Louis Foreign Auto Repair

My car was HEMORRHAGING gasoline from some mystery leak, and Chaplins was going to make me wait over a month to see a mechanic! I called Dan this morning, and he told me to come in right away. He proceeded to diagnose the problem in two seconds, fix it in less than 2 hours, and now my car is running better than it has in five years! He fixed some weird issue with the power steering too. He clearly knows his stuff, seems incredibly honest, and I found his prices reasonable and fair and so much better than the dealership.

Dan is the most amazing, genuine and highest integrity mechanic in the Seattle area. He runs a small shop and I’m sure works very hard at making a living. He insisted that the work he did recently on my Audi A4 to fix a oil leak was under his warranty even though he said the gasket failed for some reasons not under his control. I’ve been going to him for my VW and Audi service for the last 25 years and always believed in an honest effort deserves an honest wage. So I had a hard time accepting his position. But I could tell in his eyes that he would be very offended if I insisted on paying. What a strong belief in his integrity. HE SHOULD BE EVERY ONE’S MECHANIC

I’d give Dan and crew 6 stars if I could. I have been going there for 10+ years, and wish every shop gave the service and attention to detail that you find here. Over the 10 year period, they have replaced probably everything on my ’87 Vanagon (300k miles). They just replaced the transmission and clutch, and even with the new gears that were required, the repair bill came in at less than what I was expecting.
More than once I have dropped in to the shop with no appointment, and they will stop what they are doing and check out something on my van.
Often when I pick up the van after a specific repair, I’ll discover they’ve fixed something else that wasn’t on the list, and done so at no charge.
This shop is a gem, please keep up the good work!

First time here, and I’m really pleased with this shop. They are courteous and get the job done well, and at the same time are informative about your options. They also don’t up charge you a crazy amount — I had to get an 02 sensor replaced and they were very reasonable. Another shop tried to charge me over double the price.
Looking forward to having a reliable shop for my VW, and love how convenient they are off of I5 and near Green Lake. Worth the trip if you’re from a different neighborhood!

After he fixed my VW bus’ accelerator line my bus has sounded weird when I hit high RPM ever since.
I also have to take off a star for the aggressively anti-​gay news clippings he’s got posted all over his garage.

Dan provides excellent timely service, and is very clear and open about work he’s doing. Not only is he an expert on VW, but owns his own and has great advice and tips on ways to improve performance. I have several friends who take their cars to Dan and I haven’t heard anything but good feedback

I brought my VW rabbit to this shop because I had white smoke coming from under my hood and the oil pressure buzzer consistently going off. took 2 weeks to get on their schedule and it had to be in the middle of the day. they said I needed a new oil pump and i figured they had valid reason to believe this because I paid for an hour of labor.
So I brought my car back in and came back at the end of the day and was told that the oil pump was just fine, new in fact and that they couldn’t find anything wrong with my car. I was charged $ 40 for the oil change and $ 150 for labor. WTH. He said nothing would go wrong if i kept driving.
Well my car kept smoking and the buzzer kept coming on. I found the oil leak, a puddle. I just needed a new valve cover gasket. $ 15 and a half hour of my own time and it was fixed.

I have a 2002 VW Beetle and needed to get my timing belt replaced since I had hit the 102,000 mark. I originally called Ballard Carter where the previous owner of my car had all of her services done and when I asked for a quote it came up to about $ 1300. I love VWs but they are definitely not cheap to maintain but luckily I found Louis Foreign Auto Repair went there and had my timing belt replaced for about $ 898 and Dan even threw in a free oil change as well. If you want affordable AND attentive care for your VWs, I highly recommend going here. I’ve been here twice and plan to keep coming back for any future maintenance issues my VWs goes through!

This place is great. I had a problem and they diagnosed it on the spot and it was incredibly affordable. I truly appreciate an auto repair shop that is honest and conducts themselves with integrity.

My alternator blew in my 88 Vanagon. I brought in my own replacement alternator which was under warranty. I was late getting the alternator to him simply because I was unfamiliar with the Seattle bus system. He stayed open late waiting for me, was very friendly none-​the-​less and installed the part immediately. About $ 40 later I was back on the road. Thanks you! A month later I had some more work to be done. this time he was booked solid for a week so I brought it to another mechanic in the area. The experience with the other shop was not as friendly and comforting as Louis Foreign Auto Repair. Next time I will bring my VW back to Louis Foreign Auto Repair.

I can’t sing Dan’s praises loudly enough… he has always been able to squeeze me in THE SAME MORNING THAT I CALL! He keeps me well informed of what he finds, completes work quickly and goes the extra mile to keep costs down. It is rare that whatever repairs are needed (new radiator, new ignition switch, etc.) aren’t completed by the end of the same day it was dropped off. I wouldn’t trust my Jetta to any other mechanic.

I love Dan and I’ve never met him nor has he worked on my car. I called him this morning with an Engine Malfunction light, sputtering engine and no acceleration. He said he could work on it but that it sounded like an issue for which VW had issued a recall and directed me to a dealership far better than my hateful University VW. He didn’t fix it but diagnosing it over the phone and steering me toward Cambpell-​Nelson in Edmonds (who were terrific) was above and beyond the call of duty. I look forward to trusting Dan with my car in the future.

