Johnson Engine Service & Auto Repair

Flawless execution of the lost art of an automotive service shop.
I was navigating the Unilocal reviews out of boredom and was a little surprised by one of the reviewer’s bad experience with a prepurchase inspection. I have bought three vehicles over the last ten years and all of them underwent the scrutiny of Shelby, Joe, or Keith. Each inspection gave a complete breakdown of what was wrong and the parts and labor to fix it. I probably still have one of the sheets in my glove box. One of the pre inspections Shelby told me the vehicle was so bad I should not buy it (cost more to fix than it was worth; I didn’t buy it). Even after I moved 50 miles away, Johnsons is the only shop I still trust. My kids will soon have their vehicles serviced there.
Johnsons is the shop your parent’s or grandparent’s used to tell you about. They truly care and you are not a ticket number. Two thumbs up to the staff!

The mechanics at Johnson Engine Service were helpful at first but my overall experience has been negative and I do not plan to go back.
I brought a VW car I was interested in buying from a nearby dealership to be looked at by Johnson Engine Service. My initial interaction with Shelby, the owner, was positive, and they were able to see my car right away. From the results of the pre-​purchase inspection Shelby told me the car would need at least two thousand dollars of work, and possibly much more, on about half a dozen issues.
After some thinking about whether to buy the car and talking with the car dealership about price, I called several days later to talk to Shelby about the specific price for each of the needed repairs. He became impatient with me on the phone, was vague about the specific cost of fixing each issue, and after saying he would call me back never did.
I decided to buy the car despite the need for so much work, planning to piece out the repairs over time. However, after taking the car to the ‘POWER’ VW dealership in Corvallis, where I live, the mechanics there weren’t able to find any of the issues wrong with the car that I had been told by Johnson Engine Service.
Impatient treatment on the phone, no callback, and thousands of dollars of seemingly unnecessary recommended repairs make me hesitant to suggest other people patronize this business.

In Salem for the day. Truck was making a bad noise. I was able to drop it off over the lunch hour, and they took the time to check it out right away. Turned out it was just some rocks stuck somewhere they shouldn’t be. They fixed it and only charged me a minimal amount. Honest and quick service.

Family owned, great work. If you need some auto work done this is the place.