DOC Auto

AWESOME FRIENDLY PLACE!!! — I brought both my cars in for the required smog inspection on two separate occasions. Both times the customer service was great. The counter guy and staff was super friendly and helpful. They were jam packed both times yet was able to get me in. Added bonus — I love the Chinese take-​out box and fortune cookies! what a nice touch.

I am aware of a situation at Doc Auto where a mechanic of theirs literally backed a vehicle he was working on into a customer waiting in their vehicle in the parking lot. The mechanic as well as another mechanic from the shop then proceeded to become belligerent toward the customer waiting in the car that was backed into! They’ll put on a friendly face at the counter but are always looking to nickle and dime you. For example, the «mechanics» at Doc Auto told me that my vehicle would fail inspection because of bad tires. I took the vehicle to another local auto body shop and told them I needed to purchase new tires in order for my car to pass inspection. The technician there said that none of the tires were even close to needing to be replaced and passed me for inspection. Don’t be fooled.

We use DOC Auto all the time as our primary auto repair center for 3 of our 4 cars. I have had estimates from other shops that DOC always beats, even tho I did not disclose that I had received other estimates. They have several times found less expensive ways to fix problems on our old pickup truck which makes it justifiable to keep fixing the thing, as it has basically no dollar value. Lots of folks don’t realize they sell tires, and in fact I just saved a bit over $ 100 on buying 4 Michelins from them as opposed to buying from Tire Rack, which is what I usually do, having them shipped and then mounted. After being taken for a ride by a couple of other auto repair places in Fred, and after hearing the prices quoted by the Volvo dealer (just put new OEM front rotors and pads on son’s S40 for $ 275 less than Volvo quote) we are big DOC Auto fans. Sorry to hear anyone has had a bad experience here, we never have in several years of using them regularly.

I was told a number of things were wrong, to the tune of $ 800 by the Doc, when I took my car in for a routine inspection. After taking my car elsewhere for a second opinion, it was discovered that, in fact, there was nothing, I repeat nothing, wrong with my vehicle. And this wasn’t a one time occurrence. A friend just experienced the EXACT same thing very recently. What a misnomer – should be the home of the dishonest mechanic!

I’ve brought my car to this garage for years and I just want to say that the owner is a very nice man and that he was not present this day…
I brought my car in for inspection a couple of years ago and they failed it. My (newer) car had never failed inspection before. The guy (who i’d never seen before) gave me the reason and said it would cost $ 600 to fix. I let him know that I didn’t have that kind of money and would take the inspection failure sticker. He immediately got nasty with me. I took my car elsewhere and explaining to the other mechanic what happened. He seemed shocked and let me know that the item that my inspection failed for wasn’t even on the REQUIRED OFFICIAL INSPECTION PROCEDURE!!! He looked at my car and my inspection was passed.
To sum things up, if you take your car to this garage, at least make sure the owner is present!