Bayshore Automotive

I was on the east side of San Jose when the engine on my dependable 2002 Toyota Highlander started to shudder and lose power. I don’t think I had been stranded with a broken down car in almost 40 years!
I called a friend who lived nearby for a recommendation. He directed me to Tony at Bayshore, texting me his phone number. I called without hesitation; I was afraid of damaging the catalytic converter if I drove too far and a tow could get expensive.
Tony was on his way to lunch, but he would return in an hour to look at the car. I nursed the car four miles to Bayshore in short order and turned the keys over to Tony. The car needed a 60k service, so why not have it done while it was there.
Tony called a couple hours later. My ignition coil had failed. I told him besides plugs and the repair, let’s change any fluids that needed it. As you can imagine, this would be an open ended invitation to most shops.
The car would be done by end of the day on Saturday. Perfect.
I can’t say enough about Tony’s honesty. Rather than change all my fluids, he looked at them all and determined that only the power steering fluid needed attention. Besides that, a valve cover gasket needed replacing… spot on as I knew something was up; when I started the car, oil on the manifold was creating a big puff of smoke. Good catch! The air and cabin filter needed replacement. Totally legit after 60k miles. Besides that, things looked good!
I found Bayshore to be honest and reasonably priced. The car was delivered at the appointed time. Dealing with Tony was easy and pleasant. Although I live in Nevada, I am in San Jose often for extended periods. Bayshore definitely has my business. Hopefully next time it will be a planned service and not a breakdown! Thank you Tony!

I came in for an oil change and recommended by the mechanics to change filters as well because they are dirty and can help save mileages! He’s very nice and willing to negotiate the price!
I was able to get the discount of $ 20.
Highly recommended!!!

I went to this place to get a better price than what the dealer quoted me to change my timing belt, but also find a honest mechanic near my work place. Tony is a great owner who responded promptly and efficiently with his pricing plus recommend repair. He mentioned what the dealer recommended work on the car without me telling him. He prices his work reasonable and honest. Glad to have a reliable mechanic by work. Highly recommended.
By the way, the place is pretty clean.

I have been going to Tony at Bayshore Automotive for many years now. Always great service at reasonable prices. I trust his diagnoses. Everything always runs great after the repairs.

I love my mechanic Tony! He and the guys are great! They really know their engines!
I brough my Volvo S80 in for a tranny transplant in August. Before getting started, Tony took the time to point out the problems with my previous tranny. That was great! It gave me more perspective.
They did a great job! Coming back to get my suspension corrected.
See you soon Tony!

I’ve been going to Bayshore Auto Tech now for 4 years and have found Tony to be an excellent mechanic. He has checked out several mechanical issues with my cars and if they are minor, often hasn’t charged me for them. On the repairs that are major, I have found Tony’s work to be complete and fairly priced.

Excellent experience for a 2 timing belt replacement on our 2 cars. I like Tony’d attitude, and I think the mechanics are doing a good job.

Got an oil change for an avg price ($ 36.49) and got my change back in quarters. The owner wasn’t there this was one of his mechanics. Not to happy getting 14 quarters back.

I’m taking a break from reviewing the fine cuisine of San Jose to say something about my mechanic.
The shop has all the hallmarks of a well run shop that my father’s mechanic taught me to look for when I was young; the place is orderly, their licenses and certifications are displayed clearly, and any paper work you are presented with is clear and to the point.
Tony has done business with me in a consistent and very honorable fashion. When a sensor malfunctioned shortly after a big tune-​up/​maintenance service, he took care of it quickly and without additional cost. I wish I had found Bayshore much earlier… looking over old repair receipts, I realize just how much taking it to the dealership always was. Thank you, Bayshore Automotive!

I would like to start off by saying, «Thank you fellow Unilocalers.» From the first time I took my car here, I knew it was a match made in heaven. My car was making a really loud noise. I thought it was time to get a new car, but Tony pointed out that my tires were just warped. He reassured me my car was still good. I’ve always received a fair price. Lower than other quotes I received. Tony also pinpoints all the work needed, but he’ll let you know what repairs are the most important. Each time I’ve come, he’s thrown in extra service as a courtesy.

This is hands down the best automotive shop I’ve ever been to. Tony and his staff are highly skilled, but most importantly, you feel very safe with all of his recommendations. A lot of times, you get bombarded with mechanics suggesting your replace this and that after they do a check-​up, but Tony is VERY honest with his work. If you can get another 6 months out of your breaks, he’ll tell you that.
I took my car in for 3 different things but forgot to tell him about my headlight that was out. I asked him if he could replace the bulb and he told me that he wouldn’t charge labor on it, that I only had to pay the cost of the bulb. It ended up that the wires were short circuiting and it was frying the whole unit. Tony saved it, stayed true to his original word and still didn’t charge me for the labor. I thought that was very cool.
All I can say is he’s a good man who is very honest. I think this is a bit of a rare quality in this line of work.
As long as I’m in the San Jose Area, I will use Tony and Bayshore Automotive for business.
Highly recommended!

Been taking my Toyota here for a couple years now. No complaints! Tony’s crew always knows their stuff whenever I have an issue. And some of the other reviews say they’re expensive, but I disagree. I’ve called around to get a second quote, and Bayshore is always very competitive.

