Great advice from people who really know BMWs. They didn't even charge me! Great people and great shop. read more

German Formula Auto Repair - Mechanic Phillip and Manager Brett are great peeps! - Auto Repair Near Me - Portland, Oregon

I appreciate how fast the turn around time for my repairs was. I also found it helpful they diagnose with pictures and details of how serious the findings are and how urgent. The billing email was also very detailed. Front counter was very professional. The staff were cute and friendly. read more

I had an amazing experience with these guys, Philip is one hell of a mechanic, helping me close my broken convertible top in a hurry when I needed my BMW drivable on the road. I looked endlessly for days and days and had terrible experiences with other shops and no hope until I went to German Formula and they did exactly what I was looking for no hassle. Now I have my car and I'm super happy read more

Work was done efficiently, on time, and on budget. The primary problem was a burned exhaust valve on my 2013 Audi Q5. Brett was great to work with. Talked me through the essential repairs, after an initial estimate from another shop that exceeded the value of the vehicle. Very happy with the service I received. read more

When the check engine light came on on my Volkswagen I thought this would be a safe place to take it. The car was running smoothly so I asked them to simply do some basic maintenance to replace the spark plugs and confirm their work at the end, which would hopefully address the issue with the check engine light. When I picked up the car, it was stuttering, the check engine light was now flashing and everything was clearly much worse than when I had brought it in but the shop manager Brett and his technicians were not able to tell me why or do anything to get me safely back on the road. There was no offer of a refund or any help but instead just defensiveness and arguing. What was a simple issue is now going to cost me thousands of dollars to get diagnosed by a more legitimate shop. read more

Anything more complicated than an oil change, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. My car now has more problems than it did before it had water damage. They had my car for 7 WEEKS!!! I came in with water damage on the backseat's floor, and they said they will do a detail including drying for $2500 (insurance helped out). They kept saying drying will be done by this day, then the day comes around, they say it'll be done by this day, still not done, and it keeps getting pushed back. Then they call and say the found a new problem and want more money to fix it?? My gas pedal wasn't working and they wanted $760 to fix. Thank God for insurance. They took 3 more weeks to fix the pedal and after it was finally ready, I roll up to the shop and what do you know, another problem was discovered, this time with the sunroof. I had to leave for a trip, and I tell them to call me the next day. 6 DAYS ROLL BY and they finally call me, saying we can diagnose the problem for you for $189. WTF???? WHAT WERE YALL DOING THIS WHOLE TIME??? I give up and just ask for the car back. Now I'm taking a road trip and I discover my oil cover is hanging low, there are scratches on the exterior and interior of my car that weren't there before, and my damn HORN ISN'T WORKING. I just replaced my horn a few months ago so I know it wasn't at risk of failing. Either they forgot to fix a fuse or they deliberately sabotaged it to get more money, and now I'm starting to think it's the latter, although my logical side says it's just their hilarious incompetence. The worst part is the absolute refusal to provide any kind of updates. Every time the car wasn't fixed by the date they said (this happened 5 times!!!) they never called to say it would be delayed, additional problems encountered, etc., I almost always had to call them to ask. I had asked them 5 separate times to give me an update, even if there wasn't a major one, just to know they are actually working on my car. Nope, never gave a single one after asking. In total, this whole repair effort cost $3200 but I luckily had insurance. I spoke to other mechanics who said it's very unlikely for all these problems to have happened at once, but it could. However the price is a total rip off. TLDR: be smart, save your money and go somewhere else. read more

