Ron’s Berkeley Muffler Service

What a great experience. Welded a crack on my BMW muffler hanger, reinforced the one of the other side, and then wouldn’t charge me. «We get to decide who pays and you aren’t going to pay.» How many times have I heard that at a repair shop? Never before. Nice people.

Called Ron’s on a whim this afternoon. Abby answered and told me they could check out my car’s muffler without an appointment. I had suspected the muffler needed changing due to a persistent noise I had heard emanating from it while driving. Marcus spent 15 minutes testing the mufflers only to tell me that the muffler was fine; the sound was traveling from the engine.
After running a few tests, he suggested I take it to a place that can troubleshoot engines and added that he didn’t want to sell me a muffler that I didn’t need. When asked what I owed him for the tests and time, he said nothing. Even after insisting he would not accept. How often have you heard of a patron offering to pay someone and being refused?
Exceptionally honest and pleasant. Will certainly return when the muffler is actually in need of a replacement.

I had a small exhaust leak on my Mercedes so Unilocaled muffler shops in the area and Ron’s Berkeley Muffler Service came up. Looking at their good reviews I decided to go and have my car checked.
I was greeted by a nice lady who took my car and put it on the lift. After a close examination I was told that the exhaust leak is coming from the flange, because one of the bolts is missing. Marcus showed me where the missing bolt was supposed to be and told me that they will replace it free of charge.
How awesome is that?!
Bottom line is, if you need muffler or catalytic converters replacements, or just exhaust repairs go see these guys!

Great work again! Catalytic converter installed less then a hr and passed smog 30 min later. I bring all of my vehicles to Ron’s Berkeley Muffler Service. Thanks Ron and Abby.

I stopped in there to see if they could help me with a rattling heat shield on my catalytic converter. They told me that they couldn’t weld it, because it would short out the hybrid battery, but they could remove it. They lifted the car up, ripped the loose piece off, and sent me on my way. I didn’t have to wait, and they didn’t charge me anything for the service! I will definitely come back next time I need real work done on the exhaust system.

Brought my Subaru here twice for various death rattles. The employees were honest and easy to work with. They knew that my broken catalytic converter should still be covered under a random California state law and should be covered by Subaru if I brought it to the dealership. Then a year later, when my heat shield was rattling, the shop quickly tack-​welded the heat shield while I waited so it would stop rattling. Best thing– both visits were free of charge and everyone was exceptionally friendly! They also said if I ever have a check engine light, they would check the error code for free. I will definitely be back if I have any other problems!

Part of my Honda Accord muffler assembly was scraping on the ground. I had no idea what it was, but it was making quite a racket, and sounded scary. I drove to the Honda dealer. They said it was the catalytic converter cover, but that I needed to replace my entire emissions system because of rust — for over $ 2000. I went to Ron’s for a second estimate. He put it up on the lift immediately, and told me that a) my car had very little rust — it had been garaged most of its life and b) the catalytic cover could be replaced fairly inexpensively, but I probably didn’t need to do it. So they saved my over $ 2000! Wow! I will DEFINITELY go there if I ever need any exhaust system work.

They were polite, knew exactly what was wrong, fixed it quickly, and charged a very reasonable price. Thanks! Y’all were great! I will definitely come here in the future for any muffler repairs.

I’ve been bringing my cars here for decades. They’re always fair and do a great job. Just brought in a Civic today on which I’d messed up the exhaust by backing into a retaining wall. They pulled it out and fixed it with no charge… Great folks and fine service!

These guys are awesome. Nice guys who are honest and do good work. Good prices too.
I was a mechanic for a long time when I was younger so I know what’s up.
Highly recommended.

Thanks to this guy, I went to the smog test with my fingers in the noise. What I love about my experience at Ron’s is:
1. He’s a friendly guy
2. He will explain you everything as if you were at your doctor’s
3. He’s efficient: I didn’t even finish my tea that he was already done
4. Their price is very competitive
5. On top of that, he makes very cool pieces of art!
Highly recommended if you ever have an issue with your cat converter.

