European Auto Factory

So, been having intermittent starting issues on my 02 93 SE for several years. Took car to several mechanics, replaced starter, battery (several times) and battery harness in attempt to fix the problem. Saab forums mentions non start issues with this year Saab so I knew the neutral safety switch (NSS) was an issue but what made the repair difficult was the car would start normal 80% of the time so mechanic could not duplicate. When I called Dan the first thing out of his mouth was NSS.
Calling Saab dealership (B&B now at a Volkswagen dealership), they asked that we bring the car in for a diagnostic — not once did they mention the Neutral Safety Switch, and in fact was trying to push me on other potential problems. One other place thought of NSS but was not 100% certain and since he could not duplicate decided against it. Dan over the phone was very confident it was the NSS so we gave him a try. Glad we did. Not only was he able to duplicate the problem, he checked over the rest of the car and found other items that needed tending to (car is older and admittedly has been a little bit neglected).
He is not the cheapest in town, but from my experience trying several different mechanics he is in line with other Saab «specialists» and lower then the dealerships, it’s all relative! He was also up front with all the options so there were no surprises.
Dan was professional, friendly and better yet, he really knows Saabs. So far so good with the non start issue — been almost a month. Unless the issue re occurs, we will be back to fix the other items because we know Dan will take care of the car. Thank you Dan!

Very nice people, who really know these particular cars. They took a look at my brakes for free on a walk-​in, which was very nice. This is a nice alternative for folks that want all OE equipment, but not dealer prices. This is NOT the cheapest shop around, but if you are maintaining a Swedish car that you plan to run for many many miles, these are your guys. My only complaint would be that they do not really offer any lower-​cost alternatives to the best-​quality repair. That may not be what you’re looking for, but for anyone who wants a «good» value instead of a «premium» repair, this may not be your shop.

I have been bringing my Saab here since I moved to the area 3 years ago. I wouldn’t trust any other place to work on it! Always fair and always fixed right. Service always great. Special mention to Dan who is awesome and goes out of his way to help.

dan has been servicing my mom’s saab for years, and he always does a great job patching it back up. he also agreed to take a look at my mini cooper. friendly, helpful, and they do good work

I have been coming to European Auto Factory to service my Volvo since I purchased the car in 2001. The mechanics have many years of experience as does Dan, «the man up front». He has a great personality, but most importantly, you can trust him to give you a straight evaluation of the car and its repair needs. He also provides you with options, when needed, so that you can make an informed decision. I am very happy to have been referred to them 14 years ago and will continue to use them for my service needs.

So far so great! I’ve been taking my SAAB in here for 2 years and have only had good experiences. The customer service is great and the quality of their work is top notch! I almost didn’t bring my car here based on some of the Unilocal reviews that complained the prices were high. So I took my car in somewhere else based on other reviews for a quote. Turns out the other place quoted me 3x the amount I was qouted here and since the other place wasn’t a SAAB specialist… I was told I had to pay to tow my car to SAAB service and pay their additional fee to program my computer in my car! European Auto Factory was able to program the computer their selves. I am so happy to have found this place… I LOVE my SAAB! Thanks for the good work and excellent service guys and gal!

We were referred to Dan by a dear and credible friend who has been bringing her Saab to Dan for eons. We were tired of working with a sea of people at B&B Saab so I was happy to try Dan out. My friend was right, you only work with Dan directly and he definitely is on top of things. The few times I brought my car in, he was efficient, speedy and thorough. I am SO GLAD we found him and he is very easy to work with. I am happy to recommend him!!!

This must be one of the gems in the valley. I used to take my Saab there. Now my daughter takes her Saab there, and I take my VW there.

I used to work for this shop some years back and must say it was the best shop I have ever worked in! The Techs are highly experienced and very Professional. I took my experience ro the next level and don’t mind sharing to future employers! Great shop and Awesome people!

Took our Volvo here for three years, they always treated us fairly and took good care of the car.

It’s not often a business can make up ground and change my review but fair is fair. After my engine light came on in my 2006 Saab 93 Aero, I Unilocaled to find a great mechanic. Because of my past experience with EAF, I did not want to go back. I took my car to another mechanic who after keeping my car for 2 days couldn’t give me a definite answer on the issue. Reluctantly, I called EAF and brought it in. WOW, what a difference in experience. Dan was courteous, informative and said they would let me know in a couple hours what they found. They quickly found the issue, coordinated with my extended warranty company and fixed my car in 2 days!
I am so happy to have tried them again and their expertise in Saabs.

