What clients say about Danville Auto Center in Danville (CA)
I followed Oscar from M and N tires that was bought by a big company. He is the best. He treats me like family and it feels so safe to trust him with my car. Highly recommend.
Headline: 🚫 STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE — Oil Change Billed but Never Performed
Review:
STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE.
I’m posting this so no one else goes through what I did.
I brought my 2016 Range Rover Sport (VIN ending …0243) to Danville Auto for a synthetic oil change at 81,271 miles — and paid for that service in full (invoice attached).
At 85,115 miles, my engine failed. The Cole European and independent service center that inspected it found metal shavings in the oil and no evidence of a recent oil change. The oil and filter condition were completely inconsistent with synthetic oil only 3,800 miles old. .
After contacting the owner, Shawn, and showing documentation, he denied any responsibility and offered no assistance.
The replacement engine has now been quoted at $29,000, and all evidence suggests the oil change was never performed.
I’m not writing this out of anger — I’m writing it so other customers are aware and can protect themselves.
If you use this shop, document everything, take photos, and confirm the service was actually completed.
I hope this review helps someone avoid the costly mistake I made.
I have been living in Danville for seven years, and during this time I have always brought my cars to Danville Auto Center. I have both personal cars and company vehicles, and no matter what kind of car I bring in, they are always able to find and fix problems that other shops could not.
Their service is reliable, professional, and fairly priced. I feel completely at ease leaving my cars with them, because every time I get them back, they are in excellent condition. After so many years of consistently great experiences, I feel it’s time to share my gratitude. Thank you, Mr. Shawn for taking such good care of my cars all these years!
Our car was stolen from their lot, then it was towed after it broke down.
Danville Auto Center response? "Don't worry about it."
Uncooperative, not supportive of situation, denied all liability even though car taken from their lot.
Didn't even file a police report that a car had been stolen from their lot. Dodged calls for weeks. Dismissive of the whole situation.
You can make your own decision, but I wouldn't trust my car there overnight. You can't rely on them to care about you as a customer unless you are actively giving them money for repairs.
This is a warning not to come here. He charged me to fix my leak, and claimed I should see still oil residue for weeks after the leak was “fixed.” After there was still a leak and nothing changed, I brought the car back in and the owner attempted to charge me once again for a diagnostic fee to look at the same problem he didn’t initially fix. Come here at your own risk
The manager doesn't seem to know prices very well. I called to get a quote for replacing the catalytic converter and was told it would cost around $1,800. After bringing the car in for service and waiting two days, I was informed the cost would actually be between $3,000 and $4,000.
That said, they proposed an alternative plan to avoid replacing the converter by first replacing a sensor which ended up working well. However, their parts are overpriced. They charged $170 for an oxygen sensor that typically costs $30–$60 on Amazon.
Overall, a mixed experience.
Danville Auto is great. Shawn is such a good guy. He won’t overcharge you and they do great work. He also doesn’t try and upsell you. If you read a negative review just remember that every business has ups and downs. Nothing is perfect. But I promise these guys really try their best to make it perfect. Thanks so much!
Can’t say enough good about Shawn and the staff here. I’ve been twice since finding them, and they’ve been incredibly accommodating, kind and generous. This morning I went to pick up a battery (which they got in to the shop for me within a half hour), and had left my car running while I picked it up as my car had been slow to start. Shawn saw this and was so kind to insist to change it there on the spot for me. I truly can’t recommend them enough - they are that wonderful small town mechanic that genuinely cares about people and their community.
I recently had my car serviced and couldn't be more satisfied with the experience. The staff was incredibly knowledgeable and took the time to explain everything that needed to be done. They completed the work quickly and at a fair price. My car runs perfectly now, and I feel confident knowing it was in good hands. I highly recommend for anyone looking for reliable and professional auto service.
We have brought our cars to Danville Auto Center (downtown on Hartz Ave) for regular service as well as some major work (transmission) for awhile. Shawn is knowledgeable, having worked for Auto Dealerships before starting his own business, and we trust him.
He is a small business owner who obviously works hard to build his business.
I called to make an appointment for service on my vehicle that would require about 8 hours of labor. I generally believe that appointments (ought to) avoid wasting my time and the shop’s time and space with a vehicle sitting “idle” for days….
Nope.
After Danville Auto Center had my vehicle for 7 full days without any communication from them whatsoever, I checked the company name on the estimate/work order they gave me to be certain that I had left my vehicle at the same shop that received all of the stellar reviews and comments about customer service above and beyond etc. So after 7 days of silence I called at 15 minutes before closing (5pm) to check on their progress. The gentleman told me that the vehicle was finished but they wanted to test drive it. Given the reviewer anecdotes about the astounding and out of this world customer care people receive even after hours, I paused on the phone, admittedly expecting something like “We’re going to take it for the test drive now and you can come and pick it up tonight assuming there are no mechanical issues.”
