Carl’s Foreign Car Service

Honest garage… Carl will tell you if the repairs are necessary or your car is not worth the price of the repair.

I love this place! I have been a customer very many years and I so appreciate how honest they are and that they don’t try to sell you repairs you don’t need. In fact, my car was not starting up right away but it was inconsistent. Sometimes it would start right up, others it wouldn’t start at all. I wasn’t sure if it was the battery or the starter motor. I took it to Carl’s and they started it several times throughout the day to see if they could get the same problem and they never did. So, they called me and said they didn’t want to put in a new starter motor if I didn’t need it. They were willing if I wanted them to put one in, but because they couldn’t replicate the problem they didn’t want me to spend the money if that wasn’t the issue. I was fine with that and really appreciated their honesty.
Fast forward a few months and I was having more instances of the car not starting. They thought it was the battery based on the sound the car would make trying to start. So, I took it in for it’s 90,000 service and a new battery. But, after putting in the new battery this time they still had the starting problem. So, they told me it needed a new starter motor. I agreed and asked them to take out the new battery, which they did without hesitation and didn’t charge me for it.
I completely trust Carl and his mechanics with my car and know they aren’t out to rip me off. It’s a nice feeling. They are great guys!

This comment has everything to do with customer service. I had made an appointment almost 2 weeks in advance and had arranged my tight schedule to get a ride to work. When I made the original appointment I described to the one mechanic, in detail, what needed to be done (I read the document verbatim, that the over-​priced dealership created with a list of services needed). The original mechanic took notes in the computer. Upon arrival 2 weeks later, I spoke with Carl himself and the notes were incomplete and not what I had described. So I repeated myself. Not the end of the world but slightly frustrating.
He said, «Well all we can do is diagnostics I’m overbooked you’ll have to bring it back for the actual work.» My husband and I were surprised, we were under the assumption that both the diagnostics and work would be done at the same time and would never have agreed to wait two weeks to be told this! My husband asked him why– this seemed unusual given that every other mechanic we’d been to, once you’ve made an appointment, allocates time for diagnostics and the work itself. Carl got immediately defensive and said to us that the work wasn’t going to get done and said «what am I supposed to do set aside 6 – 8 hours and risk having clients not sign up for services?» Effectively he told us that he didn’t have time for our car because of either his employee’s lack of proper expectation setting or that he over-​committed and didn’t own up to it.
After my husband asked him another question, he curtly said, «go find another mechanic, good bye.» And rudely shut us down. I’ve never had an encounter like this ever. We are reasonable people. I would have been ok if he had said, «I’m so sorry but I’m booked solid this week. If our policy of setting up a diagnostic appointment separate from a work appointment wasn’t explained to you, then I apologize and we’ll do our best to accommodate you perhaps prioritizing the most urgent issues for today and then rescheduling the less urgent issues for next week.» But he was defensive and rude.

So grateful for the exceptional and fast service here! My daughter is a student at UW and has her 98 beetle at school with her. We live a few hours away so when her car needs service we always do it at our longtime local mechanic. Wednesday afternoon she called home to say there was steam and an alert light on the dash. She was due to drive home for the weekend but we didn’t want her driving it if there was any kind of a mechanical issue. I called our mechanic and he agreed. I looked up reviews on Unilocal and after reading the negative reviews for University Volkswagen, I kept seeing Carl’s Foreign Car Service with great reviews so I called them hoping for the best. Brian was amazing! He said to have her come right over and he would see what he could do, knowing she needed the car to drive home by Friday. He called first thing Thursday with the estimate for repairs (very reasonable) and said he would have it ready for her that afternoon. She said he was very nice and her car is running perfectly! Thank you Brian for all your help, it’s nice to know there is a mechanic to trust in the big city!

I brought my 1999 Audi A6 here after I read all the good reviews. My car’s check engine light was on and I manually scanned that there were 5 error codes. The first time they checked and told me that I need to replaced my purge valve, which was what I expected since the part had failed once before and the symptom looked similar. It cost me about 200 bucks with labor, was acceptable. They told me they can’t guarantee that the check engine light won’t come back, if it comes back then they need to do another round of scan. And yeah the light’s back on the second day, with 3 error codes. I didn’t complain so far since it’s reasonable.
So I brought my car there the next week when I got some free time. This time they told me they «guess» some part was wrong. If I want to try to fix it, I need to at least throw 600 bucks for the part and labor. I confirmed with them later that they didn’t find out anything wrong for sure during testing, so that 600 bucks could possible won’t fix anything. I definitely don’t want to spend so much just to do some experiment.
What made me really angry, was this time they told me the trim on my car’s driver side just magically fell off when they shut the door! And they can’t install it back on since it’s rusty. I do admit that trim wasn’t in very good condition since I bought the car 2 years ago, but it had hung in there for 2 years with no problem and the day I brought it to their store it just fell off? What chance is this?! If what they told me was true then I guess they probably shut the door super hard. They didn’t offer any compensation expect they didn’t charge for the check this time, which they didn’t find out anything wrong for sure. I was very disappointed because I brought my car here to fix problems, not to find more troubles. Now I need to bring the car to a body shop to have a trim installed, which I guess will cost me another 200 bucks, and my car’s check engine light is still on. Feeling so tired.
I give them 2 stars because the service first time was not bad. Otherwise I’ll give 1 star.

