Lotus Automotive

Great office staff, great mechanics! Very fair, honest, pleasant, and fast.

After one of my neighbors brought it to my attention they did good work, I have used Lotus repair a couple of times now. The shop is at the top of the street from my house and it has been absolutely terrific. I have only used the shop for repairs that were short notice/​emergency situation, but they have been very helpful. As an example: I went up there because we couldn’t get the flap on our ACURA to open so that we could put gas in it. I called and they had me come right up. Within a few minutes they gave me an interim solution so I can get gas in my car and my wife down the road. I will certainly be back to have them fix it right (cable replacement) when time permits.

Brought my 2000 Jetta VR6 in for the water pump and manual transmission drain and refill of the fluid. Very pleased with the work done. Jetta runs great. Communication during the whole repair process was good. Never felt pressure to do any other repairs. Fast turn around time.

Zoltan is the man. I just took my BMW Z4 there for a 60k inspection and oil change. I called a handful of local mechanics for price quotes on this service and Lotus Automotive was the most affordable. Compare his price quote of $ 220 with $ 517 and $ 368 that I got elsewhere. He pulled about a pound of leaves out of my (cabin?) air filter. My fault I suppose for parking outside. Everything else was in good condition and he didn’t try to up sell me on anything. The only hiccup in the experience was I didn’t get his call when my car was done. I called him 30 minutes after the estimated finish time to check in and he said he was done and had tried calling. Could have been a technical error, a typo in my phone number, poor cell reception, who knows… No harm, no foul. I’ll be coming back to him for any future work I need on my car.

Wow I really surprised all these positive reviews. I don’t usually ‘yelp’. But this time, I have to.
I really had horrible time with this place.
I have Mercedes Benz’04 c240. I have my esp light on. So I wanted computer diagnosis. This young guy tried to run the computer but he suggested that I needed to drop my car off because they need more time for this computer diagnosis. When I asked him about the cost of diagnosis, he said computer diagnosis was free. So I went there few days later. The shop wasn’t even open that day. I was waiting then this guy showed up. It wasn’t the same guy I saw before. I greeted him and wanted to start conversation. But he would shut me up :(. I though, ‘ok, it is early’. Finally I got hold of the guy and explained my situation. He wanted me to drop the car off for couple hours. So I did. He got my phone number. After 40 minutes left my car there, he called me and started giving me these whole bunch of price quotes and insisted that I need to pay. He also said he took some parts bla bla bla I was in shock. Why would he do that when I only ask for computer diagnosis? Even without my permission? How come he separated the parts? When I got there, he would still not talking to me. Suddenly, he went to the office and I followed him. Then he gave me check which billed $ 98. I wondered and told him that the diagnosis was free. He said there was steering angle sensor problem so he separated the parts and resembled again. That is it. He didn’t even how he diagnosed the problem and how he ended up separated the steering wheel. I was frustrated and told him that I didn’t give any permission. He got angry and said he spent whole 2 hours for this labor. Oops, EXCUSE ME!!! your shop opened at 9 am and you called me 9:44 am. I guess he tried to take an advantage of my poor knowledge about car. He said his name is Zoltan and he is the boss. This place is not the place that young unexperienced driver like me to trust! Even the boss lies. Such a shame!

Last week I got the head gasket replaced on my 1997 Subaru Legacy. Zoltan and his crew did it for about $ 1k less than what Smart Subaru wanted. In the 2 days after I got it back, I drove 1400 miles to school in Arizona without issue. Zoltan was reasonable and frank and I highly recommend his services.

.Brought my car in several time for repairs. They will try everything to get your car repaired very inexpensive and fast! They use OEM parts and labor is extremely cheap as well. They diagnosed my BMW for free (where the BMW dealer would have charged me $ 200 to scan my car computer for a light) Very honest people as well. Talk to Spencer and Zoltan, they will make sure everything with your car is great before you drive it.

