Orinda Motors

Just was in contact today with «John» here regarding some service work on a vehicle we were considering purchasing. The carfax report indicated service was done on the vehicle at Orinda motors several times in a 6k mile time frame over the last 6 months, but the information stopped there. The dealer was understanding of my concern but simply stated the vehicle passed their safety inspection and drives great. John took the time to look up the information on this vehicle and let me know that this vehicle was starting to have some problems, so we’re going to go ahead and steer clear. This is info that gives Orinda Motors no immediate benefits, and saves our family a lot of potential headaches. If we end up trying to purchase another vehicle in the area, we will have Orinda Motors do a pre-​purchase inspection! My contact with John today was honest and certainly trust building. Thanks!

If an auto repair place can’t do the easy task of changing oil properly, how can it be trusted to do the bigger tasks?
After taking my car in for regular oil changes, I finally had time to change it myself one day, and the threads for the oil plug fell out. Whoever had changed it last had cross-​threaded it. Jeff was no help and essentially said, tough luck.
$ 600 and a brand-​new oil pan later, my car is happy again, but that really was an unnecessary expense from the schmucks who were careless with my Civic.
I can’t afford to come here anymore because I simply don’t have time or money to waste on repairs for preventable damage.

We’ve been going to Orinda Motors for a few years now. Honest and efficient service. Took the car by today, unscheduled, due to rock stuck between the rotor and other plates leading to a horrible screech. John and Juan figured it out promptly and were great to work with.

I work in the area and I have been looking around trying to find a mechanic that is not going to screw me over. I cannot count the times that I have felt manipulated when trying a new auto repair shop. So if this sounds familiar to you, LOOK NO FURTHER! These guys really go the extra mile. I brought in my truck with an intermittent problem that was causing some stalling and rough idle issues. The initial repair attempt was unsuccessful and even included ordering an unexpected part that was quite expensive… and it did not fix it! ARRRGH! This is usually when I am expecting the mechanic to come and tell me to bend over and tell me how much more $$ it is going to cost… but NOT THIS TIME! The guys at Orinda auto repair kept my car for another 3 days to diagnose the problem and even added some new parts to fix the problem with NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE! WOW! AND they even gave me a rental car from next door during the time they had my truck! YAY! Thanks Orinda Auto Repair!!!

Took my car in TWICE to fix an intermittent overheating/​idling/​sputtering (when driving below 40 mph) issue specifically after cold starts. Orinda Motors performs basic, textbook diagnostic tests for overheating in the cooling system but CANNOT troubleshoot AT ALL. I do not think it is an issue with the technicians, but the fact that Ken (manager) does NOT listen and gets defensive when questions are asked. As an engineer, it frustrates me to take my car to an auto repair shop and leave with an empty tank of gas after having them run my car over 100 miles and determine NOTHING. And then Ken carelessly mentioned as I’m leaving: the overheating may due to «some wiring» but they couldn’t figure out which wire it was (This was AFTER I requested them to check for any connectivity issues between the fan and/​or temperature sensor – and Ken responded that would require to take the engine apart and «a lot of work» The engine? Really?) Why didn’t they check if the fans were working when my car was overheating in the first place? No surprise, his answer does not make a lick of sense. In summation: Ken believes if his ONE set of diagnostics show negative results, there is no problem. Don’t go here if you want effective communication of the mechanics in your car. You will get a rehearsed, textbook answer. This guy doesn’t even know what a sensor is.

Took care of my car in a reasonable time and didn’t rip me off! Thank you OM! Best Oil change service in town.

I had a dead battery and needed it fixed right away, due to a family emergency. Even though I came in at 4:30, the battery was fixed immediately and I was on my way by 5:15. John and Ken were incredibly helpful. I can’t say enough for the service at Orinda Motors.

I was super bummed when the day after Christmas my car stopped working on the 24 freeway at 10pm… yay … Luckily I have amazing people in my life that were able to help pick me up and get my car towed to a near by mechanic in Orinda, Orinda Motors. I was a little stressed when they said it was going to cost $ 150 just for a diagnostic test. I thought this was going to be expensive. BUT today I picked up my car and it was easy for them to fix so they only charged me $ 75 total!!! What a relief and a blessing! Orinda Motors is an honest mechanic shop. They offer lots of other services like regular maintenance and detailing, they service electric cars, and have night drop in case you need to tow your car after hours… Super awesome place! I highly recommend!

Orinda Motors– led by their main man Ken– is the best auto repair and maintenance business I have ever done business with. Brought my Jeep in there (without an appointment) yesterday morning because the brakes were metal on metal. Figured it would be a few days and a few thousand dollars to get it all fixed up and get the Jeep back. Just a few hours later I received a call from Ken. The brakes were all fixed and total cost was only about 800 bucks. When I went to pick up the Jeep, I saw that they had repaired a broken taillight for free, had adjusted the rag top (which was coming apart) for free and had vacuumed out the inside. pretty damn impressive. Will go back and I recommend that everyone else does as well. Five stars.

