Truckee Auto Repair

I was just going to write, unless your from out of town and dont know any better, go this this place. The last review was from Sacramento. This place is one of the bigger rip offs in Truckee. Priced lots of things from alignements, to shocks, to tuneups, and they average about $30-$60 more than anywhere else. Oh and make sure you understand that if you dont get something fixed there , but have them check it out for 5 minutes, they will charge you. Im not even exaggerating about that. 5 minutes to tell me something I already knew was wrong with my car. But, I wanted them to give me an estimate in price. I still got charged $120 !!! So ridiculous. But if your desperate and have no where else to go, you gotta do what you gotta do. Oh and by the way, Stones tires next door will put on your winter/summer tires for free and their alignments are cheaper too. There are choices other than this joke of a garage. Yeah, methinks not.

Such a wonderful experience with these guys!!! I'm from Sacramento and my car broke down on the 4th of July at 5pm =/. It was towed to the Auto & Tire Doctor and before 8am the next morning I had a phone call from Greg to tell me they were going to take a look at it and get back to me ASAP. At 9:30am I got a call back with a diagnosis and before 1pm they were done with the work. Since I didn't have a car the OWNER, John, drove downtown and picked us up! What a remarkable experience. I would certainly have all my work done at this shop if I were local and because it's so hard to find reliable, fair mechanics I'd even consider driving up the hill to have them do work on my car again - no joke. Greg was fair and clear about what and when I could expect to know more and the work was done quickly and with such quality that what could have been a nightmare actually turned into a fantastic extra day laying on the docks at Donner Lake! Definitely take your vehicles here without a doubt.

I had a positive experience with the Auto Doctor. It's too soon to tell how the repair will hold up over time, but the initial experience was a good one. We came into the Truckee area on 7/1. Midday on 7/2, my Trooper dies completely on 267, with symptoms that appear to be a fuel problem.. Based on a recommendation from a local, I took it to the Auto Doctor. The squoze me in, despite appearing pretty fully booked. I got a call early the next day (7/3) telling me it was my fuel pump unit, and they had a line on a replacement. The price seemed high ($500) for the part, but I called a trusted mechanic back in the Santa Cruz area, and they confirmed that that was the going rate. In any case, the car was buttoned back up by 3 PM on 7/3, and we didn't have to keep the rental across the 4th of July break. They did right by us. Unclear how we'd use the warranty if the part breaks 45 days from now...

These guys are awesome. I recently called them to get a second opinion about an axle that needed to be replaced. They literally did the work for HALF the price Meineke in Reno quoted me. They charge you by how long it actually takes them to do the work, not by how long the "mechanics book" tells them it should take. These guys are totally honest and really have a way of making you feel like family. They seem like they really try to work with you on prices too. If you get any sort of serious work done there they always give you car wash coupons and coupons for significant deals on future services like oil changes or tire rotations. They are really fast getting things done and always keep you up-to-date on what's going on with your vehicle. Great small town business and really uphold their good reputation. I will be a lifelong customer here for ALL my car work...thanks guys!!!

The Auto and Tire Doctor in Truckee is affordable, honest and reliable! Every time I go in, they greet me by my first name and everyone is so polite. There's nice couches and a clean, relaxing waiting area for customers to hang out in while they wait for their car to be serviced and the whole facility is super clean. I think honesty is so important when it comes to your vehicle - for me personally, my car is the only thing I really own and it's a comfort to know these guys will take really good care of it.

We came up to Truckee Friday afternoon. As we were about to head out at noon on Saturday, I noticed that one tire was nearly flat. I googled around and found out that the Auto-Tire Doctor was opened until 2pm. After a quick call, and inflating the tire, I took my car up there. They took care of the tire flat in less than 20mns, and priced the tire repair fairly. Staff was friendly.

Had new tires put on. Staff was friendly and the wait room super child friendly.

A solid 4-1/2. I'm from Silicon Valley and took my Subaru for a ride up to Tahoe in May 2011 (better late than never to write a review). The check engine light came on on the way up. My dilemma- do I take a chance and wait till I get back home to get it fixed, or do it now? Well with a 2 year old traveling with us, my hubby and I decided to find a reliable auto shop, mainly because we wanted to drive on back roads to get to fishing spots and did not want to get stuck in the wilderness. We used AAA to find recommendations for approved auto shops and The Auto Doctor was listed. I liked that the establishment was a Subaru specialist. They had a nice comfortable waiting area, with free video games on a table top console to pass the time. Gave us an accurate estimate, and recommended some additional work which we got done there on the spot. 4 hours later, we had our car back. I would use them again if I was in the neighborhood. We passed the time by getting lunch at a nearby restaurant and playing free video games on the table top console. Bathrooms are clean, TV available and their pet dog entertained my kid for awhile. My daughter was busy playing with toys and puzzles they had available. A little pricey in my opinion (thus minus the 1/2 point), but they did a great job and we got back home safely and in one piece!

