Don & John’s Automotive

This place is great! Friendly staff, fair prices and I liked that they had good customer return.

I have been coming to see Tony and his crew at Don and John’s for years. Probably 15 years. I can always count on honest, fantastic work. If the job is hard… TOny will tell you ahead of time. He will let you know what the possible complications are… the cost could go up. But don’t worry… he does NOT overcharge if the job is less complicated. The bill will be less. Imagine that.
You can count on the business to be prompt and courteous. A pleasure to do business with and I plan to come back again and again in the near and distant future!

Some of the best customer service I have ever received! Honest, patient, and flexible! I was told by another dishonest mechanic that my truck needed a new fuel pump. Went here to see if I could get a better price. Not only did they beat the price by $ 200, after they ordered the pump they tested my old one and found it to be working fine. The owner Tony continued to diagnose the problem, allowing me to test my truck for a week before even paying. In the end the problem was solved and I wasn’t even charged for the last bit of work done. They had every opportunity to gouge me and chose not to. This type of integrity is almost impossible to find. I will never, ever, EVER go to another mechanic. Thanks again!

Found My New Primary Care Mechanic!
Thanks everyone for the great reviews for Don&John’s. I actually found these guys on the AAA website, but your comments helped a lot. Like you said, these guys are a class act. I just had a simple maintenance service, but Don&John’s performed great! More importantly, they didn’t try to push any unnecessary services on me — very straight forward. Prior to Don&John’s, I’ve been going to the GMC dealership, but Don&John’s seem to have even more knowledge and capabilities about my car than the dealership. To top it off, their charge for this service was 50%+ less than the dealership. Definitely recommend them for your auto care!

While visiting my brother my car had a loud noise that sounded like it was falling apart. My brother and his wife recommended Tony at Don & John’s Automotive. They found and fixed the problem (alternator bolt had come loose) and I was able to drive safely home to southern California. They were friendly, efficient and effective. I really would recommend them to anyone.

Went there for Smog Test, good efficient, fast and very reasonable, got a AAA discount and the guy at front desk was very courteous and honest

Needed to get my car smogged and saw on the BAR website that they were CA certified. Called them to see what they charged; they had great phone etiquette, let me know the price on the spot. I decided to drop in (since my smog was overdue, lol). The front desk guy was very nice and polite. Let me know that it would take about 30 minutes for the service. It ended up taking about 15 minutes. Great service and attitude. Would definitely come back.

Good car service and good people. Would go here again.
Fixed some issues with Infiniti G37.

I purchased struts online for my Nissan Murano and looked for a local place that can install them. Gave these guys a try based on the good reviews on Unilocal as well as on Tirerack. Tony was very professional in giving the initial quote on the phone as well as in-​person when I dropped off the car.
I picked up the car at end of the day and the strut installation was great. They also did an alignment which also worked out great. I usually tend to do my own maintenance on cars so I inspected their work thoroughly and it looks very well done. BTW, their price was lower than some of the other shops I called.
All in all, a great experience. I’ll certainly head back to Don & John’s for services on my other car.

I took my 1991 Jeep Cherokee Limited there for front end work and a complete check out using the Triple A Diagnostic form. They found a few other items that needed to be fixed but did not try to have me do work that did not need to be done. Tony was very honest in his dealings with me. The work they did was well done — although I have only driven the car about 100 miles since the work (two days ago). I noticed a big improvement in how the car drove and handled.
Don, Sunnyvale

I have been taking my 2000 Honda Civic to Don & John’s Automotive since July of 2011. I’ve had multiple repairs done (brakes, battery installation, alignment, & transmission service). Tony was professional and I’ve had no problems with any of the repairs. Estimates of repairs were clear and the work was always completed in on time.
The best thing about Don & John’s is their honesty in the work they do. During the brake job, I knew my front brakes needed service, but I wasn’t sure about the state of the rear brakes. The rear shoes and drums had never been replaced after 135 000 miles so I was expecting them to be replaced. Tony, however, told me that they were still in good shape, and did not need to be replaced. I trust Don & John’s Automotive which will keep me going back to them in the future.

I agree with all reviewers. I have been at this place more than once, and I am very happy with it. I never went back to the dealer for my car maintenance or repair because they charge too much. How often do you see an average 5-​star review on Unilocal,auto repair or restaurants? It is equivalent to a «perfect ten» on gymnastics.

