Took my car in the same day for repairs and I got it back within 48 hours. Very polite and responsive over the phone as well.

Just wanted a quote and the guy was rude about it and didn't even want to help or talk. Not sure how that's good for business

I can not explain in words how unsatisfied that I am with my experience with Rene. I was the recipient of both a broken down vehicle and sent off with by an aggressive display by the owner. I brought my vehicle in to have a transmission seal replaced and was informed that an additional seal needed to be dealt with, so I told him to order the parts as to confirm that the job was done correctly. I was informed that the parts are not available by Rene. I then researched the seals (In which were several, not singular) needed to repair the issue which came up within seconds of a google search and informed him of my findings. Note; Both seals pictured were not standard o-rings. Here is a link to the parts for visual representation of my description: https://www.classictransmissionsolutions.com/tf8-727-tf6-904-speedo-housing-leak-stop-seal-kit-speedometer/ I was then assured once again that he would put in an o-ring and it would be a satisfactory fix, parts would not be needed. The repair was completed and paid for.... The following morning my vehicle had nearly emptied itself of transmission fluid all over my cement drive-way. I called the shop and was instructed to return the vehicle for inspection & repair, in which I had the vehicle towed as not to cause damage to my transmission. I received a phone call a few hours later and was informed by Rene in a hastily & heated manner that the transmission would need to be completely re-sealed and that he would not do the work. I was told probably 15 times during this phone call that his work was done correctly and the problem was not a direct result of his work. It was leaking from apparent new source, the shifter mechanism in which he said he did not touch over & over again. I explained to him once again, that the transmission was not leaking profusley prior to his o-ring fix. Rene refused to acknowledge my statement and went on a rant about the quality of the pan gasket which had nothing to do with the problem at hand. He continued to go on & on about how the transmission must be resealed entirely, that the car was too old. He then stated that a guy at his shop wanted to buy the car from me. If that isn't an awkward comment I don't know what is? He was once again very heated and this time to the point of screaming. (Note: The pan gasket that he installed was installed correctly and was not the cause of the leaking issue.) At this point, my only option was to call a tow truck and have the vehicle towed once again within a matter of hours to a repair shop that was capable of determining the source of the leak. In which to do so I have to present for the tow truck company to get my AAA information and destination. This of course brought Rene out of his building to stand 2ft from me (unmasked despite the Covid 19 situation) to scream to the point of spitting sending the tow truck driver to hide in his truck and sit laughing in embarrassment of the ridiculousness of Rene's actions. The automobile was then towed to AAMCO and I was promptly informed by their technician that the source of the leak was the speedometer cable seal and that an 0-ring had been installed where a factory gasket was required. The part would be ordered and the repair would completed within 48 hours. I then made the mistake of informing Rene via telephone of AAMCO's findings and he apparently drove to their shop and caused trouble there as well. Rene then called me in an apparent childish fit screaming and blatantly lying about AAMCO agreeing with his mis-lead shifter mechanism leak diagnosis. He once again went on about the quality of the gasket that was not leaking and when he finally came to his senses he stated that he should give my money back for the repair. I have yet to see the money. I highly suggest that you avoid this shop like the plague. The owner's work is incompetent and he is aggressively disrespectful to his customers. read more

Rene's Auto Repair - Extent of the leak caused by Rene's repair - Auto Repair Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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This place is really good. They do great work at a fair price. Always willing to tell you to check with the dealer to see if the issues might be under warranty. read more

Me and my family were driving back from San Francisco and our Range Rover started misfiring before 20 miles before Santa Cruz. We made it and decided to look for a mechanic, I found Rene and called him, he gave me the best price to check it out, so I drove over and literally my Rover broke down when I pulled in to his shop. I left it with him @10:30 am and it was 100% ready next day @noon and I was in San Diego @8pm. Thanks Rene your a life saver! read more

I am so pleased to have found a reliable and trustworthy mechanic for my "new to me" used car. Rene previously serviced the used car I bought and provided excellent feedback on it before I made the purchase. I was able to get in for a quick appointment after a brake light came on after the storm and he was incredibly helpful and put my worries at ease. I will be back for future services! read more

I went for an oil change and he mentioned how he checked the air pressure on my tires as well as a few other things. as soon as I got back into my car, I was warned that the tire pressure was low and started getting a flat. I tried to go back to ask if he rotated the tires or did anything else other than check the pressure because of the leak. he immediately cut me off, his mood went from nice to rude and defensive, kept talking over me, interrupted me constantly and was awful. if you have any issues he will treat his customers poorly. I recommend anywhere else other than here. I left with a flat tire and a brown man raising his voice at me, it was very unprofessional read more

