Alternative Solutions

This review is for the water barrel side of their business. According to their website and my conversation with them, they told me that they are open from 9−1pm on Sat & Sun. I called on Thursday and a lady returned my call on Friday saying that they are closed for this particular Sat but they will open accordingly on Sun. So I went with a truck hoping to pick up few extra water barrels but no one is there (around 9:40am). Luckily, there is a weekly Campbell Farmer Market nearby, we decided to check it out and have some breakfast. When we finish, it was about 10am (1-​hour passed their posted opening hour). Went back and made numerous calls but still no one shows up. I made 7 calls between 7:41am to 10:15am. I have been to their place once before (when they were at a different location) and it was a good experience but it was a very disappointing experience this time since they don’t feel like showing up. If you are 30-​min behind schedule, I don’t have an issue but over an hour is really pushing it.
Hello owner,
Please post a more accurate time when you are open for business. Or even if you decided not to work, please update your voicemail accordingly. I like your business and still do but all I am asking is for a better expectation on timing…

2003 VW Jetta TDI
Met Krystal and Shaz yesterday as they did a rear brake job. The job was well done and well priced considering that our Jetta as 296k miles and needed new rotors.
Shaz talked with me about the car and other items I’ll want to consider adjusting or repairing in the future. Nearly all were items I knew needed work.

Shaz — «the TDI guy» — is a tuner fenatic of the highest order in the great Diesel Kingdom.
Shaz and Krystal did an exceptional job scheduling me in soon, regardless of the holiday. Thanks to them, I now have more torque than all of Santa’s reindeer combined.
I also met Michael, another mechanic who works there, who was very sensible and pleasant to talk with. He did a fine installation of my new HPFP on my 2010 Golf TDI.
Shaz took out my ECU and programed it at his shop in Sacramento (and returned in a very speedy fashion). It was not hard to tell every time I spoke to him that he was passionate about tuning these cars. He treats your car like his car — but is also very accommodating by asking you how you would like your car to perform. Although he is a TDI tuner fanatic «of the highest order», he is also very reasonable and serves well as a guide. I found his advice to be realistic and well based. In other words, he would never try to sell me on something that isn’t worth doing. There are simply too many avenues to get lost on in the car tuning kingdom.
Shaz performed a Malone Stage 2 tune on my TDI. He checked all the numbers on my car before returning it to me. It was obvious he was being thorough. The results were better than expected. Immediately after driving the tuned car, I realized that I had no idea what the gas pedal was capable of. I didn’t know that the car could really GO when I pressed on it. Wow. It is truly another car now. The gas pedal has been dignified.
Last night when I got home, I took my new car out for a joy spin. I went down the old back road I have driven almost daily for years behind my house. Of course, I could not stop giggling, but I also had another strange feeling — this one was in my gut. In fact, I almost had to pull over to rest a minute; the pull of that torque actually got to my nerves, and my stomach felt it. My ganglia of nerves were responding to the G-​forces the car was pulling on me! Well, this has never happened to me before, and I’m feeling rather happy about my decision to Malone tune with the TDI guy.

This review is for the Water Barrel Sales portion of the business, not the auto repair. However if the auto repair is similar, there are going to be problems.
I purchased two plastic 55 gallon drums for a hydroponics setup. The gentleman that helped me said that he «just got finished washing them out» as they were previously filled with syrup.
HE LIED!!! There was NO WAY he rinsed the barrels out. There was about 20 dead bees in one and the other was smelled of a salt solution. Defiantly not sugar. This was bullshit, what the hell was in these barrels before he received them, a meth lab!!!
COMPLETE BULL! GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Shaz is the man our work truck had a problem that needed to be fixed asap and he got right on it and had it ready the next day. Being so busy we couldn’t fall behind and shaz pulled through for us.

SCAM ALERT, someone seems to be posting advertisements for these guys on Craigslist, according to the lady working there.
I drove over to the location for a going out of business sale, no such thing. The advertisement didn’t mention the company by name just the address.
I posted a warning of craigslist to save other folks from wasting their time along with flagging the offending advertisement.
She didn’t seem to be upset by this, she told me she liked the uptick in business. Not something you say to someone who has been duped into visiting your shop.

I’d recommend anyone who needs barrels or drums of any size checking in with Alternative Solutions of Campbell. Regardless if it is in stock they’ll do their best to help you find what you’re looking for. And they take credit card which is awesome too.

I was referred to the TDI Guy by my mechanic. The dealership had told me I needed to replace both catalytic converters which would cost around 6K.
Shaz was very helpful and a wealth of knowledge about TDIs. He did a very thorough job both diagnosing the problem as well as in the repair. It ended up my car didn’t need both catalytic converters replaced and instead it was only a filter. It’s surprising that the dealership can be so out of touch with the vehicles they make and sell.
Forturnately for us, we have mechanics like the TDI Guy to go to in their place.

Same experience as Dan except perhaps more than three times the expense to myself. Lots of weird stresses happening on this planet and people lose touch with their integrity. I hope for the better and Shaz has turned over a new leaf. I’m in the market for a ’98 to 2003 ALH TDI as well as a competent mechanic but think I will seek other options first.

