Ted & Al’s Service Center

This is the only place I will take my car — I should say that my family will take their cars too. Buzz is nothing short of amazing. Great service — quality work.

My car wouldn’t start and needed to be towed in the Inner Sunset. My normal shop, Emerald, was booked, and being late for work, I decided to take it to this place (affiliated with the AAA-​affiliated towing contractor).
They required authorization of a $ 120 diagnostic fee, which is steep, but I don’t expect them to work for free. If they hadn’t charged that fee, I would have gone elsewhere for the repair, because their pricing for both parts and labor is high (in my case, roughly $ 120 more than it would have cost elsewhere — this is to replace a starter motor). That’s not why I’m giving them a poor review — costs and expenses are high here, so I don’t fault anyone for pricing as needed.
The problems I had revolved around their attempted hustle. When I called to check on status, and possibly authorize further service, Buzz informed me that the problem was with the starter motor, but also that they had replaced my battery (the old one was somewhat corroded, and should be replaced sometime soon). Problem is that we had never discussed the battery replacement, and the diagnostic tree would have led straight past the battery once the car wouldn’t jump start. I knew from reading another review here that I would be looking at somewhere around $ 250 for the battery they installed — the same one I can get at Costco for less than $ 80 — so I told him to take it out and put my battery back in. «Fine,» he said, as he totaled-​up the remainder of my bill, «that puts us around $ 400, plus the diagnostic fee is about $ 520.» Of course, any shop worth its salt will apply the diagnostic fee to the repairs performed, so I pushed back on that, and ended up around $ 400.
The work they did seems to be fine, hence the second star.

If you read my previous car reviews you know my car was suffering from an issue 2 other mechanics couldn’t fix nor diagnose correctly. Since my car was stranded in front of my apartment, I need it to be towed to a mechanic. I figured, why not take it to the last place it was worked on, right? Well, when the AAA mechanic arrived, I told him my sob story & he said the issue sounded like a bad alternator. Sweet baby Jesus, are you kidding me? So he runs a quick test to confirm the alternator is Deadsville, Alamaba.
Now I’m pissed BC the last mechanic I took it to, claimed the alternator was not faulty despite my insistence. Here the AAA guy confirmed it in less than 5 minutes. I’ve told him about taking the car to Roberto’s Auto & he begins telling me to take it to a different shop BC of the AAA discount the shop offers. My emotions have left me enraged so I say screw Roberto, he can eat it, I’m not giving him any more of my business.
The AAA mechanic takes me here, to Ted & Al’s, & as soon as we arrive my red flags start going off BC it’s very apparent, the tow truck guy & the auto shop guys are buddies. The whole scam these guys have going is for the mechanic to convince his «victims» that their best bet is to get their car repaired at a shop he is chummy with. Maybe the AAA guy gets part of the take, not sure, but either way, the shop & the tow truck guy have some sort of arrangement.
The car got fixed ultimately & it was WAY more expensive than my research had concluded. I guess if you have no other option on earth then this place will suffice, they just have a shady thing going on & their prices are a bit high comparatively speaking.
And that my friends, concludes my alternator nightmare.

Ted and Als (especially buzz) has literally saved my ass multiple times. they are always available for quick and easy tune ups and for my unfortunate luck when my car has broken down in the middle of golden gate at 1130pm on a Sunday! they do great work and are always so nice!

Plain and simple, I had a screw in my tire. I pulled into Ted & Al’s and they fixed it up in 20 minutes.
It looks like everyone wants to complain about this establishment when it looks like they just have crappy cars.
Thanks Guys! Five Stars!!!

I’ve had my Jetta Wagon (175k) to Ted and Al’s 3 — 4 times. Originally I went because they are AAA approved, but I’ve received some of the most honest, communicative customer service here that they are «my mechanic’ in SF since I moved here full time. I believe they are very reputable and honest and highly recommend them!

Great service ! Had a flat tire and was In and out of there in less than 20 mins. Professional and friendly service

I love this place! Buzz and crew are fantastic. They graciously helped me on a Saturday afternoon when I had my car on the back of a tow truck
They fixed my problem first thing Monday and I had it within 24 business hours. Can’t say enough good things about this place.

