Tamm Auto Service

I’m an out of towner and had business at UCSF when my car took a dump.
Mr Tamm was straightforward, honest and repaired my car the same day and at a reasonable rate. I would highly recommend him.(He even gave me some good advice on the maintenance my Toyota would need in the near future to keep it running well for years to come).

Best auto shop in town I am aware of. Tamm is extremely reasonable, kind spirited, and will not do unnecessary work. The best most honest mechanic I have ever met. Longtime customers.

I always bring my car here for oil changes. They are quite busy but I always call in first to check the availability. The price is reasonable. Tam is honest and friendly. I recommend this place to my friend and family and they are happy with the service.

Have used Mr. Tamm for years – he is great, a fine mechanic and a good, honest man. Highly recommend.

Fast and friendly service. I will return here for all my repair needs!

If you don’t like Tha’s outstanding services, there is even a better guy 35 year veteran running Clement Auto just down the street on 33^rd. I only say this because I was waiting and waiting and waiting while Tamm was talking on the phone to his friends or family even while looking at me… and I thought this was ridiculous so I just left and the other guy on Clement was more respectful. Yep, both have more business than they know what to do with, but I think the Clement guy is just that much better…

not too reasonable. bt HEY! Tamm is my man! He is kind and honest.

I could not give a higher recommendation. I absolutely trust the mechanic at Tamm Auto. He is honest and he has helped me many, many times with my car. He has been my mechanic for almost 20 years now… and I know that my car is running «healthy and strong» because of his good work. I’ve been tempted to move out of SF due to the high housing prices… but I refuse to leave my awesome mechanic!

Tamm is good, and he’s honest. His prices are the cheapest, but he doesn’t sell you anything you don’t need. That’s what I like about him.

I needed to have my headlight bulb changed and I didn’t have time to do a lot of shopping around, so I just came here. My car was done in an hour and it was really easy to just drop it off and pick it up. Didn’t seem too busy for a weekend. As Kathleen S. mentioned, I too felt a little bit ripped off by the estimate I got and what I ended up paying BUT I think it’s the trade-​off of just doing it at the first place I saw and not even trying to negotiate the price. Anyway, price aside, they did a good job and fixed what I asked.

So very disappointed after reading all the positive reviews. Why is it that I can’t go alone to an auto shop without feeling like the mechanics start seeing dollar signs? I really need to learn how to change my own oil.
I went to Tamm, got charged $ 50 for an oil change PLUS $ 18 for a dipstick that the guy ordered without even consulting me first. Hmmm, fishy smell anyone? I should have gotten a solid quote before leaving them to think up fees for me – yes, that was my bad. Still, I had faith that these guys wouldn’t be as greasy as their suits.
$ 68.80 later, I called my boyfriend to confirm what I already knew — «I’ve been duped huh?» Thankfully my white knight called them up, chewed the owner out, and I got refunded money back to a new total of $ 45.00. The owner confirmed he overcharged me on the oil change and that he should have brought up the dipstick «issue» before ordering it and holding me to the $ 18.
Remember to always, ALWAYS get a solid quote from the mechanic, and NOT the cashier guy. Better yet, get it in writing. My trust is gone! I won’t be back here for any services, and even though they’re my nearest gas station, I think I’ll make a few extra blocks’ trip over to another station because I don’t appreciate what happened.

The mechanic is really friendly and has lot of knowledge

1. Tha was able to see me and take my car as late as 5:30/6pm during the week, and turn around the car within the next 24 hours.
2. We were able to communicate on car-​related issues.
3. While Tha did charge $ 115 for a diagnostic evaluation, he was very thorough in his assessment. He test-​drove it, agreed to drive it with me in order to hear my thoughts on the car, wanted to test-​drive it in the morning to see if the coldness would stimulate some of the driving issues I was talking about.
4. He identified and promptly fixed a problem that had eluded another mechanic at this place:
.
5. He also notified me of another problem that I had not mentioned, but did not pressure me to fix it.
I was very happy with his work. My car was a ’94 miata. I think Tha is particularly good in treating cars of this ‘vintage.‘
My only reservation was that there was a bit of a language barrier. It proved to not be a problem, but it did give me some anxiety about things. I still highly recommend him.

Tha has been my mechanic for years! My car is super old and he keeps it running! I am a single woman who needs a mechanic she can trust. I can trust Tha.

I live nearby and is my back-​up mechanic when something unexpected happens and it’s too difficult to get to my mechanic in Burlingame. The work I’ve had done here has always been fast, thorough, and at a fair price. I really like Mr. Tamm as a person as well.