I rarely see a Unilocaler rates the same business three times and I have never rate a business three times. I am writing about Bayshore Automative for third time because I want to highlight three things:
1) Immediate clutch replacement service: those who own a manual car (or those who are car gurus) would know that replacing a clutch is a huge and expensive job. Most shops need a days or two to order the parts so they can work on the car, Bayshore Automotive can get the clutch work started on the same day. On the same day!
2) Loaner car: I do like their loaner car so I can drop off my car and then get to work. As far as I know they have one loaner car (well, cars ARE expensive) so patrons may not get a loaner car all the time. Be sure to get there early but still can’t guarantee you will get one if the only loaner car is with someone already.
3) AMEX!!! Bayshore Automative accepts American Express. That is huge for Starwood Amex holders like me. Now I can earn points from everyday stuff… like car repair!
All of the above on top of honesty and excellence; now that is icing on the cake.

This place is expensive, but reliable so far. I took my car here 2 weeks ago. Tony is a nice guy. Seems honest. They charged me $ 105 dollars for an inspection (even though I told them what the problem was already). After they «inspected» it, they called me and told me what the problem was — exactly as I suspected. I needed a new fuel pump. I’m not upset about that. But I don’t think they should have charged me for the inspection. The inspection charge is the hook, so you won’t go to another place. IMO it should be built into the labor done for the job.
Seeing as how they have my car taken apart, you’d think that they would include the inspection cost into the actual job because they don’t have to do that again, right? Not the case here. They charged me $ 105 in addition to the cost of the parts, which seemed about $ 100 dollars over priced and labor. Fuel pumps online for OEM are $ 250, but he quoted that part to me at $ 350. My total bill was $ 570 (after a $ 60 discount — I asked for one), when I was led to believe it would be about $ 100 less.
Kind of costly, but so far the service has been reliable. I got my car back in 2 days. This shop doesn’t work as fast as other shops I’ve been to. I usually would get the same day experience for a job like this. And for this price, I would expect more haste.
2 stars because I want you to read this. Make sure you find out exactly how much you’re paying before you go to this guy. There are cheaper places I’m sure, but I guess he might have felt he could stick me since I had to tow my car to his place and it wouldn’t start because it needed a new fuel pump. The work is good, so I should commend this place for that. But you know, you would expect that. I mean, that’s what you’re paying for.
I guess this guy has to make a living, but I’m not going here again. Too expensive.

All of the aforementioned problems seemed to right themselves after about a day. Somehow the computer reset itself and the car has been fine since. As promised, I reevaluated my review and came to this conclusion:
1. They need better training on how to service MKV VWs if something like the aforementioned problem was enough to throw off every mechanic in the shop.
2. The owner was apologetic and willing to make everything right even though he just up and left after realizing we had a serious problem with our car. The missing stars were due to this.
3. Despite the problems, the price was still $ 200 less than the dealership for the same service.

I’ve been here twice, once for an oil change and another time for a brake job.
I just got my brakes done today and am happy with the service and the price.
Normally I would go to the dealership to get things like oil changes and brakes done, simply because the dealership sends out coupons that make them semi-​competitive with the private mechanics. They havent done that in a while, so the window opened.
Hooray for Unilocal and the Unilocalers that took the time to write good reviews, I would not have this place otherwise.
Tony was professional, timely, and was able to give accurate quotes. He was able to make time for my oil change and for the brake service. In both instances I was in and out in hours.
If I had a vehicle that was no longer under warranty, I would be coming here more often (well hopefully not bc you never want to go to mechanics for anything other than oil changes!).
I will be coming here soon for another oil change and a new air filter.
He seems trustworthy and this is an important thing for a mechanic.

My 5 yr old car started shaking out of the blue so i brought it here to which Tony suggested a tune up. After the work is done I pay and leave. Within 2 miles of leaving the shop, something came loose and my car started to jerk violently with a high squealing sound. I got him on the phone and he suggested I bring the car in the next day. I told him to look at it now.
Once back in his shop, he and his crew spent the rest of the day figuring out the issue. By closing time he told me it might be due to a valve malfunction and to come back the next day to have that work done. I wasn’t going to take any more chances with these guys so I took my car elsewhere.
In summary, the visit here caused more detriment to my car than when it was originally brought in.
Complaint filed with BAR.

While changing my turn signal bulb myself (because, honestly, it wasn’t that hard), I noticed there were TONS of scratch marks – deep scratch marks – alongside the light. There were at least a dozen, and they’re not the kind that can be buffed out.
Thanks to Bayshore Automotive for permanently defacing my car.
Do NOT bring your car to Bayshore Automotive!

I took my 2002 VW Beetle Turbo here today to get looked at and unforuntately they don’t service VWs with Turbo.
I did get excellent service though. The gentlemen helped me by finding two other places that I could take my car to and that was really nice.

I took my 2000 Jeep Cherokee to him after reading Unilocal reviews, and everyone gives this guy five stars for a reason… he’s amazing!
He is so nice and offers reliable service without trying to sell you a bunch of crap you don’t need. He took care of my car in one day and i didn’t have to take out a loan to pay for it.
Awesome!