Car Repairs

Avoid dealerships in general except for Toyota (I've found them to be pretty solid), but generally dealership will fleece you. For minor repairs, I've found Big O Tires to be really good. For major reappairs I used to go to Advanced Auto in Walnut Creek but they seem to not have survived the economic crisis. So I'm currently on the look out for a new place.

I lease my car so I always take it to the dealership. Although when I owned a Chevrolet, there is Ellis Brooks and I refer to them as Ellis Crooks (on Van Ness). I wouldn't take your car there. I think for a water pump a 76 or gas station is fine.

Is $120/hour for labor normal around here? That is what they charged me, and I guess it's the same across the board on 84...although it sounds a little steep.

@Nightowl, I have a friend who got burned bigtime by a Toyota dealership, although I have a Subaru so it doesn't really matter what I think of Toyota dealerships. Glad yours has worked out.

$120 sounds really high to me. I mean they didn't go to medical school did they? I would try somewhere else next time.

Yeah, I kind of feel the same way, although I've paid comparable prices before for repairs at a shop in suburban Sacramento, where rent and cost of living are considerably lower. The rate goes to the dealership, not the mechanics directly. Anyone else pay this much for car repairs?

Your question got me thinking, so I googled the question seeing what I could find. Here's what I turned up (though I don't know the validity of this site having never heard of it before):

According the Funadvice.com, the average Bay Area autoshop charges betweeen $80 and $100 per hour. (I seem to recall Big O saying they charged $80). So you're mechanic seems a little on the high side. If he or she is good, they might be where to go for the complicated stuff, but I don't think a water pump fits that category. There are a lot of places that I think you could have gotten it for a bit less--but that's what sucks about auto repair situations, you often don't know what you need until they have already taken things apart and then it is hard to take it somewhere else.

Hopefully they were fast.

Anyway, here is the link in case you want to check it out:

http://www.funadvice.com/q/mechanic

Awesome, thanks @Nightowl - although I think I got somewhat ripped off. Although I have to ask - is that what the mechanic makes, or what the shop makes? Those could be two entirely different figures...

So, back to my original question - can anyone recommend a good spot that is not $120/hour?

As I think I have mentioned on here, I haven't had my own car in over a year since my car died and I haven't really had the money to repair it. (Probably I should look into getting a new one, but I, of course, don't have the money for that either).

My mom though, takes her car to a place on San Pablo in Berkeley. She's been taking her cars there for years, but I don't think it is cheap. She just trusts the owner there since she has known him for so long.

I'm sure though that if you call around in Palo Alto and get an estimate for one kind of repair, you can get them to quote you their hourly labor charge. That's the advice that I'm getting from the responsible types in my circle anyway.

Well, one repair down later and my new favorite spot is Dave's Auto Repair on the Palo Alto/Mountain View border. It still falls into the $120/hour range, which apparently is normal for Silicon Valley, but Dave is very diligent and knowledgable, and does a great job of communicating with his clients. He also worked with me to find a $350 repair option, as opposed to the $900 option that he initially suggested, and his rate for my estimate was half of what he had initially anticipated it would be, even with the extra hours factored in. I would highly recommend him to anyone in Silicon Valley. And Angelo, who usually answers the phones, is great, too!

You should give them a positive review on Yelp! It helps those businesses out, especially if they are a smaller independent place like Dave's seems to be.