I took my 2000 VW Jetta to University Volkswagen for service for many years. Then, in summer 2014, I took my car in to have a new battery installed. I was told I needed a new alternator, a repair that would cost well over $ 1,000. Rather than get the repair, I decided to take a chance and drive my car the short distance to get it home. I ended up taking my car to Carl’s Foreign Car Service, located at the end of my street. After an hour, Carl called me and said, «I don’t know what to tell you, but your car is charging. You can come get it, and I won’t even charge you.» It’s been running fine ever since. After over 8 years of doing business with University Volkswagen, I will NEVER take my car back to them for service. I simply don’t have money to throw away on unnecessary car repairs, and I’ve since found a mechanic I can trust.
Thanks Carl’s Foreign Car for being honest. Trust goes a long way.

This place is consistently exceptional. My car runs very well in their care and I have never felt like they were upselling me. In fact they have talked me out of a couple repairs in the past by talking me through the cost benefit analysis for my now aged car.

Finally an honest mechanic that I can trust. I’ve been taking my Subaru all over North Seattle trying to find an honest and good mechanic and just as I was losing hope I found Carl’s. They didn’t try to sell me on anything. They told me about a few things that I should watch and deal with down the road. So. if you want an honest mechanic (rare these days) check these guys out.

I created an account on Unilocal for the first time today after using it for years just so that I can write this review. That’s how amazing my experience was…
I’m from Vancouver, Canada and was passing through Seattle on my way home from Portland. My alternator blew on a Friday morning and I had no means of transportation. I couldn’t find a shop that had a courtesy car for me to use and other shops wouldn’t have had my car fixed until after the weekend.
I spoke with Carl and he was the only mechanic that spent time with me on the phone to make sure that ‘all t’s were crossed and i’s were dotted!’ We went through a series of questions to make sure the proper alternator was ordered, as well as cross referencing my car through the VIN #. Not only did I not even say that I would use his services at this point, he was trusting me with MY OWN assessment (and questions that he had asked) that the alternator had to be replace! He hadn’t even looked at my car at this point!
He promised me that he would have my car back on the road by the Friday evening. When arriving late because the tow truck took so long to pick up my car, he reassured me that the car would be completed. It also ended up that I needed a new belt! His parts delivery people didn’t have one, so he personally went to pick one up for me from another shop down the road!
Besides the fact that I didn’t want to pay what I thought were ‘average prices’ for a mechanic shop (which is usually a lot for the average person), the service was out standing! The time Carl spent with me on the phone was ‘above & beyond’ what he could have done. Carl ordered the parts even before I arrived, as well as personally picking other parts, because he wanted to make sure my car was fixed and on the road ASAP. I’ve been to a lot of mechanic shops and have my own guy I’m loyal to in Vancouver, but Carl is a guy that I believe all should trust!
****Please note that in a past review I read that someone ended up doing the repairs himself because the price for parts and labour were really expensive. I agree with that person because I could have ordered the part and repaired it myself (which I have in the past) for the 5^th of the price. But in my case, I’d have to order the part off of eBay, wait for it to be delivered (which could have taken a week +), buy new tools, and then I would have had to deal with any problems that occurred while repairing the car myself!
Again, Carl was fast, courteous, and… mechanics have to make a living too!

Great owner (Carl) who runs the place with two more mechanics. Always had my 1999 audi serviced here, always did a great job and sometimes went beyond my call to fix things that were failing on the poor old car (for free!) the only downside for me would be the cost of coming here! The hourly charge is slightly higher than average for non-​dealership work, but definitely cheaper than going to the ‘stealerships’. It also takes them a while to schedule/​work on your car because they have a relatively small workshop and workforce. sold my poor old audi and got a brand new VW with free 6 years of certified maintenance and service at the dealer, but will be back at carl’s if the dealers make me unhappy!

