Ann’s Automasters & Max’s Auto Lab

Excellent service and trustworthy shop. I had issues on a frame off restoration from another shop. Maxx took the car in and address the multiple issues. It took some time but everything was fixed and now the car runs great. Cruises to shows and around town better than ever. Maxx even met a car show deadline I had and ended up making the 2014 Goodguys Year in Photos mag. I now have all my vehicles serviced here. From smog tests to brake jobs to classic car maintenance and upgrades, they do it all and do it well

Max is a great honest guy.
I took my truck in for full tuneup and it runs better than ever
Vehicle was as promised and on time
I would trust to shop with your vehicle repairs

Subpar workmanship and never did fix” the problem with my vehicle, just kept throwing darts at the board instead of accuratley diagnosing the problem.
I took my vehicle their at least 6 times over 3mos for a CEL Vacuum issue and they never fixed the problem, then Max hurt his shoulder and i never heard back from him again, his wife finally called me back only to say i would have to pay more $$ before they look at it again?
No thanks, i did some research and found and real honest Automotive shop that fixed the problem the first time they looked at it! and they found a hose disconnected? someone at Anns automotive had left unplugged since they were last to work on it.
Max is a real nice guy and thats why i was patient with him but his shop is not efficient i think he’s preoccupied with the smog class he teaches in the evening and that is definetly affecting the quality of work his shop does during the day.
This place needs to understand people dont have the time to keep returning to resolve an issue with their car, thats why we pay mechanics to diagnose and resolve the issue the first time.

max’s auto lab– excellent place to learn about the smog program. i came here and took all the classes and passed the state/​bar test the first time.
Max and Ann are both excellent teachers.
I would recommend this place for anyone who wants to become a smog tech or a smog repair tech.

Tina S. summed it up perfectly. Max is an awesome guy. If he was in complete control of this shop, 5 stars. But he’s not and as of recently he hasn’t been able to work there neither. I will not bring any of my vehicles there anymore, and now I’m stuck with the task of finding a new (trustworthy) mechanic to fix the damage done by anns…

