Rene’s Auto Repair

This rating is only based on her courtesy. My bike broke nearby and I needed somewhere to wash my hands from all the grease. She was very kind and willing to wait while I did so. I will try her repairs next time I need them but I drive a Prius so maybe a while :-)

Came here for a quick brake replacement and boy were they quick. We got our parts couple blocks away and brought them in and they had them done In less than an hour. They might get busy which may take longer but luckily that wasn’t the case.
I’ve taken my car to larger auto repair places like pep boys or auto zone which take up to 6 hours when they get busy which is crazy. Glad I found this nice family owned shop.

Had been having problems with my alternator. I called several shops around town and Rene gave me the best quote. When I was going to take it to the shop my car would not start because the battery was dead, making me be late. But they waited for me past there closing time. When I arrived there, the mechanic told me that they had given me the wrong alternator at O’reilly’s and he immediately called them and had them exchange it for the correct one. Once we had the correct part he had it fixed in no time! Great mechanic, great service, great person!

My husband and I have been using Renee for the repairs on our vehicles for more than 8 years now.
We have NEVER had an issue with any of the repairs and the only time we have been left on the side of the road is when the fuel pump went out on the pickup which no one could have anticipated.
I have also checked with other mechanics and my brother in law on pricing and Renee is always the same or lower. Renee and Frank are also fast and know my vehicles inside and out. My favorite part of working with Renee is that he lets me know of repairs that are coming up so I can budget for them. Because of this we are able to keep our vehicles in TIP TOP shape and we are getting our money worth from them and the repairs. I have NEVER felt pressured to make unnecessary repairs and Renee always shows me the parts he has removed and why they needed to be replaced.
I am very confident in Renee’s integrity and the quality of his work.

The worst place I have ever taken any of my cars to and my first negative review on Unilocal…
Last time i took my car in because it was over heating and they told me I had cracked a head gasket. That made sense even if I hadn’t driven more then one block with the engine in the red. My car had 100k miles so I didn’t want to fix it for more then 1k because my car wasn’t worth much more. I was quoted $ 700 and was gradually increased the price every 3 days he worked on it. I picked up my car 2 weeks later and It costed $ 1,900 i was very unpleased with this but paid it because I was told my engine could go another 100k miles with it.
2 weeks later i take it on the highway and I hear a rattle in the engine and take it back to him. He then tells me that there is now oil leaking into the cylinder heads and that the head gasket needs to be replaced again and that he can replace the head gasket under warrantee but that I need a new engine or it will continue to happen. I have him replace my head gasket under warranty so that I can trade in my car to a dealer to get a new one. HE CHARGED ME $ 285 for inspection and then another 120 for labor, I was there two weeks ago… I told the dealers mechanics I traded the car into and they said that the repair shop did not assemble my engine back right and that’s why the car needed a new engine.
I WILL NEVER GO BACK!

Rene’s Auto «Repair» BEWARE!!!
This shop was my worst nightmare, for car repair. When the engine on my Isuzu Trooper blew up, I had it towed to what I thought was the shop of the fine mechanic, Mark Chandler. However Mr Chandler had moved to a new location, and the new guy was Rene. Rene claimed to have worked for Mark Chandler, before he moved his shop out of this location, so I figured Rene must be a good trustworthy guy, and skilled mechanic… Oh how wrong that turned out to be!
To his credit, Rene did locate a replacement engine at a very good price, but unfortunately that was the ONLY good part of my experience there. What could have gone so wrong, you ask? Here’s what:
Broken & missing parts: The alternator on my trooper mounts in three places, but when Rene was done, it only had two mounting points. Why? He must have figured two was enough, or just lost one of the mount brackets, and figured it didn’t really matter that much. Oh yeah, then there was the mounting of the radiator. The radiator is properly mounted to the frame of the trooper with four bolts. Rene’s creative approach however, was to use just ONE! In the other three bolt holes, I found the plastic pull-​ties, designed to bundle telephone wires etc together!
The way in which I discovered this is also very telling about the lack of integrity and character of the owner of Rene’s auto repair. I discovered the crappy work myself, a few days after I got the trooper back from Rene, when I looked under the hood to investigate a strange noise. The noise was being caused by the excessive vibration in the alternator, which of course was missing one of its mounting brackets, thanks to Rene. The extreme vibration of the alternator caused one of the remaining mount brackets to crack, worsening the shimmying and vibrating, and increasing the noise to a level that was very noticeable. But when I looked for the cause of the noise, I instead found the plastic ties holding my radiator on.
I was so infuriated that this guy could be so selfish and dishonest. I mean, this is an OFF ROAD vehicle, meant to travel very rough BUMPY terrain! How could he expect the radiator to remain properly mounted as I travel down some rugged jeep trail in Death Valley, while only fastened in place by one bolt and three plastic cable-​ties?! The saga continues though, because I only noticed the radiator, and assumed that all the noise was from vibration of the loose radiator. when I returned to his shop, and confronted Rene with his shoddy work, he agreed to properly fasten the radiator with actual bolts, but still did not inform me about the alternator’s missing bracket. The strange noise continued though, and I finally observed that the alternator was really shimmying when the engine was revved up. Again, I went back to Rene’s shop to ask about this weird behavior of the alternator. Again, Rene told me nothing, but thank goodness for his employee, who had some integrity. While Rene could not hear or see it, the employee quietly indicated a hairline crack, in one of the alternator mount brackets. I replaced that cracked bracket myself, still not knowing that another needed bracket was completely missing. Everything seemed fine after that until about 60 days later, when I returned for my annual spring expedition in Death Valley. I was about 20 miles away from the nearest paved road, in a rarely-​visited area of the back-​country, when the alternator bracket broke clean off. It seems the intensely bumpy washboard roads were just too much for the alternator to stay securely mounted, with only two of three brackets in place.
The net result of this back-​country predicament, was a $ 500+ tow to Las Vegas, EXPENSIVE repairs at the Isuzu dealership, EXPENSIVE hotel stay, waiting for that repair. On a positive note, the breakdown did not happen a day earlier, on a serious 4WD jeep trail, where a tow would have been next to impossible.
Rene also managed to break the tube the oil dipstick inserts into. And did a very crappy welding job, trying to fix that. But now it’s very hard just to insert and remove the oil dipstick! It’s truly amazing this nightmare of a mechanic is still in business!
All I can say is: «Rene’s Auto Repair, BEWARE!»

Since moving back to Santa Cruz in September, I’ve taken three cars to Rene’s Auto for work and have been pleased with the results.
We had the timing belt (and related service) done on our Civic, brakes on our Accord, and brakes & oil on our Vanagon — all jobs were done in a timely manner, at a fair price, and with a smile. Rene is great — he quickly earned our trust and continues to prove his competence and integrity every time we visit.
Of course, he’s already a busy guy, so I’m probably shooting myself in the foot by directing more business his way. :)