Royal Auto Group of San Francisco

I wanted to give Royal Auto a try since my first 10,000 mile service is free. So what’s not to like? Here is a list:
My air conditioner stopped working in my almost-​brand new, gross-​polluting TDI. Upon pick up, I was told the problem was identified and fixed. A few days later I turned on the AC and nada. Then I read the service paperwork carefully which stated that no problem with AC was found but the software was reset.
Called «service» consultant back and left a message. Didn’t hear back until five days later after I decided it may be prudent to fill in the customer service survey. Got a nice call back from both the consultant and manager. Consultant said «just bring it by and we’ll take a look.» I wanted to schedule a service appointment as something obviously needs fixing and I wanted to minimize the number of trips to SOMA but was asked to just swing by which I did. After describing the problem for the third time in person, VW told me to schedule a service appointment for another day!!!
I advised that I can’t use taxi or über for my job to which VW replied «no worries»! «We have a loaner car available so I made an appointment for 9am this morning. Showed up at 9 and no loaner car. So VW told me «it won’t work out for today.»
Now playing phone tag with «service» manager. VW clearly have NO respect for my time. My «free» service has turned into two hours misspent running to Royal Motors and a lost client meeting. I’ll be taking my business elsewhere from now on.

TL: DR summary: Use them only for work that REQUIRES a dealer. If you have any wiggle room in where you go, go somewhere else.
My story:
I have a Volvo but my issues are not Volvo specific, its more of a lack of communication and ability in the place
I had someone break a window on my car and called Volvo to ask if they could fix it (Safelite was unavailable), and it was an insurance claim.
Concierge just sent me to the parts dept without really talking with me, which I guess is fine? Parts said they found the piece and would order it for me and then let me know once it comes in. But they said, its usually 1 – 2 days so make an appt to have it replaced.
So far, so good!
So I make an appt for the following Monday, no issues.

Honestly, I’ve had mixed reviews about this place. Service has been mediocre ever since I purchased my Mazda from them.
However, my recent interactions with Matt (service rep for Mazda) has been awesome! Matt has a great attitude and he definitely prioritizes customer services. He is meticulous in hearing my concerns about my car and makes sure they are all addressed during the service. He also personally threw in a car wipe-​down and vacuuming! Also, he took care of a discrepancy in my previous record without me even asking about it. Really loved my experience here with Matt and would hope to work with him again.

I called the concierge to see if needed repairs to my nearly brand new car would be covered under warranty. They assured me they would be cover fully. I brought the car in and they immediately reneged on that claim they had made over the phone. I called Volkswagen and was told that it was up to the service manager whether or not they would cover it as the part could be considered a «wear and tear» item. I ride a motorcycle and have been driving standards my entire driving life. I know how to operate a clutch and have never had one burn out. My car had a hair over 3000 miles on it. Yet the service manager at Royal decided that my clutch failed as the result of user error. I had to go through 3 supervisors at VW corporate to get it covered. When I finally got VW to agree to pay for the warranty repair the service manager refused to accept that and I had to call VW corporate again! My car was in the shop for two weeks. The staff at royal was rude, uncooperative, and seemed downright sleezy. At the end of it all they refused to cover the full amount of my cab fairs despite the fact that it was well under what a rental would have cost me. Avoid this place like the plague and take your car to a reputable dealer outside the city.

I have been here several times over the last 8 years and I can’t think of a single aspect of my visits that I didn’t like.
Really well run organization and as I found out just recently the pricing is super great. I checked with Midas about getting 2 new tires, which would have been around $ 500 and here it cost $ 350. I was suprirsed.

I bought a brake light bulb here, but had trouble deciding which bulb went where. Service manager Kevin Johnson analyzed the problem and placed the bulb in the right socket at no charge. Much appreciated!

this place is the worst. take your car elsewhere and save your money and precious time for people who actually care.

These guys doing great work. i come this 2 times the are quick and responsible. thank you erik

Clean facilities, friendly and helpful staff, and high quality work. I’ve taken my 2015 Audi S6 there for my 5K and 15K service and they’ve been great! Not sure why there are so many bad ratings, because my experience was top notch.

Patty at Volvo service was AMAZING. She saved me a ton of time by reviewing my warranty terms and took a quick peek under the hood to check my oil etc! She brought out Mike from service for a quick consult before sending me on my way.
Ladies — go see Patty! This lady knows her Volvos!
Craig for VW was awesome. He changed my VW keychain batteries on the spot.
Matt (greeter/​check in for Audi) couldn’t be any nicer. Take your cars here! Easy in/​out and they even pay up to $ 20 in taxi fares anywhere you need to go if they can’t shuttle you close by. Love the service here.

