I took our 2017 Subaru Forester in for a 45,000-mile checkup that included fluid and filter changes. 6,000 miles later (at 51,000 miles), I decided to change the oil myself (I have been doing regular maintenance of my cars for fifty years). I crawled under the car and discovered that the oil drain plug had been stripped. I applied virtually all of my 200 lbs. to a 10-inch ratchet wrench, but have been unable so far to get the plug to budge. I have ordered a bolt-extraction kit from Amazon that I hope will enable me to remove this drain plug. I have changed the oil on this car before, including after having had the car serviced by others, and yet never before have I encountered this sort of problem. I can only assume that 1) Sandpiper screwed up the plug and didn't bother to replace it with a new one, and 2) they used an impact wrench to reinstall this stripped plug. I would avoid Sandpiper like the plague. I certainly will never go back there. UPDATE: I succesfully removed the stuck drain plug and replaced it with an after-market 17-mm drain plug, so I'm now back in action. BTW, at the same time I also changed the oil on our 2015 Subaru Forester. We don't drive the 2015 very often, so it didn't really need an oil change for a long time; I just decided to do it at the same time that I was doing the maintenance on the 2017. We used to get all of our auto work done by Wagon Works on 13th Ave just west of Sandpiper. Unfortunately, Wagon Works closed its doors a little while ago (its owner retired), which is how we wound up going to Sandpiper in the first place. What's interesting is that the last oil change on the 2015 was done at Wagon Works. Notice the difference between the plug removed from the 2017 Forester (and mangled by Sandpiper) and the pristine 17-mm plug INSTALLED BY WAGON WORKS. The 17-mm plug came loose with an appropriate amount of torque; it had NOT been over-torqued. -THIS- is what reputable auto-repair shops do! read more

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I've been taking Honda here for years and have only had good experiences. (And unfortunately I've had to bring my car in several times lately for unrelated reasons--a broken side mirror, an acceleration issue, a faulty A/C system.) They are quick with their service and do a good job, they are honest, and their prices are fair. I find they are kind and explain things to me patiently and thoroughly. I also feel good supporting this family-owned and family-run business. I have also heard they provide good pay and benefits to their employees. My only complaint is their limited hours, but if it allows them to stay open, I support it! read more

They go above and beyond here explaining the work they do so you can actually understand and operate your vehicle better. They go through each step with you so you only pay for what you need and want done. Customer service is polite and patient, prices are reasonable, overall I recommend! read more

Friendly, & honest. I haven't been to them very much but my friend has been going for years & say they are very reliable, I needed work on my Toyota Tacoma that I was resurrecting from the dead (it had been sitting in my driveway for years). They got it up & running in no time. I will go back for sure! read more

I got excellent, honest, reasonable service @ Sandpipper. They Utilized safety protocols due to Covid. Yhey were professional and communicative... They completed quickly and quality parts were used. Plus, they were honest with me and said my repair wasn't as bad as I was led to believe by another shop's mechanic... they didn't gouge nor try to take advantage of me, but instead gave me their honest appraisal and did only the work necessary. Sandpiper is great! Thanks so much; I'll be back. read more

Sandpiper Import Service - Sandpiper Import Auto Service - Auto Repair Near Me - Eugene, Oregon

Finding the right mechanic takes a high level of trust. Who knows what they could be doing to your catmobile while you're out and about chasing birds and squirrels? Worst of all are ones that recommend questionable service at inflated prices (like a dealer charging you a $120 "diagnostic" and another $120 on top of that just to clean the battery terminals). Sandpiper does it right: they fix what's broken, and will check out what you ask for without trying to coax you into paying for a bunch of nonsense. All with personable service! Couldn't be happier -- except there are no actual sandpipers to be found near the property. Back to stalking squirrels, I guess. read more

While I am hesitant to write a bad review, as you have been good to work with in the past, my last experience with you was so bad that I am compelled to give you the feedback. I appreciate that you want to do the "least expensive" repairs first, however because of that it ended up being a very expensive repair. It took four trips to, hopefully, accurately fix the issue. The first time I brought it in to repair what turned out to be a bad coil, I was told since there were no codes the problem couldn't be diagnosed and it was possibly the way I held my foot on the accelerator that caused the hesitation and poor performance. As someone who has been driving for over 40 years, this was ridiculous and condescending. So I drive it home only to have the problem continue to the point of horribly running and the check engine light on. Trip two required a tow, not cheap, back to the shop. And the code indicated the issue was a bad coil. Instead of replacing the coil, it was moved to a different cylinder as it was wet and you felt it just needed to dry out and the spark plugs were replaced. The car drove fine for a few weeks and the problem started again. Trip three, brought it back and was told, it's probably that coil. However you didn't order the coil before I brought it in so was told it couldn't be repaired and to bring it back once the part was in. Drive it home and once again, horribly running, check engine light back on. Tow number two to bring it back to the shop. When I brought it in the third time I asked for it to be repaired. I didn't care if all of the coils needed to be replaced, I just needed to be able to depend on this car. So now I have paid for shop time three different times, two tows to the cost of $740, and loss of time at work. The "least expensive" repair cost me much more than it should have. My faith and trust in you has been damaged considerably. read more