I have been coming to AS for about a year. Clean shop and great service. I like that Shaz tells you your options. I sense a great deal of honesty too. My 2011 Tundra is coming back next week for its 36k service. The AS price was quoted as half of Capitol Toyota price. HALF!
Thank You Alternative Solutions

I’ve done all the work on my VW TDI for years just because I was very anal about making sure everything was done properly. But with life getting in the way and having less time to work on the car, I’m glad I found Shaz. I had him diagnose my clutch problem and install a new clutch kit and I couldn’t be happier with the quality of work. I thought I was anal, but Shaz takes it one step further and cleaned up the engine bay and various wire routing without me even asking. As I watched, they kept the car and work area clean throughout the process. They advise and show pics of various items needing, or not needing repair/​replacement, and always leave it up to the customer for final decisions. Plus, they don’t gouge you on pricing.
Shaz and Harley have extensive knowledge in all cars and performance, and on top of that specialize in TDI’s. The work is top notch, the interaction is top notch, and my car left top notch! These guys are now my go-​to for all VW things stock or performance.
Next big job– timing belt!
PS: There’s been some hear-​say about Shaz’s previous business which I haven’t looked too deep into myself. However, there was nothing with my current interactions with him that would leave any doubt in my mind, and I choose not to speculate.

I’ve taken my Golf TDI to a few other so-​called TDI «specialists,» some acceptable, others pitiful & downright scary — Shaz is THE man & takes out all the worry!
When my car hit 200,000, I took it to a local VW/​Audi «specialist» with a fuel leak & to have it looked over & make sure everything was as it should, so I could go another 200,000.
They fixed the leaky injector pump & supposedly it all checked out fine, but a week later, it had lost a LOT of power & was very hard to start. I took it back & they poured fuel cleaner in the tank & said that should fix it — bring it back if not. I knew that was BS, so took it to another VW «expert.» Long story short, this guy gave me a diagnosis that was bad enough to make me look into selling the car — THOUSANDS of dollars!
I stumbled onto Alternative Solutions on Craigslist, & after speaking to Shaz on the phone, he pretty much had my car diagnosed, so I made an appointment.
Shaz ended up fixing several things on my car and sharing his vast TDI knowledge with me. Also straightened out the things that previous mechanics had screwed up, for an incredibly good price too.
I was happy with the way my car drove when I first bought it, but it now runs better & has more power, better mileage & is just flat out more fun to drive.
I’m happy to drive an hour to have Shaz work on my car, although I doubt it will need anything else for a very long time. If you drive a TDI, don’t waste your time or money with any other shops — Shaz is THE guru & has a true passion for these cars — no joke!

Shaz is awesome! Very professional, very accommodating, very pleasant, detailed oriented, and he knows his stuff. I’m a former mechanic, and just listening to this guy you can tell he’s a real professional and enthusiast. He’s doing this primarily because he loves it… not because it’s keeping food on the table. The level of detail he pays attention to is a trait of someone who lives and breaths this stuff, and loves it. I took my TDI in for a timing belt replacement. After asking for a quote over email, he replied with a very detailed quote, and fit me in when I was out of town on a trip. He spotted a bunch of other things wrong with my car (as every mechanic does) but half were things I already knew about. That’s a very good sign, as the same things have been wrong with my car for years (yes, I knew about some of them) but the dealer never spotted them (instead, the dealer just wanted to flush my brake & power steering fluid every time). I asked him to fix a few of the extra items, but not all of them. He fit it all into the original time frame, and didn’t sweat the things I decided not to fix at that time. The car runs great, the price & time was exactly as he quoted, and I now have confidence I know the real things still wrong with my car… and who to take it to when I’m ready to have them fixed.

Purchased an IBC tote and blue water barrels from Shaz who was excited to talk aquaponics. Him and Loureen were incredibly friendly and helpful. Highly recommend them if you’re looking for this type of container. Their prices are great and they’re service is terrific.

My car was starting to die regularly. Several mechanics looked at it but failed to fix it, pointing to problems with the fuel hose.
I took it to Shaz and he quickly noticed a few things. The fuel pump didn’t sound normal (the other mechanics didn’t notice this). The fuel filter was installed in reverse. And the hose was resting on the serpentine belt! Really glad he had a look.
Shaz seems to really know his way around diesels and the volkswagen tdi. If this is what you have, I know he is one of the best people you could go to.

Shaz, owner and main man, has an infectious enthusiasm for VW TDI’s, Diesels and Alternative Fuels like Biodiesel! He’s the kind of mechanic you feel really confident leaving your beloved baby with. He gets the job done on time, in reasonable budget and he’s very thorough! He’s been dialing in my ’03 Golf TDI with killer suspension and nozzles. I’m falling in love with my car all over again! I’ll be returning often to fill up on his special formulated biodiesel, and hmmmmm… What’s next Shaz?

Wow, do ur research on this guy. Good guys biodiesel, TDI guy, alternative solutions. Same guy different place different name. Don’t let him screw u over. He’s all over google, Unilocal,tdiclub, and most diesel forums. Good luck!!!

Absolutely fabulous! Really very dedicated and educated work ethic here. Highly recommended!

Great services, great guy! The injection pump on my TDI Beetle was leaking and Shaz re-​installed the part for less than half the price of what other shops were charging. He also cleaned the Intake, and my car gets better gas mileage. If you need a great mechanic, go to Shaz, you’ll be glad you did.

Do u love ur tdi? Bring it here. Best prices, best service. Shaz does performance upgrades, maintenace, anything ur tdi needs. He even sells biodiesel. He transformed my beetle tdi into a little monster, just ask him about the bozzio injectors. I feel like driving a gti that sips 45 mpg average (mostly city and and heavy traffic). He’s a race driver, owns a few tdis himself, he really knows what he’s doing. Don’t bother shopping around for better prices, quotes, ur wasting ur time, I did. Give Shaz a call now! This review is from a very satisfied customer