I am dividing this review into sections, rating each section from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest rating).
I give a 1 for the estimated time they promised for completing my service. My car needed a repair that should have taken 1 week to complete, and they took 5 weeks. They took my car apart and let it sit there for a while. There was nothing I could do since all of the parts were lying around the garage, so I had to wait until they put it back together. They kept assuring me they’d get it done every time I came to check up (which was almost every day it was in the shop), but it took way longer than they initially promised me.
I give a 1 for the overall organization of the shop and mechanics. It seems as if the mechanics were constantly bickering amongst each other, and never wanted to help each other out or have anyone else’s back to finish services within the promised time. They left work half way done and took their time, delaying the services as if there wasn’t a customer waiting for the return of their car. They take on too much work; more so than they can handle. They start the job, remove parts, accept more customer’s cars and realize they can’t finish either job by the promised time, but there is nothing that the customers can do about it since the cars are taken apart all over the garage.
I give a 1 for their ability to order parts. It seemed that there was no organization at all when it came to ordering customer’s parts. The parts took extremely long to arrive to the garage because the owner had to be present if a mechanic needed to place the order for a part. BUT the owner was barely even there to begin with, therefore the orders weren’t placed for days THEN after placing the order it took additional time to arrive to the shop. They even had me run to go get a part myself in my other car because I was complaining about how long it took for the order to even be placed. I was tired of waiting, so I took matters into my own hands and got the part myself.
I give a 1 to the knowledge of the mechanics and owner. After my car was returned to me, I STILL had problems (oil leaks) that I had to get RErepaired at a different shop because I didn’t want to deal with this place ever again.
I give a 1 to their price estimates. They give absolutely NO written estimates or final bill. They assured me verbally that it would be a certain price, but I got fooled. The owner assured me,“don’t worry about it, we will tare care of you. It can’t be more than just a couple hundred bucks. Don’t worry, come back tomorrow.” That «come back tomorrow» bull dragged on for 5 weeks. After my car was finished and I returned to pick it up, they finally gave me an written estimate which was NOWHERE NEAR what we had talked about for 5 weeks. It went from verbally a couple of hundred dollars to a few thousand. You tell me how close those estimates fare.
I give a 1 to their consistency. After my car was returned from the initial service, it still had many problems. I came back to have them fix it since I paid a lot for the first service, and they always said «come back tomorrow» every single day that I came back. They had already taken my money, and didn’t want to deal with me so they put me on the back burner until I got so fed up and left to another shop.
I give them a 10 for deceiving their customers. They are such smooth talkers that they can sell ice cubes to an Eskimo. They had me fooled for 5 weeks because they constantly told me,“don’t worry, we will take care of you. We’ve got you.” They definitely didn’t have my back.
I am so used to dealing with professional shops that take care of customers, so this place REALLY took me by surprise. After getting my car back after 5 WEEKS I wasn’t even happy with the «repairs». I had to go to a separate shop to fix the repairs that should have been fixed initially just because I didn’t want to deal with Max’s Auto Lab/Anne’s anymore. The other shop was SUCH a huge difference in customer service, estimated time, price and mechanic knowledge that I am appalled that their Auto Lab is still open for business.
I found this shop on Unilocal when my car needed to be repaired, and I’m really sorry that I didn’t go somewhere else before all of this happened. I’m not sure how this place even has 5 stars. There must be 8 happy people out of 1000. They must be customers that just arrived at Max’s/Anne’s for an oil change or something minimal.
After getting to know other customers that had «repairs» done from Anne’s/Max’s, we ALL agreed that this place was terrible and that we wouldn’t EVER return again. One fellow customer even went as far as to tell me,“Don’t let the classic cars out front fool you, Max and his mechanics are not classic car people at all.“
Overall, this place was EXTREMELY TERRIBLE. DON’T BE FOOLED BY THEIR 5 STAR RATING LIKE I WAS. DONT LOSE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND MONTHS OF YOUR LIFE BECAUSE OF THESE FOOLS! I WOULD RATE THEM A ZERO IF I COULD

Max really knows his stuff. I recently came here to take my 2013 update course, and while the pricing is a bit higher than other places, i feel like i got my money’s worth here.
Its very centrally located, the classroom space is spacious, clean, and inviting. He had the game on TV in the background along with coffee and donuts at the beginning of class.
Believe it or not, but i learned a lot more in this class than any other update course ive taken at the community colleges… even with the distractions. Awesome to have a teacher who understands where we’re coming from, because he is right there with us.
Definitely will return for my future updates!

Great service, I will go there again without hesitation, friendly, straightforward.

What a great experience! SMOG tests don’t get any better.
Max, Tom and his team were extremely hospitable and honest mechanics. I had both my cars done in one afternoon. One of my vehicles 95 BMW needed a Carbon clean-​out (after 196K miles) after which all the results came in squeaky clean.
His partner Tom was incredibly helpful in taking me back and forth to my home and explaining all the details of the test etc.
Need a mechanic, go to these guys/​gals their amazing. Never met Ann but Im sure she’s cool too :).

