German Car Service

Excellent service. David fixed my broken clutch on my VW GTI within 3 days. He followed up with me accordingly with the status of my car and was very honest with the issue and costs. Will definitely be back for future repairs!

Simply it is a no nonsense auto-​shop. I have owned VW’s, BMW’s and now have a Porsche. I have been using this shop for over 25 years. It is the only shop I trust to work on the mentioned cars.

Just picked up my Vanagon. Second time using these guys. Now I’m left looking for a place to get my van work on when needed. I had two things done today, my rear brakes. They seem ok But what has left me with a BAD feeling about these guys is the fact that a job I’ve done myself in the past. And I would’ve done it myself again (purchased the through
) but since I was having the brakes done, I figured what the heck, I just WASTED a $ 100 having them do it. I figured they would do it even better. Boy was I wrong!!! All he did was replace the part. (See photo) He didn’t refill the coolant correctly — after I drove about 5 miles I stopped. The van seemed really HOT — I check the coolant reservoir and it was bone dry.
I’m back to looking for a good VW mechanic in the Los Angeles area.

Bruno has been servicing my cars for many years, from my 356 Porsche to my E320. He is the master mechanic and backbone of this operation. A good shop for older porsche cars.

I was in a huge jam the other day. I was about to ship my car to Seattle to store it while I am deployed with the Army. The day before the car is to ship and two days before I leave the country the transmission loses the 1^st and 2^nd gear in my 2010 VW Jetta Sportwagon. I was so lucky to limp it into the German Car Service garage. This is the second time I visited and again I was very happy with the service.
They diagnosed the problem and worked as fast as they could to finish it. They discovered the unusual problem would not need a transmission rebuild (which I had resigned myself to) and found the significantly less expensive cause of the problem.
This is where it gets geven better, when I explained the predicament of leaving the country, Bruno’s answer was «No problem! We will hold onto the car a few days and the shipper can pick it up from here. Is that OK?»
What a lifesaver! The car is fixed at a reasonable price and now it is safe in storage thanks to going the «extra mile.»
This soldier thanks you!

I’ve been to these guys three times and all were deplorable experiences. First time I went to have a belt replaced they disconnected my air conditioning and when I asked about why it wasn’t working David asked me if «I new how to turn it on»! I took the car back a year later and spent another $ 600 to have the valves cleaned but two weeks later was having same problem with the car. So I took it BACK letting him know I’d be out of town so he had the week to repair it. He ended up taking two and half weeks to fix what should have been done correctly the first time — Never go to this place if you can help it.

I don’t know what to say about this mechanic. It was just so so. I don’t know if it’s the shop or if its David, but the customer service wasn’t that great. Maybe they were just too busy but for someone spending lots of money on car repairs, I’d expect better service. David never returned my phone calls, forgot what work I was getting done on my car, and even finding out what the problem was took longer than expected. I give the shop the benefit of the doubt and think they are honest and reliable, but who knows. My bill still ended up being more than I expected. They do seem to know their German cars, but I would rather take my car elsewhere for faster service and lower prices.

David & Co. do good work at an affordable price. I took my 2003 BMW 325i in for brake service — it was metal on metal on one side. I also had a pretty significant oil leak, a passenger side back door that didn’t close completely (I didn’t even tell them about that and they fixed it) and a major belt that needed replacing. They did it all for under a grand.
They also found a number of other things that needed fixing, like the control arm bushings. But they weren’t pushy about it and David let me know what was critical and what could wait.
I take good care of my car and only have 75k miles on it, so I wanna keep it up. I’m glad I finally found a repair shop I can trust. I will definitely be returning.

1985 Vanagon 2.1L new engine with power hesitation issue. Bruno is great!!! After hearing my explanation of the near loss of power, he went directly into inspection of my fuel filter and ground wires which were dirty and frayed wires. My service today included: Visual inspection, Clean, tighten and solder ground wires and fuel pump wires and ground, check timing and idle, replace fuel filter. Bruno answered all of my questions and educated me as well. Erick my mechanic knows what he’s doing too!
Thank you German Car Service!!! Oh, they also helped me inspect for kangaroo mice entry holes which I think I may need to someday remove the entire dash in order to screen off fresh air vent holes… Anyone else have this issue? Any remedies?

Visiting the area on business, I stopped by their place to get a wheel bearing replaced as it was creating a god awful noise in the cabin. They quickly diagnosed it after a short test drive. As a matter of fact, the mechanic who diagnosed it was Andreas. Nobody mentions him in these posts. He is excellent. Very hard-​working, to the point, and knowledgeable about his profession. Mr. David is the manager and gave me a very professional quote and run down. As a matter of fact, the job was supposed to take all day. However, due to it being unexpected and having conflicted with other things that day, he was able to expedite the job first-​handedly by noon.
Vielen Dank auch an ihnen, Andreas fuer ihre Hilfe.
Mit freundlichen gruessen,
Victor

I am glad I found these guys, everyone knows it’s not easy finding a mechanic you feel you can trust to do the right thing instead of upselling you…
I have a ’82 VW Vanagaon and found it challenging to find the right place to get it serviced. So far they have worked on the gas tank, fuel lines, stick shift assembly and rear wheel assembly, and each time it felt like they took care of the issue in the most efficient way.
Good guys, professional, and competent.