My hybrid car wouldn’t pass the smog test due to an issue reading the oxygen sensor. Orinda Motors spent a lot of time figuring out my problem. They concluded it was a software problem and got the patch for my car. Throughout this process, Toyota insisted there wasn’t a software problem with the car and provided no support to Orinda Motors. Luckily Orinda Motors found the solution independently and my car was «fixed» and passed inspection.
Today in the mail I received a recall notice from Toyota on exactly this problem. As Orinda Motors had figured out, it needed a software patch and Toyota is going to reimburse me for this work.
Kudos to Orinda Motors for figuring this out. My registration would have expired without their hard work.

This establishment had some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced when taking my car in for repairs. I had my Hyundai towed in for some brake service. John and Ken were very nice and professional. They kept me updated on the progress of my repairs and charged me a fair price for the parts and labor. I will absolutely come here again for my car service needs.
This shop is AAA Certified and there’s a rental car shop on site. Ask about the AAA discount off the labor.

Allen, it’s very nice of you to follow up. I wanted to clarify that I understand it was a busy time and that they offered to do it at another time. However that is not the reason for the one star rating. I rated one star because of the tone and attitude from the employee when he was questioning me about the services I needed. I felt like he was talking down to me and assuming I would be just getting a check engine light check and going elsewhere for the fix. But your whole comment never mentioned anything about his response and only about the time available. I understand they couldn’t take me at that time. Which I don’t mind and told them I’d go somewhere else. So yes customer service sucks.

Very personable and friendly. Had taken cars for care over several years. Some very expensive unexpected work from time to time. However, last time (which was two years ago) they told me they would have to drop the gas tank to repair the car ($ 1300). so i didn’t do it. a few months later took it to another shop which was able to access the gas tank without removing it for $ 300. Loss of trust on my part so won’t be going back.

This shop is the best. I depend on their staff 100% to keep my car in A1 shape and have never been misled.

So I’m in Orinda having a cup of coffee with some friends when I walk to may car and my battery is dead! I had left the lights on. Yes I have AAA but they take forever. I walked down to Orinda Motors asking if I could borrow some jumper cables being that my friend was parked next to me. John (the manager) asked where I was parked and I pointed out about 100 yards down the street. John within minutes, hand carried a charging unit to my car and gives my battery a jump. When I offered to pay him he wouldn’t take it. VERY nice and extremely helpful! It’s nice to see someone will go out of there way and not expect something in return. Thanks again John!

I don’t live in Orinda — but I was out there for an appointment and split the side wall of my tire on the MLK holiday. Its a LEAF so has a special tire that is never in Stock anywhere.
Ernesto Garcia was able to get a tire delivered from San Jose on the same (holiday) day and had me on my way. No crazy convenience charges for the service and they had a $ 20 rental car available for me so I could get other stuff done in the meantime. Big-​O tires doesn’t have that!
Bottom line — a small thing but these guys took care of me and if I lived in Orinda I’d definitely go back

I am a dealer in San Leandro CA so we get a customer out of state which want to make sure that she is buying a right vehicle for herself and her family and she is driving this vehicle back to MA. So she want to make sure this shop was well train to work on German vehicle and make sure they were AAA certified. So I get there little over 10 am Ken service adviser was at his desk working his repair order and as soon as I told him who I am and why am I there he knew everything he said give me couple our and we will get it done… very professional and easy going. Orinda Motors checked this vehicle in and out and called us so we can come and pick our car up. I told Ken I cant make it till 6 but they close at 5.30 he said no problem I will leave this car outside with the key inside and locked our because we had a second key. Really nice people.

I had my beloved Audi stick shift in for a repair. On one of their «test rides» they somehow managed to run it into a tree, mess up the frame and total it by their definition. Apparently they are legally allowed to give me a car of fair market value and call it a day. So they did. They gave me a gas guzzling old buick automatic that reeks of cigarettes and something dead. Barely an apology was given and they were a little rude about it all. There was nothing I could do and now I’m stuck with this car. It’s already making odd noises and sounds like it will need a repair of it’s own soon. When it does, I will no doubt take it somewhere else for the repair…
**Response to Owner comment: There is only one Orinda Motors in Orinda. I am 100% sure this is the place. Hard to forget something like that, especially in a town so small. It’s nice to know you are taking responsibility and not denying that it happened.

The Staff here is super friendly and helpful. Just got an oil change was in and out within less then an hour. Topped off all my fluids and they even did a thorough overall check. Everything checked out well. Will definitely be back, Thanks Orinda Motors Oil Express for making so easy to get in and out! Special shout out to Jason & Jeff you guys have the sunniest disposition ever & they even gave me a 10% discount for being a AAA member! They totally made my day

I brought in my car for an alignment fix. My car now makes a noise that wasn’t there before they «fixed it.»
I brought it back and told them this. They wanted to charge me more money to fix an issue I highly suspect they caused.
This place also charges $ 100 just to look at your car.
Go elsewhere for auto repair. Orinda Shell Auto Care up the street is much more reputable. Look at their Unilocal reviews by comparison.