I took my car here to have it checked out. I was charged $95 for a diagnostic. I was then told I may have a vacum leak & need to pay $95 more for a test. I was told I need a new vent valve & pcv valve & dipstick & new oil $120. I researched & these 3 parts & including the oil would be @ most $75. yes my car is a 16 year old European, but I still got my prices from 2 different VW part websites % 1 local parts store. I got a call back saying I for sure have a leak & it needs to be fixed & another $95 test has to be done to see if it was in fact a leak or not. on top of it all I was charged for 3 hours or labor @ $95 an hour, bringing the total to $690! that's like 700 bucks for 2 new valves a dipstick & some oil, no not an oil change just added oil! 2 stars only since the work was done right. read more

I called last minute for a brake inspection, break pads, and tire rotation. Rene gladly took my automobile in. I picked my automobile up within 2 1/2 hours. I would recommend Rene auto service to anyone needing professional and friendly service. read more

Rene is the best! We have taken several vehicles to him over the past few years and he gives us a fair price and quality service very single time! Rene and Frank are both very knowledgeable and skilled at what they do. I would (and have) highly recommend Rene's shop to anyone! read more

I take my car in to get my AC fixed. He "diagnosed" it and said it just need Freon. 1-2 weeks later I continue to have the same problem. He refused to run test and just checks the gauges and said my compressor is not turning on and off. This should have been found the first time and he would fully mark up on prices. I also stated in my first first "I think it might be the compressor". They ask me to visit the shop and I come in for less than 5 minutes them to tell me it's the compressor and ask me to come in tomorrow. This is not only inconvenient but inconsiderate of someone's else's time and money. He did not understand that I did not want him to replace my hose which was marked way above price and tries to sell as not charging me for labor which takes less than 5 minutes. I provided hood lift supports which he did not charge for labor. He does fast work but at the price and risk of having to coming in or him "finding" another problem for him to push parts at an extremely unreasonable price. I make a complaint and he agrees to return $100 to me after I clarified and asked why he did not check the other components for my initial problem. He then offers to refund me $100. He calls me a week later and asked me to remove this review after refunding me saying we had an agreement. This review was not mentioned till after the facts. I will not be returning. read more

Rene is such a kind and genuine person, especially for myself being a first-time customer. Went in for a fix that i thought would take a day or two but ended up doing it in a couple hours for a reasonable price. Thanks Rene! read more

The worst place I have ever taken any of my cars to and my first negative review on yelp... Last time i took my car in because it was over heating and they told me I had cracked a head gasket. That made sense even if I hadn't driven more then one block with the engine in the red. My car had 100k miles so I didn't want to fix it for more then 1k because my car wasn't worth much more. I was quoted $700 and was gradually increased the price every 3 days he worked on it. I picked up my car 2 weeks later and It costed $1,900 i was very unpleased with this but paid it because I was told my engine could go another 100k miles with it. 2 weeks later i take it on the highway and I hear a rattle in the engine and take it back to him. He then tells me that there is now oil leaking into the cylinder heads and that the head gasket needs to be replaced again and that he can replace the head gasket under warrantee but that I need a new engine or it will continue to happen. I have him replace my head gasket under warranty so that I can trade in my car to a dealer to get a new one. HE CHARGED ME $285 for inspection and then another 120 for labor, I was there two weeks ago!!!... I told the dealers mechanics I traded the car into and they said that the repair shop did not assemble my engine back right and that's why the car needed a new engine. I WILL NEVER GO BACK! read more

Since moving back to Santa Cruz in September, I've taken three cars to Rene's Auto for work and have been pleased with the results. We had the timing belt (and related service) done on our Civic, brakes on our Accord, and brakes & oil on our Vanagon - all jobs were done in a timely manner, at a fair price, and with a smile. Rene is great - he quickly earned our trust and continues to prove his competence and integrity every time we visit. Of course, he's already a busy guy, so I'm probably shooting myself in the foot by directing more business his way. :) read more

Do not bring a hybrid here, or really any vehicle at all. They recommended an oxygen sensor replacement. Took my Prius to Toyota instead and they correctly diagnosed the problem: I needed a new 12v battery and an inverter cooler pump. How can you be so far off the mark? read more

Came here for a quick brake replacement and boy were they quick. We got our parts couple blocks away and brought them in and they had them done In less than an hour. They might get busy which may take longer but luckily that wasn't the case. I've taken my car to larger auto repair places like pep boys or auto zone which take up to 6 hours when they get busy which is crazy. Glad I found this nice family owned shop. read more