Nope.
So I assumed it would be ready the next morning and that if there was a problem that they’d call me.
Nope.
So I waited 2 more days after my car was “finished” and still not a single call or communication. Now they’ve had my vehicle 9 days. So I drove to the shop to find out what the heck was going on. There was my vehicle hoisted on the rack being worked on. I explained to the gentleman all that had transpired, particularly that I hadn’t received one call and that I was told that it was finished 2 days prior-he seemed not to know anything about it: By this time I was a bit annoyed at the lack of communication and the inaccuracies: I asked if he knew how long my vehicle had been in their shop.
Nope.
He said the manager/owner (I don’t recall precisely what word he used) was not there: It was a bit after 12 and I recalled one negative review in which the owner of the business replied to the negative review and rebuffed the reviewer by claiming that they don’t take lunch breaks at Danville Auto Center, making the reviewer appear untruthful or at least inaccurate-I refute that claim, whether the manager was eating or not, he wasn’t there to deal with my complaint during the noon hour so from my experience my response to the claim that they don’t take lunch is…..
Nope.
I received a call (WOW!) a bit before 4pm on the same (9th) day with a message that the vehicle was finished and ready to pick up. I am entirely unsatisfied, obviously, with the lack of communication, poor customer service and being told the car was finished when it wasn’t. I score zero on that account. Mechanically they did good work (as far as I can tell) and at a reasonable price (should always be the case) so on that account I rate them a 4, thus averaging out to a 2. Will I use them again?
Nope.
I should also point out the estimate they gave me for one of the repairs was far too low; about one fifth of what that repair ended up costing. Fortunately I knew that the repair would be much more expensive than the estimate they provided, so I expected the repair to be at least $1000 more than the estimate. If I had expected a charge for that repair of $200 rather than the actual cost of $1200, as many of their customers certainly would have in this situation, I would be a very disgruntled customer because of it.
I would like to think DAC would only take enough appointments for the day that allows them to look at every car on day one, call and update customers if a vehicle will be kept overnight, improve communication with clients and exercise caution in handing out estimates. At least they should improve on the 9 day before a call to clients practice. Do I think they will?
Nope.
Unfortunately my experience was very poor. Nice guy and informative but work was not satisfactory. Took my truck in to recharge the AC. Was told I had a leak in high pressure line. Spent $600. A month later, no AC. I was told this could be a large project to figure out what else is wrong. Upon inspection I found the high side line valve cap missing. I decided to go to a new shop to look into who identified the low side cap was also missing and both valves were leaking. Going to cost me another $400 to fix what these mistakes.
Thought I had found a good mechanic. Fixed door for a fraction of cost that dealership quoted. But, alas, when I asked him to check tires, he missed nail in tire that was causing "low tire pressure" light to keep appearing. When I took our other car for servicing, paid $900 but he missed oil leaking problem. So, will stick with dealership. Yes, they cost more but actually take the time to deal with problem.
Shawn is the expert one. They are very friendly, honest, and hardworking. I highly recommend them for any vehicle domestic or foreign. I will most definitely be going back. Thanks Danville Auto Center!
Danville Auto Center fixed our car even though they were about to close. Sawn did a great job on our break and went above and beyond our expectations. I highly recommend Danville Auto Center who are seeking a great care with peace of mind.
I went there to just get a quote for the headlight on my Toyota Prius on almost the closing of the day. Shawn squeezed me in and told me he could fix it now. His pricing was excellent and I felt well taken care of. I will most definitely be going back!
Shawn is fantastic! I brought my RAV4 into Shawn’s to have a bearing replaced. Communications were quick, informative and easy. I was able to make a Saturday appointment and my car was ready in only a few hours. The car drives like new now and Shawn’s prices were less than half of what I was being quoted elsewhere. Overall a highly positive experience and I will bring my other cars to him from now on. Thank you!
The level and quality of service provided by Mike and Shawn is impeccable. They are very friendly, honest, and hardworking. I highly reccomend them for any vehicle domestic or foreign.
Kind of a cranky old guy, but if you're nice, he turns out to be a really good guy. I guess dealing with Danville people all day can wear on you :-).
I brought the coupon printed from their website, he added a $10 fee for SUV and asked for it in cash, and about 10 minutes later everything was done - no problems whatsoever. Total cost $48.
Not a bad experience, and convenient too.
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