The Garage Santa Barbara

After spending $ 1000 on my Audi with a local german car mechanic who did not fix anything before he ended up telling me I should sell my car immediately, I started looking for someone else who could repair the oil pressure issue and a couple of other things. Because of his stellar reviews online, I called Bert at The Garage. And I am SO glad I did! He was previously in charge of the Audi service department at the dealership and he knew exactly what to do. He explained to me in terms I could understand what was going on with my car and the steps he would take to repair it. He had a minimalist but thorough approach and didn’t try to force any unnecessary work. He is friendly, timely, honest and his pricing is very reasonable. This experience was the best I’ve ever had at a mechanic. The exceptional level of service, knowledge and professionalism from Bert will definitely keep me going back for all my future car servicing.
THANK YOU!

Awesome service from professionals that know what they are doing and have souls. You can just them, I love that fact and so when they give you a price or a suggestion you know it is fair and that they stand behind there work. If you have an Audi or land/​Range Rover, heck a mini or whatever, you will really like these guys.

They are the best ! I lost my wheel lock tool for my BMWx5 They went out of their way to take my car to a local tire business to get the job done. They are competent, knowledgeable and customer service friendly. Honest pricing!
Thank you !

Great people, great service, honest, diligent and reliable. All three of those guys genuinely wanted to help out in anyway they could with my limited budget. Thanks Bill, Bert and Christian! I’ll definitely be back. You guys rocked.

Awesome! Honesty above and beyond the call of duty. Bert went way out of his way to perform an act of honesty the likes of which I haven’t seen in quite a while. Highly recommended!

We take my wife’s Volkswagen Jetta to the Garage. I really appreciate how Bert always takes the time to explain to me whatever is happening with the car, and he is honest with me about what work needs to happen right away, and what can wait.
I never feel like I have paid for something that I didn’t understand.

For a while, Ive gotten to know Bert Linau and his team. They have serviced my ancient Audi and my friends (older) BMW. Bert is a compassionate guy who is knowledgeable and trained in German cars. What I like so much is that if something is not essential, or can wait awhile without detrimental effect on vehicle, he recommends that course, rather than grab, cram and load my bill. Once he even had a spare Audi headlight switch ($ 450) which he put in for nothing… and gave me the expensive part. Im a customer for life and thats how business in this town should be :)

The Garage Santa Barbara is a great place to get first class care and repairs for your car. While specializing in Audi’s and German cars, Bert Linau and his co-​worker can easily take care of any other brand car. If you want an expert to take care of your car, this is the place to go. Its not the right place if you are a bargain hunter or looking for a cheap fix. This is a master mechanic with years of experience who will do a thorough general inspection if you come in for i.e. an oil change. You can get a car while yours is in service, they do a quick car cleaning, you can even ask to get the car dropped off at your local address. You can’t beat the customer service. They are courteous, experienced and timely. In addition, they’ll also let you know if there’s something that does not need to be done at the time, not like other places who’d have you fix anything and everything they could make money on. Can definitely recommend The Garage!

