Don’s Auto Service

would give more stars if possible. Have been a customer for 30 years. Go no where else! Honest, good work. good people!

Still going to these guys and still as happy as ever. I cant believe its been 7 years!

Can’t emphasize how good Don’s Auto Service is. Car heating up, orange light on, broken head gasket, water hose old, timing belt replaced. A good 1997 Honda and now it should hold for another 50,000 miles. Reasonable cost. Hate to see what it would have cost had I taken it to the Honda dealership on Van Ness, most likely double.
Great receptionist, Carol and great mechanics.

I’ve taken my car in numerous times for problems ranging from legitimate (that time the concrete column came out of nowhere and smashed into my rearview mirror) to careless (you mean I can just pop out my break lights and replace them that easily?!).
Every time, it’s been a great experience and I feel like I’m getting reliable advice/​service.
I’ll be back without a doubt.

Going to Don’s is a pleasure. And this is coming from someone who has zero interest in cars, in mechanics, and hates running errands in general. Today I brought my car in to get my brake pads and rotors replaced. They were really friendly, efficient, and went the extra mile (!) by changing my front headlight bulb, which apparently was about, and putting WD-​40 on my door, which has been squeaking. There’s a reason why they have letters, cards and kids’ pictures from their customers at the reception, yo!

Zero stars… I’d like to strongly caution anyone who considers using Don’s Auto to repair their car — they simply do not stand by their work. I took my BMW to them earlier this year to fix a leaky transmission and thought it had been fixed after $ 800 worth of work. A few weeks later, I noticed it was still leaking transmission oil so I brought it back to their shop. Dave, who had done the work, says that he can’t fix the leak because he would have to pull out the transmission to get to it and they do not do transmission work. He suggests I take it to his buddy who does transmission work that could probably do it for an additional $ 1500! He also suggest that I could just live with the leak and top up the transmission oil every few months.
So I then take the car to two different shops for a proper diagnosis. Why two? Dave didn’t trust the first shop so we agreed that I’d take it to BMW San Francisco as well. Both places tell me the exact same thing. Not only did Don’s Auto fail to properly fix the leak, but they also used the wrong transmission oil! And it turns out that the leak was coming from a $ 20 mechanical sleeve that Don’s could have very easily replaced without having to pull out the transmission.
I’ve spent another $ 1700 to fix what should have been a pretty simple repair. Meanwhile, Don’s has responded to my complaint with nothing but rudeness and denial. From what I experienced and what I’m hearing from fellow Unilocalers, Don’s doesn’t stand by their work and doesn’t really care about its customers once they have your money in hand. Do yourself a favor and find a different auto shop!

I’ve had nothing but great experiences here. Brought my car in this afternoon needing a new alternator. They were working on it before I was even out the door; two hours later I was driving it home.
Another time my car was emanating a horrible burning smell. I thought surely something terrible was wrong. Brought it in to Don’s. They put it up on the lift and called me back about 20 minutes later: a plastic bag had melted on to the tailpipe. They could have sold me some expensive fix – I was expecting the worst. Instead I got it back within the hour and only paid $ 15 or something absurdly low.
I’ve been here five or six times in all and have had fast, friendly, and honest service every time. I love the people at Don’s and highly recommend them.

Wow. The woman on the phone was absolutely RUDE and obviously does not know what she is talking about. I called to find out how much they charge for a rear brake pad change (260 $) and if I bring my own parts (160 $).
My grandfather was a mechanical engineer who went to MIT and designed jet engines for GE and holds multiple patents. He always performed his own maintenance and BUILT cars. I would spend weekends with him working on cars and he taught me everything I know-​which is quite a bit. The only reason I was contemplating bringing my car into the shop is because I don’t have the tools here or a good place to perform the maintenance myself.
So the first thing she toId me is that you always have to machine the rotors because I will have brake chatter.
Well lady, I replaced the front brakes myself WITHOUT machining the rotors and I have NO brake chatter-​I told her this and she said, ‘well then we won’t do them.’ Apparently this is an all or nothing shop where the customer has NO say as to what is done to THEIR car. My rotors were replaced two years ago and I absolutely do not want them to be machined because they do not need to be resurfaced. Usually machining of the rotors depends on the condition of the rotors and the condition is fine. She also told me I don’t need my brakes bled when I asked her if the price included flushing/​bleeding. Really? Again, are you a mechanic? I was simply asking if it’s included because I want my brakes bled-aren’t you supposed to do what the customer wants? Oh and if the mechanic saw the color of my brake fluid, he would agree. And actually you should flush your brakes every 2 – 3 years and when you change your brake pads, IT IS the ideal time to bleed your brakes.
I could not believe that she was arguing with me-​the customer. I called her out on it and she said it’s because I’m saying something absolutely ridiculous? Really? REALLY did you just say that. I told her well it’s just another way for you to make money because every time you machine the rotors you wear them down and then they will need to be replaced sooner. And then guess what she did… SHE HUNG UP THE PHONE ON ME! Hahahaha. Ah I’m so disappointed that I spent every 1 $ at this place. I have been a loyal customer for the past 3 years and this place was recommended to me by a friend. Well she won’t be going back there and neither will I! The whole slew of people that we have both recommended this place to, they won’t be going back. I guess they are doing well enough to treat customers with such disrespect. One may assume that they don’t like customers who know what they are talking about because then they can’t take advantage of them! I am in total shock that this woman-​not a mechanic-​was arguing with me when I had legitimate questions. She obviously didn’t like that I know more than she does when it comes to cars. Guess I’ll be doing the rear brake change myself and I’ll let you know if there is brake chattering after I change the pads and don’t machine the rotors. Oh and on another note-​she argued with me when I told her the Acura dealership doesn’t machine the rotors. I have the written estimate in front of me without rotor resurfacing written on the paper and they do recommend having the brakes bled. But I guess my questions were ‘ridiculous’ so according to her, Marin Acura doesn’t know what they are talking about.
Update-​I should be thanking this woman for saving me money. I changed out the brake pads/​bled brakes myself and it was an enjoyable Sunday afternoon!
So thank you rude lady-​you did me a great service. But that doesn’t give you any more stars.