6÷5÷2015
EDIT: Took my audi in again to this place only because it was the closest shop and my car was leaking fluid badly. Would have gone elsewhere, but this was the only place close enough for my car to make it safely to without towing. Because of my previous experience with them (see below), Carl remembered me as the «guy who wanted to repair it on his own» and was a total asshole to me. Apparently wanting to do simple repairs to my own car is wrong? Maybe he just had a bad day or something, but he was incredibly aggressive and rude, which really left me with a sour taste in my mouth. In the future I’d rather get it towed somewhere else than have to deal with that again.
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1÷30÷2014
I had a misfiring cylinder on my ’97 Audi A4. They initially thought it was a busted engine coil, but discovered it to actually be a messed up ignition control module. They wanted to charge $ 286 for the part, and ~$ 100 for the hour of labor. Some quick googling showed that I could easily order the brand name, new part for only $ 140 (or $ 45 for a used one of the same brand). Also, it would take 5 minutes tops to install it myself.
I called back and Brian answered. To be honest, he was kind of an asshole to me, tried to weasel me into having them do the repair, and had a very unfriendly tone. I was pretty pissed off after getting off the phone with him. HOWEVER, 10 minutes later, Carl (who the shop is named after) called me and he was extremely pleasant to deal with. He explained the situation well, offered to get rid of the labor cost, and in the end was very kind and helpful about having me do the repair on my own. Carl was probably reluctant that he was losing business by having me do a DYI fix, but he certainly acted very professionally about the situation (unlike Brian).
If Carl hadn’t called me back after Brian talked to me, this would have been a 2 star review. Overall, I’d recommend this place, as long as you make sure to talk with Carl.

This garage is great! Service is quick, accurate and honest.
I went for a check engine line and in less than 5 minutes he found the problem and fixed it.
Carl is a nice guy to deal with and he doesn’t try to sell you services you don’t need.
I am definitively taking the car back to Carl’s next time it requires maintenance.

I used to take my mid 90’s Audi 100 Quattro to Carl. The vehicle was nearing almost 300k miles. In spite of that, it really needed very little but when it did need repair dealing with Carl was a pleasure, he always looked at options knowing it was ancient.
The shop gets really busy so once in awhile Carl would have it longer than expected but living in Fremont I was able to bounce around town sans a car.
Plus, dealing directly with Carl was cool, he was super friendly with me and when I needed a few parts for it from mailed germany we worked out getting them shipped to him very easily.
If I lived in Seattle he’d get my families business.

I’ve had the guys at Carl’s Foreign Car Service work on my BMW (replace rear wheel bearing) and my Subaru (60k mile service). They’re great to work with, and I highly recommend them. Finding a good, honest mechanic is not always the easiest thing to do. You can trust the guys at Carl’s.

I was very happy with the quality of service from Carl’s. As soon as I got in my car and started it up, I noticed the difference right away. The car felt smoother, it didn’t shake, and overall the service was more than expected. I took my car in because it was making a loud noise when starting up in the morning and I assumed it was a lose belt. They looked into this for me, and found the problem was something else. They took care of it and also let me know that my belts were still good.
They serviced the car on the same day, within a few hours. I dropped it off in the morning, and picked it up after work.
Luckily all the parts that needed to be replaced, they had in stock. They also went above and beyond and checked my brake pads and let me know that those were also still good.
Overall, they did an excellent and thorough job on my BMW. I will be coming back here for all my car needs in the future, and I definitely recommend them for your car needs as well.

Had some major auto work done here in early October on my ’96 Honda Accord with 275k miles. New timing belt + water pump + seals + valves + everything else that entails. Carl was very straight forward and honest about the work they were going to do and how much it was going to cost. He even cut me a deal on the labor (4.5hrs for a 7−8hr job). It’s an expensive repair regardless who you go to, but Carl was the most upfront mechanic I’ve ever had work on my car. I highly recommend bringing your car here if you ever need major (or minor!) repair work.

Great communication over the phone.
Prompt, honest, accurate and thorough service.
Would definitely go back.

I am sad that I am buying a new car, because it will be under dealer warranty, and I won’t be able to go to Carl’s anymore. Yes — they are that good.

I’ve been bringing my cars to Carl for over 6 years now. Right off the bat, Carl earned my trust by giving me full details about my needed repairs so that I could decide which aspects of the work I wanted done instead of just having to take his opinion. By now, I’ve developed such trust for him, I usually just follow his recommendations. His team is warm and friendly which is pretty rare with mechanics I have found. Carl has his two relaxed dogs in the office usually which gives the place a very mellow vibe. I never get the feeling that he is padding the labor hours or other costs. He gets that if he gives excellent service that we will keep coming back, and we do. Carl’s deserves my highest praise.

Carl and his staff are the most down to earth, honest, fair and frienly mechanics I have EVER dealt with. I can’t imagine how Carl could have been rude to anyone (see review below) because he doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body.
They are closed Fri, Sat & Sun and are VERY busy — probably because they are so good. The pricing is great, service fast and quality of work is amazing. We took a 98 Volvo Turbo Wagon there because Daisywagon was too busy and I don’t regret it!