I usually have the ability to write a review "AFTER" a service or meal is completed; however this time I wasn't even given the opportunity.... I have a mint condition 2011 Panamera with only 51k miles; that I decided to take on a cross country road trip. Although the vehicles says I don't need an oil change, I figured I'd just get one for peace of mind being I'm about to put more miles on the car in one month, than I've done each year I've owned it... So I called German Formula and asked them the simplest question of all time, "How much is an oil change?" Now you would think being they "supposedly" are the experts in German engineering and work on these vehicles "all the time" they would know "HOW" to change the oil in a Porsche; however this is the response I got: "I'm guessing it will be around $250, maybe even more since the price of oil has gone up. I'm not really sure but that's a good starting price but it could go up but we only give prices to people who have their vehicles here in front of us." WHAT???? My mind is still blown away! They DONT KNOW HOW MUCH AN OIL CHANGE IS ON A VEHICLE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXPERTS ON? So obviously instead of wasting my time and driving to them to get a quote on something that they don't even know, I'm writing this review and saving my gas! read more

These guys are great! Helpful with little to no bs. Repeat customer for sure :) thanks Jonathan

I had just gotten back from a vacation and all of a sudden my window button in my 1991 Mercedes decides to stop working. I thought it would be impossible to find a mechanic that knew about old Mercedes. I looked up a near by German mechanic shop and I found this beautiful place! This is where we met my new hero, Zeus! He use to work at the Mercedes dealership and knows the ins and outs of all the cars. This is my new mechanic shop and I am so happy that they are so reliable. read more

These guys should not be working on Sprinters. I took my sprinter to them for routine maintenance (oil change, filter replacement, etc) and when I got it back the Check Engine light immediately came on. This started an almost 6 month saga of trying to figure out why it was throwing codes. I took it back to them to get diagnostics run to identify the problem and after several trips to their shop they ultimately diagnosed it as a faulty ECU (computer) handed me the keys, told me there was ONE existing replacement in the world and said "good luck." All of it was a load of garbage. Trusting their diagnosis (which I should not have done) I found a replacement ECU in Canby, OR. When I told them the name of the company (S.O.S. diagnostics) they said they work with them all of the time.......so, why didn't they just source the ECU and replace it, rather than telling me that there was only ONE in the world (in the U.K. by they way), and sending me off to replace it myself? Anyway, I did replace the ECU myself, but it did not fix the problem. I took my Sprinter back to them to figure out the problem. They told me that the whole wiring harness needed to be replaced, for $6000. Absolutely not true. I trusted their diagnosis, but decided to replace the wiring harness myself. But, before doing so, I got a second opinion from Sprinterpost. Good thing I did. Sprinter post fixed the problem in 2 hours and for $500 bucks. That was one year ago and I haven't had any problems since. Don't take your Sprinter to German Formula. read more

There are several Mercedes repair shops in town and this is the one to avoid at all costs. Over 3 years ago German Formula rebuilt and engine on a car. It took 8 months. Upon picking it up the mechanic said it's not right but it runs. They've been trying to make it run right for the past 3-1/2 years! At this point this is almost the cost of a new engine. The car will only drive for 5 minutes at a time after, tens of thousands of dollars in engine work. The car gets towed in once a year and sits there for 6 or more months at a time. I've tried to contact the owner for the past 8 months and he's constantly dodging his responsibilities to his customers. At this point donating the car to charity and a lawsuit is the only option. I got 2 other 2nd opinions and they both said I can't believe they gave it back to you in this condition. read more

7 minutes ago Robert the manager of this repair shop is a thief. He agreed to do a repair of a VW convertible top for $1900 complete. When the repairs were done 2 months later after failing to meet quoted completion dates 3 times, and many bait and switch tactics, he told me that even though he quoted my wife $1900 and agreed to this price, he would not honor the price. The car has been promised week after week for the last month. Each week he would call with one more issue and demand more money. Finally after it was supposed to be fixed he claimed he battery was dead (even though perfectly fine when the car was brought to him) and claimed the repairs could not be tested until we paid for a new battery. Finally after weeks of bait and switch, my wife went down to talk to him in person and she expressed her many concerns over continuing to add more and more to bill each week with bait and switch tactics. He agreed on the spot to replace the battery and finish the repairs for $1,900 ls worh no more cost to be added. When we arrived to pick up the car and pay the agreed $1900, he demanded $2667 or he would not let me take the car, he said he did agree to the $1900, but changed his mind and increased the price. I explained we would only pay the agreed amount and expected him to keep his work. He told me to pay or leave the car. This was a car for my daughter and she need the car for summer work to earn money for school. We were extorted $800 from this crooked repair shop. These guys are crooks, stay far away. We reluctantly paid the extorted price so my daughter could get to work, and will take the matter in up incourt. Update: The owner decided to make thing right on this issue and gave me a refund on a agreed amount. We were able to resolve the issue. I was happy to see he took the time to make thing right. read more

