Jennings Automotive and Muffler

Darrell Jennings is a sweet heart of a guy who has extensive knowledge of malaise era vehicles… especially their smog systems.
I had a customer store his 1976 Mustang II Cobra with us (I run a car storage facility in town called AAAA Auto Storage & Park). As apart of our service offerings, we can repair and smog vehicles. After stumping several of my very competent and trusted mechanics, I was suggested to try Jennings.
Not only were his prices fair, his hypothesis about the main issue and the fix for said issue were bang on! After adjusting the EGR valve, the car passed smog and I have another happy customer.
Thanks Darrell!
PS, There is a one star review here for a lemon Jaguar. The only mistake here is that this women bought an 80s era Jag and expected it to be reliable. Based on my interactions with Darrell, I can say that I dont think he deserved such a harsh review.

If I could give this man 0 stars I would! Let me start by explaining that I didn’t go to him for a repair… I bought a car from him. You would think that a person who makes a living repairing vehicles would spend some time fixing the cars he sells, but not Darrell. So I started by buying an old green Jaguar from him, there were a few minor problems but that is expected with an older vehicle. I got the car home with no problems & then I started driving the car as my everyday car… problem was that sometimes the car wouldn’t accelerate! Imagine being on the 15north around 7:15am, in traffic, and your car not accelerating past 30mph! I’ll leave out the dramatics of how I was almost in multiple accidents, trying to pull over while the car wouldn’t go above 30mph. I called Darrell assuming this was a simple accident of forgetfulness on his part & could be fixed. Well, he said he could. He took the car for over a month… I got the car back & the same thing happened again while trying to get home on 15south this time. By this point I am fuming because trying to explain how scary it is to drive on a major freeway and not be able to go over 30mph– over voicemail (btw, he didn’t bother to call me back) is ridiculous. My boyfriend had to come pick me up & I had to pay for a second tow now! So I call Darrell and he tells me he can’t really help me because once I took possession of the vehicle the car was my problem. After sending my father up there to talk to him, he agrees to look at the car & is now offering another one of other vehicles in exchange for it, if he can’t figure the problem out or give me my money back. Yet ANOTHER MONTH goes by and now he is avoiding my phone calls & when I go see him he says that he never agreed to switch cars in the interest of «righting a wrong». So now me & my father have to go up there together so he can stop giving us the run around and he says that he is going on a trip over the weekend and is going to drive the Jaguar so he can see what I’m talking about (because he hasn’t had time in the 2 months he’s had the car to drive it on the freeway!!!). He goes on the trip, has the same problem & now is confused! By this point I have owned this car for 6 months, and I’ve spent money to register, tow, and pay for parts as he’s trying to repair things & i simply want to cut my losses. I simply asked for my money back & now he is upset because he says he has spent all of my money! Now after many conversations & arguments we agree that if he can just get me a running car and pays for the car to get registered that we will call it even (but clearly its NOT!!!). By this time I’m engaged and simply want this ordeal over with because I want to focus on planning our wedding. Another 2 months goes by, and in exchange for an 89 JAGUAR, now I have an 88 Toyota Camry station wagon! To end this review quickly, because I think you can understand how long it could be, that car was also not driveable (steering fluid needs to be filled daily & even with a new battery the car wont turn on). I can’t sell it, Darrell refuses to fix it or give me the money back, and i don’t have the time or money to sue. Save yourself some time & money… stay away from this place!

Darrell is a super nice guy and a great mechanic. He knows his stuff. It’s really great to have finally found a shop I know I will rely on going forward. I trust him completely. I also love that Jennings is a «We do it all» sort of shop. That’s very helpful when you have an old car that you like to baby.
I took in my old Camaro for new front springs. Darrell did the springs and pointed out some other trouble areas… my car drove like a dream after leaving his shop.

I love driving by this place, always cool hot-​rods out front.
John swapped alternators for me when I got caught pants down no tools and a dead alternator — I came in from out of town.
THe owner (didn’t catch his name) is a drag race guy. Awesome place fast service. Back on road less than an hour. Pizza delivery takes longer LOL!
Thanks~!

I had taken my car to Darrell several months ago, and after month of my car sitting idel I finally took my car back. I brought it there wanting to get four things fixed. When I picked it up 4months after I dropped it off, only two were done and he charged me more than we agreed upon. If all of that wasnt enough, last week I realized one of the things he did is now broken. I was not happy with the lack of service I received. I will not take my business there again.

I bought my first car and drove it to San Diego. Darrell has been a fantastic mechanic and understands I’m on a student budget. He’s friendly and enthusiastic about his job. Sometimes he rocks a pretty rad headband. My car needed a new engine and he located one for me and did all the work for a fair price. I’ll keep going here as long as I’m in San Diego, I highly recommend it.

All I wanted was a fair mechanic close to my house. Jennings Automotive was just what I was looking for. Thinking my starter or starter selenoid had gone bad, I had the car towed there based on other Unilocal reviews.
Turns out it was the selenoid. I ended up having them do an oil change and replace the battery terminals while the car was there. Everything was completed to my satsifaction for a very fair price.
I plan to take my car there from now on whenever it needs repairs or servicing.

Jennings is the best auto shop I’ve ever dealt with and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to have some quality HONEST work done to their vehicle. Darrell the owner is a good man who really knows his stuff. I’ve taken a couple different cars to him over the years and have had nothing but positive experiences. Prices are fair as well.

I don’t give 5 stars easily but I feel that I had a great service with extra care. I have a 1971 ford maverick that I love and take very good care of. I don’t let just anyone work on it. I did a lot of shopping around and this shop happens to be right next to my work so I stopped by. Darrel is the owner and he looked at my car and instantly I could tell he knew what he was talking about. He wasn’t burnt out and bitter like so many other shop guys I’ve talked to about my car. He took me around the shop, he explained to me exactly what he could do for me, when he thinks it should be done etc. I needed to get a new intake manifol and carburetor installed, disc breaks installed in the front to upgrade from my drums and convert my old radiator to an aluminum one along with a whole front end suspension rebuild.
He did all the work and my car was in for 2 weeks. I agree, that was a little longer than I hoped and I did see my car sitting parked on the side of the road for a couple days but I will say that I told him that I was in no rush and I really didn’t care how long the car was in the shop for. So I am totally cool with that and if I let him know I wanted it sooner he would have made it happen in my opinion.
I stopped by several times during the work and got to know Jason, the mechanic that did my work and this guy is just a stand-​up man. He’s been doing work on cars for so many years and has a GORGOUS 36 chevy. He also knew what he was talking about and did things that many mechanics wouldn’t bother with, such as painting the exposed metal to prevent rust and to make it look better on the bottom of the car. He did a really clean install of everything and everyone who know about cars knows how tough a front end install can be.
We hit a few road blocks such as not having the right rims and tires after the disc upgrade and Darrel right away tracked down some rims for me at a great price and was able to finish the car up. He’s the kind of guys that says «No problem, we can do it.» Of course you don’t want some idiot telling you that just because he wants your money but he wasn’t like that, he was able to explain to me exactly what needed to be done, how he was gonna do it.
So, if you really care about your car and want people who know what they are doing then I say Jason and Darrel are the guys to let loose on your car or truck. Just swing by and look at some of the sweet rides that they work on over there, pretty sweet.
I am going back to have a couple more things done, I think I found my new mechanic and I’ve looked around for a long time.