Super friendly, helpful and efficient! I also had a mark on my car and they took it right off for me on the spot.

This is an update to my previous 1-​star review since the team contacted me after I posted my original review and then demonstrated that they are capable of delivering 5-​star service. I’m keeping the overall at 3 stars since my previous visits were 1 – 2 star experiences, but if the service I got last week is indicative of their current procedures, the rest of the reviews for them should be 5 stars. The good from my most recent 5-​star visit:
— They performed the recall repair and fixed my stereo issue in less than one day
— They had my car ready by the time I requested in the afternoon
— They offered me the option of a loaner car or reimbursement of my full taxi/​über expenses while my car was being repaired
— Matt, the service person who greeted me, spent time to understand the issues clearly and then followed up with an email after my visit to make sure everything worked fine
— Erik, the service manager, met with me personally to make sure my issue was resolved
— Erik helped load my heavy bags into the car before I left
The 1 – 2 star experiences were driven by the fact that I had to take my car in multiple times for a stereo issue that started when my car was only 2 months old, and it wasn’t fixed until last week (almost 3 years since it started), and also the fact that they wouldn’t commit to a pick up time before end of day on any of my previous visits.

Just want to give a big shout out and THANKS to Johnny Liu over at Royal Motors Audi Service in San Francisco. I was just heading out of SF on a camping trip with my daughter in the car, camp gear packed and the brake light replacement light came on! I went to the Audi Service Department without an appointment and Johnny not only replaced that bulb on the spot, he replaced ALL of them! I was back on the road safely in minutes — with a smile on my face and new lights! We love taking our Audi A3 here and can always depend on excellent advice, care and maintenance! Thanks Johnny!

1 start for the lady who helped set up my appt. everyone sucks. Three ppl can’t make an appointment and in front of me they’re discussing that I should have just called. Additionally, there was no sympathy as I told them that my car literally did not work for. This is my 4^th Audi and I came here a few times now I remember why I chose to purchase from walnut creek Audi and not come here for service.

I have been «Loyal to Royal» for the past 5 years. I have purchased three different vehicles from this outfit and I plan to return when/​if I am in the market for another VW, Audi or Volvo.
In 2008, I traded in my old VW Jetta for a sporty Volvo C30. It was a great car and the right decision. Initially, when I was strolling the lot, I avoided making eye contact with any of the sales people because I really wasn’t sure what I was doing there. I simply wanted to take a «look» at the possibilities. I was pretty sure I would just upgrade to a newer Jetta.
I met one salesman who was particularly engaging and not at all doing the «hard sale» routine. His name is Chris McIrvin. From the start, Chris made me feel at ease. He was honest about the product he is selling.

This review is for Johnny Liu. He is a great Audi advisor who provides excellent service. Johnny was very attentive, responsive, and went through all the details of the problem with me.
My Audi is brand new, I bought it from Royal Motors less than four months ago. About a month and a half after I bought the car, the MMI unit stopped working — the screen and all the buttons in the center console were off. By the time I took the car to my appointment, the screen had come back and was working fine. Chris Sung was my advisor at the time and all he did was to install a software update. When I came back to pick up the car he didn’t really explain anything and he obviously didn’t bother to investigate the problem further.
Last weekend, the same problem occurred again, except that this time it did not come back on its own. I drove down to Audi Services and the Saturday advisor told me I could bring the car on Monday at 7am that Chris Sung would take a look. When I got there on Monday, Chris said «who told you you could come in without an appointment?». Uh, ok… I understand I need an appointment, but first of all the Saturday advisor told me a could go… second, that’s not how you treat a customer. In fact, Chris Sung ALWAYS talks to customers as if he’s doing them a favor.
I made an appointment and asked to be helped by a different advisor. Luckily, Johnny Liu was the person who received me when I got there today. Again, he was very attentive! He called a few hours later to let me know I could pick up the car and when I got there, Johnny explained everything — unfortunately my car will require more service, he had to order a new part for the malfunctioning MMI unit. But at least he provided the type of service and treatment that’s expected from a luxury brand like Audi.
The defect in my MMI unit came from the factory, it’s very disappointing that’s happened to a brand new car. The guys in the sales department, who sold me the car, don’t get back to my emails… in fact, don’t ever expect them to get back to you after you submitted your great reviews in the surveys they send you after you buy your car. They really care about the surveys, not necessarily about you or your car.
But again, this review is for Johnny Liu in the service department and he deserves a good one.

