Freeway Automotive

Actually deserves NO stars.
Got two flats on the 5SB, just crossing the CA/​NV border. Once the tow arrived, we called at 6:20am, someone answered however could not verify inventory until 8am!!! We would be there at about that time but not chancing them not having the inventory and end up stranded.
So there NO stars.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE! Walk to Barstow if you have to because if I could leave negative stars I would. My fiancé and I were hauling a trailer with a truck inside it to Burning Man and we had an axle break. Mark, who I’m assuming is either the owner or manager, very helpfully (insert extreme sarcasm) allowed us to store the truck there ($ 50 for one night. Are you kidding me?), so we could limp the trailer home and swap it for another one. We were told they would open at 10:00 in the morning, so we said we would be coming back at 10. No problems, see you then. Right? Wrong. 10:00 this morning and nobody was there. Mark answered the phone and said his guy would be there in 45 minutes. 45 minutes later and when we called again the guy was just leaving Barstow. Barstow!!! As in still an hour away. And the amount of flippant, disrespectful attitude we received was ASTOUNDING. Our vacation, which was already delayed a day, is now delayed another two hours because of two incompetent morons. They both deserve to be stuck in this middle of nowhere town. Unacceptable service and they still have the audacity to charge us. In hindsight I’d have rather gone to the 24 hour service shop down the street. At least we’d be back on the road again by now. There is no excuse for the lack of professionalism here.

I had my alternator/​battery go out on me driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Luckily I was able to pull over in the town of Baker. I had Triple A jump start my car so I could pull into the local hotel. The Triple A guy told me to contact Freeway Automotive in Baker. After spending the night in Baker I called Freeway Automotive the next morning (9am). They said they could help but first they needed to go to Barstow to pick up a new alternator. I gave them the OK. They came to my hotel room within 2 hours, jumped started my truck and I was able to drive back to their shop.
After about 30/​45mins I had a new alternator in my truck and off I went to LA.
I wish the price would have been a bit more economical but what are you going to do in the middle of nowhere?
Thanks for all the help Freeway Automotive!

Yesterday afternoon going up that hill right after you enter into California a hose behind my engine began leaking coolant, thus resulting in my car to overheat. I got towed to Freeway automotive because it was late in the day and I knew if I got towed anywhere farther else I might risk nowhere being open. We got to baker at 5:30 and they say they are open until 9. They told me it would be a 3 hour job which I was fine with because of the location of the hose and it would cost me $ 300, I was also okay with the $ 94 minimum fee.
However I was not okay with what they told me next. They wouldn’t be able to fix it until morning making this whole thing now $ 400 with the cost of paying for a hotel room. So thinking my car would probably be done with the 3 hours of time they had last night and the 2 I gave them this morning, I called around 10 am to find out they haven’t even gotten the parts yet and it wouldn’t be done until 3 or 4 this afternoon. They weren’t even sure if that would be the case either. So I decided to cut my losses and called AAA TO to get it towed to Victorville where at least I could meet up with my parents a little closer.
If they would have told me sooner that they wouldn’t be able to fix it until morning I would have gotten towed to somewhere else cheaper and closer to San Diego which is where I’m from. Obviously there aren’t a lot of options out here especially with the cost of towing, but if you can, spend the extra money to go to Barstow or Vegas. These guys are nice enough but I was not impressed with their disregard for my time. I’m a 21 year old college student just trying to get home on a extremely strict budget.
Also forgot to mention the 30 or so cars they have in their parking lot with mostly out of state licenses, just a little suspicious.

My car broke down on the way to Las Vegas, transmission, found out there is only one mechanic shop in Baker, Ca. and this is it.
The mechanic was in the hospital and his brother is the one who helped me out. He diagnosed my car for me and only charged me half of the normal diagnostic charge. He gave me a ride back to my hotel and was very kind, he could’ve charged anything, but he didn’t. Kudos for the honest mechanics.

These people are a joke or genius! I got a flat on my way to Las Vegas. I didn’t want to drive with a spare also known as. So I decided to use my Unilocal app and I found this to be the closest to me! I called and asked for a price for a tire! My mistake I don’t have my tire size! The person who answered says… «You need to figure out the size and call me back» you would think since they work for cars, as it is their job they would be able to look it up! So I dug through my manual book and I found the size. I called he offered me a tire as in only one for $ 180… Bye Felicia

Old place looks close

REFUSE to be towed here! AVOID this garage NO MATTER WHAT! Go elsewhere, it will be worth the expense in the end. They lure you in, then take total advantage, especially females. I think AAA should be informed of this by everyone. If you do end up there, spend the extra money to have your car towed closer to home for a second opinion. (If you were told to have surgery, wouldn’t you get a second opinion?) I read their reviews after the fact and they seem to have a standard diagnosis which is «your engine is seized.» Yes, we did spend a bundle towing the car out of there, but it was well worth saving thousands of dollars if we would have believed them; this seems to be their scam. Karma… Karma… Karma! (and it turned out to only be a thermostat!) Just sayin!

Check engine light came on while driving from Barstow to Baker around 6pm last Sunday night.
I called the shop, and Marc ran a diagnostic on my car right away at no charge. The problem wasn’t serious and as hwy 127 is deserted with little cell phone reception, their help reassured me before getting back on the road at night. I had the problem confirmed by my mechanic the next day, basically telling me the same thing as Marc. Good experience in what could have been a very stressful/​expensive situation.

Shady business. $ 95 minimum charge. $ 95/​hour labor. Charges $ 100 to pick up the parts. Marks the parts cost double. Come here if you have no other option. Not a nice guy.

