Performance Automotive Inc.

Our family has been going to performance automotive since I was a baby. We have always gotten great service and our cars are always done in a timely matter. They’ve worked on our nissian, multiple toyotas, honda, Mercedes, and bmw. Gordon and Bob have been honest and fear on pricing. We tried taking our cars elsewhere to save a few hundred bucks, but ended up costing a few hundred more in the end bc the cheaper mechanics made the problem worse and ended up having to bring our car to performance to fix the problem anyways. Note to self– If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Never gonna go to another mechanic again when these guys have always been awesome.

We have been dealing with Gordon Lew for many years. He has consistently provided excellent and honest service. If a repair is not needed, he will say so. Additionally, if the repair calls for major service, he is truthful in his assessment and pricing. He is the last of the remaining good guys.

I’ve taken my ’91 Toyota truck here for several years and they’ve always done a great job.

Totally honest, friendly, great service, fast, reliable extremely affordable and will always use Gordon and Bob at Performance. They were referred by a friend and I’m so grateful. 2003 Mercedez C240.

I took my car here to have the Voltage regulator replaced. When I dropped it of the office manager said they preferred to replace the entire Alternator and wanted to use OEM because they somehow thought it would be more reliable. He quoted ~ $ 600. I firmly stated that I wanted only the regulator replaced and if it did need an Alternator to use aftermarket (O’Reilly auto parts down the street had one for $ 162, life time guarantee) Regulator cost varied for $ 23 — $ 70. I left the car with them and they said it would be done before the end of the day. About 4:45PM I gave them a call, they stated the car was done and that they talked to my wife and she said she wanted the expensive part installed? and the parts cost was $ 320. Turns out, rather than talking to me, they talked to my wife and convinced her the car needed the expensive part. Again, when I dropped off the car I clearly stated «Only the Voltage Regulator» and if it did need an Alternator I wanted the inexpensive aftermarket. They went behind my back and fed a line of BS to my wife. As a result, a repair that should have cost less than $ 200 cost me nearly $ 500. Unacceptable! This is unethical. I’m just glad I didn’t trust this place for a major repair, who knows how much they would have taken me for. To their credit, even though there labor rates seemed a bit high, it was fair

I had a cylinder misfire with my car. I had another mechanic try to repair it, did some things, he reset the check engine light. On my way home from this mechanic, I felt some of the misfire symptoms again, so I called this place. He was very gracious and spent 10 minutes with me on the phone, offering advice and saying, «bring it in and I’ll look at it.»
The next morning, I tried to start it at 7:00 am and I got the Check Engine Light all over again. I thought, you know, that guy was really cool. I’m going to give him my business.“
I drove to his shop. It was only 7:05, so he wasn’t opened yet. I waited until 8:00 for him to arrive and didn’t mind waiting because out front of his shop, it was a ghost town. I wanted to be first, figuring, I could just leave it here all day and walk home.
He arrives about 8:20. He’s a little late, big deal. So I am thinking «I’m going to remind this guy of our call and give him my business… my money.»
He opened the garage door and steps out. I approach him and he gives me an awful look. I say «I called you late yesterday and I had the misfire.» (He interrupts me), «What do you want ME to do about it?» — in a tone as though he caught me fu***g his sister. He continues «Will you look in my garage?! See all those cars? And you think I’m going to help you? I don’t have time to help you!»
Well, Gordon, you lost a customer for life. That is why you drive that beat up piece of sh** car. In business, you could be the greatest mechanic known to man, but when you mistreat prospective customers, rergardless of how shi**y your morning may have been, you lose customers … good people trying to give you money. Wouldn’t it have been easier to say «Why don’t we set an appointment?» Wouldn’t that have been easier?
I appreciate the phone chat and advice, but being nice when it’s free and crappy when you have the opportunity to earn business… well that’s a horrible business model. Best of luck to you, but you’re dead to me.

I went here and entrusted my 94 Ford Probe to Gordon after reading the reviews on Unilocal.I wasn’t disappointed. I asked him to check the car over as it had been off the road for 6 years and I wanted to make sure it was safe to drive again.
He only charged me for an hours work yet he spent much longer on it and spent a further hour explaining some problems it had when I came in. When I explained that I was a student with limited means and asked ‘what really needs doing now?’ he was honest enough to say that it was safe to drive and the problems could be fixed at a later date.
He came across as a good honest guy, very chatty and keen to help. Always willing to answer questions! Would go there again for sure.

I simply called with some questions and he took the time to explain what might be going on.
Cant give him 5 never saw the place, but a mechanic that will take time to explain thing over the phone without your creditcard? wow.

I took my honda 2002 to the car repair complex off off Winfield ave and I just decided to walk in this shop to get a price check. I wanted to check another place for price before I hand my car in to the lowest bid, but I got such a great sense from Gordon that I decided to work with him on the spot, without checking another shop. Somehow I knew I could trust him on the spot before getting another bid.
His work is great and he even changed my windshield wipers for free and fixed my light bulb as well. Great guy, great work. I would definitely recommend him to any one.