My car battery died and my car stalled while on Stanyan, right in front of the garage. They came out and jump started it in the middle of the street and then drove it inside, thankfully saving me from being stuck in rush hour traffic. Buzz then told me it would be $ 75 to charge the battery. After a half an hour I got a call saying the battery wasn’t charging and it would be $ 250 to replace it. Called another mechanic that I found on Unilocal and he said he’d change it for me for free if I bought my own battery and brought it in. Batteries cost less than $ 100, common knowledge! I told Buzz this and eventually got him to only charge me the cost of the battery, which still came in overpriced at $ 168. I am thankful that they helped me get out of the street when my car died, but very disappointed in the fact that they treated me like I didn’t know any better and tried to take advantage of me when I was in a tight spot.

Where do I even begin with this place? I took it in for over heating because it was a AAA approved shop. They charged me $ 150 to tell me it was fine. They didn’t even do a block test to check the coolant. Then a week later it overheated again so I took it back. They did a block test and called and told me it was a blown head gasket. They said $ 2000 – 3000 to fix it. I decided this was shady and took it to a different auto place. The other place told me the head gasket was not blown and that they could fix it for well under $ 1000. I feel that they are just out to make money off people. I have no idea why this shop is AAA approved. SHADY. I’ll be calling the better business bureau.

I have brought my car to Ted & Al’s on a number of occasions. They excel with regular maintenance work, but they disappointed me with repairs. They did not fix two of the three problems I brought to their attention and charged a lot of money as if everything was fixed earlier this year. Within days, the two «fixed» problems recurred. After return visits for the repairs and several phone calls to express my unhappiness, the problems persisted. I thought I had found my new SF mechanic but not for anything other normal repairs. I like them as people, but they have to deliver in order to charge what they charge. They did not.

I want to Unilocal about Ted and Al’s Service Center and their manager, Buzz. I mostly want to say «thank you» — for getting me out of a towing jam and then paying such good attention to my car (a 2002 Hyundai) before I had to take it on a 800 mile road trip. In both local towing (through AAA), and mechanical inspections and repairs, Buzz assures you get the service you need at a reasonable price. Most of all, they don’t fix what’s not broken — and got me on my way safely and securely. I think that’s what we all want most from road and car service. Thank you!

Buzz came through for me again and hooked me up with a free jump. Bringing my new car into them ASAP!

I have been going to Ted and Al’s for my car problems the last couple months. I had a battery issue that needed my car to be jumped several times and when I ran out of AAA service calls, buzz was nice enough to jump my car free of charge. He is incredibly helpful and straightforward and if need be I will definitely come back here in the future.

I have been going to Ted and Al’s for the last year for my car troubles. They have great customer service, are honest and turn around the car quickly! Buss always has great recommendations for trouble shooting and does not over sell. I recently brought my car in and it was returned washed and they even fished my weather stripping that was falling off. Thanks Buzz… If my car needs to be serviced again, I will again give you a call!

I recently had my battery in my car die so I called AAA and they sent a truck from Ted and Al’s. Upon arrival, my battery was tested and confirmed dead, so he checked to make sure he had one for me, and then replaced it. Pretty simple, and the driver was very nice. Costed me $ 108 total which was nice and convenient for me because it happened on a Sunday and no places were open for me to buy a battery. I never went to the shop, so I can’t speak for the shop though.

My car broke down at the side of the road. I called AAA and they sent a tow truck, who unluckily was affiliated with this shop. They brought my car here and the guy kept telling us he would check the car and then call us back. He forgot to call us back. When we finally called him to see he said «well, if you had called earlier I might have been able to fix it earlier.» He ended up rushing the job (some crank/​pully thingie fell off, I have no idea but my car’s working now).
He continued to tell me everything else that was wrong with my car and then quoted us a price that was twice what we had been quoted elsewhere (it was stuff we already knew that we had to fix and since we had just moved to SF we were looking for a decent mechanic to fix the job for us.) He then proceeded to tell me that if I didn’t fix it ANY DAY NOW my car would die and I would ruin my car to the point of no repair. Really? We had our car checked in Seattle before we moved down here to make sure it could survive the drive and we were told that it was something we needed to fix within the next 6 months, but we would be ok. Yeah… any day now.
Lastly, the said my front headlight was out and if I wanted them to fix it it would cost 5 times the amount it would cost us to do it ourselves. Here’s the thing. My car broke down towards early evening and my lights were on at the time. It wasn’t out. In fact the boyfriend had JUST changed the headlights a few months before. We decided to do it ourselves, and he was a little baffled that the bulb wasn’t the same as the bulb on the other side. I dunno what to take from that but it all seems shady to me. I’m not accusing them of changing it, but it seems odd, no?
Plain and simple, I do not trust them.