When you grow up with a mechanic for a father, you get spoiled and paranoid. I’ve never felt comfortable in trusting what any other mechanic has ever told me before, however Zoltan is truly the next best thing to having my Dad around the corner. He came highly recommended when I bought my 99 BMW and seriously does amazing work for a lot less than what you’d pay elsewhere. Each time a friend buys a foreign car I suggest Lotus. I have three friends that use him exclusively, and have literally never heard one complaint. He’s honest, sticks to his quotes, and while he may not have the personality of Miss America — his work makes up for it.
Do yourself, your sanity, your wallet and your car a favor by calling on Zoltan at Lotus the next time your car needs work. There is even a keydrop that you can utilize if you drop it off in the wee hours of the morning or late at night like I usually do. You can then follow-​up with the estimates, etc via email.

Zoltan is the best. I’ve simply driven on to his lot with car problems and he’s always just gotten right down to business and fixed the problem. He’s a straight-​shooter; I’ve never once felt pressured to do more repairs than necessary or been conned into repairs with fear tactics. I know virtually nothing about cars, and he never takes advantage of that. His prices are fantastic and he gets the job done faster than any other mechanic I’ve ever been to.
I gotta find out if that coffee preference is true as posted above. Great tip!

Hands Down the BEST german mechanic in town. These guys are honest and will treat you right. I’ve been taking my BMW here for years now and they come in at ½ — ¾ of the cost of taking to the dealer with the same quality of work performed. I used to live right by their shop so this is how I found out about them. I since moved 15 miles away but still take my vehicle here. There’s something to be said for the owner being the head mechanic… the guys know their Sh*t!
Zoltan is the man!

zoltan is the best! he has worked on my 2001 vw bug for over a year. each repair has been done expertly, and finished when he said it would be. his prices are so much better than the dealership. i highly recommend his services.

This is definitely a worthy first review for me. I’ve depended on Unilocal when I lived in San Francisco to navigate the million places to see and go there. Being new in Seattle I don’t know what’s good and what’s not, so I like to read what other Unilocal-​ers have to say.
I called Lotus Automotive for a quote to re-​bolt my exhaust piping on my Nissan Sentra when it came loose. I took my car in on the same day I called, waited for less than an hour, and paid *exactly* what I was quoted.
Bottom line, awesome work and probably the nicest mechanic I have met.

As I’ve posted before we are moving out of North Seattle and heading to the wilds of Maple Valley. I will miss our vintage apartment but I will miss Zoltan much much more.
My 87 Volvo Station wagon shit the bed again just last week, This time it was the relay for the overdrive button causing my car to be permanently stuck in overdrive. I made it to Lotus and Zoltan diagnosed the problem in 2 minutes. He had to order the part but he got my car fixed by the middle of the next day. He also threw in a new corner light cover for my turn signal lights that my bf had accidentally broken and I had been putting off getting replaced.
This all cost me $ 190 bucks (parts + labor on the relay only) and took less than 24 hours. Not only that, but when I told him we were moving and I was sad that I would now have to go to another mechanic who might screw me over he said I should call him with any problems and he’d make sure the quote was fair from any other mechanic. OMG, seriously the best mechanic ever. I would give him +10 stars if I could.
Take your car to him, you will not be disappointed.
**Also, Zoltan LURVES coffee so if you want to reward him bring him a 20oz triple vanilla from Diva up the road. He’ll love you forever.

Boy, did I get lucky. I’m getting a Volvo S40 ready to sell. One of the windows didn’t roll up. After getting an estimate for $ 400 from an auto shop, I checked Craigslist. I found that Zoltan had a used motor for the window, and was willing to install it. When he saw the car, he realized the motor was not what was needed. He spent most of his Sunday diagnosing and then fabricating the needed part for repair. It works like a dream. His price was what he had quoted me based on two hours of work plus the used part.
He is a good mechanic, honest, incredibly reasonablyy priced and a very nice person.