The reviews about this place is so true. «Top notch», «amazing», «5 stars is not enough»…TRUE TRUE TRUE!
We all have a designated mechanic (and if you don’t, you should get one) and Ann’s has now become my «home». Heck! I felt like family during my 1^st phone call!
Having some coolant difficulties with my 06′ Mustang, I Unilocal’d around and spotted Ann’s. I’ll admit, I was sold with the female name attached. I’ve been a car junkie since I was wee (and like to think I’m ah-​mazing at cars… only because I know more than most of my girlfriends). When chatting with Nicole about the issue and my love for my car, she knew they could fix whatever the problem was an admitted they hold several Mustangs! SCORE! I brought the car in and practically, with open arms, they took me! Ummmmm, hellooooo!!! I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE! I died and went to heaven! Super clean spacious shop, super friendly everybody, super lovable poochie running around, and the biggest super winner for me… I was allowed to be IN the shop to see exactly what they were doing. THIS, my dear readers, is HAAA-​UGE for me. I’m not THAT girl that gets taken for granted by mechanics. I’ll interrogate yo’ azz when you’re done. Why not just show me what you’re doing to my darling vehicle and let’s discuss, not interrogate. I heart Ann & Max.
And the cherry on the top (as if you haven’t had enough?!), after pressure testing, inspecting (I even got to lay on the ground to inspect! LOVE!), and discussing next steps, they didn’t pressure me to stay and «force» me to have work done with them. It was just like family going to the garage, inspecting a family car and chatting away… and having a big named designer behind your back for your support to brag about.
Ann’s is def my car family now. Hands down. If you’re in the Bay Area, Ann’s should def be your car family, too. And as much as single moms hate car problems… I’m embracing them. WOOOOO!!! HANGING OUT AT ANN’S!!!

I passed this place everyday on my way to work for several weeks before i happened to need them. i drive an old car that unfortunatly requires allot of up keep. One day my car started violently shaking and making noises everytime I turned. i got several quotes and opinions on the noise and they were all over a thousand dollars. i stoped on my way to work and asked for an estimate. i was imediatly greeting by Max and Ann with a smile and he was more than helpfull, and a plus he is a master mechanic and speaks english. (helps when i descibed the noises my car was making) Max recomended a repair that was very different from the other quotes that i got. everyone else wanted to replace a differential wich was going to cost me allot too remove the transmisions out of my car and open it up to replace parts. max recomended that i just buy a transmision and put it in my car. (this was allot less labor extensive and saved me allot of money) the next day I droped my car off and let him do his magic, i was informed through out the repair process and verry happy with the quality of work that anns automaster’s & max’s auto lab produce. It is nice to know that there are still people that are passionate about there work and this place truley shows it. just ask for a tour through the building and you will see that every one that works here takes great pride in what they do. they were even nice enough to let me drool and stare at some of there personal classics that are in the shop. I have sent several friends here and strongly recomend them to anybody that wants the job done write at an honest price.

5 stars is not enough to rate this place, they go above and beyond what any business should. Ann makes you feel like a part of the family and Max keeps ya in a good mood with his great personality and jokes. Oh and anytime you need an answer just ask Nicole, she is a wiz and what she does not know she will research and get back to ya. Wish more businesses ran like this fine operation.

This place is top notch. I finished all my smog classes in less than 3 months. Prices are very competitive to other smog programs. Facility is fresh and clean. Fresh coffee if you need it.
The staff is amazing:
Nicole holds down the front desk with a no nonsense, but very pleasant demeanor. She takes attendance so make sure not to be late!
Gary chills in the garage working on his vintage vettes, RC toy cars, xbox, or just shooting pool. Don’t get him started about tricking out a car… you might actually learn something.
Ann takes care of business and makes sure all the students are on track. I only expected to complete a smog course, but Ann goes above and beyond and makes sure that you turn in your BAR apps in time and correctly. She is also very active with the BAR Smog committee, so you will be up to date with any new regs. Ann even kept my wife busy when she came to pick me up from class… talking about coupons and stuff. That rocked!!!
Max is da man. I didn’t know there was a Mechanic’s hall of fame, but apparently, he’s in it. Yeah… you could consider him the Willie Mays of Mechanics. He has every automotive certificate you could thinking of. He keeps the class interesting with jokes, military diatribes, and just overall great conversations. When class is complete, there are always at least 2 or three guys that will stick around after wards to pick his brain or just to joke around. Max will turn on the Giant’s game (or any other sporting event) on so you won’t have to check your cell phone every five minutes.
Overall, Max’s Auto Lab is a great learning environment. The staff takes care of you as if you were part of their own family. They are also a full service auto mechanic shop, so you can practicing smogging on real cars.