Fortes Brothers Towing & Auto Repair

My F350 trust is the heart of my business. I am a general contractor. A little while ago I had a major blow out on Sunnyvale Saratoga Road. Johnny showed up and very professionally Coned off traffic and picked up my very heavy truck. He respected my truck as if it was his own. Awesome service, I can’t say enough about what a great experience.

This towing company that represents AAA will not warranty defective batteries they sell. We had a 16 month old battery that wouldn’t hold a charge. They refused to test it and used an excuse it was our fault the battery failed because we didn’t drive the car for a month. I have purchased batteries that fired up our Dodge truck that was idle for months. AAA replaces batteries if they fail within three years. AAA needs to fire this tow company.

My poor Honda Civic overheated on Central Expressway during the commute home one evening. AAA dispatched Lorenzo who took great care of both my car and me. He was personable and kind. Had my car on the flatbed in no time, took me to the mechanic for drop off, and made sure I got home safely. I knew I didn’t have a thing to worry about when Lorenzo got out of his truck and spoke to me. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the service I received that night.

i have AAA and needed a jumpstart today. Reggie arrived within 20minutes and was extremely professional and really gave me some good advice about batteries. this is the 3^rd or 4^th time I have used them (I have bought 3 batteries from them in the past). i highly recommend.

Very disappointing experience. The guy (Ray) who arrived expressed complete indifference to the risks of jump starting my car. He said, at least three times, that my car is «just like any other car.»
This went on for a while, and he maneuvered his flatbed behind my car. Because the steering was locked, he said «looks like we’ll need to jump it anyway.» I called my mechanic who said we could connect the car car without starting it. When I told this to Ray he said I needed to get another towing company.

Just wanted to say thank you to Jose O. Driver # 14 for coming out and helping me get my truck started. He was very patient and never gave up trying to start my truck.
Thank you

Called AAA to get my car towed.
Pasquale came out in about 20 minutes and handled it from there.

DON’T HAVE THESE GUY’s TOW YOUR VEHICLE!
Please, do yourself a favor and go with a different company. I called AAA, and unfortunately AAA called these guys to tow my vehicle to the shop. When I went to the shop to pick up my vehicle after repairs, my alignment was off. I spoke to AAA, AAA spoke to them, they called me and I took it by their location because they said they would check it out. They looked and said there was nothing wrong and that the tow did nothing to my alignment.
They are 100% wrong. My alignment was fine before the tow. The shop was replacing a Fan Belt, and this same vehicle had been towed to this repair shop before (AAA has records of this) and there was never a problem before, but it was a different Towing company that was used to tow the vehicle before.
I’m not done with this and this doesn’t sit to well with me. And on top of that, it’s only about a $ 49 for the alignment.
If this is how they want to play it, fine. Let’s see what the BBB has to say about this.
Oh, if you call AAA, I would ask them which company would be towing the vehicle. If it’s Fortes Brothers, JUST SAY NO! and request a different company.

This review is for Fortes Towing in Sunnyvale and specifically for Andreas. I had called AAA to get a flat tire replaced. I gave the AAA person all details regarding vehicle, location of car etc. I was told that the Towing company guy would arrive within 45 mins (which is pretty much standard). The Towing company guy showed up within 15 mins. Not only that he was able to find my car and he parked his truck right next to it (even though the place I was parked could be confusing). He replaced the flat tire within 5 mins. Excellent service !!!
PS. They charge a fee of $ 60 for flat tire replacement (without AAA insurance) which is quite low.

I ended up having to get 2 car batteries replaced at the same time and called AAA for assistance. AAA texted me to let me know when my service technician (Travis) would arrive.
Travis was awesome and very informative. He made sure to check both batteries and took the time to explain everything to me. Extremely thorough and friendly even though I am pretty sure I asked a ton of silly questions. Thanks again for coming to the rescue! :)
This review is based on AAA roadside service with Fortes.

Where do I even begin with this company.
Last week my car broke down and I had it towed to a shop where they diagnosed that my battery and starter were shot. Fair enough. The shop was a little too expensive so we called AAA and Fortes Brothers arrived to tow my car to another shop that quoted a better price.
Upon arrival we were greeted by a very friendly guy who seemed like quite the character. He informed us that we could bring my car to their AAA shop and would be able to offer discounts and awesome warranties. This guy seemed genuine enough so we went with his suggestion. Got to the shop, talked to Patty where I told her that the previous shop already diagnosed the issue. She told me they charged $ 80 diagnostic fee but would charge only a portion if it checked out to be the starter and battery.
The next morning she calls and tells me they need additional time to figure out what’s wrong with my car since they apparently needed to dig deeper and open more things up. Told me there could be numerous things causing my car to not start up and my engine could even be seizing. My car has 33k miles on it. My engine could be seizing??? Get real. On top of that she tried to get me to agree to another $ 180 fee since apparently this was a lot of work. So $ 260 to figure out what’s wrong with my car. What was the point of the first $ 80? The first shop was able to diagnose the problem in a hour and is a pretty reputable shop.
During this phone call I decided that this place was pretty much a nightmare and I wanted my car out of there ASAP. She agreed to have my car towed to the original shop I was going to take my car and that was the end of it. Got my car back from the other shop within 2 days ending with my starter and battery being replaced. Car runs great.
Judging by the other reviews on this page, this isnt the first time a situation like this has happened to someone. That’s probably why she agreed to have my car towed at no additional charge and no charge for the diagnostic fee. I can not believe she had the audacity to tell me my engine could be seizing.
This place thrives off intercepting your car from going to another shop so they can scam you. Avoid this place at all costs. They’re shady and dishonest. Will be reporting to AAA & BBB.

I had an excellent experience with Traves from Fortes after calling AAA for help with our car. Travis was quick to arrive, was very friendly and diagnosed the problem immediately. I was back on the road with a new battery in no time.