I was planning on giving this place a 5 star review, because I DID receive awesome service from Paul when my car battery decided to give out on me the night before street cleaning (of course, right?) in the morning. He was quick, honest, efficient, and very good at his job. They arrived right on time and installed the new battery at my request in under 10 minutes. The total was $ 117.45.
The next day I went online to check my bank statement and turns out they actually charged me twice, so — I now have a pretty big chunk of money taken from my account and cannot do anything about it until the 31^st (service was on the night of the 25^th) because of the Memorial Day holiday. I do understand that they can’t do MUCH but I also work in a customer service position and know that a lot of the time, there ARE last resort options we can do for a customer when put in this unfortunate situation. I may update this review on the 31^st IF they do as they promised and take care of the the additional charges. And if they don’t — well, I will be an upset customer AND never returning. Although Paul — you were AWESOME and deserve a pat on the back no matter what.
EDIT (5÷31÷11) — So, it’s been 6 days total since the duplicate charge and Tina gave me absolutely NO answers and I was promised twice to get the charge taken care of today. Not only did she promise to call me back by 4 pm and didn’t, I had to call HER and she told me there was nothing she could do about it today and it will be addressed tomorrow. I’m sorry but I know how customer service should be done and THIS is not it. I should not have to run around making calls & trying to figure this stuff out when it was not my mistake in the first place. I am so annoyed and will never be returning. And I’m sure I will not get any sort of solution for at least a couple more days.

The other day my girlfriend’s car developed a problem with the starter on her 1998 Toyota Corolla. This problem required the car to be towed to a mechanic. We were planning on towing it to City Toyota in Daly City. However, when the AAA tow truck (from Ted & Al’s) came the driver recommended we tow it to Ted & Al’s instead. Because Ted & Al’s was within the free 5 mile AAA tow and he said they could do the work cheaper than the dealership, we agreed.
I did realize at the time that the driver was *employed by* Ted & Al’s, which set off some alarm bells, but ultimately we agreed. The tow truck driver seemed very nice and knowledgeable. So my naïve trust in other people got the best of me.
Anyway, they did fix the starter and a tire balancing issue that needed to be addressed. But they broke the driver’s side exterior door handle and didn’t offer to discount our bill. Yes, the handle was cracked and that is why it would be fair to not replace it. But, say, $ 20 off the bill would have been a nice gesture. Also, they topped off the oil and charged for that without asking. I actually have the oil at home, so I wouldn’t have authorized that.
Rather than make a big deal out of the oil, we called it even considering we would have paid the same for the extra towing distance had we gone to Daly City.
Bottom line: Ted & Al’s did the work but was totally shady about getting our business, charging us for unauthorized work, and not making the situation right when they broke the door handle. We will not be going back.

I wish I could give this place 0 stars, or better yet, I wish this place would go out of business so I would’t have to feel inclined to Unilocal about how horrible this place is.
I was having car problems where I could turn on my car but sometimes my car shift would refuse to shift gears, like it was «locked». And some light that wasn’t supposed to go on would go on. It was definitely not good, but taking my car to try to diagnose the car problem here, a way worse experience.
When I brought my 2005 VW Jetta, they took it to where they would inspect it and had me sign some papers to allow the inspection. They found no problems within the car, but said that they replaced the lightbulbs in the rear of my car because they were not always turning on when they were inspecting my car. They also did an oil change because they thought it would fix whatever problem there was with my car. Then they told me it was going to be $ 200. I told them that they were joking, and they said that I signed the papers, I owe them.
It turned out a month later I had to take my car in again, but I took it in somewhere else. Turns out I had a RECALLED car part. This recalled part was the reason my rear lights weren’t working, the reason that I could shift gears in my car at random, and could have possibly prevented me from being able to use my brakes in my car while driving. The thought of driving and needing to stop, but not being able to use my brakes, resulting in a car accident that would be critical, costly, or deadly is not an ideal scenario. That seemed like a huge problem that, no, a $ 200 oil change did not fix.
Screw this place. They are supposed to be able to fix cars, and they couldn’t even recognize a recalled car part in my car as being the problem. A recalled car part that could have been much more serious if it had continued to have gone undetected. Seriously do not have these idiots anywhere near your car.