Rene did a pretty good job diagnosing that the Mass air-flow sensor on our 2000 4Runner needing to be replaced and I'm happy with his work. One Caveat however - he charges a lot for parts and will not back down. The OEM Mass Air-Flow sensor runs about $59 through most outlets including RockAuto. Rene charged $184 just for the part - a 211% markup! The total bill with labor ended up being $445. In short he does good work and is trustworthy, just watch him on the markups! If I had not been out of state when this happened to my daughter's vehicle I would have just had it towed to our house and done the work myself for $59. read more

I would highly recommend Rene to anyone! We got stuck in Santa Cruz when our car overheated. He was able to see us day of and fix the issue that same day, when other mechanics I called around were either not going to be able to see me that day or said they would take a few days to find the problem. You can tell they really care about their customers and do everything in their power to fix the issues. read more

Rene is a really sweet guy that sincerely cares about his customers. Went in for a quick fix and helped me out as soon as I got there. Explained everything as he fixed it and charged minimally for the work he did. Definitely going to return here in the future!!! read more

Rene's Auto "Repair" BEWARE!!! This shop was my worst nightmare, for car repair. When the engine on my Isuzu Trooper blew up, I had it towed to what I thought was the shop of the fine mechanic, Mark Chandler. However Mr Chandler had moved to a new location, and the new guy was Rene. Rene claimed to have worked for Mark Chandler, before he moved his shop out of this location, so I figured Rene must be a good trustworthy guy, and skilled mechanic... Oh how wrong that turned out to be! To his credit, Rene did locate a replacement engine at a very good price, but unfortunately that was the ONLY good part of my experience there. What could have gone so wrong, you ask? Here's what: Broken & missing parts: The alternator on my trooper mounts in three places, but when Rene was done, it only had two mounting points. Why? He must have figured two was enough, or just lost one of the mount brackets, and figured it didn't really matter that much. Oh yeah, then there was the mounting of the radiator. The radiator is properly mounted to the frame of the trooper with four bolts. Rene's creative approach however, was to use just ONE! In the other three bolt holes, I found the plastic pull-ties, designed to bundle telephone wires etc together! The way in which I discovered this is also very telling about the lack of integrity and character of the owner of Rene's auto repair. I discovered the crappy work myself, a few days after I got the trooper back from Rene, when I looked under the hood to investigate a strange noise. The noise was being caused by the excessive vibration in the alternator, which of course was missing one of its mounting brackets, thanks to Rene. The extreme vibration of the alternator caused one of the remaining mount brackets to crack, worsening the shimmying and vibrating, and increasing the noise to a level that was very noticeable. But when I looked for the cause of the noise, I instead found the plastic ties holding my radiator on. I was so infuriated that this guy could be so selfish and dishonest. I mean, this is an OFF ROAD vehicle, meant to travel very rough BUMPY terrain! How could he expect the radiator to remain properly mounted as I travel down some rugged jeep trail in Death Valley, while only fastened in place by one bolt and three plastic cable-ties?! The saga continues though, because I only noticed the radiator, and assumed that all the noise was from vibration of the loose radiator. when I returned to his shop, and confronted Rene with his shoddy work, he agreed to properly fasten the radiator with actual bolts, but still did not inform me about the alternator's missing bracket. The strange noise continued though, and I finally observed that the alternator was really shimmying when the engine was revved up. Again, I went back to Rene's shop to ask about this weird behavior of the alternator. Again, Rene told me nothing, but thank goodness for his employee, who had some integrity. While Rene could not hear or see it, the employee quietly indicated a hairline crack, in one of the alternator mount brackets. I replaced that cracked bracket myself, still not knowing that another needed bracket was completely missing. Everything seemed fine after that until about 60 days later, when I returned for my annual spring expedition in Death Valley. I was about 20 miles away from the nearest paved road, in a rarely-visited area of the back-country, when the alternator bracket broke clean off. It seems the intensely bumpy washboard roads were just too much for the alternator to stay securely mounted, with only two of three brackets in place. The net result of this back-country predicament, was a $500+ tow to Las Vegas, EXPENSIVE repairs at the Isuzu dealership, EXPENSIVE hotel stay, waiting for that repair. On a positive note, the breakdown did not happen a day earlier, on a serious 4WD jeep trail, where a tow would have been next to impossible. Rene also managed to break the tube the oil dipstick inserts into. And did a very crappy welding job, trying to fix that. But now it's very hard just to insert and remove the oil dipstick! It's truly amazing this nightmare of a mechanic is still in business! All I can say is: "Rene's Auto Repair, BEWARE!" read more