I don’t see why Gordon has so many stars. I took my rx7 to him a few years back and he took it for a road test to see what was wrong with the car. The car stalled out on the road and he left it there for many days. Well since it was just sitting on the side of the road it was broken into and alot of stuff stolen out of it… he was stupid to think that if he left it there for a week that no one would be curious and look into it. I had some mods and the whole stereo system stolen out of the car not to mention the passenger door was damaged when they broke into the car… after talking with Gordon about it he seemed to think that he did nothing wrong and that he wouldn’t pay for any of the damage done to my car. I imediately towed my car out of there and whenever anyone asks me about that place I tell them to avoid Gordon like the plague.

There are few honest people in this world, there are even fewer honest mechanics (read my review of Capitol Mitsubishi in San Jose to know what dishonesty is…), and I was convinced that there are NO honest mechanics that have empathy with their customers.
I was proved wrong when I went to Gordon.
In 30 minutes, he showed me that 1500 $ that capitol Mitsubishi charged me was a lie… another 2000 $ they wanted from me to keep my car running was a lie…
My car’s rear tires were torn on the inside (I could never see that… other mechanics had to know cause they jacked my car to change shocks and struts.) and capitol Mitsubishi wanted 2000 $ to replace tie rods also.
Gordon drove it for 5 minutes, went over/​inside/​outside for another 25 minutes, sent me to tire shop to get new tires AND HE CHARGED ME 0 $ FOR HIS 30 MINUTES.
Thanks to him, my baby is not going to a salvage yard.
(I have a Mitsubishi 3000 GT)

I’ve been going here for about 7 yrs. and Gordon will never steer you wrong. He’s the most honest mechanic and very knowledgeable.

My wife drives a Mercedes E320. After paying spiff at two Benz dealers, I decided to shop around.
I found Gordon’s place through Unilocal and liked the reviews. Especially, the guy who had his car serviced at Bob Lewis.
So, I scheduled the Benz’s Service B maintenance at Performance Import.
Everything went smoothly and we have dollar savings compared to the Service B cost at the Benz dealership.
For my Service A, I will bring it back to Gordon’s place.

Gordon is such an honest and smart mechanic. He is like an engineer in the uniform of a mechanic. Very intelligent with anything to with engines and cars.
He services my Toyota 4Runner and seems to be better with Japanese cars, but I brought my Mercedes C280 to him and he was able to solve it’s problems as well. I went to Stevens Creek Toyota-​horrible customer service and expensive labor. I went to Smythe European Mercedes Benz-​good customer service, horrible labor rates and incredibly high fees.
I originally went to him based on Glenn O.‘s review below, around May of last year (2007.) He is now my primary mechanic. I live in Santa Clara and it’s not convenient for me to get over to South San Jose, but an honest mechanic who does good work is worth the drive to me.
I hope his quality and integrity last.

I first started taking my 2000 Jetta here in 2003. I had taken it to Bob Lewis for regular service, and asked them to check out why the air conditioner smelled so foul. They demanded $ 300 for an air conditioning check-​up and service. They wouldn’t even do a diagnosis otherwise. I left without even having the regular maintenance done.
I told a friend about this and he recommended I see Gordon at Performance Imports. He did the regular service, and when I came back to pick up the car, showed me why the air conditioner smelled bad: The old cabin air filter was absolutely green and slimy. (This particularly galled me because Bob Lewis was supposed to have replaced this as part of the previous service, but obviously they hadn’t.) Bob Lewis would have charged me $ 300 for this. Gordon charged me $ 25 for the part and $ 30 for the labor to replace it.
Gordon is also really friendly, but professional. I know a little bit about cars, but I’m not an expert, especially when it comes to the electronic stuff. Gordon always explained to me in plain English what the problem was and what he would do to troubleshoot or fix it. He always delivered what he said he would, and on time.
I have bought a new car with a maintenance warranty now, and I no longer work in that area. However, if I ever have any major automotive work that needs to be done out-​of-​warranty, I would go out of my way to have it done here.

I was talking to a peer at work about a problem that I’m having with my 2000 Toyota Tacoma. He mentioned that he has a longtime friend that has a garage near my place that he highly recommends. (Oakridge mall area in SJ)
Gordon is the owner of Performance Import Service and has been in business for a while. I took my truck in because the engine light came on and the lack of HP when I attempted to accelerate.
It took him a bit of time to troubleshoot the issue (2 days) and I was amazed at what he found. The #2 and # 5 cylinders had a misfire and he was very puzzled at the causes as he has never seen it before. Turns out that the water pump bearing leaked which caused the cooling fluid to leak into the engine which solidified which caused the timing belt to ‘jump’ a few notches. This threw off the timing which lead to the misfires and to a loss of power. WOW…
I do my own maintenance on my cars and have changed out part, brakes, headers, cat, etc… I would have never been able to troubleshoot this issue myself.
If I took the truck back to the dealership, I’m 100% sure I would have paid at least 40% more than what I paid.
I can say that Gordon is an honest mechanic and business owner. I’ll be taking my cars to his shop in the future if they are in need of any type of service. This type of mechanic is hard to find…
Aug 2012: It looks like Gordon hired a new person to run the front office. This person likes to account for every bit of time that Gordon spends on your car. Before, he would do a quick overview and talk to you about the issue at little or no cost. Now, it seems as if every minute is costing you dollars… So in general, it’s not much different than taking your car to the dealership… Hate to do it, but I’m dropping the rating from 5 down to 3…