The repair I paid for seems to have been done. That's the positive part. But it's completely outweighed by the negatives. First negative thing is that they charged me about $50 to tell me about the errors related to my check engine light, which is weird because *I* told *them* about those errors and the error codes when I dropped them off. (I have an ODBC reader, and I can google error codes. Takes 2 seconds, but apparently costs $50) I noticed the charge when I got my bill, but didn't complain because I was just happy to get the repair done and it was still slightly cheaper than the Audi dealer's price, even with the "tax". My car had two new dents in the driver side rear door when I picked it up. They deny doing it. I really don't care if *they* did it, or if someone else did it while they left my car outside. When you pay $950 for a repair (+$50 for a diagnosis you didn't need), you probably don't expect to have an added $300-600 body repair job added to your cost. I didn't, either. They had me bring it down for them to look at. They looked at it. They gave me a tour of the shop to explain to me how it couldn't have happened. Then they said they'd check with their boss, and never got back to me. They left my car outside on the street, driver side facing out, so it's quite possible that some vehicle (maybe one of their customers') double parked next to my car and dented it with their door. Or maybe it happened in their shop. All I know is there were no dents on that door before. I'd advise you to just go to the Audi dealer, unless your car is very old and/or beat up. Audi would have cost me about 10% more for the repair, but I would have gotten my car back washed and vacuumed instead of dented. This ended up being a huge loss. And it's disappointing that they would rather lose me forever as a customer than make good on the damage that happened to my car while it was in their possession. This happened a couple of months ago. It occurred to me to write this review now, because I'm about to spend a few hundred dollars at Audi Portland, where I know I'll get what I paid for, and no more. If you do bring your car to German Formula, make sure to take pictures of the car at all angles at the time of drop-off so you can 100% prove your car was dented by them (my pictures from 1-2 days earlier were not proof enough for them, and neither was my word). Ask them if they can keep the car inside, instead of leaving it on a busy street where it might get dented. read more

Who knew that I would find a quality German Auto Mechanic tucked away in this little corner of the inner NE Portland hood? Bryan, the mechanic I had worked with on several occasions, is extremely personable, intelligent, and honest. It may seem odd that I mention those characteristics but they are truly important when it comes to fixing and maintaining a vehicle as complex as many German Automobiles can be. Ralph (one of the owners) helped find some answers to questions that a Porsche owner friend of mine had. He is has an extreme wealth of knowledge when it comes to Porsche. Brooke is the office manager and she is delightful, helpful, and punctual - communicating with me to make sure I was updated on the status of my vehicle. These are just a few of the reasons that I would gladly refer anyone who had a German Automobile to their shop. read more

Bryan is gone, this place is now horrible. Cashier can't explain the 3% surcharge for "shop parts" when no parts were used ("it's DEQ or something, we always charge it, but I'm not sure"). Tells me to expect a 3% higher bill than you were quoted. Pass. read more

Brought my Audi A4 in for a diagnostic. They had me drive a little bit with one of the mechanics to try to see what could be causing it to drive so rough. He gave me about 10 things it could be but "wouldn't know until they got under and looked". Which I expected so I left it there to get fixed. Waited for a call with the diagnosis for a whole day. I ended up calling them. They still had not looked at the car, they were busy and would look at it and call me back within the hour. So I didn't worry. I left it there for another day and never heard a call, tried to call 3 times before I talked to someone. I still did not get a clear diagnosis and decided to pick up my car. Later I took it to Sunset Audi at 7am and by 11am the same day they told me it was clearly the axels that needed replaced. Which German Import never even considered. I may have just gone at the wrong time while they were swamped but the communication was not the best. read more