Tamm is an ok mechanic. But I found him too willing to do work that didn’t need to be done, and he also took appointments for service that he then refused to honor. Most importantly, he was unable to determine why my emergency brake kept dragging and replaced everything except what needed to be replaced. Bottom line — he will get you running again and he can do maintenance, but I wouldn’t rely on him to solve any problems.

I’ve always had a sense of mistrust and suspicion about mechanics that are attached to a filling station — too many movies where innocent stranded travelers are fleeced out of their skins by roadside repair charlatans.
Well turn me over like gramma’s flapjacks, I have seen the light!
I was filling up my tank, and I realized that I was never going to get my brakes fixed and would die in a dramatic brake failure tragedy sooner than later if the wobble in my brakes was any indicator. I had ordered new parts online to save some cash, and stepped in to politely enquire as to the approximate cost to have the rotors and pads put on. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so when he quoted me just an hour’s worth of labor, I was pleasantly surprised.
I walked the three blocks home, and a half an hour later, got a very polite call, explaining that the rotors the catalog car parts place had sent were the wrong ones for the Jeep. D’oh! I had heard about similar clusterclucks from this company, so in a large way, I was not surprised. OK, so doing away with the idea of saving money, I realized the car’s up in the air, I was running out of time before I needed it back, and the brakes simply had to get done. How much to order the correct ones? Far more reasonable a price than I would have assumed. And how many days before they arrived? A half an hour. Whaaaaaaaat? That was the best news ever!
I gave the green light to go ahead and do that, still pleased at the cost, which was turning out to come in at less than half of what one of the chain establishments had quoted me. As I watched some TV, I suddenly thought about the car, up in the air, and I realized the oil hadn’t been changed in, well, at least two trips to Arizona. Eeeeeewwwwww. Phone rings again.
They were just checking the oil as part of their safe vehicle inspection, and saw how bad it was… I asked about the cost again, being unemployed at the moment, and was given a ballpark estimate for everything that was creeping up into not really a good idea zone. I really couldn’t afford it, but I knew how desperately the oil and the brakes needed to be done. Could he do the whole thing for no more than the exact number he gave to me? After a hesitation that implied «normally no, but you’re a nice kid and I understand your situation», he agreed, and a couple of hours later, I had a car that ran well, stopped on a dime, and still had grocery money left over.
We had a great conversation too, about the perils and pitfalls of ordering car parts online. Apparently getting sent the utterly, absolutely wrong thing is commonplace, and he told me several anecdotes about associates who had such ridiculous horror stories, I have vowed never to do it again, unless it was absolutely essential.
Anyone need a pair of new, unused brake rotors? Don’t say yes, if you drive a Jeep — they won’t fit!

Best auto service in SF! I have been coming here for almost 10 years now and I have been extremely satisfied with the service. I bring my car and all my family’s cars here whenever I have any issues and I am never disappointed with the results. Prices are extremely fair. I recommend this place to anyone looking for an honest, top of the line mechanic.

I have a piece of crap on four wheels that Volkswagen likes to call «a car». My 2001 Jetta has spent more time in the shop that with me — very long, and sad story.
While this peice of metal continues to burn a hole in my pocket, I decided to try a new service to get my breaks fixed. After endless amounts of Unilocaling, I decided to take it to Tamm Auto Serivice. I called and spoke to Mr. Ta and he was so incredibly kind over the phone. He gave me all the estimates for my car right then and there and said he could take my car immidiately.
After dropping off my car I got a phone call about an hour later — Mr. Ta explained to me exactly what I needed to have done. It turns out it was only my rear breaks that needed fixing. If I had taken my car to a dealership, without a doubt they would have told me I needed my front and rear breaks replaced, and maybe even more. Mr. Ta certainly wasn’t trying to take advantage of me as a (female) customer who knows nearly nothing about cars.
His prices were reasonable and my car is driving great. Thanks Tamm Auto Service!

I now have a car with free maintenance from dealership, but before that I had an Acura Integra and before that a Nissan Altima, and I would never bring them anywhere but to Tamm Auto Service.
Some Thai friends of mine recommended Mr. Tha (he is originally from Thailand) and I’m glad I went to see him. Also at first it was convenient because Tamm Auto was a couple blocks from my house, but even after I moved I continued bringing my car there.
I remember once I went somewhere and then my car couldn’t start and I called him. He spent the time to explain a few things I should check and when it was obvious there was nothing I could do he told me that if I could get the car towed to his garage, he would fix thing first thing the following day, which is awesome because at the time I definitely needed my car for work.
He’s super nice and always explained to me in detail if there was something wrong and I never felt I paid more than I should.
Recommended!