Diagnostics Unlimited

Ever since the management has changed and merging with Firestone next door, their services and price has increased dramatically. The staffs had also been not as helpful as before, I feel as if I will not be able to trust this place anymore. Their dishonesty made me feel very uncomfortable during my recent visit with them. When I took my car in for oil change, it was riding very smoothly, shortly only three days after service, my check engine light came on. I called the shop and was told that I can go ahead and bring my car in but there will be a $ 65 diagnose charge. I was quite disappointed since I recently had service done there, I don’t believe I should be responsible for paying the extra $ 65. I contacted the supervisor of Firestone, Ali, and he had asked one of his follower to give me a call back informing me that they will be able to scan the code for me for free and I can come to bring in my car anytime. I took my car in the very next day And was told there will be a $ 65 charge which is not what we had agreed to on the phone. Although at the end they did scan the code for me for free, they had already lost my trust and loyalty with them. I don’t know if I would be coming back here again when I can go next door to precision tune for only $ 19.99 oil change and they top off the off the fluids for you too for free! Diagnostic unlimited you pay $ 41 but if you need them to top off the fluids it’s not included and you will pay them $ 99!!!

This place is awesome. I foolishly took my Prius to Sunnyvale Toyota and they wanted over $ 1000 to replace my headlights. I’ve been going to Diagnostics Unlimited for years so I called them for a quote. Ali laughed when I told him what Toyota wanted to charge. I told him I’d have to take the bus, get the car from Toyota and bring it to them and he told me «I’ll send someone to pick it up over there, we’ll replace the lights for $ 350 and I’ll call you when I’m done.»
That is what service is all about!

Be prepared to be ripped off. The quote I got from them is 700+ more than the other auto repair shop. That is almost 40% more. Be prepared if you decided to go there.
I think the owner has changed, but not sure when it changed.

These people do a great job! Above and beyond what was expected. They matched price from another location and did a thorough exam of the vehicle — found a very important piece of the car that was missing that other maintenance shops failed to recognize! Thank you guys — really appreciate it!

Not a regular customer here. Visited twice for car inspections when I was buying an used car. Had a good experience with the staff. They gave me a detailed diagnostics report and prepared a quote if i had to repair my car.
I negotiated with the car owner based on the quote and got a 400 $ price reduce :)

Had my alignment fixed up here for my MB e420. Seems they did a good job and although it took awhile (1.5hrs) they were very nice, even gave my dog a bowl of water and the price was good with the Unilocal check in offer.

I’m always skeptical when it comes to auto repairs until they earn my trust by proving honest & good services. Especially when they tell you repairs that you don’t need. I started here with an oil change on my Honda Accord and it included with a general inspection I bought thru Groupon. They told me that i needed synthetic oil for my Honda which is not true. synthetic is always better for your car but not required & cost 3x more. I decided to treat my car out & accepted the synthetic oil. The oil change was about 20 min (walk-​in) & i was able to do some work while I waited using their free wifi. As a result of the inspection, they told me my car needs alignment due to my wear on my tire & struts need replacement. This was what I was afraid of. I went to a different shop that was known for their honest work and low prices a few months later to get a second opinion. They told me the same thing & gave me a quote for the repair. That confirms that Diagnostics was honest so I went back to them to compare quotes. They are about the same but I decided to go with Diagnostic because they seem to have better & newer equipment, & plus they would drive you where you needed to go within 5 miles so you don’t have to wait. I got my alignment, brakes & new tires for a very good deal. Besides the synthetic oil requirement, Overall services & prices are excellent. Very friendly. They earned my trust & i will come back for future services.

These guys are good! My first time here for a oil change and I thought they were professional, courteous and quick!