Great service, very friendly team.
It took just 1 hour to diagnose, find required parts and install them.
And price was very good too!

GREAT Service! I went to get an oil change and the mechanic told me my muffler was cracked. I took my car to Ron’s and after their through inventions they found nothing wrong with my muffler! They called me right away and gave me some suggestions for other issues I raised concerns about. I would HIGHLY recommend this HONEST and RELIABLE local business!

If I could give 6 stars I would, Abby (the owner) is the kind of business owner we all wish to deal with everywhere we go
HONEST, AS NICE AS CAN BE AND JUST SALT OF THE EARTH PEOPLE, EVERYONE THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE, Id recommend them to my momma and anyone else who needs a muffler…

Really nice, I’ll give you that… however, TERRIBLE ADVICE.
I went in with a concern for a rattling in the rear of my car, which I thought was my muffler, because I had been planning a road trip later that week. The mechanics on site claimed it was a bent metallic plate under my car and that everything else was in great condition and ready to go for the trip. About an hour into my trip my brakes gave out and then the wheel barring was extensively damaged. Basically, my wheel was not attached to my car, and I am now staying the night in a random town, with my car in the hands of a random mechanic, stranded. So, in terms of getting the best service, I would say a definite no. However, I understand that they may have just not seen the problem.
Very nice though.
Peace.

Another 5 star review!
I’ve been going to Ron’s since I had my first car which makes it about 35 years. Way back when they were the friendliest and the best and they would weld your broken bike frame for you for free. I remember a handwritten sign in the shop that said «We don’t care how they do it in LA»
Anyways, I had a cracked bracket on my exhaust system on my 2006 Mercedes E320 CDI. Drive in at 10 am on a tuesday, waited 5 minutes, they put it up on the rack, visually inspected the entire system, confirmed that they could re-​weld the bracket, did that work and I was on my way 10 minutes later… no charge!
And I had a nice chat with the woman behind the counter. They are professional, friendly and will do little jobs like this for free. I will certainly continue to come back and do all my exhaust work at Ron’s and will continue to recommend them to friends and neighbors.

Another 5 star review for Ron’s Muffler.
Fast. Competent. Friendly. Cheap.
I was in and out in 5 minutes and my car no longer sounds like a dragster!

Here’s another 5 star review — cuz Ron’s ROCKS and they deserve it!
Had car stolen on Thanksgiving. It was luckily recovered, but sans a catalytic converter (along with other damage and losses).
I was going to weld in a new catty myself, but when I got under the car I realized the exhaust system was pretty much shot.
Ron’s was able to take me first thing Monday morning, and was happy to use the new catty I’d already bought. Abby and the guys were super nice, caring and professional. They welded on some anti-​theft protection at no charge.
My car sounds better than it has in years, the price was fair, and they helped take some of the sting out of the whole situation.

After a bit of a run around and some disappointing customer service at another auto repair shop (see my review here:
), I finally made it to Ron’s to take care of a heat shield that had rusted and come loose and was making a rattling noise. I brought my car in around 8:40 am and by 8:55 it was DONE, no more rattle, and they didn’t charge me a penny. They said it was extremely common for my type of car and if it ever happened again they’d weld it right back up again, free of charge.
Seriously, there are people like this in the auto service industry? My faith is restored. I’m super grateful for their kindness and generosity and will definitely be coming back if I’m ever in need of their services and telling everyone I know about their superior service.
Now to find someone who can fix the chunk of paint missing from the back of my car…

Amazing group of people,
Ran over something on the freeway and bent my exhaust. I was tripping out thinking of how much it would be to replace the whole damn thing.
They heated it up, bent it back into place and replaced the broken hanger in the back.
Then didn’t charge me a cent!
Can’t recommend these guys enough. I’m baking them cookies.