Had a great experience here! Initially I tried the local dealer. Wow, what a disaster they are. But, that led me to the team at Brown's Performance! Subaru knowledge is their specialty. This time was a simple inspection and oil change. Next time they are my go to for the 120k service. I have total trust that they are honest and will take care of me. Thanks Brown's Performance team! read more

My daughter's subie broke down just days before we were to drive it back to Texas. Needless to say this was a very nerve wracking situation. Darnell was very helpful and went out of his way to get it fixed quickly for us so we could be back on the road in time! We made it back to Texas without any further issues! read more

Bring your Subaru here for repairs, maintenance, mods, tunes (they got a dyno now) ! Darnell offers a one-stop shop with the best quality work and interpersonal professionalism you can find anywhere for your Subie. Forget the stealership, forget the fix-it-all mechanic who cuts tubing from somewhere else to zip tie to your fuel pump (true story), forget the jiffy boob who takes your car out for a joyride and lies about your brakes. Darnell is a specialist and enthusiast whose passion is Subarus, and you can see it in the quality of his work. If you want it done right (emphasis on "done right") at a fair price with smiles and be treated like Subie family (assuming you're not an a$$hole), come here. You can rest assured that whatever work you pay for here will be 100%. They also have an online shop so check that out to support them! TL;DR: Full transparency, fair prices, Subaru specialist quality. 11/10 Only downside is they're here in Gainesville, and I'm moving away again soon (daaang it...). read more

Darnell is a literal angel from heaven, but instead of wings God gave him a backwards hat. D&L saved my Subaru and my belief in mechanics. I was ready to sell my car and have a nervous breakdown after dealing with our local dealership when I met him, but he convinced me to keep my car. Now I'm convinced I'll be driving it until it has 500k miles! Darnell and his crew never make you feel stupid even if you don't understand a thing about cars. And if you're like me and don't want to understand anything, you can trust you're in good hands and not going to be ripped off or trying to be sold things you don't need. Trust me take your car here! You will wish you could find the "Darnell" of every other industry! read more

Brown's Performance replaced the clutch, the wheel bearings, and brakes on my 2017 Subaru Forester. They took me in same day when my clutch went out and were able to repair my vehicle very rapidly. They were thorough, empathetic, and reasonably priced. I was impressed at how quickly they were able to fit me in and take care of my vehicle. Not only that, but they did a test drive with me after to make sure it was repaired to my level of satisfaction. EXCELLENT customer service and individualized care. read more

If you have a Subaru in North Florida you should be taking it here. Whether it is routine maintenance, engine replacement, or performance modifications, this is the place. Darnell swapped a motor in my car and more in less than a week! Go to most places and they will have you waiting for weeks and won't get the details right. If you ever have a problem these guys make it right. This is the kind of customer service that is lost in too many places, especially in the car world. read more

They say that in life, you need a good doctor, lawyer and mechanic. Well, if you drive a Subaru and live in North Florida, you can have the mechanic part covered. This place is awesome. Fair prices, and an owner that knows his stuff and cares about you and your vehicle. Darnell's keen on building win-win relationships with his clients, and it shows in everything he does. read more

If you have a subaru and want someone you can trust, It's Darnell. Or Chris, or anyone Darnell has hired. the man is honest and passionate about subaru's and keeping a good car going for a long time. He put in a lot of research and orders quality parts from manufacturers that will last a long time. he's your guy. read more

Darnell is the absolute best Subaru mechanic (he works on most cars though) in Gainesville! He's a straight talker, so don't expect someone to try to convince you to buy things you won't need. This is the auto shop you should visit if you like great quality, value and honesty. Otherwise, visit the dealership. read more

If you own a subaru and live anywhere near Gainesville, this is the place to go. The guys there are super helpful and are absolute experts on these cars. I love my car and I'll only trust D&L with repairs and upgrades. I honestly feel lucky to have found them when I moved to town. read more

As a Subaru owner (2003), I need someone who really understands older scooobies, and knows all the quirks of aging, rather than whatever the service manual says. Mr Darnell is that person, but the whole experience is so much more. He genuinely takes interest in cars and their owners, and was willing to take lots of time to show me the inside of the car, explain what his suggestions were, and which things should probably be done sooner, and what could wait until later, so I wasn't scrambling for money. Oh, and his quotes were less than 1/2 what the dealer was suggesting, and he did more than he quoted, with no added charge. I had a whole engine rebuild, but without needing to do all the other parts the dealer insisted would have to be replaced at the same time - the car now runs amazingly. He also did some magic fix on my stereo aux cable, that he claims he didn't do. And de-glazed the headlights, because they were looking a bit junky. I have been back for two follow-ups, so he can check on his engine work, and make sure it'll all keep running smoothly. He truly cares about his work, which is so rare, and really nice to see. If you have a Subaru, you need Darnell. read more

Wish there was a choice for zero stars. Customer service here is optional. It started with no acknowledgment whatsoever (from the FOUR employees) of my existance upon entering. You seem to be required to know the name of the tool you need. "I need the wrench that fits this (half inch extention) I already have the socket. Brenda acted as if she had no idea what I was talking about. Don't bother with this place if you don't have to. read more

I bought my first subaru in 2003 and met Darnell when he was a technician at the Subaru dealership. When he ventured out on his own I followed him to his new location and he worked on two of my subarus as we became friends and I had complete trust in him. However, the last couple years, I have been having my doubts about him for several reasons. But to make a long story short, the last visit my son brought in his car as oil had blown everywhere and it turned out to be a head gasket. He charged us $1700, WOW expensive! not even 6 months later one of the gaskets blew again and he lives not in this area, so he had to go to a franchised local auto mechanic. We have pictures and written notification of what happened and darnell would not even talk about offering to have it towed in. Nor guarantee that if it were to be found out that it had to be something he replaced 6 months ago. It turns out one of the belts that usually should be taken off with a machine was able to be taken off by hand. Tuffy 's charged much less then what D & L charged, thankfully, they have better, trustworthy mechanics and even offered a rental car when his car was in the shop. Do not bring your car to D & L performance. I can not prove but I also think he takes parts off the cars he works on and uses them for cars he is rebuilding and puts something less new on your car. He is in it for his own gain, kind of shady. 1 Com read more

I would like to start by saying that if I could put 0 stars I would. I didn't have Darnell do any work on my cars so I'm not here to bash that. What I am here for is the fact he is a liar. He was the middle man in selling a car to me, and he refused to let me speak to the owner of the car telling me he was an A-hole and if he came down to the shop try to negotiate the price with me over some bad stock rims with tires that were made in 2001, he told me the guy would tell me to F-off. I found through receipts of the records of the car and found that the car had a Cobb turbo back exhaust and Cobb access port which he took off the car to sell for his own profit and put on a crappy rusty stock STI muffler. He told me he knew nothing of the car and never worked on it but lied right to me and my brothers face since he took those and a strut bar off it. Granted the strut bar was part of the deal with the owner as part of his payment along with some after market SSR rims which he later sold me, but not the exhaust and the access port. Also watch out and don't look like you have money when you go into his shop he told me and my two brothers that he will charge people more depending on if they look like they have money ie straight from his mouth " trust fund kids". He has lost my business and my brothers as well and my good friend who is buying a Subaru in a few months and was thinking of going there. I hope this lets people know what kind of person you are dealing with. He will lie straight to your face but tell you how important it is to have a good word and be honest. Your worthless to me and have 0 integrity. Also he tried to offer me a broken cobb access port also when he found out I knew he was lying and that he messed up. I told him to keep it, cause its not worth driving 2 hours to see him ever again. Be very wary if you go to him. read more