I went in last thursday to make an appointment for studded snow tires. they gave me a decent price quote, BUT, they said it would take them a whole extra day to put the studs in, then they would call me on Monday (today) to let me know what time to come in. (I tried to set a time, but they wouldn't) So I call Monday and say HI I have an appointment today and I need to come in sooner than later so I can be home for my daughter when she gets off the bus. They told me sorry we can't get you in today how about Thursday. I said no, he said today. He said well you have to have an appointment, you should have set a time. I explained. Then he said okay I can do it, but I will need your car for 4 hours. WHAT? I dont think so. I should have known better!! Im off to Stones tires, where the service is ALWAYS great!!!

First of all: I have come to find out that 3 people (all women) in my family have been overcharged by this place. Second of all: DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR THERE! Are they honest? Hahahahhaah. (For reference: I am a young female, so, yeah, you can imagine...). Let me tell you what happened to me... I was in Truckee for an appointment when my car overheated and tons of white smoke started billowing out of the hood. Meanwhile, a friendly individual stopped his car and helped me push my car onto the shoulder until I could get a tow to a mechanic. This random, helpful stranger asked if I knew where I could find a mechanic, and I mentioned that I was going to the Auto Dr. (this was the only repair shop I had known about). He said, "You shouldn't go there--they have a really bad reputation in the local community for overcharging." He then suggested another repair shop and even looked up their phone number for me. I called this place, but they didn't do any major engine repairs. They recommended A1 Automotive, but my phone died before I could contact them. I ended up (for reasons of convenience and unfamiliarity with Truckee) taking my car to the Auto Dr. and simply hoping for the best. One of my uncles is a mechanic, and he accurately diagnosed the issue as a blown head gasket. Perhaps this is standard practice (?), but I have never once been to a mechanic who charged me $105 to look at my car and determine what was wrong...this was the first indication of what was to come. By testing the emissions of my car they determined it was a blown head gasket. For the replacement of the head gasket and coolant system I was quoted $3100. If that seems exorbitant to you, then your estimation is correct. I had, by this time, done extensive research on what was a reasonable price to expect for a head gasket repair. Most of the message boards I read said to expect about $1500 for the make, model, and year of my car. My uncle, the mechanic, said that a private mechanic could repair it for about $600-$700, while I should expect to pay around $1500 at a repair shop. This information confirmed my research online. When the Auto Dr. called me with the $3100 estimate, I said there was no way I could or would pay that. He said that I had 3 choices: 1. pay the amount and have them repair it, 2. get my car towed and taken elsewhere, or 3. sign the title over to them and they'd "waive" the $105 diagnostic fee and "take care of" my car for me. YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY: $105 FOR THE OWNERSHIP OF MY (4WD) VEHICLE. The parts alone for this car would be worth at least $1000...and that's probably a low estimation. I shared this information with my father and he drove up there and communicated his dismay with their taking advantage of a young woman in distress/quoting a ridiculously high price. They knocked the estimate cost down to $2200 upon this encounter. $900 LESS just b/c a male went in and confronted them about the overcharging. He told them we'd take our business elsewhere. Over the next week I tried to decide what I would do, how I would find a more honest and affordable mechanic. A week later I received a voice mail from the Auto Dr. saying that if I didn't get my car "today", then I would be charged $45/day, starting THAT DAY for "storage" of my car. I could not believe this was all happening. I live and work one hour away from Truckee, and so had to find a way to get there immediately after work to avoid accruing additional $45/day fines. Please also note that they have a HUGE, 1/2 empty parking lot (as in, half the size of a grocery store parking lot). Since I wouldn't be able to make it before their closing hours (due to work), I paid the $105 diagnostic fee over the telephone and said I'd pick my car up around 7pm that day. He said that if it wasn't gone by the morning, I'd be charged $45. I picked my car up that night and bid adieu to that corrupt business. I took my car to A1 Automotive, and they fixed everything the Auto Dr. said they'd fix and much MORE (including welding my exhaust for free--something not associated with the head gasket repair at all). I ended up getting my car fixed for $1300 LESS than I was quoted at the Auto Dr. And that included repairs not even included in the estimate from the Auto Dr. (e.g. cylinder head repairs/ valve repairs). That should give you a good idea of the overcharging and dishonest ways of the Auto Dr. Additionally: my sister told me later she took her 2006 Jeep there for a transmission tune-up, was charged $250, as well as encouraged to spend $1000 in unneeded repairs. She declined the latter. To add insult to injury, my mother drove my sister to the Auto Dr. to pick up her Jeep and my mother's battery died in the parking lot. The Auto Dr. charged her twice the normal cost for a battery. Bottom line: save your money. Avoid a business that is known to rip off its customers.