Man .... to advoid an accident I turned off the road and gashed my oil pan open. Called 3 shops, these guys were the most expensive but assured me theu could get it repaired ASAP. They did just that and the bill was less than the estimate. Within hours of hashing the pan open and dumping all the oil out I was repaired and back on the road. Next time I need repairs Im headed back here. Dave and crew were top notch. read more

On a business trip from Bellingham my old Mercedes broke down in the middle of Portland a couple days ago. Thanks to Yelp I was able to locate these guys. Brooke was very helpful in locating and getting me a good deal on a rental car, got me a tow truck, and they are working on the car now. They are friendly, helpful, and competent. I even got a ride to my hotel from them. I haven't got the car back yet, or the bill, but so far my experience has been excellent! I should also say the owner himself has been communicating with me about what ails my car. I feel like I've gotten hometown service from a place far away from home. read more

Took my 3 series here because they could get it in faster than Kuni because Kuni said I had to wait a week and I needed my car fixed asap. Literally was only suppose to take 1 day to fix a hose that exploded. They kept my car for 5 days, I had to call multiple times for someone to talk to me about my car and every time I did talk to them the car apparently needed a new part and each time I would ask okay does it need anything else, they would say no and then next day "oh yea now it needs a water pump" like really? Either do your job right the first time and tell me everything up front or stop trying to get money out of me. $1500 later and I have my car back and it wasn't even fixed right. Avoid at all costs, im sticking with the dealership. read more

Not the place for VW Westy or Eurovan. I dropped it in the morning for an oil change a couple of other things thinking that they would have it done in a day. At 4pm I called them to ask if they were done and they told me that they were planning to keep it overnight on which I told Robert "If you were planning that, you could have call me because the van is my second car and I need it to pick up my kid from school. So, I made arrangements to get my kid. Next day, they found some kind of issue with engine mounts telling me that they were collapse and that's why my engine bottom was so close to the front axel. I asked them for pictures which I sent to GoWesty (the nation-wide experts in Eurovan and Vanagons), and they told me the pictures look ok and my engine mounts look ok too but if they had to be replaced they were going to be 1 hour per engine mount but German formula quoted me 7 hours to replace both. I later took the van to a different shop and they told me that the engine mounts were ok. So, two sources said they were ok and German formula told me that they were collapse. At the end of this transaction, Robert asked if they should charge me or wait for me to come back the following week to do more work and Ralf who I think is the owner and a very nice guy said "Let's charge him now, this way, we don't mess up with other charges" which I agreed with him and I paid my bill. 3 weeks later I get a phone call from Robert asking me if I'm planning to come back to the shop because I did not pay last time and I said "I think I did" and he says "You did not". I stopped my lunch, because that is when he calls, at lunch time and 3 weeks later and I check my visa statement and right on, the charge is there. So, I call Rob to tell him that although he said I did not pay, I actually did and then he asked for a screenshot which I replied "Of course, I have nothing else better to do". So, I mail him the screenshot and said in the mail that he could have given the customers the benefit of the doubt and I call him to verify that he got my email and he said he did. Then a couple of minutes later, he calls again and leaves a voicemail asking what kind of card it was and I call him back to say "It was a visa and it was in the text of the original email I sent you". I also mentioned in my email, how much re-assurance I get from seeing how well they keep track of payments and they same work I did checking my payment log, they could have done checking their receivable log. Anyway, aside from Ralf, not a great experience. read more

Now these guys know what they are doing. So far so good. I think they service an array of European cars. Thumbs up.