I’ve been here a couple times and I was satisfied both times I went there. Both times I went in for an oil change and to have some things checked up on.
I found out about DU through Unilocal (of course). I don’t know jack sh*t about cars so the word I was looking for through the reviews was HONEST. And that’s what I found most reviewers use to describe this auto shop.
GOOD:
The owner is very nice and all about customer service. He apologized many times for the wait when he didn’t have to. I didn’t wait very long either but it felt good to know he was concerned about the customer.
I have a mini cooper which means I get need synthetic oil for my oil change. It’s not cheap — most places charge upwards of $ 100. They charged me $ 58. GOOD DEAL.
They did a basic check on my car to make sure everything was okay. It seems to be what most auto repair shops are doing nowadays when a car comes in for any kind of repair but it’s still appreciated. Both times I came in I got major discounts so I know they aren’t trying to cheat me! I suggest coming here to get your routine check ups/​oil change/​etc done.
BAD:
My mini has many problems… some that seem serious. I brought it in recently to have two lights on the dash and my transmission checked out. After having a diagnostic done the results were that they could not have the lights on the dash overridden and that there is something loose in the transmission that would take a lot of time and money to fix. They estimated $ 1500 would go into just having it checked out (take out the tranny and put it back in) for 15 hours of labor. HOLY SMOKES that’s not happening.
They suggested I take it to the dealership to get all those problems fixed because they couldn’t but it’d be better to just trade it in. As much as I hate my mini for having problems all the time, I wasn’t giving up on her yet. I took my car to another place for a second opinion. I don’t blame them for not knowing what to do because they don’t specialize in minis. So I took my car to another auto repair shop that specializes in minis and they were able to find a solution for me that avoided going to the dealership and paying a buttload of money to fix my baby or trading it in.
Overall this is a great place. Honest and hard working people. But if you have a special car with special problems — take it to a specialist. I could have avoided paying for a diagnostics test with DU that didn’t diagnose or fix anything if I went straight to a specialist.

Based on good reviews, I brought my Lexus in for an oil change. I had some initial reservations because the shop and waiting area aren’t particularly inviting. While waiting for my work to finish, I heard Bobby deal with several customers in person or by phone. I noticed he gave detailed, honest responses and he wasn’t pushing product or services. It turned out my car was missing an axle cover and instead of trying to sell me a new one, he suggested I check my warranty to see if this repair was covered (and it was). Bobby is the best and I’ll definitely come back.

I never been so unhappy in my life. Stupid Scam.
Bought a $ 25 Groupon for oil change. Called for an appointment; the person that picked up was rude and stupid. Got there at 1pm; present my groupon and waited for more than 1 hr and got charged an extra $ 30. Wtf.

Bobby (the owner) and his staff at Diagnostics Unlimited exemplifies what a good car mechanic should be like. I’ve had some really bad experiences with a mechanic that involved not just bad service but the cops and the county court house. I won’t go into details but ever since then it’s always been hard for me to trust and find any good mechanics.
Not only is the staff at Diagnostics Unlimited friendly but also honest. Try and figure that out. An honest car mechanic! And how do I know they’re honest? Because my prior car service was at a different mechanic and they told me I needed some work done on my car such as brakes and transmission fluids with the estimate exceeding over $ 500. It was a good idea that I held off on getting the work done.
After taking my car to Diagnostics Unlimited they said my car was in perfect shape and that the only thing I should consider was getting my belt exchanged. Not only did he tell me about my belt but also he walked me over to my car and showed me that the belt was actually cracking. As long as I’ve been driving and getting my cars serviced no mechanic had ever done that.
These guys are very professional and offer reliable service. I highly recommend them if you need you car serviced and they come with my utmost recommendation. Just talk to Bobby and you can tell that he is a genuine person who prides himself in providing people with genuine and dependable service.

