Strooties Automotive

Knowledgeable, capable, humble, engaging, reasonable …
David is a treasure and a pleasure.
For years he’s solved car mysteries and maintained smooth operation — and at a very decent cost. As well as doing the extra that re-​assures safe motoring and confidence.
Do your car and yourself a favor. Bring it to David.

Honest, efficient, precise, and knowledgeable.

As a woman it can be quite an exhausting experience to go to a mechanic. I’ve run across more than my fair share of dishonest ones but David is a diamond in the rough! He replaced one of my torn CV boots about six months ago. Recently I went to get an oil change and was told that both my CV boots were torn and needed to be replaced ASAP. Of course they were willing to do the work right away. I took my car back to David to have him check it out and he showed me that the one he replaced was in perfect condition and the other had a very minor tear. No need to replace anything! I will definitely continue going to him and will tell everyone I know to do so as well!

I have been going to Strooties for a while now, always goes above and beyond. Always good with his advice and doesn’t try to push unneeded maintenance like most or better yet, all shops do. I would definitely recommend David to friends.

My wife’s Chrysler Sebring died at work Wednesday night in Mira Mesa. We normally use a shop closer to home, but after reading the reviews on Strooties, we decided to give them a shot and had it towed in. Glad we did! As many other reviews have stated, David is a really nice, personable guy. Even more important, he’s very good at his craft. He was quick on the diagnosis, explained the repairs needed, quoted a fair price, and had the car ready the same day. No reservation whatsoever on recommending this business. Thanks David!

This review is loooooooong overdue. We were referred to David at Strooties Automotive a few years ago by a close friend of ours who still highly recommends him… and so do we. David is the REAL DEAL when you are looking and need an honest and highly qualified auto mechanic!!! Appointments are easily made. Since knowing David, he has worked on our three (older) vehicles and each time the work performed is outstanding and worth every penny. In our humble opinion, David deserves more than five stars!!! Thank you, David, for always keeping Jeep, VW, and Saturn in great shape. =)

David is a fantastic mechanic. He performs good work at reasonable prices (with accurate estimates), and on that alone I would recommend him to anyone.
However, for people like me in particular he cannot be rated highly enough. He is more than willing to walk me through all the repairs he thinks should be and should not be done, explaining each item along the way. His explanations are clear and thorough, and he writes notes on the car in case you need to take it elsewhere (and forget, for example, that you don’t really need your air filter changed for another X miles).
My go-​to mechanic in San Diego.

I used to bring my car to Mira Mesa Auto Techs; however anybody who has went there knows how busy they are. When my car broke down this time, I started looking for a new mechanic (after seeing terrible recent reviews on Mira Mesa Auto Tech).
At 11:45 AM I walked into David’s shop (a one bay stall with an office) I was glad to meet David for the first time. David was extremely personable, knowledgeable, and friendly. He listened to exactly what I thought it might be and troubleshot the issue within 5 minutes of me getting there. I also brought a part an O2 Sensor that I was meaning to put in myself and had asked David if he would mind doing it. He was more than willing. And mentioned another trouble area that I was hoping he would look into as well.
David quoted me $ 250 for parts and labor, which I thought was more then reasonable.
At 1:41 PM, I received a call from David with a detailed message telling me the work was completed!
So in 2 hours David replaced
— Master Clutch Cylinder
— Adjusted my Clutch pedal
— Installed a new O2 Sensor.
— Tightened the clamps that were loose (my fuel filler hose was loose, making my trunk smell like gas!!)
BEST OF ALL CAME IN UNDER BUDGET AT $ 238! VERY IMPRESSED! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

David is an honest mechanic and does quality work at a good price. This is the type of caring old school one man shop that is so great to have available for new or classic cars. If he can fit you in, take your car here.

Our friend’s family used David Stroot as their mechanic for years when he was located in central San Diego, and she recommended him to us. He’s been our mechanic now for ~12 years, on 6 – 8 different foreign and domestic cars. He’s extremely smart, knowledgeable, experienced, and determined to do right by every customer. In a way I hate to recommend him because he’s already so busy — many many times he’s still working at 8pm. He is not the rock-​bottom cheapest but you KNOW you are getting honest work at a reasonable price. One of my first visits to him, I thought I needed a new clutch. He tightened a wire and I was done in 5 minutes, for $ 0 or something very close.

