A-1 Autoworks

JP is a great mechanic. He is honest and able to find and fix all the issues on my 250k Lexus and keep it running.

Diamond Tire suggested A1 Imports for our 2001 Subaru. The car had recently re-​ended another car and the radiator needed straightening out plus it needed a new hood. JP found another hood that exactly matched, removed the radiator and replaced the front support, inspected the brakes, installed the front grill that had fallen off in the collision, checked the coolant hose and fan belt condition, checked all fluid levels, battery and changed the oil filter for less than I was expecting to pay. The car was ready when JP promised, his attendent was polite and the entire expericence was positive in terms of a mechanics shop operating with honesty and integrity.

JP and crew at A1 are awesome. Friendly and reliable import experts. They take care of my aging Jetta with 150k miles so I don’t have to think about replacing it anytime soon.
Thanks A1!

I went to this place because our car wasn’t smogged when we bought our car. They dealt with the seller directly because it was not our responsibility to smog the car, which was so helpful. This place exceeded my expectations and did things to the car for next to nothing, while the bigger things were being fixed (on the expense of the seller of my car). I am grateful for their help. These guys are great! Talk to J.P. or Evan. They’re the best techs and will be right there for you at all times.

I have a 2006 BMW M5 which I’ve had A1 work on. They do a solid job and are very fair price wise. I am a fan.

JP checked out an RV I was considering buying, and it was great. Not only did he do a through job of checking out the engine and mechanical systems, but he also checked on the coach systems and the roof too. None of the RV places would look at the engine, so I was really pleased to find someone who’d look at both the engine and the coach. Then the service I received reminded me of the days be corporations took over. Good local service. I can’t recommended it higher.

JP runs a great shop. Only place I would recommend to anyone.

I’m a regular, at least as little as possible! JP is a rock solid guy, a BMW expert and most important, an honest mechanic. My father in law first came here with my 525 5 years ago, not sure how we got so lucky, but I know I can trust JP to do the right thing with my car and he’ll stand by his work. His new protégé Evan gets it and puts you at ease that he’s seen it before or will figure it out. I saw some negative reviews but they are isolated and I think he’s getting a hard time when he’d be the first to try to repair whatever’s bothering his customers. I back A-​1 100%, it’s hard to find people in the biz you can trust, particularly in the BMW world!

Tried A1 Imports through Groupon. (Bought a 3 pak of oil changes.) Didn’t expect much. However, we were blown away with their outstanding customer service. We will definitely continue bringing our vehicles here!

I will give the benefit of doubt that A-​1 has bad mechanics rather than them out right trying to cheat us; thus a two-​star rating as opposed to a one-​star.
We dropped the car off early for an 11:30 oil change, at 2:30 work had not been started. After the oil change and tire rotation (including over-​tightening the lug nuts) the bill reported «brakes appx front 20% rear 15% material left, will need replacement soon» — a $ 400 to $ 550 brake job. I removed all four wheels and measured the pads to find them at almost a quarter inch or over 50% remaining (replacement is suggested to be around an eighth of an inch). The rotors are in fine condition. Money saved — my hours lost!
Previously I took my Subaru in for a radiator leak and replacement of its missing baffle. They recommended an oil change because the oil was «dark,» which I refused in writing (email) because it was less than 3,000 miles since the previous. When the car was picked up, the oil and filter had been replaced. To their credit, the oil change charge was removed without any problem. The baffle was never replaced.
On another oil change the technician forgot to replace two splash shield clips. The shop initially denied responsibility — logic prevailed and the clips were installed.
The only success story is their being able to get a temperamental BMW to pass the smog test.
In summary: There are other shops that will get my business.

I purchased a Living Social Deal after checking their website to see if they would have appointments on Saturday. I then used their website to book an appointment on a Saturday two weeks out. Their website gave me an appointment for saturday at 11:30am. I later got a call from them saying they did not usually book Saturday appointments and wanted me to come in during the week. When I told them I was not available during the week, they said they’d have to check with the owner. I ended up cancelling the Living Social Deal. They should spell that out on their website and in their living social deal. They should also change their website so it does not accept appointments on the weekend if they are not open.

I love JP’s shop. There are not very many honest auto shops in the Bay Area, but A1 Imports most definitely is one of the honest ones.
A while back I got a ’84 325e for free from a friend to use as a daily driver while I am at school. I had problems getting the car into first gear. I tried replacing the clutch master and slave cylinder. Still no go. So thinking that there was something wrong with the gear box its self I took the car into JP so he could look at the g260 6 speed.
He found out that the problem was a badly bent clutch pedal, and took the pedal off his own spec e30 race car and put it on my 325e so that I could get my car in good time.
Even though I am a big time car guy and often do my own work, there are times where you just get so fed up with a problem you need some one who gets payed to be annoyed do the work for you :)
For anyone that is interested JP also does some amazing custom performance car builds. BMW 2002s with s14 and m20 engines and lots more cool stuff.
Very thankful to JP and his staff!
Keep up the good work!
JN

Love these guys reliable shop for german auto repair/​svc.

I got a groupon for a oil change and wow was I impressed. JP did a through and complete check up. His pricing is competitive and he runs a good shop. Thanks so much for being so honest, competent and friendly. Groupons can be hell on a small business but JP was handling it all with grace. thanks for a great job you will get my business in the future.

