Five Star Automotive

I don’t know why some people are saying that these guys are dishonest. They have always given us excellent service for reasonable prices over the years. I trust these guys a lot more than some random mechanic who wants to bypass proper service. They might get away with some cheap attempt to eliminate or bypass systems that are built into the make and model of a car, and I can see why some people who are desperate might try to go that route, but that is not really the right thing to do for a professional mechanic. This shop has done great work for reasonable prices for us on several of our cars over the years. I can trust them to do the RIGHT thing, not necessarily the cheap and inappropriate thing, to keep our family safe and sound.

My car died while getting off the freeway and they took care of us quickly. Their prices are very reasonable and customer service was fantastic. They’re close to home, which is great, unfortunately, they’re closed on weekends.

This is my new favorite mechanic. After moving away from the south bay I’ve neglected my car as my normal mechanic is too far to visit. After a year or so of pushing off service and doing crappy work myself I brought my Jetta in to the guys at Five Star Automotive expecting to drop a gigantic wad of cash on the counter. Not the case. I got out of there with a car with a clean bill of health, all new shiny parts and no more annoying beeping when I start my car for a quarter of what I expected.
⁵⁄₅ across all categories of service.

A HUGE thank you to Five Star Automotive! We were quoted by the FORD dealer that we needed $ 2400 in repairs to our car. My husband called Five Star to get their opinion and a quote from them and Brian at Five Star said, «that should be covered under your warranty.» So my husband called the dealer back and it WAS! Five Star is a business that operates with integrity and honesty! This is the second time they have caught something like this and sent us back to the dealer to get something fixed under warranty rather than just fix our car to get business for themselves. I cannot recommend them highly enough! And we have had them do plenty of repairs as well, and they always do a great job.

I have been meaning to review them for a long time. My last experience here was a year and a half ago, I always got the feeling they were expensive but being a young female and not knowing what was right I trusted them. The last straw was when I wanted a tune up for a drive to LA on my Dodge Neon. The owner recommended a new timing belt, I had no idea what that was but he said if that ever went out my car would be dead. He quoted me for $ 850! I was shocked and didn’t have the money. I called my cousin to ask for her advice and she said that was a ridiculous price. She recommended her mechanic and he did the work for $ 350!!! And the worst part was the timing belt was absolutely fine. This place is way over priced. Only come here if you have money to waste. If not, get other quotes.

These guys rock!!! Brian and Brian always take great care of me. I recently had some work done and everything was great. A couple days later my check engine light came on so I took it back in. After diagnosing the problem it was determined that a small part on the engine was inadvertently damaged while replacing my power steering pump. They did not hesitate to take full responsibility for their mistake and replaced the part. I will never take my vehicles anywhere else.
Greg J

I didn’t even get work done here. I walked in to get a quote on suspension work but the rude associate who was there at 11Am on 2÷6÷2014 asked me «what do you need?» After telling him, he told me «I’m too busy to give you a price right now, I have customers to call back, you can wait about an hour and I’ll tell you how much.» What a moron, i’ll never give my money to a rude business.

As I said earlier if the work was right I’d up the rating.
Since my last review I’ve brought my other cars here for work. The prices and work are great. I’ve had them do a timing belt on one of my cars and general work on the other.

I came here a couple months ago with my 2005 Dodge Neon. I was given an estimate of $ 2273.63… well beyond what we could afford. Luckily, my mom was going out of the country for a few months, and so she let us drive her car while I figured out what to do about the Neon, since it was not drivable until I got the work done.
My mother is returning soon so, a week ago, I contacted an independent auto mechanic to come take a look at the car, thinking that at the very least he would charge less for labor and we could save a bit of money. The car is completely fixed now and it cost us a grand total of $ 80. EIGHTY DOLLARS!!! Verses an estimate of ~$ 2300!!! I had been warned about auto shops taking advantage of young females who don’t know much about cars, but I didn’t realize just how corrupt some auto shops could be.
I’ll address each item on the original estimate separately:
1. The A/​C Compressor. I was told it was completely burnt out and that I would need to replace it. I did my own research and found out that, if you didn’t care about having A/​C or couldn’t afford to replace it, you could get a «bypass pulley» or «eliminator kit.» Basically, this completely eliminates the need for an A/​C compressor. I called 5-​Star and asked them about this. They told me it was impossible for my make and model of car. The mechanic I hired informed me they were lying and that this is what he recommended. The eliminator belt cost $ 20 and he charged $ 60 for labor. 5-​Star quoted me $ 1052.36 for this job alone, since they insisted I NEEDED to replace the compressor.
2. The Engine Computer. I was told that mine was broken and I would need to replace it. The total for this job was $ 909.20. Except for… there’s nothing wrong with it. The mechanic I hired took a look and said it was totally fine. They had lied to me.
3. A/​C Service: Refrigerant and Dye. I specifically told them that I did NOT NEED the A/​C to work, but they still insisted that I needed this work done. This totaled $ 137.
So, at the end of it all, 5-​Star Automotive tried to charge me $ 2300 for a job that should have been less than $ 100. I don’t know how these people sleep at night. When they handed me the estimate in their office, I broke down in tears because I became so stressed out — how would I get to work? How could I afford the repairs? Etc., etc. Still, they had no moral qualms about overcharging me by over TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. I’m a 22-​year-​old female fresh out of college. I don’t have nearly that amount of money. The car itself is only worth about $ 4500.
Some of these other reviews say that the people at 5-​Star are good and honest men. My experience says differently. Maybe I got a «bad» mechanic, or maybe they could tell I wasn’t knowledgeable about cars and thought I’d be an easy target. Either way, I’ll be telling everyone I know to avoid this place, and I’ll be recommending my HONEST mechanic to them. STAY AWAY FROM 5-​STAR AUTOMOTIVE.