Amazing and quick service for an even better price. Valet accidentally put my 4runner in 4WD and the car was stuck in 4WD. I took it to the Toyota service department and Toyota told me I would have to wait a couple hours and it would be a couple hundred dollars just to look at it and it would potentially be a couple thousand dollars worth of repairs. I took my car to Don’s instead. Don’s was able to do the repair as well as additionally change a headlight that needed to be replaced within a couple hours, all for much less than it would’ve cost Toyota simply to have someone look at the car. Overall, amazing service and fantastic price. They have my trust and I will be going here from now on.

Don’s Auto Service is amazing. I took my car in to get both sets of wheel bearings replaced. They did the work in two days and charged me less than their estimate.

Honest and friendly.
I do the occasional work on my car; I’m not an expert by any stretch but I’m definitely not a novice. I needed to get my front brakes replaced. I considered doing it myself (hadn’t done it before but have seen it done and am familiar enough with all the components) but was feeling lazy so I took it to an auto shop here in SF. Long story short, they indicated far more work than had to be done to get the brakes in proper working order than seemed reasonable based on my knowledge. I took a look at things myself and they seemed consistent with my intuition. I was going to do it all myself but didn’t have the necessary tools. I ended up taking it to Don’s to see what they had to say. They ended up indicating what was far more reasonable work to be done on the car compared to the other shop, but also offered a crazy low price for the work.
Sold.
Going here from now on.

It’s been over 20 years since I’ve been to an auto garage and I’d had nothing but unpleasant and expensive memories so I was surprised and very impressed with the service I got here. I rolled in to get a battery change and I was driving out within 15 minutes. The cost was reasonable and everyone was friendly. I’ll definitely be returning next time I have a problem.

Really happy with the service and price at Don’s Auto Service. I dropped my car off for a simple repair and they were done within 2 hours. They charged $ 40, which seems fair for the amount of time they spent fixing the problem and the high quality of work. Carol at the front desk was great to work with and consulted me over the phone to determine if the shop could fix my issue before bringing it in. Overall, a painless experience and I will definitely go back!

Quickest tire repair I’ve ever gotten, in and out in under 10 min!

We all hate getting bullied when it comes to auto repair. The folks at Don’s seem to hate it too, ‘cuz it just isn’t part of their routine. They’re honest, look for the creative solution that will get the job done quickly, safely, and right. The price is always fair. But more importantly, they treat the transaction like valued business. Dave is approachable and really listens to understand the issue. He and the techs really seem to take pride in their work. So glad I found them!

Great auto service shop! They fixed my tire and new front brakes for a great price. They are also very friendly.

Those guys are very nice, and they are fast respon, price are reasonable, they do the job clean and nice, will become my favor auto place

These guys are amazing. Truly.
I am from out of town and was having some car trouble. Carol is totally amazing and will work with you on anything. So personable.
I brought my car in which needed some new parts and they worked with me on places to get the best prices. Unbelievable. Amazing.
My car was ready super quick and is ready to go across country again. If it weren’t for these truly wonderful people, my car would not have survived my time in SF.

I came to these guys because I had a case of the check engine light being on. They first changed something in my car that was making a noise but not even a mile after leaving– it was on again. Cost $ 300
Second time I came and they did a full tune up. New spark plugs, whole sha-​bang. 30 miles after leaving, check engine light came on again. Cost $ 500
Third time I came back they put some transition fluid in my car because they could see it leaking, it was free– but shouldn’t have that been done when they did the tune up?
Forth time coming back they fixed the leak on my transmition and confessed that they just didn’t know what was wrong with my car and that I should take it to a dealer. Cost $ 200
Soooooo $ 1000 later I could have just brought it some where else and I’m pretty sure I would have been way better off. Brought it to a dealer after that. Fixed instantly. It was a simple change of a few sensors. Makes me feel like these guys really don’t care and are just giving ppl a run for their money.

I dread car-​maintenance. Like going to the dentist; a necessary evil if you want them to function properly (or at all).
Simply put, these guys make it pain-​free and almost enjoyable… like Nitrous Oxide… they are the laughing gas of auto repair.