Baker Automotive

I brought my car here to have an exhaust leak fixed and when I got my car back they messed my turbo up and when I went back the guy that originally fixed it tried to tell me that it was working better than it had been before I brought it in. I said «NO, it isn’t!» So he told me to leave it, after already waiting days beyond what I was promised, so that he could take another look at it. When I went back he miraculously fixed what was never broken (please note sarcasm), on top of that the head mechanic had the audacity to say, «There’s no charge for that». (Um, duh!) So, I gave them the benefit of the doubt as they ultimately fixed the issue. I ended up bringing it back in to have an oil leak fixed. When I went to pick it up the second time and pay for the repairs I was surprised to see that I was being charged for a new starter that I never agreed to have replaced to begin with. I received no phone call whatsoever, before or after the work was complete. I was told that I owed him over 200.00 more dollars and he rushed me into signing an agreement. I didn’t make a huge deal out of this B/​C he gave us two months to pay the remaining balance, but it did disturb us a little to think that he just took it upon himself to do work we didn’t agree to. Anyhow, I just chalked it up to being no biggie since I was sure I was going to be needing one before too long as it had been a while since I had any work done. When I went to get a tire replaced and the car was jacked up my husband pointed out that there was oil leaking from the car, which should not have happened as we paid him over 300.00 to have all of the oil leaks repaired. Also, when I went to open up my custom radio to access the touch screen it would not open all the way and I could hear the track grinding, after a few failed attempts to open it I tried lightly tugging on the face to see if I could help it along. The side of the radio slightly rocked out of the dash. When I went to inspect I noticed that the rim of the stereo was pulled out and just laying in place and when I looked behind it I could see that the eye that held the screw into the right side of my radio just behind the rim was broken. This was a metal eye, it took a nice jerk to break it. I drive a Volvo with a custom stereo it is not cheap and it is not easy to take out even if you were to try and rip it out and they don’t just freely wiggle in the dash without some hardcore manipulation. Someone in that shop tried to jerk my radio out and thankfully gave up when they realized it couldn’t be done without damaging the entire dash. When I mentioned this to JP the head mechanic, he said that he had a lot of bums that hang around his parking lot at night and that one of them could have tried to steal it in the parking lot and that he would not be held responsible for it. This is doubtful as there was no sign of forced entry, and if you have a history of «bums» hanging out in your parking lot at night, wouldn’t you bang a few brain cells together and lock your customers’ cars up? Also, a bum wont give two craps about my dash, if they wanted that radio they would have taken it. On top of that there were other items in the car that would have been valuable to someone in need, that were left in the car, untouched. He told me to bring it back for him to have a look at it, but every time I brought my car back for them to look at it, I found myself waiting days to get it back and with something new wrong with it. I’m so disgusted over my stereo. The extra charge I can get over but a perfectly good custom radio, ruined, just makes me sick. And as I cannot prove anything, I will leave it alone and wait for the law of reaping and sowing to take its natural course, but I do not recommend leaving anything of value in your car if you do choose to go here. I like JP and he did try to make things right but it was all too inconvenient and his hired hands aren’t the most responsible and I can’t trust anyone there as I don’t know who did that to my stereo, but I do know for sure it was no «bum»…

Great people, good prices. Had to wait for my vehicle during a brake job, and it was as enjoyable an experience as possible.

I previously had an unfortunate experience at Baker Automotive. However, the owner made everything right. The mechanic here is one of the best in this town.

Great service! I brought my own oil and filter and they just charged me $ 20 for labor. Honest, hard working folks here.

Very reasonable and trustworthy…
It was the holiday weekend and they were able to repair and get my sons car (stationed in the military in Fl.) out before they closed for the long weekend. They were able to tell us from the start if they could finish the job that day or not and a price if there were no other problems. The car had to be towed to their shop, from the start they were very helpful and were able to refer a tow service that was reliable and on time. Very helpful over the phone and honest…
No complaints or problems
We would differently return and refer friends…

Delighted to post a Five-​Star review for these folks.
We took our 2005 Ford Focus in to them for rear brakes (another outfit told us we needed new brakes but couldn’t afford it at the time.). We took our car into Baker because their quote came in around $ 100 less than the local competition.
But, after getting our car in the shop and looking at the rear brakes, they informed us that the brakes had easily 60−70% life left and we didn’t need them replaced. Total charges? $ 0.
Honesty and integrity such as this should be rewarded. Patronize this business.

Mr. Baker, is probably the most honest mechanic I have every known! My truck was misdiagnosed by 2 other mechanics and the bill would have been between $ 1100 and $ 1500. Ken Baker totally repaired my truck for $ 535.00. Less that half the lowest next estimate! He has also done great work on my Corvette. Years ago when I first met him, he looked at my father’s truck. He spent at least 20 minutes under the hood, fixed the problem without any parts and did not charge me a cent! Even when I insisted to pay him at least for a half hour of labor, he refused! Find any other mechanic like that. I shall continue to use Baker Automotive as long as they are in business. And will always recommend to my friends.

If there were more people doing business like Ken Baker in this world… it would be a better place to live.
I was traveling through Fort Walton Beach on business and my diesel truck broke down. I searched for a repair shop… all the time waiting for the que to bend over. I got a few astronomical bids and was prepared to swallow the bitter pill… but before I did, I asked the guy I was working with if he knew of any good repair shops in town. He said his daughter in laws car was being repaired right around the corner from the hotel… let’s go talk to the guy… and man am I glad I did.
Long story short… Ken fixed my truck in record time, but is not open on Saturdays. Having been on the road for 6 days at the time… I really did not want to spend the weekend in Fort Walton Beach (not that it’s not a nice town) but I wanted to go home. When Ken called me Friday night and said my truck was finished, I asked him if there was anyway he could meet me Saturday so I could get home Saturday night (Fort Walton is about 6 hours from home for me) He said «I have family in town for my grandaughters graduation… but I would be happy to»…and by the way, he lives 20 minutes from his shop!
Wow, I mean, wow!!! Ken really went the extra mile for me and if you have a need to have your car repaired… I sure hope this review helps you decide who to choose in Fort Walton Beach.
Ken is a fair, honest, christian business man that does business the old fashioned way… Thanks again Ken!!!