I’ve used them a few times because they are the one who services AAA locally.
Their towing is not bad if you tell them what to do, during non peak hours (morning and evening commute) or short distance. If you want them to tow your vehicle far away then they will send someone out to stay with you (because of a AAA response time requirement), but you can get all the paperwork done and park the car on the street and they will tow it later.
Their battery services on the other hand is really not something I’d recommend. If you ask AAA to give you a mobile battery quote they’ll add a recycle fee on top of it despite it not showing up on AAA’s quote (and AAA website saying free disposal of your old battery), and AAA can’t do anything about it even after I complain.
If you have problem with your AAA battery they will not be able to look up the record for warranty, you are on your own.

If you do not have AAA, go somewhere else. Like the previous reviewer mentioned, they upcharge a tremendous amount.
To jump start my car, they quoted me $ 60. I was literally across the street from their headquarters. Luckily, my friend found an online service that charged me $ 19 and worked perfectly.
I think everyone can agree 20−50% upcharge is reasonable for a dire time of need at 9pm. But over 215%? Come on now. To quote Charles S.‘s review, «They like to make it hurt.»
If your battery died and you need a jump start, either find someone with AAA or check out this website:
It worked for me. After filling out their quick form, they called me to confirm. They had someone out to me in under 25 minutes. The person was professional and courteous. Jumped my car successfully in 5 minutes, and I was on my way.

They are extortionists.
$ 200 for a tow and $ 70/​day for storage.
They like to make it hurt.

Con Artists!!!
My car was making a weird noise in my driveway. I called AAA and and had it towed to this place. They diagnosed it and told me that there was metal shavings in my power steering pump and the whole thing needed to be replaced. He quoted me $ 2000. I had a feeling he was lying so I had it towed 40 miles to a mechanic I trust. He diagnosed it and said that the hoses needed to be replaced. Thats it! He ended up doing it for free! Dont trust these guys! They take advantage of peoples lack of knowledge about auto mechanics.

Carl from fortes very patient and memorable experience w battery jump. Have had a lot of battery jumps carl is special in he loves his job, loves explaining things to ppl and has deep technical knowledge. Converted all my auto maintenance to fortes after meeting carl. Businesses are about ppl. Anyone who hires someone like carl runs a good business

Unethical Business Stay Away– 4 months and $ 8000 later, I ended up with a car that did not run due to their poor workmanship. Here is my summary.
My engine failed-​Tow company, which is Fortes, said, «Tow to our shop we are AAA recommended.» I am a AAA customer and I have no regular mechanic so I trusted Fortes. What a mistake!!!
* Patty quoted $ 5200 for new engine– later told oops we looked up the wrong engine price it will be $ 6000 but will give you a break on the labor. Mmmm bait and switch?
* 2^nd call from Art: you need a new Manifold-​just $ 1200 more… mmmmm
* 3^rd call from Art: you need a new clutch– just $ 500 more (original clutch only had 32, 000 miles on it replaced by Ford) mmmm
* 4^th call from Art: you need a new alternator-​just $ 300 more. mmmmm
Over $ 8000 later, I get the car back, the engine sounds like a broke down go cart and the clutch is popping and making rubbing noises. 4 months of towing and taking the car back to the shop with NO improvements, the clutch goes out and the car breaks down and dumps all the transmission fluid. It is towed back to Fortes and Art says nothing about the clutch failing (said the clutch was fine even though the clutch pedal was swinging on the floor board) and had the nerve to ask for $ 3000 more to repair the transmission! They even tried to blame me for the transmission by saying we must have been hot rodding the vehicle. What a JOKE! I knew I was being swindled!
I towed the car to another shop and they said there was GROSS negligence with Fortes workmanship and that the clutch piece flew out and burst through the transmission making two holes in the transmission. I was preparing to sue Fortes and I contacted BBB, Bureau of Automotive, AAA, and a lawyer. Amazingly, AAA came in to mediate and contacted the owner of Fortes and they agreed to repair the car at the other shop. To give the owner credit, he did repair a $ 150 piece that was not their fault. However, they only did the right thing AFTER me contacting everyone under the sun for help.
After seeing how unethical they were about trying to make me repair their poor workman ship, I now question if all the so called «repairs» were even needed. Maybe they cracked the manifold pulling out the engine and charged me like they planned to do with the clutch. Were the parts really replaced or needed to be replaced? I don’t think I will ever know but I do know I will NEVER GO TO THIS SHOP AGAIN! I also did not mention how Art and Patty treated me in person and on the phone; it was like I was an idiot and they were trying to get rid of me.

Based on their attention — or lack there of — to customer service this is a company that should be avoided at all costs. If this is how little they care, imagine what they are doing to your car.
Teresa the ‘manager’ is the rudest person I have ever dealt with. Her customer service skills match that of a cadged tiger. She actually hung up on me after I told her I couldn’t call back with more information and asked what else we could do to look up the vehicle I was calling about. She seemed offended that I wanted her to do her job. She spoke to me like a teenage girl speaks to her mother when she’s mad. It was disgusting. I called back and asked for her manager, she told me she was the only one I could speak to and she refused to give me the contact information for her boss or the owners.

Truck got both front wheels stolen. Called AAA to get help.
George from Fortes came by to take a look, couldn’t do anything without lug nuts but he offered to come back when we got them. He was really nice and accommodating.
The second time he got back, he filled up the spare and put it on (the second spare we had didn’t fit), and called in Bill w/​a towing truck since ours only had 3 wheels to go on. They both helped get the truck backed out from the parking space without scraping the axle and, hooked on the front to the towing vehicle and drove it to our complex 3 miles away.
Awful situation but these guys were great help and very patient.