Absolutely worthless, incompetent mechanics with no pride in preserving Land Rover prestige. Not to be trusted in the slightest. Avoid at all costs.
I towed my classic Range Rover in for simple brake master cylinder work, which I would have done myself if I had room to work on my truck at home. Christian «Critter» (appropriate nickname) falsely assured me with unfounded confidence that he would take care of my truck, «no matter what’s wrong with it» which he couldn’t. I even thoroughly explained the braking issue and what needed to be done in order to fix it before towing my truck. Critter suggested that I scrap this classic Rover at a junkyard, referencing the ripped-​out dash, which I pulled to do electrical work recently (stereo installation and fixing any electrical problems I could find) and a few rips in the driver’s seat. As if the body and interior have anything to do with a vehicle’s mechanics? Unbelievable. He just looked for excuses to take accountability off himself. Critter wouldn’t know what a truck was if one hit him going 70MPH.
This shop didn’t even give me a quote. They only attempted to exploit me by saying they wouldn’t touch the truck without seeing $ 1,000 first. They never looked into the problems and gave me a quote. These practices walk the line of legality. Critter later denied responsibility for this and claimed that he was doing this in my best interest. In the end, he was right about that, because I wouldn’t let this clown touch my truck if I’d known what a circus he ran down there. This guy doesn’t know what a Land Rover is about in the slightest. He also attempted a pathetic threat on me. This shop won’t last and I’ll tell every Land Rover owner I meet (we talk) about this shady «mechanic» who isn’t willing to get his hands dirty and determine mechanical problems. I also own a 2003 Discovery that I will never bring down to these creeps. Thanks for wasting my time and money towing my truck out there, Critter! Maybe these boys just do full unit replacements on the Ford Freelanders and rimjobs on each others Audis. I’d bet the other older Rovers in the photos are other ones that were towed in and later hauled out without having been repaired.
Don’t deal with these crooks. This dude only deals with people who are clueless, so if that’s you, go on down and let Critter put 22s and an exhaust kit on your wife’s LR3. Take your Land Rover to a mechanic that has been in town for years and knows what being a mechanic is about — look at East-​West Motors or Winning Makes (if your Rover is a real classic). I ended up towing my RRC to my friends’ shop in Santa Paula where the master cylinder assembly was rebuilt properly and promptly at a reasonable cost that we agreed on beforehand. I’d recommend taking your truck out of SB to have it worked on if you’re out of warranty and have no mechanical skills — you’re just dead meat waiting to be preyed upon by the non-​local vultures here.

This is the BEST mechanic shop I’ve ever been to, after 15 years of trying a few different mechanics in Santa Barbara. Bert is so knowledgeable about cars, and I love that he educates me every time I pick up my car by explaining what he did or what needs to be done in the future. I’ve never had a mechanic teach me so much! He is also quick to say what doesn’t need to be fixed at the moment, if there are things that can wait till later– very few mechanics do that! I highly recommend The Garage to anyone looking for an honest, dependable mechanic.

I’ve been in Santa Barbara for 5 years and have never had a better auto repair experience. I primarily worked with Bert Linau on multiple occasions for repairs to my Audi.
He and the entire staff were thorough, courteous and knowledgable. I would definitely recommend this shop to anyone needing auto repairs in the area.
Thanks guys!

These guys are amazing: they fixed an issue with my Land Rover Discovery that the dealer and other mechanics hadn’t managed to figure out in two years.
They are not only very knowledgeable, but also courteous, on time and on budget. I won’t bring my car anywhere else but at The Garage in the future.

Just had my car serviced by Bert at The Garage. This guy knows his stuff. I’ve been working with him for years and have sent over numerous friends and they have always been impressed with his knowledge and fair prices. He’s a master Audi technician and knows them like you wouldn’t believe. But really, I’d have him work on any type of car since he’s so technically minded (that German genetics really paying off). I’ve never written a review on Unilocal before, just to testify how strongly I feel about his work and pricing.

Took my 1999 Range Rover to Chris to have my air suspension converted over to regular springs. They hooked me up with a great kit and my Rover drives smoother than ever. They did the whole job in about two days. Highly recommend these guys if you are in the Santa Barbara area with a Range Rover or other European.

Just had my Allroad serviced at The Garage on Laguna St. What great service and prices! Bert is a Master Technician with Audi and I wouldn’t want anyone else working on my car. I love it and want to drive it forever and with Bert taking care of it I feel like I can.

Great service as always. I’ve been taking my cars to John and Critter for a few years now. Always great to deal with and knowledgeable. Thanks.

The experienced and well trained team of The Garage is very knowledgeable and helpful. I can highly recommend this shop to any Audi or VW driver in Santa Barbara! They offer much better prices than the dealer. Will certainly go there for any repair I have on my Audi Allroad!