Earl’s Transmissions & Auto Repair

the men that run this shop KNOW HOW TO FIX A CAR!!!
They have 60 years experience …

Great customer support, great prices. I had been bringing my Ford’s to Sunnyvale Ford for years and finally got fed up. For the last three years I have been going to Earls and the experience has been wonderful. Great work, low prices and an overall good experience. On a couple of occasions they haven taken a look at the car, found the problem to be a simple fix and fixed it at no charge. Last time I checked I did not have the same experience at the dealership.

2010 — Brought my 2003 Mastercraft boat to earls to have some repairs done. Simple maintenance and repair of the inboard Ballast pump system… 3 to 4 weeks later — not the quickest group of guys and a $ 1200.00 bill — the boat was filthy, greasy and dirt all over the boat interior but the system was supposedly fixed. Spent all day cleaning up the mess and then took the boat out a few weeks later — guess what — system was not fixed — it was late summer so I called them and told them the situation and said I would just bring it in May 2011 to get it fixed since I wasn’t planning on taking the boat out again this year…
2011 took my boat back in to get the system fixed — no estimate given which made sense since he was simply correcting the problem I already paid to have fixed… — discussed needing the boat back quicker this time (reminded him of the 3 week turn around last year) was promised a couple of days… 4 weeks later and an additional $ 1400.00. But this review isn’t about the money — it’s about the way they left my boat.
Uncovered the boat today to get it ready to test out the repairs tomorrow — guess what — the boat is a mess — grease, dirt, cat tracks, stains on the vinyl… My boat has been thrashed by at Earls Transmissions… Since I was going out the next day and it was already 7 pm — I cleaned up their mess ass best I could. Very unhappy that anyone in their business would work on a customeers car or boat and then finish and not clean up their mess… makes no sense and is very unprofessional.
Tomorrow I get to find out if he even fixed the problem — not holding my breath — These guys suck… Unbelievable — messy, slow and unprofessional — NEVER AGAIN
STAY AWAY FROM THESE GUYS — you’ll save money and the headache of slow unprofessional work.
My boat aged more in the 2 — 3 plus weeks it spent at Earls than the other 8 years I owned the boat.

So I guess I was already stressed out when my car died on my way to a teaching job. Not just because it made me late, but because my grad apps were also due that day and I needed my car to take mail to the post office and make sure it got postmarked by five, plus I needed to type up some of it after getting my computer fixed. I left it where it was and the tow truck told me to take it here, because my Honda dealership would obviously overcharge me and give me crappy service anyway.
When I got there a few things happened.
I was quoted $ 60 for an oil change on my car. Um, okay, kinda pricey for a simple oil change, but okay. I ended up getting charged over $ 90 because at the last minute they had to change the oil to something more expensive, because of course that’s the brand my car requires. I don’t doubt it, but you can do it under $ 60. If I had the time, I could have done it under $ 20 myself, but I was in a hurry that day.
Turns out I did have the time. I waited at the shop for THREE HOURS with nothing to do, stranded, because they had to get the oil my car ‘required.’ Again, did I mention I had grad apps due that day?
And sorry, just something I needed to add: WHY DO YOU NOT HAVE THE OIL FOR ONE OF THE MORE COMMON CARS ON THE ROAD. You run out, you get some more. It’s a frickin’ HONDA, guys, it’s not like you have to filter that shit outta sap and purify it in your garage.
Now this is just a personal complaint, but when a girl says her dad taught her how to change her oil and they used to change it together, and it turns out maybe the dad did not use the correct oil, do NOT start to bitch about what a bad mechanic the dad is to her. Mostly because the Honda dealer I’ve talked to said the different oil isn’t a big deal at all due to this climate, and yeah, you were insulting my dead father, whose one year anniversary of his death I had ‘celebrated’ just two days before. Choke on a brick. (And just to clarify, he restored a 1979 Porsche 911SC from shittown to fully functional, so yeah, I think your claims on his abilities are bull.)
That’s not all. For the first time in my life I was double-​charged, so not only did I pay over $ 90 but I paid it twice. I’ve been trying to get in contact with them, but my mailed request (with receipt and bank report showing the double-​charge) and voicemail messages (I don’t get home until 9 pm most days) have been ignored. This was back in February… I doubt I’m getting that money back, so I might just contact my credit card company directly.
Way too much crap to deal with for just an oil change. I’m doing it myself next time. Sure they were nice, but you can smile while kicking someone in the shins, too. I would say maybe one of these things was coincidence, and at other times they’re better at this whole ‘mechanic’ thing, but that’s too much coincidence at once.
(Happy ending: I did get my grad app in on time.)

Mr. Norm Book of Earl’s Transmissions & Auto Repair is an absolute wizard in repairing old/​vintage cars. He sorted my wife’s 1940 LaSalle when nobody else wanted to touch it. If you need this type of specialized work done, contact Mr. Book.

I’ve taken my car (actually towed) to Earl’s when my rear differential went out last year. He did a great job repairing this, within a few days and at a reasonable price. I’ve referred a co-​worker to this shop and she also got a good deal for her car repair. I will continue to refer friends and co-​workers to Earls. –1 star for being difficult to find.