Menlo Atherton Auto Repair

1279 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

Address:	1279 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Phone:	+1 650-325-1280
Site:	menloathertonautorepair.com
Rating:	3.6
Working:	6AM–6PM 6AM–6PM 6AM–6PM 6AM–6PM 6AM–6PM 8AM–3PM Closed

Location

Photos 8

Reviews 14

Anonymous User

Worst mechanic service ever. My car broke down and had to take it in here since my family mechanic was out of town for the holidays. Firstly they charge you for a diagnosis which was already done before.....and after the diagnosis they come to the same conclusion as I had mentioned before. Then I dont hear from them for the rest of the day and then when I call them up, some sweet talking dude quotes a ridiculously high amount for the repair and asks for my authorization. I tell him I need to do my research before authorizing it. I call up a few other places and then find out that they are charging me $600 more than most mechanics around!! So I call Alan back and tell him this and he says "oh my bad...I may have calculated this wrongly..." and he reduces the amount a few hundred dollars! Then he says the service will be done by noon the next day and I dont hear from him forever. Then I decide to show up at the shop to see what is going on and they say " it got done just now and we were about to call you"...... Then he says the car is running fine and I ask him if they checked if the error message was gone and he said " oh we need to charge 170 bucks to check that". I was like how the hell do you know if you have solved the problem...he was like " the car starts.....so its fine". My mechanic who is out of town (Ed from Mechanica Automotive) would laugh at such a statement. Finally I enquire about the discount offer posted here on Yelp and Facebook and they say "it is for services costing less than $100". When clearly the discount offer mentions " upto $100 off". Finally the invoice does not provide the part number for any of the parts replaced....so unprofessional. At this point I dont care if these guys didnt do any work on my car and just billed me for a huge amount. I would rather go to my trusted mechanic when he is back from holidays than do business with these guys. I will post this on a few other forums so that other people dont go through the same experience.

Tyler Warnock

Took my car in for an oil change, and an hour later my tire is flat. The manager denies any involvement, despite it being perfectly fine when I drove up. He claims they noticed it, then forgot to tell me before I drove off. They let me drive off the lot with a flat tire that they caused AND they knew about? Let that sink in... they messed up my car, didnt tell me about it, and then claimed they knew it was messed up but forgot to tell me about it before I drove off. Horrible, horrible way to run a business. The managers complete lack of accountability gets this place a zero. Id rate negative if I could, and I strongly recommend going somewhere else.

Mark Albery

No problems with the work. I was booked in the next day for a 60K service which was done promptly . However the charges were way above what I would expect from an independent garage. E.g they charged $525 for what should be no more than $300. Fuel filter was charged as $86 + $114 for labor. The filter and O rings can be had for $25 and it takes about 10 minutes to replace and maybe 5 minutes to prime the lines through the VCDS diagnostics, so maybe 15 minutes total. I expect to pay a bit extra for garage service, but I wont be returning here at their prices.

Nicholas Maier

Ive been a customer for over 15 years. Tony and the team have serviced my Jaguar, Mercedes and Subaru. Service has been routine as well as an extensive repair to the cooling evaporator on my Mercedes which required the entire dashboard to be removed to get to the part. Cost was about 2/3rd of what the dealer would charge and the job was done perfectly. Most simple stuff, like burned out lamps, are fixed while you wait. A great auto shop. Plus, they will drive you home when you drop off your car.

Laura Vera Greenstein

We made an appointment for both of our cars, they made consecutive appointments, we dropped off one car and when we picked it up, we left the other car. They changed the oil, checked the cars, made their recommendations and they were very helpful. They were not pushy, just thorough. They have moved and the new place has lots of parking and continued good service. We will take our cars there in the future because we think they are honest.

Simon Karpen

Did an acceptable job on a smog check, but let air out of my tires without asking as part of a courtesy check. CA regulations do require a pressure check, but only require inflation not deflation. Made vehicle unsafe to use with my hitch mounted bike rack until I re-inflate. Update: They also tried to sell me on an unnecessary belt replacement. Regular trusted mechanic / shop confirmed the belts are just fine.

L P

These guys are great. Theyre attentive and not at all pushy, attributes I wish more mechanics had. Ive taken my Corvette in twice and will be back for some finishing touches on the engine. Each time, the job was done right and fast. Sure, you might pay a little more in labor, but its worth the extra change knowing your car is going to be taken car of and the work will be done right the first time.

Eugene Mar

They have been a great resource for me. I have taken both of my cars there for oil changes, and I find that they only put in the amount necessary to get the job done -- no over-charging. Ive also turned to them for spot help when I couldnt open the cap to my coolant tank, and they opened the cap and refilled my coolant without charge. Theyre my go-to place locally.

Sandra Pachaud

Had a nail in my tire and it was flat. I called AAA butwas told they only tow to a repair shop and wouldnt fix it. I pumped up the tire so I could limp to a repair shop myself. I called Menlo Atherton Auto Repair and they said to bring it down and the fee would be $24. After it was repaired the said "No charge". Made my day. Thanks M-A Auto repair

Sam Owen

Got a flat tire on my way to work, found this place on google, dropped by without an appointment - they patched the tire right away and didnt even charge me anything for it! The mechanics seem very trustworthy and clearly arent out to scam you for as much money as they can get like a lot of places.

Gregory Fryns

Made us wait for 1 week for an appointment for a smog check on an old car (1978 air cooled VW van) to eventually tell us they are not able to perform it. Kind of frustrating as they made me come to the garage earlier in the week to check if the car would fit in it.

Juliet Ryan-Davis

Always pay attention to what I need, whether it is something that needs to be fixed on the car, or something that I can wait on or leave as it is. I appreciate it!

Yen Nguyen

I came in without an appointment and the mechanic helped patched my tire right away. I will definitely come back here again for future services.

Scott Henderson

I went in to get a smog check. While I was there, they noticed that my engine oil was low and helped me get it fixed. Good place to go.