This place is the cleanest and most trustworthy shop around. Tony the owner is a very trustworhty person and nice to work with. He gives you an honest estimate and always tells you if there is anything else he thinks your vehicle will need. I always take my vehicles to him for service or work. Thanks Tony.

Two of my neighbors highly recommended Don & John’s. I’m glad I finally went there. From now on I’ll take my car here for everything. No more Ford dealership nonsense for me.
This is a small, clean locally-​owned operation. Now that I’ve asked around, it seems that many of neighbors love this place.
I had them fix part of my exhaust system because the CHECK ENGINE light has been on for a few months (don’t ask). Instead of replacing it, they explained they can remove it clean, throttle it, and replace it for half the price of replacing it. That’s music to my ears. The office manager was very friendly and patient, and he explained all my options very well. They also have a Night Owl service where you can drop off your car late at night. That’s an absolute must for me.
If you live or work in Santa Clara or Sunnyvale, I would highly-​recommend checking out Don & John’s.

We’ve been taking our cars to Tony for about 7 years now. I first switched to Don and John’s because I was tired of being treated like an idiot by the dealership we were frequenting. I also didn’t trust their mechanics when they told us work needed to be completed on our vehicles. I trust Tony completely and recommend him to my family and friends all the time.
His prices are comparable to a dealership, so slightly higher than some independent shops — but more than worth it in my book.
The shop itself is extremely clean and it’s obvious that all the staff take pride in their work place.
Don and John’s is the only place we’ll take our cars for servicing and repairs.

I am surprised I haven’t reviewed them earlier. I have been using Don and John’s for probably 15 years.
The review is simple: Absolutely, completely dependable in every way. Cleanest, most organized shop anywhere. Tony Gordon is 100% trustworthy and thoroughly competent. On the rare occasions when the work was better done elsewhere (mounting tires on large, allow wheels; and a finicky convertible top mechanism), he said so.
This is the only place I take my cars. I order tires from
and deliver them to Tony for installation.
Total thumbs up for Don and John’s.

Excellent, honest and good people to deal with. I took my car here for smog check and check up, got the AAA discount without any fuss and got a detailed honest appraisal of the work needed.
Would recommend and I plan to go there for all my car needs.

My wife and I have been customer of Tony between about 2004 and 2009 for our Honda Civic 96 and Subaru Outback 98.
In addition to regular maintenance, we’ve had timing belt replaced on both vehicles and quite a few other works done by Tony and his team.
We have always be very satisfied with the results and price, impeccable service and very friendly and courteous approach to customers. Also worth mentioning: it is the cleanest shop I have ever seen and we use to get 10% off up to $ 100 by presenting our AAA card.
We are really missing him since we moved out of the South Bay!

Tony’s shop is an excellent place to take to get your car serviced. You need to make an appointment or use the «Early Bird» drop off box if you’re not going to need your car the next day for work. Tony is expensive but you can tell that he knows his business about keeping a VERY CLEAN SHOP. You can tell he takes pride in his shop cause if you look at the work area where they fix cars, the floor and tool boxes are well kept and not dirty and disorganized. Tony is a no «BS» service advisor either. He fixed a muffler noise that I told him about for free. The problem was a piece of loose wire hanging from the chassis. He could’ve easily swindled me into replacing the muffler or charged for some extra service, but he didn’t. I have checked around for the same 100+ mile service for Jeeps and Tony’s shop is about 10−15% higher. That is only reason that I’m giving them 4 and not 5 stars. Like I said earlier, he’s expensive, but VERY TRUSTWORTHY and I am a current customer of his shop for about 5 years.

I’ve taken two cars here for their 60k services. Tony, the manager (and owner, I think) is very conscientious, responsive, and detail-​oriented. He patiently went through the maintenance schedule with me and answered all my questions. After I commented on the possible use of water for the windshield washer fluid (my pet peeve) in the first car I brought in, Tony made sure that my second car got the correct fluid.
I asked if I needed to get the brake fluid and power steering fluid changed on one car, and Tony reported back to me that they looked fine and did not need changing (although I got them changed anyway). So clearly they are not running up unnecessary services on their customers.
I’d advise making an appointment for scheduled maintenance. They do seem a bit pricey, about 10% higher than others, but you are definitely getting value for your money.
UPDATE: 2÷11÷11
Been faithfully using Don & John’s and haven’t been disappointed. Got both front and rear brakes done — the quote came in lower than the dealer and another independent. So I’d say that pricing is overall quite competitive.