I took a BMW here for a pre-​purchase inspection. First of all, they were able to fit me in totally last minute, very nice receptionist btw! Second of all, JP spent 45 minutes thoroughly checking out this car, then proceeded to give me an honest, direct summary of info about the car (which basically was not in the shape it’s owner was claiming). JP seemed genuine and trustworthy, and I felt like I was in really good hands. I will definitely be going back to this business for future pre-​purchase inspections. Thank you A1 for providing such excellent service!

I recently moved my business down the street from A1 AutoWorks and I am happy to have found a shop so close to my work. The owner is into race karts, so you know he has to keep things running in perfect order. Although I only needed some basic repairs to my Chevy truck and Toyota the works been done quickly and pretty fair as far as labor goes.
I would give these guys a shot if you are looking for a good Marin repair shop.

I have been a customer of JP and A-​1 Imports Autoworks for over six years. I can proudly say that I have never experienced a more honest, reasonable, and high-​quality auto shop in the 15 years that I have been a car enthusiast.
A-​1 Imports will take time to carefully diagnose problems, determine what needs to be done now, done later, and maybe never done, and advise you on the best course of action. They provide a level of care that goes beyond simple car repair, from the friendliness of the staff to the never nickel-​and-​dime method of doing business. I’ve needed all kinds of unusual things for my 40-​year-​old daily driver BMW, from hardware to switches to relays, etc, and JP never bats an eye about putting the part I need in my hand in order to get me home, to work, wherever. And if it’s something serious, he will shuffle his busy schedule, stay open late, whatever, to make sure I get home safely.
From routine maintenance on up to things like an all-​encompassing custom engine install for my vintage car (a 1972 BMW 2002), JP’s shop is a pleasure to deal with every step of the way. Everyone there is friendly, communicative, realistic, and utterly expert at what they do. My car is more like a member of the family than basic transportation to me, so I spent a long time trying out different specialist shops before I found JP. Since I’ve started working with A-​1 though, I’ve never looked back.
If you search for them, expert repair shops where cost is no object aren’t hard to find. What really sets JP’s shop apart is that you get this level of service from a place where everyone is realistic about customer needs and budget constraints. There are shops that are a little cheaper, and shops that are much more expensive, but to get top-​shelf work with no attitude for a fair price like you’ll find at A-​1 is truly a special thing.
I could go on and on about how great A-​1 Imports is, but the bottom line is that if you have a modern foreign or domestic car and are looking for quality service at a reasonable price, this is your shop. Or, if you have a vintage BMW and you’re looking to give it the care and feeding it deserves, or maybe even tackle a restoration or have some custom fabrication done, you’ve found the right place.
Like Peter H, I am dismayed that Unilocal has filtered 4 legitimate reviews for this repair shop. Each of the filtered reviews is a 5-​star, and each is written thoughtfully by real customers of this shop (two of whom I have met there personally). These are not fake reviews, were not solicited by this business, and I have no idea why they are being filtered. If you want to read more from real customers of A-​1 Imports, click on the ‘filtered reviews’ link below.

[I have to weigh in here, both because I am a long-​time happy customer of A1, but also because of what appears to be a targeted and suspicious attack on the business and its staff, which has mysteriously resulted in the filtering of the other reviews for the business, all of which appear to be legitimate 5-​star ones. Something is broken in the way Unilocal does its filtering (automatically), but they do not disclose details of how it works. I’m hoping that as a long-​time Unilocaler (and Internet denizen since the 1970’s!!), that this review will stand and help correct an injustice.]
I’ve taken my wife’s Mercedes E430 here for a few years, and before that an older Mitsubishi Diamanté. JP and crew have been nothing but professional and helpful, and I have never felt pressured to do anything that was recommended. On the contrary, I appreciate their thoroughness in identifying potential issues without painting them as critical if they aren’t.
JP has also worked on my BMW 740iL, doing the much-​feared transmission fluid change on the «lifetime» sealed tranny. You will note if you look up my other reviews that I normally and loyally take the BMW to Bill Arnold (another truly exceptionally good and honest shop), but it was Bill himself who sent me to JP, since they are friends and Bill didn’t have a necessary piece of equipment for that specific job.
I’m not a «helicopter» customer (nervously hovering over the mechanic), but I do some of my own car work, so I like to know what’s going on with my cars. I have always been granted free reign to watch the action, see the parts/​work being recommended for repair, and observe the issues firsthand before making any decisions. I am no master mechanic, but I have taken cars completely apart (and put them back together, working), so I can safely say I know what I’m looking at when someone makes a recommendation.
JP himself has gone the extra mile to provide great service, including checking for parts pricing from the dealer vs. eBay (and being willing to install parts I obtain separately), and doing what he can to get the job done on time and on budget. On my last visit, knowing that I wanted to avoid being without a car for a second day, JP stayed in the shop until after 9pm, calling me to come pick up the car when it was ready).
The shop itself is immaculate (for a car repair shop) and JP obviously cares about cars (he races Karts on the weekends, and is building a growing business in restoring/​re-​engineering old BMW 2002’s, so there are several examples around the shop on any given day). Everyone I have dealt with (JP, Karlo, and JP’s daughter, and a couple others) has been friendly, helpful and low-​key.
Labor rates are fair for the area — not the cheapest but not the highest either, and considering the quality of work, it beats the pants off of going to the dealerships, especially for European cars, where the dealer model puts a «service consultant» between you and the real mechanic, thus providing less effective service (for people that know something about their cars) for more money.
All in all, I give my highest recommendations to JP and the rest of the A1 crew. They have done excellent work for me, and stood behind their service. Feel free to message me through Unilocal if you have any other questions.
I certainly hope to see more of JP’s customers weigh in here to drown out the obvious hit-​piece review that occurred a few weeks ago.