My Honda is 21 years old and only knows care from Sandpiper. I hope to keep it a few more years. Owners are honest and super mechanics. You won't be disappointed with their knowledge and service. Highest Recommendations. read more

This is a very reliable auto repair shop. Good people, good mechanics. I have taken both my cars here for a wide variety of small repairs and have always been satisfied with the service. Getting your car fixed is like going to the dentist, right? No one's favorite thing... The folks at Sandpiper are like having a really good dentist; they make it relatively painless but at the same time are honest about the problems the car has and about the costs to fix those problems. Recommending an auto repair shop is not something I do lightly. From what I've heard there are several good shops in Eugene. Sandpiper is certainly one of the best. read more

These guys are terrific. Some time back, I gave them my Honda CRV for some major repairs. The total bill was $2500. The day I was to pick up the car, my job was eliminated at my former company. Suddenly unemployed, I was facing a HUGE repair bill for some pretty major repairs. When I mentioned my situation, they voluntarily knocked $100 off my bill. They've worked with me on a few other occasions too. Sandpiper does excellent work and they're very, very honest. I give them my highest recommendation. Great shop! read more

I had an very positive experience. Brought my recently purchased second-hand car for tune up and minor repair plus some work repairing a botched aftermarket installation of automatic windows. Gerri and Nick offered excellent customer service and kept me informed at each stage. They took a cautious approach to repair, advising me what was essential and what was not - helping me to make informed choices and also save money. My wife and I will continue to bring both our vehicles to Sandpiper from now on - we appreciate the honest and thoughtful service. read more

I was shocked after all the good recommendations. I took the car in for the 30K tune-up and asked for an oil change which is standard. I had timed the service for that change. When I picked the car up they decided not to change the oil as they misread the tire rotation sticker for the oil change sticker! They topped off the oil and left me high and dry. They did not even offer to do it over for a reasonable price, but wanted the full price of an oil change when I noticed the error. The fellow who did the work was right there and and just shrugged when it was pointed out to him his error. No mea culpa, just come back Monday and we will do it. Makes one wonder what else they cannot read or get right mechanically. Their service is the poorest I have ever encountered. Maybe it was a bad day given all the good reviews? I hope so. read more

I did not have a good experience at Sandpiper. My '96 Subaru Legacy had several issues, most notably it was pulling very hard to the right when I drove, so much that I could not take my hand off the wheel without my car quickly ending up in the ditch. It was also vibrating very hard whenever I drove more than 55 mph, and I believe there were also some issues with my tie-rod. Anyways, I sent it to Sandpiper, got it back... and there were little to no changes in the way my car drove. So, we sent it back. The response I got from the owner really felt like he thought he could just tell me any tripe and have me buy it, because I'm a woman and supposedly know nothing about cars and roads. He told me that the reason my car still pulled was because roads are crowned, and proceeded to tell me what a crowned road was. (Now, I DO know what a crowned road is... I may not be able to repair cars on my own, but I'm not that stupid. Additionally, I've driven in plenty of other cars, and none of them have pulled to the extent mine does when they were on crowned roads.) When we didn't seem to buy that, he started telling me all these other things, like it was an issue with my tires, blah blah blah. Despite that, we insisted he looked at it again, and he did. I got the car back and the only difference was maybe it vibrated a little less... but it still pulled very hard to the right, and still pulls like that today. $600 later and I feel pretty cheated. I feel glad others have had good experiences here, but I can definitely say I'm never going back. There are other Subaru professionals in town. I guess the moral of the story is, ladies, have your spouse/boyfriend come with you... heck, anyone that has any mechanical experience... then at least you might not throw your money away. read more

I took my '97 Subaru in to this shop for a tune-up. They said my radiator needed to be replaced. Wanting a second opinion, I asked a friend's husband (who is a mechanic) to look at the car. He didn't see anything wrong during a quick visual check up and I thought "whew- I almost got scammed." Well, a couple of months later the radiator did blow up and I did have to get it replaced. Sandpiper was just able to notice the issue first. Since then I completely trust the people at Sandpiper. Note that there services are a bit on the spendy side but you pay for quality work. read more

