Claremont Auto Care

Ozzy is great! Very honest, and the work they do is covered. They have saved me
A lot of money. They are AAA rated. Thanks for all your expert advice. Brian A.

Beware! Get a second opinion and take your business elsewhere.
My car got stuck in Claremont last weekend and I had AAA tow it to the nearest mechanic which was Claremont Auto Care. After inspecting it, they said I needed a new transmission which would cost me over $ 2,000. I took it to another mechanic who I trusted and they said all I needed was a new axle. Total cost was $ 200 to fix my car.
Not only did they misdiagnose the damage completely, they charged me $ 90 for the diagnosis!

My son’s car had a clutch failure on the 10 fwy and was towed by AAA to this shop. I need to add that this shop is a AAA rated shop. (I am not sure why). The service guy was wonderful, It felt like he really wanted to help us out, he was so nice and trusting and trusting. Well, then the bill. I want to add that he said we would pay $ 92 whether we had the repairs done by them or someone else. $ 92 is like one hour of mechanic time these days. Well, the car sat there for three days (very bad area, drunks from an adjacent bar stumbling around, the place was not fenced and no bays were available, they only have three.) When he got around to checking the car, he sat in it and noticed no gears worked, and then charged $ 92 because he was 99% sure a clutch repair was the problem. Duh. His estimate was $ 2300 to fix it with Nissan parts. So we researched Nissan parts with a fly wheel and purchased a kit for $ 1200. Friends with a truck towed the car to Valley High Nissan in Victorville (where we live.) A Nissan shop replace the clutch for $ 1820.

Brought in a ’98 Jeep Wrangler with a check engine light on. They did a diagnostic and said it was an exhaust manifold leak of some kind but they needed some time to look at it to determine the exact problem. Later that day we get a call that they accidentally locked the key in the Jeep and can we bring a spare. Completely inconvenient but no choice but to drive there at lunch. When I arrived I asked where the key was in the vehicle and Bob said it was stuck in the ignition. I thought what? As I approached the Jeep I saw a pile of slim jims sitting on top of the tire. They were trying to break into the vehicle. Luckily there was no detectable damage.
I opened the door with my spare, sat down in front of the wheel and pulled the key out immediately. Astounded, he asked how I did that. Apparently, Jeff, a certified mechanic, doesn’t know that many ignitions require you to push the key in and then turn it so it can be removed. He told me he was attempting to get the key out for 15 minutes, gave up and closed the door which he didn’t know was locked. He claimed it automatically locked but there’s no electrical system in the doors of this Jeep. Everything’s manual including the roll-​up window cranks.
I asked if they’d be able to repair that day and he answered saying «hopefully.»
We couldn’t pick it up that day before closing so we left it overnight. The next day they called saying it would be over $ 370 for the repairs. They said it would be done at 1:00 but after arriving at 1:00 the mechanic working on it was at lunch AND HE TOOK THE JEEP KEY WITH HIM. After waiting for him to return, it turned out that they had taken some part apart but had not yet reassembled it. The diagnosis and repair didn’t match up either and we had to question it. The problem was with the exhaust but they wanted to fix the intake which made no sense.
A guy named Jeff said he’d take a look at Jeff’s diagnosis and found that it was completely incorrect. It did not need that repair at all. In fact, they still weren’t sure why the check engine light was on after having the vehicle for 2 days. They said they would just turn of that light and we should see if it comes on again. They also suspected there was some fluid pressure that wasn’t right so they siphoned off some power steering fluid. How this would cause the check engine light to pop up is a mystery. The charge was just for the diagnostic since they really hadn’t done anything else.
My daughter drove it about 200 feet to the gas station next door. After putting gas in, THE JEEP WOULD NOT START.
She ran back to the shop, livid, and said someone needs to look at this Jeep NOW because it’s worse than it was before they «worked» on it. A mechanic came over and said something about when they turn off the check engine light, it can make the throttle body dirty and prevent it from starting. Why this was not addressed before releasing the vehicle is highly questionable and can become a legal issue for safety reasons. After pushing the Jeep back to the shop, he cleaned the throttle body and it started right up and then told her «see you later.» Nice.
This whole episode only cost $ 89 for the diagnostic but my daughter swears it’s not running the same since they worked on it. She told them that but they said it seems fine to them. We’re now unsure if it may randomly not start again or fail altogether on the freeway.
These guys were clowns. They did not communicate with each other, they couldn’t figure out the problem after two days, they misdiagnosed it, they locked the key in the vehicle, they didn’t have it ready when promised and they released the vehicle knowing something was still possibly wrong with it (dirty throttle body) which is illegal, and the overall customer service was lousy at best. A 20 minute drive up the 57 and THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME BACK ON.
Seriously, don’t waste your time and money. Many of the 5-​star reviews look like fakes. This is a REAL experience with Claremont Auto Care.

You will always save money and get excellent service at Claremont Auto Care. Mike and his staff are always courteous in addition to being top notch SAE mechanics. In addition they are honest and fair, which is not common these days. I have always been told that when you find an auto mechanic that you can trust and is honest and fair, you had better keep him. I guess i will be a Claremont Auto Care customer for life

Great bunch of guys and there mechanics are really good.

Just terrible, terrible customer service. Understandably, sometimes your car will just be «done» and no matter if you go to even the most reputable shops, they won’t be able to fix it unless you pay up $$$$.
These guys are just downright unpleasant. There’s a younger guy working there who is the nicest, but the older gentleman who runs this place. absolutely terrible. Stay away.

These guys are great. They KNOW cars and don’t cheat ya, plus one of the mechanics rescues dogs and other animals in need.

These people know what they are doing and are great at it! They are kind and explain everything they found wrong with your car and how they fixed it. I actually had to go today and because the fix was so small it was free of charge. Thanks guys!!!

Very poor service. Made an appointment for 8am to repair AC. Dropped the car off on the way to work. Called at 3pm and they hadn’t looked at the car. At 5pm they called and said they needed it a second day. The next day they called at 3pm to say they charged the system but it still didn’t work and it needed a new compressor. They would need another day to install the compressor. The third day they finally finished installing the new compressor and charging the system at 5pm. Three days and $ 1000 to fix the AC. Today, 2 months later AC stopped working. Took car to another shop. They fixed it in 15 min. There was a loose connection, the result of poor workmanship when the new compressor was installed. I highly recommend avoiding this shop.

I took my car in after Firestone made a mess of it — Firestone changed every part except the one they needed too. Mike was able to correct their incompetence and completed the work at a reasonable price. I will return to this shop whenever I have a future problem. They did a great job for me.

I have been bringing our cars here for over 4 years now. Mike always delivers within the quoted estimate! They have repaired our Lexus and our BMW. We were originally recommended to bring our cars here from a local AAA tow truck driver. I was tired of the dealership soaking me for repairs. AAA approved Auto Repair Service Center.

Be prepared to bring your car back if you take it here, and usually at additional costs. It’s happened to me with every car I’ve brought and that’s that. And after they take your money, you’re not much of a customer anymore. You’ve been warned.