I’ve taken my car to German car service a couple times, and dealt with David. I recommend going here for service on your German car. You have to take these cars to experts you can trust and the dealership is often packed and super pricey!
German car service very knowledgable about Audis, and straightforward about repairs. Their rates and parts are much less expensive that the dealer, but they do not use chinese aftermarket parts they know are not of comparable quality with German-​made. I’ve had a few conversations with David and he has explained things to me best he could so i make the right decision. I never found him upselling me to fix things, just recommending.
They let me know about a recall that i got fixed at the dealer for free, looked at and fixed my convertible top once for free in minutes, and repaired a leaking head gasket for considerably less than it would have cost me at the dealer. The service has always been fast, and their new facility on Pontius is mich bigger and cleaner. And everytime i take my car in he checks it all out and let me know what i should be expecting next service and other useful info.

I have been going here for the past 5 years and I have a 2003 Jetta that works like new because of them. I was actually shocked to see so many negative reviews of this place. I know people are inherently suspicious of mechanics and German cars have a tendency to be pricey to maintain — but I have never received anything but the best service from these guys.
David went out of his way to help me refurbish a 2000 Passat he knew I’d be giving to my brother — who is a single dad. He cut me a lot of breaks on labor and parts and he ALWAYS lets me know when something can wait, be done cheaper or if I should go elsewhere (recalls, etc).
When I was there last week I heard David have a lengthy conversation with someone who had a ’93 VW van that instead of charging her for a part — he would ask someone he knew with the same model to come in and he would switch it out to make sure that was really the issue. That seems really above and beyond and I have heard him do this before. David also regularly checks my oil levels in my car for free.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this place to ANYONE needing to get a VW or any other German car serviced. They have always been fair and honest with me.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!!
I had one of the most unpleasant un-​professtional experience ever.
Starting from the «dancing» estimate, that was quoted a certain number, to then finding out that «oops, sorry in the quote I gave you the main work was not acounted for» to the final bill a lot higher to the second estimates signed by the owner .
All this could be consider perhaps normal practice for a car shop. What was intollerable about German Car personall was to be bullied, berated and yelled upon with a most aggressive, inconcievable attack to me, just because I asked the reason of the a lot higher final bill.
Ok David, you got my money, but rest assure neither I or anyone I know would ever darken your door. I I feel sorry for the mechanics working there, probably decent people having to stand for such a erratic unprofessional behavior of their boss.

Bruno and the team have relocated to:
2143 Pontius Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90 025
They have been maintaining my Audi since off warranty and are top notch, honest and willing to work with you to stay within your budget. Very solid on older water cooled Porsches too.

These guys have always been honest and very fair priced with my Audi A4. Had lots of strange electrical issues and they said it was just the battery. New battery, no problem. Same with brakes– only need new front pads. Both times I was expecting more work needed.
Definitely will return

I visited this shop while on a cross country round trip from the east coast for a simple oil change before heading home. The price was right, the service was fast, and the ownership is incredibly knowledgeable. They reconnected a loose air hose free of charge.

Honesty & Integrity –at a mechanic!
Brought my car in today and David sent me to the Audi dealership. Why? Because he recognized that the problems my car was having could likely be solved by having a part replaced that was currently covered by an Audi recall campaign. Bringing it to the dealer would allow me to get the repair FREE –and take business away from David.
I hadn’t even heard about the recall. It would have been very easy for a less scrupulous mechanic to simply charge me for the repair and I may have never known. I’m glad to have found a place that demonstrates such integrity and I will be bringing my Audi back here for any other repairs.

I recently took my Audi to David at German Car Service and could not be happier! I have been looking for a good, honest, and reasonable independent german mechanic for a while now and am so relieved and grateful to have found David. As a girl, I am always worried that mechanics are trying to pull one over me, because I know NOTHING about cars. When I took my car there, I told them everything that the Audi dealership had told me was wrong with it (I was taking notes!)verbatim … ends up David quoted me ¹⁄₃ of the price to fix 3 things. Even though he had to order the parts, I still only had to leave my car with him for 2 days which is not bad at all. Audi dealership has held my car for that long also!
I HIGHLY recommend this place! And David is a super nice guy so that helps also :) I am happy I have finally found a mechanic that I can trust.

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Just to respond to the really low-​rated post below me, please note that I didn’t say they are in a rush to get your car done — they’ve got like 4 people there and they are busy. So, while yes — what you went through sucks and does sound annoying — this is a place for people who are willing to let the guys take their time to fix what’s wrong, knowing they almost always charge less than I’ve been quoted elsewhere. A lot of their clients have been going to them for years and years. So if they need a few days to get around to fixing my car, I’ll take it. It usually amounts to 1 full day, if not 2. But for me, it’s not a big deal as long as I’m getting great service and fair pricing. What I DO say is that they are honest, fair and take good care of my car. And when I’ve been in a bind, they take care of me right away and charge me only for the time it takes to solve the issue.
Sure, they are a little old-​fashioned and take their time. But would I rather take my car to the Audi Dealer just so I can have my car same-​day and feel voilated when I get the bill, only to have to come back 2 – 3 more times to get the same problem fixed? NO.
So, I’ll reiterate. I think they deserve high marks and I’ll continue to recommend them. Just think of them as your dad’s mechanics back in the day — you’re nice to them and they take care of you, and that’s all that really matters.