Bob’s Foreign Auto Parts

If I could give zero stars I would! Let’s go over shall we?
My mother had recently gone in to have her vehicle checked. They scheduled a date and it was brought in to be serviced. A few days had passed and my mother had noticed the issue had not been corrected. She brought her vehicle back; it was then serviced once more and she had gone on her way. Upon two months passing, my mother came to realize that the issue had still remained. Reluctantly brought her vehicle back again and explained the issue at hand. The vehicle was serviced yet again for the same issue. All the while the over all business attitude towards their paying customer was average. However, (yes there is more!) one week had passed and to her «not surprise», the issue still remained! How many times does a single issue on a vehicle have to be revisited? This time, my mother decided, why not take her vehicle to the car dealership service department instead. Perhaps a second opinion for this consistent issue is at hand. She was told of the issue they found, and behold… it was the same issue that she had continually brought back to Bob’s for servicing three times!!! Upon her second to last visit, my mother had engaged in small talk with a fellow customer. They both exchanged their reasons for being there. (Sounds pretty normal right?) Well upon her final and last visit, the owner had caught wind of the small talk my mother had with a fellow customer. Keep it mind folks, it was just small talk. My mother is a very timid woman, and «smearing the name» of Bob’s was the last thing is which she is capable. So to her horror, the owner scolded my mother and told her (and I am just summarizing) his dislike of saying anything negative about their «work». Also, to «never come back».
Now if there is something I know about professionalism… it is this…

Never ever scold a customer about speaking to a fellow customer about their «reason for visiting». Nothing negative was meant to be accomplished, it was simple small talk. If you didn’t want their to be any small talk, perhaps the issue could have been fixed the first time around, thus preventing your «never to return» customer from coming back in the first place! I felt this review had to be written. A bit long winded, I admit, but it had to be explained. The bridge has been burned, and especially for their inability to fix a issue 4 times over! We will stick with our dealership and know we can at least expect quality work the first time around minus their nasty attitude and hand slaps. My mother WILL never return, They do not deserve our business or any of our friends/​co-​workers. We will never recommend their shop for anything less of a key chain! I urge you readers, keep looking!!!

Especially when we have had unexpected car trouble, Bob’s Foreign Auto is the place we go for repair. John, the owner, is friendly, accommodating, and a terrific mechanic for our Volkswagens and Audi cars. A brilliant mechanic with a great team working for him. We highly recommend this conveniently located shop.

Drove out to meet us in our 77 VW Westy. Had it fixed in an 45 mins. Great service and he rolled up in a late 50s Westy to top it off. Saved our day!

John at Bob’s is one of those old time car gurus.
He knows what’s wrong with your car — and he knows how to fix it — and he knows some good advice to give you along the way.
He’s worked on four of my vehicles. He also once gave me help over the phone on how to get my ’68 bug started when it would fire up. He calmly went point by point giving me ideas until he found the one that worked.
I dare you to find another shop that would do that!

I decided to go on line and look at a repair video and easily removed the tank being careful not to break anything only to immediately find why they were having so many problems. They had broken off the ATF Thermostat sensor and couldn’t remove the piece that was still lodged in the tank bracket. I have pictures that clearly show scrapes and scuffs where they had tried to pry it out with pliers and they just kept breaking the casing. Had the mechanic not been drinking I may have escaped without the additional $ 80 part. But I did save two days worth of labor the guy would have tried to charged me for and it took me all of 45 mins to fix myself. Grateful for youtube DIY videos and BMW engineering. On a side note, I have also have a 2005 BMW 330ci and the exact thing went out on that one. I have done that repair as well and maintained the integrity of the ATF Thermostat sensor and didn’t need to buy another. Bottom line, Bob’s Foreign Auto is a bad business in a good town. Wont be long before something tragic may happen cause of their drinking and working.

Camus Auto Repair recommended John at Bob’s Foreign Auto bcuz I drive an air cooled 1961 VW Bus. I drove thru Yosemite Hwy 120 from Bishop and last night my Bus kept dying at every single stop light in Merced. Adjusted the carb mix and still had the problem. Next morning I took it Bob’s to have a look, possible tune up (but just had it tuned in Bishop few days earlier). John looked at it and suggested it was just a clogged air intake. He removed it and cleaned it and even checked the rest of the engine. The gaps in the distributer were off by a fraction (no biggie) and he couldnt find anything else obvious. The cleaning seemed to do the trick! Writing this from Hollister and had no probs driving here. John didn’t even charge me for his service.
He also drives 1958 Bus and knows his airc ooled. Def rec you go see John @Bob’s if you want to check up you Vdub going in or coning out of Yosemite.