This shop tries all that they can to get you back on the road. Some people like to make stuff up because they want to make it seem like they are the victim, when in fact they are just dumb***s and don’t take care of their vehicles. If you have a pos vehicle don’t travel, if you can’t afford to take care of it or get it fixed that’s your own fault.
I personally know the owner and the mechanic who used to run this place and I do believe full heartily they do their best.

Our car over heated a few miles north of this place. Our aaa tow truck brought us here since there was only 2 repair shops in town. They started us off with a minimum service fee of $ 94 which is a bit steep, but they can do whatever they want out here. They ended up telling us our car had melted important parts and it’d be better just to get a new car. They were very nice and didn’t mess around trying to be cheap with us. We had to have a friend come from Utah to pick us up and tow us home to further fix the car for cheaper from family, but Marc the owner let us stay in the waiting room with a fan and direct tv until they closed up shop and got us some water. These guys are so down to earth and don’t mess around. Having a car brake stucks, but it wasn’t too bad with them. The other car repair doesn’t like dealing with cars that over heat. Super weird in the desert… just go to this place of you have to.

While driving to Vegas, my boyfriend drove over a rock that he thought was short enough to pass over (it wasn’t). Since it was his car, here’s his review:
«Summary — Polite, genuine help when you need it most. You will pay a premium because they’re probably the only shop in a hundred mile radius, but they won’t screw you as hard as they could.
I drove over the rock in a parking lot about 12 miles from the shop, and severely punctured my oil pan which spilled all 5 quarts from my engine. I had to get it towed to Freeway, where tons of other miserable people were stuck en route to Vegas for Labor Day Weekend.
Luckily, we had a ride, and it was very quick and easy to drop off the car, and I remained in contact with them over the weekend. Through no fault of their own, the oil pan that they ordered took a week to arrive (Labor Day Weekend delayed its delivery from the supplier they ordered from), so I had to drive back out there and get my car, but they didn’t charge me at all for storage like the sign says they do.
Marc and the younger mechanic (who I later found out is his son) were always very polite, and Marc was straight with me about the cost of the repairs. $ 400 for an oil pan and labor is a little steep, but considering that if you’re at Freeway, you’re stranded and don’t have much of a choice, they could charge you whatever they damn well please. Luckily, they keep it reasonable.
When I went to pick it up, we got there a little late but we called and they stayed open for us. Marc was extremely apologetic about the delay and gave me some pointers about where I could get a new hood for cheap (it got banged up in an unrelated incident) and seemed genuinely concerned about our safety on the ride back.
In the end, I think all complaints about this place can be tempered by thinking about how isolated of a shop it really is. Delays are inevitable when every car that breaks down on the way to Vegas ends up at one shop run by a guy and his son, and with literally nowhere else to go you can’t really be picky about price (which is still nearly reasonable).
I hope this makes someone with the misfortune of getting stranded out there feel a little more comfortable; you’re in good hands at Freeway.»

Other than being open late I don t have much good to say about Dan. Charged me 95 bucks to look at my truck, it had over heated coming up that huge hill before Baker. So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to it is probably seized. So I paid and watch him charge the battery for 5 minutes and try to start the engine. CLICK «ya your engine needs to be replaced». That was his professional opinion?! Awesome thanks for taking my money than he told me that Obama had all of the engines in the country thrown away or some kind of crap and it was going to be at least 3 to 4 k to fix it. Long story short I didn’t have him do the work and he charged me another 50 bucks for storage after being rude on the phone letting him know I was having it towed. DO NOT USE THIS PLACE IF YOU CAN HELP IT!

do NOT stop here at all costs.
there is a yard full of cars with license plates from states across the US; if you’re not careful, this will be your future, too. it was mine anyway.
he said i had a blown gasket which is like car death. i may or may not have had a blown gasket but i didn’t have the capacity to get a second opinion. my boyfriend (who didn’t have a car) had to rent a car and drive 2 hours from LA to come pick me up. the owner, Dan, said i could leave my car there a couple days for free while i figure out how to get it towed.
no tow truck company will drive out that far. i even tried calling junk yard places that give you a couple hundred dollars for you car and tow it for free, but they wouldn’t pay someone to go out there either.
on the third day, i called Dan to figure out what i can do. he wanted $ 160 worth of storage fees at this point. what? i argued with him and he said it was going to go up everyday i didn’t get my car out of there.
finally, he said he would buy my car for $ 1 and not charge me any storage fees. when asked if we could record him say that, he freaked out, started yelling and said he didn’t trust us. eventually, i signed my titled over to him and fedex’ed it with signature. i haven’t heard anything from him since.
worst of all, i loved my car and now it’s in the hands of a dirt bag.

What a guy, Danny is! After being dropped off by the AAA driver (Chuck?), we were set up here, at Freeway Automotive, to get our shit together. Thank goodness this business was open at 7:00 p.m. on a Sunndaaaay.
My radiator was more cracked out than the other automotive shop down the road a piece. We got everything taken care of in a few hours and even got to play with some puppies! So cuuuuuute.
Thank you for both taking care of us and NOT taking advantage of us.
There are a lot of cars on the lot which one has the chance to purchase should they desire.
The nearest town is 65 miles south so don’t be surprised if it takes a bit of time for Danny’s brother to drive all the way out to Victorville to pick up the parts and come all the way back. You’ll get charged $ 120 for this service, but that is only fair, isn’t it? I spent $ 700 total.

Well again, this place is the reason why you need to stay in Baker, because they don’t work really fast on your car. They did figure it out, but not until it was like 8 in the evening.
$ 95 dollars to tell me that my engine was F-​ed, seemed ok, I suppose, but no real explanation other than it might be this, might be that. Avoid this place if you can, but if you have to stop, I guess it’ll have to do.