Service price a little bit high but I trust them. Won’t be my first choose to take care my Saab but I always know I can trust those Saab guys!

People here are very friendly, but the repair charge is not so cheap. If you pay enough, they will give you legitimate service.

It has been a while since I used Swedish Auto Factory. While I used to think they were pretty good, there were a few things that led me to no longer use them:
— Twice after picking up my car, I drove away from the shop only to experience major driving problems. Found out they had forgotten to re-​attach some hoses. This happened on two different Saabs on two different occasions.
— Got new brake rotors and pads and started experiencing bad shimmies when breaking not long after. They didn’t notice any issue. It just got worse and worse. I eventually took it elsewhere and had to replace both again. No more warping problem.
— They replaced a part without my permission because they didn’t see it in my repair history there (because I had it done elsewhere). I was told about it afterwards. Unnecessary extra charge!
— Noticed my car mysteriously got a new license plate frame with their name on it. No thanks.

I’d give them five stars for the quality of the work done on my car, but maybe two stars for the value. Since I’m a little shell-​shocked by how much I just spent, I’m rounding down.
I know I put off getting my rear brake pads replaced, and they figured it was grinding metal to metal by the time I got it in. So far so good. The real reason why I was in such a hurry to get it in was the check engine light went on and I was worried that I might fry the engine. The code they got was for a misfiring cylinder and the first thing they tried was to replace the spark plugs. I knew I should have done it a while ago so no problem there.
As soon as I brought it in, I got an estimate for $ 250 to diagnose the check engine light and $ 50 ti check the brakes. I was somewhat desperate to get my car working that I said to heck with it. Maybe it was my fault for not walking away, but in the end I got charged about $ 450 for parts (not a problem since I did ask for higher performance aftermarket pads) and a whopping $ 750 for labor (including the diagnostic). I know I could have searched and found the parts for maybe $ 350 or less, but I have no issues when a shop orders parts. They replaced the fronts brake pads (little left), rear brake pads (nothing left and grinding), rear rotors, spark plugs (pricey OEM NGK Laser Platinums), and flushed the brake fluid,. The charge was an hour just for the brake fluid flush and two hours (boxer engine) for the plugs. Now I realize they probably just went by the flat rate manual for each service, but I’m thinking they actually managed to perform the services well under those times judging by when they called me and when they told me my car was ready. I understand a competent mechanic should be able to do the plugs in well under an hour.
I’ve read that they’ve been favorably compared to Art’s Automotive in Berkeley. I was a loyal customer there although getting my car there and then making it to work has been an issue since I no longer work in the area. I never, ever felt like I didn’t get my money’s worth at Art’s. They might quote an hour for a diagnostic, but if it only took a half hour they wouldn’t charge for the full quote. If a bunch of services could be combined, such as brake pads and flush together, they didn’t go by the shop manual time, but charged for what it actually took them. I remember a brake flush showed up as 10 minutes of work at Art’s. SAF charged for a full hour. I’ve even brought my car in a to Art’s few times, it took less than five minutes to adjust something, and Art or a mechanic said no charge.
I don’t know how else to describe it. If you’re on a tight budget, there’s probably other places you want to take your car. It kind of felt like shopping at Whole Foods. It was a nice enough experience and I knew my car was worked on by someone extremely competent. However, I couldn’t get over the sense that I could have spent several hundred less by taking it somewhere else.

I just finished my service with Swedish Auto Factory and I must say that this is the most professional auto repair I have taken my Volvo to.
I had my 1997 Volvo 850R worked on by another Volvo repair service and got duped for some work they didn’t know how to fix. Anyhow, Dan was the man who helped me get my 850R back to normal self. I’m glad he also took some time educating me on the repair being done to my 850R.
Thank you SAF and I will be returning here from now on to get my Volvo repaired and serviced in the future.

Took my aging Volvo XC90 T6 (155k miles) to SAF for the first time based on a friends recommendation.
It needed a full tune up, rear tailgate struts and brakes and rotors on all-​four wheels. The quote for all the work to be done was nearly $ 2200.
Ouch! But would have been higher at the dealership.
The car was done in a day. Dan the fellow who checked me in listened to my questions about other systems on the car and had the technician check out the transmission and turbos which I have always been concerned about. I got a report that was basically, both are working well and there are no codes in the computer that would give us cause for concern. Keep driving
But the best was that early in the day I got a call saying that my rear brakes still had 40−45% on the pads and could go longer.
Now how many times does a car repair shop tell you they would like to take $ 600 in repairs off your bill because they simply do not need to be done quite yet? HONESTY WINS MY LOYALTY!
Fast Service, Great Communication, Good prices, certainly much lower than the Smythe European dealer prices.
I’ll be back.