2002 VW Golf needed a new transmission. University VW wanted crazy money to replace it. I researched online reviews extensively and chose Louis because of the exceptionally positive comments. For those that don’t know, the original owner was Louis, but it’s been owned by Dan for a few years now, and Dan is a very honest mechanic.
I wasn’t disappointed. I ordered a replacement transmission from a wrecking yard in CA and had it delivered directly to the shop. Dan cleaned it up, installed it, and everything was flawless. He communicated with me throughout and the actual cost was a couple hundred dollars *less* than his estimate.
I’ve since sold the VW, but if I ever have one again, Dan will get all my business.

Between my sister and I, we’ve had two air-​cooled Beetles, a Karmann Ghia, an old Rabbit, and a diesel-​burning New Beetle serviced two or more times each by Louis Foreign Auto. The work (that I can recall) has included complete brake jobs, fan belts, timing belt replacement (New Beetle), tune ups, exhaust pipes, clutch replacement (New Beetle), fuse box replacement, and oil changes. Every time, we’ve felt that the job was done well and for less money than we could have spent elsewhere.
When I contemplate buying more vehicles, I wonder if I can get a VW for the job so that it can be serviced by Dan’s shop.

No attention to detail. Poor time management. Didn’t finish the job.

My husband and I just bought a 73 Camper, and are massively stoked on it. It is my second air cooled VW and I love it. It had been sitting for years before we bought it, and has common neglect issues like cracked hoses and push tubes. I can do the valves and brake pads and all the little maintenance things myself for the most part, but right now we don’t even have a driveway. We made an appointment well ahead of time to get it tuned up and in good running order, at which point dude said he was «wide open» that day. We dropped it off the evening before it was to get tuned up. By the time Husband called the next night, they said they had barely had a chance to look at it. Isn’t that the point of an appointment? To be first in line? I was peeved.
When my husband went and paid for the repairs, they had fixed a couple of push tubes, adjusted the valves, and charged us $ 150. They told him there were some other push tubes that needed replacing, but what, they just didn’t get to it? We were prepared to pay twice that to take care of EVERYTHING. It seemed like sloppy laziness to me. Especially since the next day it started reeking of gas and we realized we now have a fuel leak. Major bummer. Now every time I drive it I smell like gasoline. I am going to take it Wolfsburg to have them clean up Louis Auto’s slop job. I don’t care if they’re slow, I care about quality work for the bus I love.

I just bought a VW Passat Wagon and the first camping trip I take it on it breaks down and I have to get towed off the side of the moutain!
I took the car to two shops that tell me I need all sorts of crazy work done with quotes more than $ 2000!
.Luckly, my uncle is a big time VW guru who has written for «Hot VW» magazine and knows the best of the best in the industry. I was told to call Louis Foreign Auto and I couldn’t be more pleased! He didn’t pull my chain and got it back in top shape for $ 1400.
It’s never fun to see the mechanic, but if you need a trustworthy guy with a strong knowledge of European cars this guys is the best!

I come from a long line of Volkswagen owners. And I’m cheap. I’m not an enthusiastic mechanic by any means, but I’m capable of going the DIY route on some things if it makes sense to me.
I used to have a *great* mechanic up on Aurora, a little hungarian guy named Ors Gyeny (I just loved saying his name), but he rather inconsiderately died of a heart attack playing soccer one day, and left me (and a lot of other VW owners) bereft.
I went to a shop over by U. Village for a while, attached to a gas station, because a friend worked there. But after a while, I wasn’t feeling the love. The work was fine, but the price and the service weren’t feeling so friendly. I guess he was more of an acquaintance after all.
I tried Wagenschmitt a few times, and while his work and prices were good, he always seemed to act like my ugly little beater was unworthy of his time, and I didn’t care for the attitude.
So I looked up VW service on the Car Talk website (Click and Clack would never steer me wrong!) and found Louis Foreign Auto Repair.
I was desperate, because my 82 VW diesel Rabbit, normally 42+ MPG city, had suddenly started dumping over half of its fuel ration on the ground. My amateur diagnosis, very reluctantly, was the injector pump.
I called up Dan (owner) and asked how he felt about working on VW diesel Rabbits. «My favorite car!» he said, telling me (convincingly) that he used to own one.
The injector pump needed replacing all right. Expensive part ($ 500 – 700), not really serviceable; you take out the old one and put in another. My budget really couldn’t quite handle the hit for the original estimate, but I found a non-​local supplier that sold warranted rebuilds for about $ 400 with exchange.
I asked Dan if I could supply the part, and showing remarkable flexibility for a first-​time customer like me, he said he would, but couldn’t guarantee the part since he was not familiar with the source. Only fair, I thought.
I ordered the part and had it shipped to his shop. He fixed it, and took care of some other things that needed attention along the way.
The repair bill came in at something like $ 200 less than I’d budgeted for after scrimping and scraping. The pump is working great, the MPG is better than it was, and when I need work on my old diesel Rabbit, I go see Dan.
The shop is right across from the Roosevelt/​Ravenna Safeway. A little run-​down looking on the outside, small, but clean and well-​organized on the inside, and after multiple visits for other minor problems (25 year old car!) I always walk away feeling like I got good work at a good price. I’m feeling the love again, and giving some back here!