My husband and I have been using Renee for the repairs on our vehicles for more than 8 years now. We have NEVER had an issue with any of the repairs and the only time we have been left on the side of the road is when the fuel pump went out on the pickup which no one could have anticipated. I have also checked with other mechanics and my brother in law on pricing and Renee is always the same or lower. Renee and Frank are also fast and know my vehicles inside and out. My favorite part of working with Renee is that he lets me know of repairs that are coming up so I can budget for them. Because of this we are able to keep our vehicles in TIP TOP shape and we are getting our money worth from them and the repairs. I have NEVER felt pressured to make unnecessary repairs and Renee always shows me the parts he has removed and why they needed to be replaced. I am very confident in Renee's integrity and the quality of his work. read more

I got friendly and immediate service, even as a first time customer requesting small, unprofitable repairs. They didn't make me wait or come back because I wanted small work done, or because I was new. The owner only charged me cost for the belt I replaced (and refuses to use anything other than OEM replacement parts.) He Plugged in some loose electrical connections that he spotted, without charging me. I was astounded how cheap it was given the amount of time they put in. I would definitely recommend this place if you're looking for a new mechanic and Santa Cruz! read more

Said he would do a quick diagnosis of the car's problem without charge, but then he tried to sell me repairs (different than what I brought the car for), that were unneeded, *and* he charged me for the "diagnosis." I get a bad feeling about this place and won't go back. read more

We have taken two different cars to Rene over the past five years that we've lived in Santa Cruz. We have never had a bad experience. Rene is usually finished with the work well before we expect it, and the final bill often comes in substantially under his initial quote. Rene really has our trust as far as our cars go. He frequently takes the time to explain what he found, showing us precisely the part that needed replacing and why. Sometimes we'll come in with possible repairs that get recommended by some quickie oil changer, and Rene is more than willing to point out which of those repairs we should not do or wait on, even though he is the one who would be doing the work. I read the previous two reviews, and am very surprised by the 1 star review. This sounds like a terrible experience, but just does not sound like the Rene we've known these last five years. read more

I was cruising around the Santa Cruz area with some friends when I realized that one of the tires in our car was going flat. We stopped the car to assess the situation and found that there was a nail stuck in the tire. Having little knowledge in tire repair, we took the car to Rene's shop. I told Frank our situation and he got right to work, fixing and inflating our tire in a matter of minutes. When I went to go pay the boss man, Rene did not accept payment! What an awesome act of kindness. Thank You Rene! read more

Thanks to my truck not wanting to start, and a great local tow truck driver, we found Rene a couple years ago. As one poster said, we're probably shooting ourselves in the foot putting out the good word...but, good mechanics are hard to find and Rene and Frank are winners in our book. Just recently one of the trucks again, wouldn't start. We got it jumped and then purchased a new battery thinking that was the problem. It wasn't...as the next morning it again would not start. We jumped it again and drove it down to have Rene take a look at it. He was able to diagnose a relatively rare alternator problem and had the truck running for us the next day. Rene has always been honest and fair with us, and many times saved us money over what the dealership service was going to charge. read more

This rating is only based on her courtesy. My bike broke nearby and I needed somewhere to wash my hands from all the grease. She was very kind and willing to wait while I did so. I will try her repairs next time I need them but I drive a Prius so maybe a while :-) read more

This is the best car repair shop ever!! Rene and his partner are knowledgeable, honest, quick and affordable. He replaced my Prius battery way cheaper then the dealer, and has always been up front and friendly. I will not take my cars anywhere else!! Thanks Rene!!! read more

I noticed that Rene often had collectable cars in his shop, as I used to walk past the shop doors often. When someone trusts their 67 mustang, or 56 chevy to a mechanic, that's a good sign. In the last 5-6 years I've had Rene & Frank work on both my Mazda pickup and my Honda CRV, and I've always been happy. I'm often shown the parts that were replaced, and when the steering column on my pickup needed replacement, Rene found a used one, and painstakingly installed all of my truck's original accessories (cruise, airbag, etc) on it. After living with poor steering for years, the truck now steers like new. These are straight up guys who can do real work on a vehicle, far beyond your standard oil and tune jobs. If there's a problem (no one is perfect) they make it right. read more

Had been having problems with my alternator. I called several shops around town and Rene gave me the best quote. When I was going to take it to the shop my car would not start because the battery was dead, making me be late. But they waited for me past there closing time. When I arrived there, the mechanic told me that they had given me the wrong alternator at O'reilly's and he immediately called them and had them exchange it for the correct one. Once we had the correct part he had it fixed in no time! Great mechanic, great service, great person! read more