I have a red 2001 9 – 3 Convertible and I am very pleased with the service I received from SAF – most specifically from Dan, Stephen, and George.
My Saab was originally purchased in Durham, NC while I was in school and I took her on a 4,500 mile journey last summer back home to the Bay. When I arrived, I obviously needed a place to have her serviced, and I found a separate shop called «Parker Automotive» located up in Mtn. View (it had good Unilocal reviews, so I thought I’d would try it). I was having issues with my driver’s side window and various other problems (check engine light, general tune-​up, etc. etc.). If you read my review of Parker Automotive, you will see that I was less than satisfied (nice guy, though).
As such, I sought Unilocal once more to find a different Saab service center and, thankfully, I found SAF. First and foremost, when speaking on the phone with Dan – before even bringing the car in – I could tell that he already knew what was wrong with my car without even seeing it. I told Dan about my jammed driver’s side window problem – which had re-​surfaced – and he gave me his diagnosis (which was different from every other Saab shop I have been to). I was nervous because I thought, «this is going to cost me.» But, I was also optimistic because it seemed that they had found something that nobody else could.
I dropped my car off this past Tuesday and Dan was more than happy to listen to my laundry list of issues in the store (this was at 9 am, mind you, so I am sure he was still waking up). Dan immediately searched his inventory and told me how much he thought each part would cost and the associated labor costs that would come with installing said parts. I had never had that happen to me before – most of the time, a shop will install everything without telling you and then surprise you with the bill at the end. Even later that day, Dan called me to give me the complete run-​through on her and I knew exactly what I’d be paying. Great service.
She was ready to go the next day and I was given a list of other issues, sorted by priority, that also needed to be fixed in the future. Upon leaving the shop, the car ran smoother and I even realized that they installed a part on the car (a plug to cover up my broken on-​star antenna) and didn’t charge me for it!
This is the best part, however: Because one of my key fobs needed fixing, they had to reprogram my key system. As such, my other key would not work with the car. Therefore, I called Dan and he told me to bring the car back in (which I did today) and have that issue fixed. George – the man who was actually servicing my car – fixed the problem and even alerted me to some computer issues that had never been addressed (having to do with the alarm system, etc.). George told me that he fixed the problems, gave me my keys, and sent me on my way. I mean, the guy took about 30 minutes to fix another issue for me that they had not caught the first time and did not charge me for it.
In total I spent about $ 1,200 on repairs (but there were about 7 – 8 things done) and, so far, the car is running smoothly. As you can tell by the length of this review, I am very pleased with the service I got. Dan, George and Stephen (who I don’t believe worked on my car, but was still very kind to me while I waited) are very good guys and I will not hesitate to bring my car back. I even see that my car has now been inserted into their slideshow! So this gives them extra points.
Thank you very much.

I haven’t written a review in over 6 months… but I felt that I owed it to SAF to sing their praises after the ordeal I’ve been through with my car.
My Saab started smoking in the mountains on the way to Reno and I took it to a shop in Reno to get fixed. I really didn’t have a lot of choice to where I had it taken since it was out of the area and crappy Reno does not have a lot of options in the way of foreign car shops. It was nothing short of a nightmare. They had my car for two MONTHS and after $ 4500, my car still had issues.
This is wear Swedish Auto Factory comes in. I found them on Unilocal– the service was great from the start. Stephen is very service oriented while still being genuine. He was very sympathetic about what I’d been through with the garbage shop in Reno. I needed all the check engine light to be taken care of so that I could get my car smogged and registered. They fixed what needed to be done in a matter of days (over a holiday weekend, no less).
I never once felt like I was being taken or that there was any question that these guys know their Swedish autos. You truly can feel confident in what they tell you and they treat you with respect.
You owe it to your Swedish car to take it to the Swedish Auto Factory.

I’ll be back!
I brought my car in for its 60K mile service. It was comforting to see the front office and mechanical staff pull up in Saabs when the shop opened. They were very friendly, I felt the prices were fair, they were professional and now my car runs like a super champ. Two thumbs up!