren’t listed on the official checklist.
They finished with my car service within 5 hours, on a busy weekday, which I thought was super cool and it worked out for me :)
Reasonably priced, quality, REALTIME service. This place deserves 10 out of 5 stars haha. Johnny has a repeat customer now so long as I live in San Diego :)

Took my car in after months of having one headlight out. I knew it wasn’t as simple as changing the bulb because two different guy friends had tried without success. I found this place on Unilocal & decided to call. Johnny was very friendly on the phone & gave me a reasonable estimate for the diagnostic check however he did let me know that this may not be the final price depending on the car problem it could be more. I appreciated his up front honesty. Luckily the problem was minor (corrosion on the wire) & he did not charge me any more, in fact he even threw in a new light bulb. Overall I was very satisfied with his service & will definitely be a returning customer.

For me the entire concept of having my car serviced or repaired is daunting. I’m not mechanically inclined, have no interest in such things, and I’m generally fearful of any discussion of these topics.
I’ve used Johnny’s about 4 – 5 times since discovering his shop on Unilocal and each time I feel as though I’ve been treated MORE than fairly. This week my wife went to Johnny’s for service on her car and rather than rip us off, make us wait, or botch the job he suggested that we go to a specialist (Jaguar) for our particular tire situation. They’re stand up guys and that’s all I ask for.
Will keep using them.

Not a customer myself of this shop but experienced a pretty bad situation. Let me start off by saying that if one of the mechanics (did catch his name) where to talk to me and my friend at first, then my friend would have gladly paid anything they wanted as long as the car got fixed. Unfortunately, that was not what happend. The guy up front was having his worst day of his lfe and took it out on us. If there are ever two phases that should not be said by a business owner they would be: «I knew you where not gonna wanna pay, YOUR PEOPLE NEVER WANT TO» and «Based on the car that you brought in, looks like you need the money more then us».
The problem is that my friend was getting charged 80 dollars for diagnostics PLUS $ 200– for further diagnostics because they didnt know exactly what was going on (This did not make sense to us at first so that is why my friend got confused, but then the mechanica made sense of it but was already to late). The guy up front, maybe Johnny himself, was in no mood to explain and the the «argue» path instead. This is not how a business should be ran. I am sure the mechanic does a great job but the guy up front needs to leave his problems at home.
FYI– My friend is black (YOUR PEOPLE NEVER WANT TO PAY” and he brought in a Jeep (BASED ON THE CAR YOU BROUGHT IN).

My Dad and I found this shop by luck after being turned away at a shop next door recommended by a friend to change the clutch out on my really low 240sx. Johnny and Steve have been really helpful to me and my family when we needed work to be done on our cars. There has been some disappointments, but they have always corrected the problem in no time. The really nice thing about them is that they always explain what they did and what was wrong in full detail. A big bonus is that they don’t mind working on super low/​dumped cars, haha.
Definitely one of the best shops in north county! I never think twice to recommend them to my friends.