Their price are not cheaper than at Kuni or Rasmussen. I paid over $120 for an oil change. Plus an arrogant owner and service writer who wants to deal with that. read more

I brought my car in for a repair,they did it in the time and cost they quoted me

I have had nothing but good experiences at German Formula. I've had to have body work on my car twice (sigh) and both times have felt that the work has been high quality, and that the customer service impeccable. German Formula even dealt with the insurance companies so that I didn't have to, and helped me out with rides and transport. read more

Several months back German Formula diagnosed a bizarre problem on our Porsche. It sounded like an engine issue, rough clicking noise, and I was informed the engine cover may need to be removed. A large expense. As it turned out, the spark plugs were loose! Tightened up and rattle disappeared. Grateful GF was upfront and fixed the real problem, for a reasonable price. Still runs and drives great. read more

Wow. I love this place. I recently bought an Audi from Luxe and was so thankful to have them refer me to German Formula. They are quick, honest and incredibly reasonable. I love that they aren't out on 82nd too. They are centrally located, so if you have to leave your car you can actually get stuff done, or meet a friend for lunch on Burnside. read more

We took our Touareg in to get my parking assist sensors looked at. Not only did they have great service techs that assisted and helped solve the problem, but they wouldn't even let my husband pay for the time it took to figure it out. He said they were honest, fair and knowledgeable. We will definitely take our car back there if we need any further work. read more

We drove to Portland, Oregon from Long Beach, Ca. The plan is to stay a couple of days but by the time we reach our hotel my car 328i BMW had 4 lights with a whistling sound. I search for a mechanic specializing in BMW. German Formula caught my attention. Drove their and called them once I was outside the shop. A guy answered the phone and I told him the problem also told him I am outside. Right away he told me to pulled my car in. In about less than half an hour they know what is wrong. For short, they work on my car right away. I am very thankful for all the crew in German Formula. They took care of me without any hesitation. Very professional, experience and honest people! They went extra mile to help me out. read more

I just had my oil change service done on my 2004 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. I'm very particular about who works on my car and these guys did a great job. Bryan was very thorough and asked all the right questions. The labor rate was fair and they have definitely got my business next time I need some mechanical work done. Thanks. read more

Took my old Jetta TDI in for an oil change. They did the oil change, , plus advised me as to the priority of needed repairs.

I'm disappointed to be writing this updated review after receiving good service for several years. However, something has changed in the last 12 months and I no longer have confidence in German Formula. The entire staff has turned over, and the new folks don't seem to know what they are doing. After I bought really crappy wipers at the auto parts store, I asked GF to replace them with their recommended brand. They didn't seem to fit. When I observed this fact, I was told it wasn't a problem. Well, it became a problem when the driver's side wiper flew off the car one night on the Sunset Highway. (Luckily, no one was injured.) When I went in to talk to the owner about this, he personally installed the correct set--and charged me for the new set (ok) AND $30 for the installation! On another visit, the tech was unable to get one of the bulb sockets to fit in the headlight. (While I couldn't get it seated properly either, I'm not a BMW tech.) He said, "it must be broken," and suggested he tape it or let it go until I felt like spending a few hundred dollars on a new headlight. I decided to let it go. The heat from the bulb has now melted part of the inside of the headlight, so when I had car trouble this week while in Salem and visited a shop recommended by colleagues, I asked the owner to price the new headlight install thinking that maybe I'd just get it taken care of ... they said all that was needed was to screw-in the bulb socket--which they did at no charge. I'm not going back to GF. read more

Luke took my car the day of my accident, and had it back to me just a few days later. Service was excellent, and I'd recommend this shop to anyone. Thanks. read more

I would to tell everyone about this place. I made an appointment for my car to be looked at in the morning after dropping the car off I didn't get a call from them so I decided that I would call them an find out what wad going on I was told they were just starting on it the appointment was for 8 am I called them at 1130am they said they will call me back well that never happened. I called them at 310 pm they told me to come an get my car an they would tell me what was wrong with it guess what happened NOTHING they kept mt freaking car all day an never even looked at it because they GOT busy. I guess they could have just called me and said no time to look at it today instead of the whole DAMMM day. I would NEVER EVER tell anyone to use their crappie service. ......... I think they are the type of business that make people not to trust service shop they suck...... read more