WOW, where do I begin? On the Labor Day Weekend Friday, with so many things planned, it could have turned out to be a major disaster, but Bobby from Diagnostics Unlimited saved the day~~~
Before I begin my review, let me preface it by saying a few things:
1) This review is a bit on the long side, but what the merchant had done in the aftermath of my fiasco is so amazing, it NEEDs to be told — you just don’t see anything like this nowadays — the merchant should be highly praised for owning up and honesty.
2) I only write reviews when I am compelled to write, (ie, good or bad, t I MUST say something! I don’t care about the quantity on Unilocal,but rather the QUALITY!) Hence, my reviews tend to be either so bad, I must let the world know; or so good the merchants deserve my time to write about them. I just don’t have the time to write the so-​so exeprience just to pad my Unilocal reviews
3) I am always skeptical about merchants who «supposedly» accept GroupOn, Living Social, etc. They’re glad to take your upfront money and also the volume, & possible repeat business, BUT, when it’s time to cash them in, they burn you — read my reviews on Homestead Car Wash — the biggest Groupon rip-​off EVER!
— — — — — — — — — — — — my story, here we go — — — — — — — — — — — — -
On the same Monday before Labor Day Friday, sick & tired of being constantly told to «need» some extra work done by the dealership where I bought my car, seeing an online Groupon offer, I decided to take my Mazda CX-​7 to Diagnostics Unlimited for an oil change. Calling in to esnure they could squeeze in, they accomodated me on moments’ notice and got it done rather quickly.
Two days later, on my way out and ran into my apartment complex property manager who told me that he noticed that there was a puddle of leaked oil underneath my parking spot. I told him the car was just serviced 48-​hrs earlier, it was probably from some car parked in my slot while I was away.
The fisaco was about to begin…
On the Labor Day Weekend Friday, I drove my newly serviced vehicle up to the midpeninsula in and around San Mateo/​Foster City. While driving around there, there was some smoking smell coming somewhere from twithin the car. Not thinking too much of it (again, the car was JUST serviced), I continued to drive. A few mintues later, the ever scary «check engine» light flickered. Not wanting to take any chances, I parked the car inside a nearby Lucky Supermarket Plaza and opened the hood & checked the engine oil level — it was completely DRY!!! How could this be possible (I thought to myself), the car was just serviced a few days earlier. To say that I was fumming beyond control is an understatement, and called Diagnostics and asked for Sergio (the mechanic who had done my car on Monday).
When the line was connected, it was a gentleman with a very soothing soft-​spoken voice. With somewhat of an emergency on-​hand, and not knowing who he was, I was a little annoyed and continued to asked for Sergio. I probably raised my voice on him and told him I would bring the car to him ASAP after buying a quart of engine oil from Lucky. After buying a quarter and poured in, the oil leaked right through onto the parking lot pavement and the oil check stick continued to be baffling arid. I thought to myself, «NOW, what do I do?» I was about 30-​miles away from Diagnotics!!!
Just as I was at my most despair moment, that very same voiced called again. I asked who he was, and he was very concerned, and with that very soothing voice, told me he was the owner of Diagnostics and everything would be taken care. What followed epitomises what CUSTOMER SERVICE ought to be and how to treat a customer right! I
Bobby offered to send a tow truck to pick my car up back to the Diagnotics garage, and remember it was late Friday afternoon, and he promised the mechanics would be available just for me.
Eventually, the car got towed back to the shop, raised up in one of those car bay as Sergio and his pal took a look. Look, many car garages deservedly get bad rap for their dishonesty, and this include many auto dealerships where you buy your car from. Bobby and his mechanics could have easily told me it was something other than what it turned out to be so as to charge you even more to cover the cost of the tow, etc. Long story short, it turned out to be a «crack» on the filter’s rubber sealer (similar to the washers for plumbing pipes), As Bobby put it, if they install a million of them, I was the only to get the defective part — how lucky was I! ^_^^_^
— — — — — — — — — — end of the fisasco — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
What Bobby and his crew did at Diagnostics this past Labor Day Weekend was short of amazing nowadays, to sum it up, I would NOT take my car anywhere else. THANK YOU so much — Bobby!

came here for an oil change. great pricing, friendly owner. one of the better independent shops that ive been to.
being how crazy expensive labor is here in the bay area, ill definitely be coming here with regards to my BMW

I made a same day appointment here to get an alignment done.
Over the phone I they said it would take 40minutes.
I got there at 12 and showed them my coupon on my phone, they said I need to print it next time.
They said there was another car on the alignment rack and would start mine when that one was done.
Around 12:15 I saw my Car get test driven then put on the alignment rack.
My car was done, test driven, paid, and out the door at 1pm.
Good fast service.
5 stars for 4 wheel alignment service only.

My family had a terrible experience at this place. 3 of our cars went in at a separate time for regular maintenance and ended up paying thousands of dollars to fix something that wasn’t a problem before. The first time, we thought maybe we didn’t realize how problematic our car was, then the 2^nd and then the 3^rd and we are done with this place. I strongly recommend you go somewhere more reliable and honest. Avoid this place!