Dave is an amazing person and an even more impressive mechanic. He is the only car doctor I would take my old 58 Ford to and the only honest mechanic I trust.
Dave’s shop was a referral from a very trusted automotive friend.
I cannot give him enough stars for the work he has done for me, the money he has saved me or for the great feeling that comes along with having a trustworthy and knowledgeable expert asses and repair my autos.
You are the man Dave.

+ Quick, efficient, knowledgable, explained things well to me
+ Customer service oriented — stopped in the middle of working on a car to help me out
+ Did little jobs for me but didn’t charge me for them, whereas most places would’ve made me pay an arm and a leg
I will be seeing David for all my car needs that he is able to take care of. Thank you David!

A coworker of mine recommended Strooties to me and I am so glad he did! I now know that I have a reliable auto repair place to take my car to when it needs to be serviced or fixed.
Dave is awesome — there really is no other way to put it. He’s friendly and honest. He let me know exactly what needed to be done, thoroughly inspected my vehicle and called the dealership to troubleshoot an issue with my locks. In my opinion, he went above and beyond what I expected.
I really feel like I’m in good hands at Strooties and I trust Dave. I don’t feel like I have to have my guard up or that I’ll be taken advantage of, which is how I feel when I’m at the dealership or other repair facilities. From now on, only he will work on my car.

l had bad experiences with mechanics that left me feeling that I could not trust anyone to fix my car well at a fair price. After driving my Yaris from New York to San Diego, it started making funny sounds. I read some Unilocal reviews and Strooties sounded too good to be true, but to my wonderful surprise, David is an honest and quality mechanic! He test drove my car to figure out what was going on and explained it well to me. He fixed it for a good price and on top of that, he was pleasant and interesting to converse with! I will return to Strooties for future automotive needs.

Five stars is too few for what this man does! Dave Stroot is the best mechanic period. He knows so much, talented, fair, great records & information system, but the guy is just the friendliest, most honest person you would need. I hate to give him away as he has been a secret to my family of 4 cars (three kids w/​cars) for over 7 years. I consider Dave a good friend who I have always counted on…

The search is over! I have been searching for years for an auto mechanic that I can trust, and have finally found him. David not only is a very nice person, but so honest and great at what he does. His prices are very reasonable as well. I now have that place to take my vehicles, without hesitation, when they need mechanical work.

Dave Strootie is a Fantastic Mechanic! Any auto needs I have– from simple oil changes, to brake jobs and more– I take to Dave. Why? A friend told me about Dave– that he is honest and good at what he does, has fair prices, and it turned out to be absolutely true! He saved me $ 100’s when he did a simple fix (for free) for something that other mechanics were saying was going to cost me a couple hundred $$‘s. He does what he says he does (unlike some mechanics I’ve come across in the past, who, say they did a job thinking that I– a woman– wouldn’t know how to check), and he’s very fair in price. He does the little things, the considerate things you wouldn’t think of, as a bonus and friendly service. He’s the kind of mechanic that your dad told you to find and stay with for life once you find him!

Dave was great! Knowledgeable and honest. Fixed the problem for a good price, also diagnosed future issues and gave me prices on those. I will be back!

David is a great guy and a wonderfully honest mechanic.
He’s taken care of all the major jobs on our cars, from timing belts to wheel bearings, and is very explicit about what work is necessary, recommended, or completely optional.
When it comes to me screwing up my attempted home mechanic jobs, he’s always been very patient on the phone, given great advice, and has generally been very generous.
Exactly what you would want in a neighborhood mechanic, and unfortunately what you very rarely see.

I’ve been taking my car to David Stroot for 10 years… and now everyone I know takes their car to him as well. Just a really nice honest guy who tells you like it is, what needs to be done, what can wait. As a woman who doesn’t know much about cars, I used to dread going to the mechanic because they always charge you at least $ 200 more for your lack of a Y chromosome… but not Strootie. He’s a very straightforward guy. I’ve had all kind of minor and major repairs over the years (everything from shocks to brakes to a new engine) and I’ve always been exceedingly pleased with the result.
And he has the cutest shop dog labs ever. Major bonus!