Reviews
Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.
Jeff Schafer
8 years ago
My 2013 Subaru had an issue where the window washer stopped working. I suspected rats had eaten a hose. Bob Baker Subaru checked it out and said they could fix it for approximately $210 by replacing a $17 hose assembly with a lot of labor, apparently. I thought this was a bit high for a hose replacement so I got the affected part number from Subaru and went down to see Dennis at Carlsbad Automotive Technology. Dennis looked under my hood and was able to find where the hose had been chewed through (I had missed it when I looked earlier). In about 5-10 minutes Dennis found a piece of scrap hose of the same type and made a totally workable long term patch. It works like a champ now. When I offered to pay, Dennis waived me off and said to come back again - which I definitely will.Dennis is a creative master of his craft and very honest. In two weeks, he will be an Eagle Scout dad. What a stud.Thank you Dennis!!
Miriam Cisternas
8 years ago
I have been having my RAV 4 serviced by Dennis and his team for 3 years now. This is a wonderful, family owned shop that is honestly run and reasonably priced. And they are extremely generous with their time. Once I came in because one of my dash lights (check oil? check engine?) was on. Turns out I had not tightened the gas tank cover tightly enough---and Dennis did not charge me. Another time, I was hearing something I could not identify from the back of the car. I mentioned that as a came in for a regularly scheduled service. My bike rack needed to be reassembled, and guess what? No charge for that either.As long as I live in San Diego County, I will never get my car serviced anywhere else.
Lcy Lars
9 years ago
Dennis is the most honest guy around. I believe you will not find a better mechanic in San Diego county. I have been taking my car here for a few years now and I will not go anywhere else. Recently my check engine light came on and it did not cost me a thing because it was caused by a part that he had replaced a year before and it was still under warranty. He could have charged me and I would not have known the difference. Most places charge you just to diagnose the issue. I made the mistake of taking my car to get an oil change some place else just because it was out of convenience at the time and I was told I needed certain things done that would cost around $500 but when I asked Dennis about these things he said I did not need any of those things done. He and his wife are people of great integrity. Most women are hesitant trusting mechanics because some can be upselling stuff you do not need. You will never have to worry about that with Dennis.
Pat Crowley
10 years ago
VERY honest and helpful mechanic! I was traveling through Carlsbad, and Dennis helped trouble shoot, and repair a major oil leak and only charged me a nominal fee. He was excellent to deal with and I HIGHLY recommend him to anyone looking for experienced, quality, honest, and affordable auto work.
Harry Pachinski
11 years ago
OVER DUE ACCOLADES! I have waited 3 months to thoroughly test and evaluate the repair result to my 1999 Mercury Gran Marquis. For over a year I was having horrendous electrical problems draining battery after battery rendering my vehicle inoperable more times then I could count. After literally 4 different auto repair shops and roughly $3,800.00 I was at wits end. Other than the electrical problem the car is in great shape and has less than 55,000.00 miles on it so new car payments or buying used with possibly worse headaches was not an option. Even though I was disgusted and tired of being ripped off I took a last ditch ploy with Carlsbad Automotive Technology. I have to admit I was very apprehensive when quoted the $80 an hour thinking to myself here we go again. But Dennis (Owner/Technician) does not park your car and bill those creative accounting fantasy hours I had experienced in the past. He spent hour upon hours diagnosing and searching diligently until he found the problem all the others could not. A disconnected loose wire in the door panel jiggling around shorting out the system. (Actually disconnected and done by one of the same NIMROD outfits that burned me) He fixed it and guaranteed his fix for a year! WOW! Unlike his unethical, greedy, competition he only charged a flat rate diagnose fee and the 80 an hour only for the repair time. He also replaced and fixed a bad door lock inclusive in the meager repair bill. I was overwhelmed. Finally an honest, fair, RELIABLE repair. His Mother-in-law Elaine in the office was also very nice as well and even went out of her way to pick up my spouse to pick up my car as I was incapacitated with a bad infection in my lower leg. I highly recommend Carlsbad Automotive Technology for all your automotive repairs. They have sure proven themselves to me!
Michael Saggese
9 years ago
I took my 1966 Thunderbird to Dennis to get the brake system worked on and the carb rebuilt. 6 weeks later, they had only verified the original problem. Every time I called, he did not know the current status of the car and had to verify with someone, sometimes taking a day or more to give me information about my car. He had the car for about 2 months at first, and when I got the car back, it would not idle, at all. I took it back to him to fix the idling issue, and he had it for another month. This makes a total of 3 months in which my car was sitting outside, neglected, for what should have been simple repairs. He did not source any parts himself, I had to source the parts and bring them to the shop so that he could put them on. This is one of the basic parts of operating a repair shop, but Dennis could not be bothered.What really set me off, though, was getting my car back the second time to find at least a dozen large scratches on the hood. I returned to Dennis the next day and asked him if he had noticed the scratches. He insisted that he did not know how the scratches got on the car, huffing, puffing, rolling his eyes, screaming at me, the whole 9 yards. He insisted that I had scratched my car. Keep in mind I had the car in my possession for probably 2 days in the previous 3 months. He gave me all sorts of excuses as to why the car took so long to fix. All of them were complete bullshit- truth is, he didn't care, and neither did his employees.In his shop I pointed out a Cadillac with a hood on a blanket on the roof of the car. Dennis admitted that they store parts on top of customers' cars. He told me that his detailing guy would not be able to look at it until about a month later. This was without checking with the detail guy. When he realized I wasn't going away without a resolution, he reluctantly called the detail guy. Eventually, after a 30 minute confrontation, the detail guy called and said he could take a look at my car 2 days later.Dennis, if you are reading this- you could have resolved this problem by being apologetic and deflating your ego. Your shop sucks and you should be ashamed. I buy and sell around 6 cars a year, and you have lost all of my future business as well as my family's business because you did not handle this like a professional. The $250 detail I asked you for has now cost you thousands.Take a look at this shop if you stop by, and notice that there are no nice cars in the shop- everything is worth less than $10,000. Notice the parts on top of customers' cars.If you care about your car, stay away from Carlsbad Automotive Technology.
Laine Carter
8 years ago
We use Carlsbad Automotive Technology for all of our cars. The prices are very fair and the work is done in a timely manner. Thanks for taking good care of our cars and bank accounts.
Justin Kosman
9 years ago
Great crew with honest pricing. Has kept my 1973 IH Scout running over and over despite it being a pile of junk. I keep going back over and over with satisfied service each time. -Justin
Hunter Stennett
6 years ago
The guy that runs the place seems like a straight up laid back guy. No excuses or over fees that are unnecessary like most other shops. He's very understanding and helpful, I'm very glad I went to this place first.
Laurie Sodetani
6 years ago
"Trust" is huge when dealing with one's mechanic...and that is the best (not the only one however) attribute of working with Dennis! I will go nowhere else!
rk geeg
7 years ago
Dennis is just wonderful, honest and does top grade A Plus work at a reasonable price. I wouldn't go anywhere else!
Matt Paskow
5 years ago
Just the best! So hard to find an honest mechanic. Dennis is as honest as they come.
Clifton Ramsdell
7 years ago
I take my truck here for everything. Good work at a fair price.
Abner Corona
9 years ago
They gave me great immediate service for a broken gas line.
Mark Castillero
6 years ago
They go out of their way to provide exceptional service.
Denis Mamedov
10 years ago
Very skilled and honest mechanic.
Cindy Luce
7 years ago
Dennis is awesome
Timothy Haggerty
4 years ago
Not there anymore
Michelle Ryan
5 years ago
Love the family