Star-Tune

Yoshi at Star-​Tune is a godsend. Mechanics are the darn’est things. Either you find a great one and stay with them until you or they depart gods great green earth, or you are stuck in the purgitoy of crappy, expensive, unreliable shady servicemen. OR goto the dealership and pay out the nose.
I must have graced the gods last life for Yoshi to cross my path. I have been taking my autos to him for 14 years now. 4 different cars and not one single issue with cost, communication, or consistency. Always an A+ experience.
Pro’s:
–Fast service, usually same day or next
–Easy straight forward pricing, tells you prior to work
–No hassle on drop off/​pick up
–Very friendly, family oriented vibe (employee accidentally dropped key in oil so Yoshi put me in his personal truck for the rest of the day until the key was fished out and cleaned up for pickup the next day, wow)
Con’s:
–I live in Monterey and his shop is in Salinas (20 min drive away)
–He’s not 20 years younger to service my cars forever!!!
For all your cars cares, call Yoshi. The city of Salinas Police Department trusts him with their cars, why wouldn’t you?

I took my car in to get an oil change, and they also took a look at my engine and said that I needed a small tune up. They never explained to me what was wrong, but I believed them and decided to take it back in the next day. That same day, they called and gave me an estimate of between $ 70-​$ 80, and figured it wasn’t that bad. So I take it in, leave it there for a little over an hour, and Yoshi himself tells me that it costs $ 270. I was in shock. I asked what was done, and he said that the coils needed to be changed, and that was something that was never mentioned before. I didn’t want to argue, so I paid the $ 270. Then I looked at the receipt and saw that they also gave me new spark plugs– something I had replaced barely a month ago. And also, no oil change. So in the end, they charged me for things they never told me they would, and they also never gave me the main thing I took my car in for. I admit my mistake for not questioning things before-​hand, but this was absolutely ridiculous.

Yoshi and his crew are awesome. Fixed my two volkswagen over a year ago. No problems since. Honest work, fair quotes.
This is a great shop i would always recommend.
Thanks guys: D

Fast and honest service. The fact that these guys are trusted to service police cars says a lot. I left the building feeling complete. Unlike other places, such as Midas on North Main, where i left the building feeling ripped off.

Honest advice & great service. Yoshi is the man! Highly recommendable.

Wonderful shop! They are so honest with their work, I came in thinking I needed a new clutch but they let me know that I didn’t, I just needed an adjustment which is way cheaper! Very fairly priced shop, very honest, they made me feel taken care of.

Ideally not worth a single star. Extremely unprofessional, don’t do a complete car inspection. Wrapped up a car inspection in 10 mins however charged $ 60 (equivalent to 90 mins of thorough car inspection). It’s scam! Please avoid going here if you don’t want to get looted.

This place is as good as it gets. I have taken my car here twice for oil changes and have been happy with the service, price, and ease of getting seen last-​minute. This morning I called to see if they could check on a noise my engine was making. They were able to work me in over the lunch hour. I dropped off the car and the owner offered to give me a ride back to the office so I wouldn’t have to walk. He called back soon to let me know what they found out and they were able to fix right then for a very fair rate.
As a person who does not know much about cars I am always hesitant that I may be taken advantage of at autoshops. I completely trust the owner of this shop. Excellent service. I will continue to take my car here for all of its needs. Always leave impressed!

Great place, and excellent service. Saved me a lot of money vs taking my car in to the dealer. The owner of this place is a nice guy. Took my car in w/​no appt and just remembered me from our conversation. Will definitely be coming back when my car needs service again.

Went to these guys to get a pre-​purchase inspection on a car I was buying off of Craigslist. I was driving from SF so I needed to make arrangements by phone. Set up an appointment very quickly for the same day.
Boy am I glad I went to them! The car was a complete lemon despite having a clean Carfax report. The frame was bent from an accident that went unreported. The mechanics were very sharp and spotted the repairs right away. The bent frame would have caused a ton of problems down the road. I’m very grateful to the team at this small little shop for saving me a big headache.
Very courteous, professional, and efficient. If I lived anywhere in the area, I would definitely come back…

Fair prices, and honest people. They do the job you asked for and tells you what other stuff your car needs without pushing you to do it right away. Last time I saw a police car getting worked done here, that must be a good sign…

Have been coming here for many years after they were highly recommended by a co-​worker and also a physician of mine. Quick turnaround, fair prices, and honest. Great shop.

Exceptional customer service and knowledgeable service tech.

I like coming here for oil changed. They always take me right away and get right to work.

Love finding good, honest local businesses like this. Although we weren’t able to get everything done here, the owner said we knew of a place in town that could do it. He even volunteered to take it over there himself. We’ll be back for sure… :)

After reading the reviews on Unilocal,I referred my mother who lives in Salinas to this shop to have her PT Cruiser diagnosed and repaired. I am from out of the area and had no idea where to send her that I could trust. On top of her car being broken, she is currently very ill and my sister and I were taking trips down to care for her. Because I do not live in Salinas I was very skeptical about who I would refer my mother too knowing the risks that single women face at some Auto Repair garages with regard to be taken advantage of. My sister brought the car to Star-​Tune for my mother. Not only did they accurately diagnose the problem, but fixed it the same day AND delivered it back to my moms house! They did all this at a very fair rate.
The perfect auto repair shop! Thank you Star Tune!

Great place to take your car. I took it in after getting a bill of repair from Victory Toyota Dealership. The bill was originally 700 but Star Tune fixed up all the issues for a little less than half of it. The service was fast and now my car is running smoothly again.

What a great experience! My car broke down today near salinas, and since I live in San Francisco I had my car towed to the Shell on Main St, after 3 hours of waiting, they smoked over 20 cars and kept telling me I was next, and I should get a hotel.
I had my car towed again at 2pm to star tune up, and Ramon and the owner looked at my car right away and found out it is the alternator. They are fixing it now, and I have been here only for an hour, that is GREAT SERVICE!!!
The also have a few salinas police cars here getting service, I would HIGHLY recommend this shop to anyone who needs a good, fair, honest and friendly shop to get work done.
THEY SHOULD BE CALLED 5 STAR TUNE UP!
Thanks Ramon!!!

This place is awesome!
I came here mostly because of the other review about how non-​intimidating of a place it is for us single ladies. Totally true. I went in for a 60,000 mile tune up and oil change. They were done in about an hour (I had an appt.), and were very nice and professional. $ 116 seems very, very reasonable.

I had purchased a used car and after only 3 days the check engine light came on… I called Star-​Tune Auto Repair in Salinas and was told I could bring the car in for diagnostics the same day. I dropped the car off at Star-​Tune at 1:00pm and and by 2:45pm they had diagnosed the problem.
The repairs were major (failed turbo charger /​failed catalytic converter) and I was told I should take the car back to whoever I purchased it from. I explained that the car was bought as-​is with no warranty. The shop insisted I call the dealer and complain until they agree to accept the vehicle back.
I thought I didn’t have a chance in the world, but to my surprise… Their advice paid off! Sure, it took some strongly worded threats of fraud, but the dealer agreed to take the car back and refund me my money!
If it weren’t for Star-​Tune, I’d be stuck with a car that I couldn’t afford to repair! THANK YOU STAR-​TUNE!!!
Cost for the diagnostic was only $ 59.99… Money well spent in my opinion!