Oren’s Automotive

Oren is a straight talker with a fair pricing schedule. He seems genuinely interested in helping people with their car troubles. It was nice to find an automotive repair facility that is so close to my work and one where I felt that there was a trusted professional consultant.

Guys are great here… Owner, Oren, superb! Customer service on point. They have a shuttle service which is a plus. They took care of my BMW under a reasonable price compared to other competitive shops. Not only did they fix my car but also washed it and left it spotless! Prompt, friendly, honest service. I highly recommend this place to everyone.

Pulled over this am for a warning that one of my brake lights was out. Called oren and was told to bring my car right in. Brought the car in two hours later and the light was fixed in less than five minutes while I waited. Excellent service! I have also been extremely satisfied with more extensive repairs that have been done in the past. I have been bringing my car to oren now for three to four years and will continue in the future.

Excellent & prompt customer service * * * * *
I am from out of town and I had just exited the freeway after a 6 Hour Dr. and my engine light turned on. I had just had some work done @ my repair shop in the Bay Area and picked up my car on Friday and here it was Sunday afternoon — and here I was far from home and on vacation when the «check engine» light came on. First thing Monday morning, I did a Google search for local Mini independent repair shops and I found Orens Automotive as the closest to where I was staying. I decided to read reviews for his location and a couple others — and made the best decision to drive directly to Oren’s. Even with a shop & driveway full of business (cars) to handle for the day, Owner Oren (with mechanic Gary) gave me a moment to share my concerns & within minutes did a quick check on their portable handheld Diagnostic monitor. After just a few minutes (& showing them the documentation on what work had just gotten done on my vehicle) they were able to determine that it was non-​urgent & possibly related. We cleared out the engine code and I decided to see if it reappeared & that I could discuss it with my shop back home, where I would share the engine code. Thank you for putting me at ease. I was offered to come back when/​if the light reappeared — since I’m in town for the week, to see if the same code reappeared. I appreciated the attention, considering how busy they were. They were multi-​tasking, (as any good business owner should), while still making me feel important — in the moment; that’s a gift! They could easily have charged me the $ 210 to hook my car up to the formal Diagnostic Machine, so I sure appreciate not having been taken advantage off.
On a side note, their office was so fresh and clean feeling. A welcome change — unlike some independent automotive businesses, I’ve been to. honestly much nicer than the facility I do business with back home.
Thank goodness for Unilocal — in giving us customers the vehicle to share our experiences to make our every day lives more convenient.
Bottom line… highly recommend!
For prompt & courteous service, please consider Oren’s Automotive. Thank you! «Viva»

I never have the time to write reviews but Oren’s shop and customer service is worth it. His guys did a superb job not only on my 50,000 mile service, but on some body work that I needed done. I had made a bad dent in my front bumper and when I came back to pick it up, it honestly looks like new! You can hardly tell that I had any damage to begin with. Efficiency plus friendly service, you can’t get better than that. I would highly recommend Oren’s shop to anyone who asks!

I was super frustrated for a couple of days because my car kept dying on me, so I took my car to Oren’s and I’m glad I did. Service is amazing here and all the guys seem really earnest in what they do. Oren seems very experienced in this field and Louis (one of the mechanics) really did a great job on my car. The prices are pretty standard and definitely worth what you’re paying for. When I picked up my car, it was not only fixed, but totally spotless. Would definitely recommend this place to anyone in Santa Barbara with car troubles!

As another reviewer has explained, Oren used to manage another popular shop in Santa Barbara. I really enjoyed the service I got there and I used to recommend that shop to friends. However, after Oren left, i had a bad experience there that made me feel like their quality control and service had declined.
After wringing my hands about where to take my car next, I was relieved to find that Oren now has his own shop. Oren makes sure things are done right, and I trust him to tell me what does and doesn’t need to be fixed. I know a little bit about car repair, and his explanations of what they’re going to do and why always make sense. He only recommends work that actually needs to be done. He’s very personable and pleasant to do business with, too.
I took my car to Oren’s for the first time for an oil change this morning and got the great service and attention to detail I expected.
As an aside, it really pays to take your car to a real auto repair shop like Oren’s (not a quick-​oil-​change place) for oil changes. The cost isn’t much different, and I’ve seen first hand the problems caused by the inexperienced staff in the quick-​oil-​change places – tools left in friends’ engines (twice!) and a stripped oil drain plug bolt in another friend’s car.

We have known Oren since 2007 when he was the manager at another repair shop in town. He left a couple years ago, and we are so so happy to find out that he opened up his own shop! Oren is honest, trustworthy and affordable. We completely trust him with all of our vehicles and his recommendations for what repairs need to be done.
We recently took our vehicle to him to get repaired so that it would pass a smog test. Not only did he discover that our previous misdiagnosed the issue (which was going to cost more), but he fixed the correct issue for less $$ AND took our car to get smogged. He definitely goes above and beyond for his customers. Oren is the best!