The only reason I’m not giving them 5 stars is because I never actually got my car serviced here, so I feel like I don’t have the right to, hahaha :/
But, ROY is great! When I got my oil changed, I found out that my transmission pan was leaking, and they told me it would probably cost around $ 300 or so. Being as unfamiliar with these things as I am, I wanted to get a second opinion. I stumbled across Diagnostics Unlimited one day because it’s near my house, and I asked Roy if he could check out my car and just confirm the transmission pan leak and give me an estimate. At no cost, he did an evaluation on the car (took about 2 hours or so), and he confirmed the problem.
He also went the extra mile and did some research, and he told me he found out that my car was still covered under warranty for a couple of months and that I could get it serviced at a Volkswagen dealer! I really appreciated that because he could have just had it serviced at his shop, which would probably have cost a couple hundred $ — I would never have known about the warranty if he didn’t tell me. Long story short… my transmission pan is now fixed (Sunnyvale Volkswagen is wonderful :), I had 5 coils replaced because they ended up finding that these parts were recalled, and the best part (or one of them) is… it cost me nothing! :D
I really respect people who give great service because, beyond just aiming for great customer service, they genuinely just care about people and treat you the way you want to be treated (even if they don’t profit monetarily!). To me, this displays honesty and integrity. These are the kind of people you can trust :)
Thanks, Roy! I’ll definitely go back if I ever need any more help with my car :)

Took my car to Diagnostics Unlimited after the dealership (Los Gatos Acura) basically gave up on trying to figure out why my car was pulling heavily to the left (alignment wasn’t the issue they said).
Roy’s team confirmed that the alignment was marginally out of spec and re-​tuned it but jus to make sure it wasn’t the problem but the car still pulled to the left. He advised that the tires I had gotten replaced may have been bad and causing radial pull. He suggested I to go and replace them at the Costco I had bought them from.
With his shop’s advice on defective tires, I was able to refund the amount I paid towards my previous set under warranty. Just for kicks, I decided to upgrade from the BF Goodrich tires I got to Michilens (sp?).
Roy had told me to take the car back to him after the tires were swapped out to make sure everything was kosher. That same afternoon, he gave me the green light that the alignment was spot and that the cradle was the issue for the now very slight pull (existing problem). Best part, he comped me the service because I’d had such poor luck with it all (dropped $ 2k to figure this all out).
Roy was honest, courteous and understanding of my situation. After the ridiculousness of Los Gatos Acura with respect to my car, Roy and his team were a refreshing breath of air.

I went in to fix my alignment. They unfortunetly don’t offer a free alignment check like some tire places do (Les Schwab) but the service was standard (69.99).
It was going to take about 40 minutes so I went for a walk. When I came back I just walked into the garage where my car was on the lift to see how it was going. The guy was nice and showed me exactly what the machine was displaying and what it meant (although he was hispanic so it was a tiny bit challenging trying to figure out what he was saying sometimes)
Overall it was a good place and they didn’t try to sell my on anything. The price was exactly 69.99, which was kinda weird (no tax?)

I am horrified at the problems that people are reporting here, because I have never had any kind of trouble with taking my business to Diagnostics Unlimited.
Roy Barron, the shop manager, is simply, utterly, completely fantastic. He is not only a wonderful, personable guy, he has never blown me off or dumbed down his language when explaining to me what is wrong with my car. He keeps me updated and gets the job done fast and when he says he will.
My husband and I stumbled (literally, my piece of crap Saturn broke down in front of his shop one day) on Diagnostics Unlimited, and Roy, about three years ago. I had just gotten a quickie oilchange from the drive-​through place on the other side of the complex when my car blew up. We limped it back in to the parking lot, where it died. Roy’s was the third shop we tried, and he was not only the least expensive, but also the quickest– he got my car inspected that day, when everyone else said two to three days.
I have never looked back. Roy, who –really– makes the entire shop, has worked with my husband (who drives 65k miles a year) and I financially when the repairs were high. He has always treated us with respect, and seems genuinely happy to see us, even for a simple oil change.
And yeah, silly as it may be, I do drive the 40 miles or so for that oil change!