Very honest mechanics. Took care of my Acura, and they got the car out of the shop at a very reasonable time. Charged a fair and reasonable price for a change on the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket.
I highly recommend coming to this place! Everyone there is very friendly and will get you taken care of!

Brian is the best — honest and trustworthy person — took care of my car

My wife has been going to Five Star for awhile and has been satisfied. I have been bringing my car to the dealership for light maintenance. Recently, they informed me that I would need some work done, totaling about $ 2500. This was more than I wanted to spend. I received a quote from Five Star for about $ 1500, a savings of $ 1000! I was pleased with the professionalism and reasonable pricing. I want to thank Brian and his team. One question that I have for myself… Why wasn’t I already coming here.

This repair facility is tops in honesty. They will tell you if work doesn’t need to be done, or can be safely done later. That’s tops in my book! Any car repair work done in the S.F. Bay Area isn’t cheap, but eliminating or suggesting delaying non-​necessary work can really help ones auto repair budget! They’re big enough to have the equipment to properly repair your vehicle, but small enough for really personal service (the service guy knew my vehicle when I called without looking it up in their computer system!). They seem to specialize in Dodge vehicles, but can probably handle other vehicles.

Took my 2003 Dodge Dakota 4X4 to Brian to try to finally solve an overheating problem I’ve had since last fall. Prior to this I had two separate diagnostics done, one of which at the dealer, and I got the ‘we can’t find anything wrong’ answer each time. The last overheating required a 120 mile tow back home. Within an hour of explaining my problem over the phone and bringing the truck in, Brian had the entire problem diagnosed and a very reasonable cost for the work that was much less than what the dealer would have charged. The work estimate was 2 days but I got a call within 24 hours that the work was done. The truck has performed since then in very hot weather with full A/​C blasting without even coming close to an overheat. I have found a place for all my future repair work that I trust.

I have been taking my car to Five Star for 5 years now and trust Brian with my car. I felt comfortable the first time I took my car there and as a women I usally feel unsure about trusting an auto shop. But not with Brian at Five Start, he gives you the story straight.

A couple of weeks ago, 5 star replaced the electric radiator fan on our PT cruiser. Yesterday, the car overheated and began smoking, so we had it towed back to 5 star. Brian, the owner called me to apologize. He explained that the fan he had installed was defective and seized, and now needs to be replaced again. Because he has to get another fan brought in, the car won’t be ready until tomorrow afternoon. All repairs would be made for free of course, and he would like to pay for the cost of the tow and rental car. 5 Star had the bad luck of installing a defective part, and yet he offered up front to stand up and take the heat. This is the kind of customer service you can expect and depend upon from these folks.
BTW, our tow was covered by insurance, the lost work time was chalked up to a half day sick time, and the rental car was cheap, so had I accepted Brian’s offer, our net loss would have been zero. However, Brian and 5 Star should not take the full brunt of responsibility for a defective part. He’s already going to have to redo a job that was done well the first time. So, I told him we’d split the rental car cost.
I’ve lived in concord just over a year, and count myself fortunate the Brian and Five Star are in business. I’m nearly 60 years old, and I’ve spent a good bit of time working on cars and other machinery. It’s my view that Integrity counts for something and should be rewarded, which is why I’m writing this post. Five Star Auto in Concord gets my vote, and should get yours too.

I previously reviewed this establishment for work that I thought was sub-​par. After my review I was contacted by the owner of the establishment regarding my review. He offered to investigate the information in my review and that he was sorry for my experience. I was not interested in having this done due to that fact that the work had been done some time ago. I was pleasantly surprised at this gesture of good will and because of that I am updating my rating.

Every woman needs a mechanic she can trust. It doesn’t get any better then having Brian Andrews and his assistant (also named Brian) oversee your car maintenance. For quality and care about the client, these guys beat everyone HANDS DOWN! When I first started going there I called around to compare pricing. I don’t even do that anymore because 5 Star Auto was always lower. These guys are absolutely the best. I HIGHLY recommend them for auto maintenance needs!