This review is for their Mazda service department.
My girlfriend took her 2012 Mazda 3 in for a routine 22 500 service on a Thursday morning. We arrived 10mins early from our appointment time and told that the service would run ~$ 130. Kinda pricey for an oil change, tire rotation, inspection, and fluid top-​off. In anycase we settled-​in the waiting room and 2.5hrs go by without a word from the service advisor. Several people, who arrived after us, finished and left while we continued to wait. Ugh. Now I understand that service centers can get busy, but 2.5hrs for a routine service on a weekday when there were not a lot of other cars is unacceptable.
Around 11:30, the service advisor pops in and says the car is ready. His original estimate is accurate ($ 130, kudos to that) and we were told that a valet would bring the car around. We went to the waiting area, but no sign of the valet for over 30mins. He finally arrives and says the the technician who worked on the car (Michael Vaughn) went to lunch but still had the car keys in his pocket. Seriously???
I’d recommend taking your Mazda elsewhere to be serviced.
The only reason why this is not a one-​star review is that the waiting room staff is actually quite nice. The waiting room sliding door sensor was malfunctioning, so one of the Audi service advisors came by multiple times trying to fix the sensor and apologizing for inconvenience.

SHADY. STAY AWAY. My car got broken into and I needed to replace my window so I called around and was pleasantly surprised by how fair the pricing at Royal was. I even triple checked the price with a lady named Dora and she assured me that’s all I needed to pay. Cool. So I get there and they tell me it’ll be an EXTRA $ 500 for labor. I’m sorry, what? I was pissed. On top of that, I had to drive my broken car back home and take an Über to work. A customer service rep said they reimburse Ubers up to $ 20. Mine was only $ 11 and they refuse to reimburse me. So I wasted gas, money, and time here. Oh! And they charged me TWICE! This business sucks. Save your money and go somewhere else.
UPDATE: Dora’s manger, Jim, reimbursed me for my Über. He’s nice.
The business is still shady and doesn’t even deserve 1 star, though.

I took our audi q7 for checkup. I was told that because of draught they can’t wash the car. I asked for detailing inside and the service guy stated they wouldn’t do that either! what kind of service is that ??
When i went to get the car back, they handed it to me without turning off the service mode. So i asked one of the guys in the service desk to take a look. This guy had no idea how to turn it off but kept ‘man-​handling’ the MMI console and turning on and off the car. I watched for 30 seconds and then told him to get someone who would know how to do that. Why would you keep trying and mess up something when you don’t know what you were doing ??
Never taking the car back to these guys!

I scheduled an appointment to have my car serviced on a weekend. The customer service was good. Within 15 minutes they got the paperwork completed and took the car to the maintenance area. I was told I would get a call when the work was finished. About 3 hours later, they called me and said everything was ready.
I’m used to getting shuttle service for small maintenance jobs and a loaner for longer maintenance jobs but Royal Audi doesn’t have either. Instead they provide a maximum of $ 20 reimbursement for a cab ride per visit.
Complimentary car wash is not provided either. Considering the overall experience, I’ll probably take my car someplace else for service.

I had a great experience with Royal Audi Service. I put too much oil in my car’s engine after getting the low oil indicator light and only realized my big mistake upon starting the car.
I had the car towed to the nearest Audi service station — Royal Audi. We reached there at 5:30pm, 30 minutes before close. I was treated well and Klever helped me out and got a technician to start work on my car even though they were basically done for the day.
I was able to pick up my car late morning the next day and it was back to normal. They charged me a very nominal fee.
I am impressed by the quality of service and attentiveness at Royal Audi Service.

Great Service, thank you for saving me. Capitol VW in San Jose quoted me over $ 600 parts and another $ 500 in labor and I knew that was not the case. They had done the same thing 6 months ago for a different issue which another dealership then diagnosed as a fuse that was out.
After Royal Audi looked at my car, with parts and labor it was a $ 355 fix! Proving that Capitol VW was again wrong and it was just as I had diagnosed.
They are awesome, fit me in the next day after my desperate plea for help, were informative and also they cover up to $ 20 for a taxi if you need a ride home.

You know the Bay area economy is good when the service department is full of brand new Audi’s being serviced… A4s, A6s… A8…holy moly so many Audis.
Royal Audi Service is very efficient and does a great job. Brought the ride in for 20k maintenance and a nail in the tire… which was not a big deal.
They do the work on time and have great communications.
Added bonus that they are across the street from Ted’s deli… pickup a fresh Turkey sandwich and an oil change… booyeah!!!