I have been a Sandpiper customer for many years. They are trustworthy and competent. Expert repair too. I have taken my Hondas and Toyotas there. Very honest and fair, no upselling on unneeded repairs. read more

Sandpiper Import Service has been my auto repair shop of choice for 10+ years because they go the extra mile to keep costs low, have made minor repairs on three separate occasions at no cost, and they're friendly and honest. Twice they've sent me home after investigating a strange sound at no charge. They have us excellent advice when buying a new to us car. They're thorough and reasonable in price. Compare hourly rates with other shops...the great deal will bear out. Our most recent trip there involved a new alternator...the sourced an after market but lightly used part at half the price of a new part. Highly recommend! read more

Years ago I was referred to Sandpiper by a mechanic. I took my car in for a noisy wheel bearing. Yes, they said, it's a wheel bearing. They also said that if one was bad there was a good chance the other was, too, and could they go ahead if they determined that was also needed. I said sure, so they ordered parts for both wheels. When I returned to pick up the car they said the other bearing was fine so didn't do that work. I had given my okay, they had the parts and yet they did not do the work. That's an honest repair shop! We have used them ever since. They are friendly, explain things well and charge reasonable prices. I highly recommend them. read more

We used this shop for years and were happy with it. At one point, we were told one of our vehicles was too old - they have a cut off age for cars they work on. As a matter of convenience, we shifted maintenance for both our vehicles to a different shop. One weekend our newer vehicle was downtown, near Sandpiper, and suddenly would not start (ultimately it turned out to be an intermittent problem with the ignition coil). We towed the car to Sandpiper and left a note& phone message asking them to diagnose and fixed the car. The owner looked up the past records and made the unsupported and somewhat arrogant assumption that because we no longer were bring the car to Sandpiper, we must not care much about it and would want to minimim our repair cost, so instead of comprehensive diagnostics, they simply replace the sparkplugs, found it started, and called it good. Two weeks later we were on our way to Seattle when the car quit on the freeway. It was 4th of July weekend so we had to spend two days in Centrallia waiting for the Toyota dealership to reopen. Between towing, motel expensive, and repair at the dealership, we were out over $1,000, and lost two of five vacation days. A month or so later, back in Eugene during the next tune-up we had, one of the plugs wouldn't come out easily. So I took the car back to Sandpiper to deal with that sparkplug, since they had installed the last set of plugs. The owner grudgidly remove the plug, and claimed they never installed that brand of plug. When I started to let him know how much hardship his lack of thoroughness had caused us, he started giving me lecture on how I was one of the people of the world who must feels "entitled". I think he needs a lecture on accountability. I like the other folks who work there, but do not plan on ever returning (all our vehicles are now newer) because of the owner. read more

I have been coming here for years and utterly trust the men and women at this shop. They are conservative with what needs to be done, but smart about it, 100% honest, on-time, and all around good people. read more

We have been taking our cars to Sandpiper for years, and have been very happy with their work and honesty. Just recently, due to a special type of brake system my car has, it took almost a month for me to acquire the right brake pads for my car. Sandpiper patiently kept my car for that time, and didn't charge me anything extra. Because my car is something of a novelty car, they also took the trouble to bring it inside every night so it wouldn't be a potential target for thieves. I didn't know they were doing that until after I picked my car up. They are very down to earth and very good. We feel lucky to be able to take our cars to them. Very highly recommended! read more

They have been my only place for service on a whole series of cars for thirty years. They take care of them, do what is needed and never upsell me. Competence and honesty matter at Sandpiper. read more

I have taken my cars to Sandpiper for 35 years. I would trust them with any car I own. They have always been honest with what work was needed (and what was not needed). If they tell me I need something done, I never question it. They have saved me a lot of money over the years, and have kept me safe. I recommend them to anyone. read more

I've used Sandpiper for years. But I had a strange experience recently. My car got a 100,000 mile tune-up. Within a week, after driving it for about 10 miles, my check engine light came on. I did some research online and sure enough, the hose connecting to the air filter box had been left disconnected and I read that this is something you need to check before spending more money to "fix" it. I was scheduled for an all day "diagnostic"appointment before I thought to research this. Check engine light is generally a fuel or emissions problem I was told, but hey, if you leave the hose disconnected from the air filter box, then of course, you'd have an emissions issue. I wonder how much I would have been charged for this inconvenient re-appointment. I was disappointed. I think they should have offered to look at it for free when I called back, since I'd just spent $444.00 to have a tune-up the week before and the car was driving just fine. Mistakes happen. But this could have been a further expense I can ill afford. Do your research first. read more