Adams Import Car Specialist

Personable, Honest, down to earth. I’ve taken my car there for a few things. Always satisfied with the work they do.

Brought a car from out of state so needed a smog check. Was referred here by a neighbor because they were «honest and nice» and «have been there for a long time». Am I ever glad I went. The car’s computer had recently reset, so the car could not be smog checked until all of the internal tests had re-​run. They checked my car 5 times — Javier even looked up and explained under what driving conditions the final test would run. They only charged one smog check fee. I will definitely bring my car here when it needs to be serviced. They are definitely honest and nice.

I’ve been here three times, for a smog check, an oil change, and to get my car repaired. I have always had a good experience. Konrad was super nice and helpful, his mom and dad are very knowledgable. They really care about their customers. I will definitely be taking my car here again!

I brought my car here before driving across the country to have it checked out. About a month before hand I had realized I needed my brakes done, so I went to a specialist and was given some ridiculously high quote, and decided I would hold off. Man am I glad I waited! It was way cheaper here, and they informed me I didn’t actually need everything done that the brake shop had said. As far as getting my car set to drive across the country, they were very honest and transparent about everything they did and suggested. Eva informed me that although they were fine to make it to the east coast, I would need to replace my spark plugs at some point in the near future. Usually when a mechanic says this I feel like they are trying to persuade me into spending as much money as possible, but at Adam’s Imports I never felt that way. This was the first experience I have had at a shop where I didn’t feel like someone was trying to convince me to spend money. I would definitely recommend coming here!

I’d give no stars if possible. I chose to take the Audi here because they claim they ‘specialize’ in foreign cars; German to be specific. So they overcharged to replace a simple part but that doesn’t fix the problem. So they call and say «we can replace this part for another couple hundred and if that doesn’t work we can change out this other part for a couple hundred». Mind you these other two parts themselves cost around 20 bucks. So at this point they pretty much have NO idea what they are doing and decide that perhaps piecing apart all these parts to fix and charging out the a** to do so for some stuff that may not even be faulty will POSSIBLY fix the problem. No absolutely not.
So I say don’t touch the car. They get all pissy and say «fine, we close at 5. Have it out of here by then. Btw it’s still not drivable.» I tell them I’ll have a tow truck head over and they say they will push it out on the side on the road.
Arriving 30 minutes before they close to pick up the keys and meet the tow truck which arrived at the same moment, myself and the driver see that the car is STILL in the back of their lot and STILL TAKEN APART. So here we are… Waiting for these fools to put a car back together that they knew and DEMANDED hours ago that we pick up. They were a joke. Clearly they didn’t know what they were doing and decided to try and guess and piece apart all this work to make the most money. In sure a lot of that had to do with the fact that I’m a young female and thought I was an idiot. Another sexist shop here.

On a road vacation from San Francisco, I jumped my subaru in Guadalupe Canyon, Mexicali and busted my front struts. After limping it back across the border (shredding my front tires :() on a thursday afternoon, the first thing I did was google subaru repair in San Diego, find Adams Import and call them up about 15 minutes before closing time. Konrad answered the phone agreed to look at the car the next morning (friday).
On friday morning, Konrad and Javier checked out the damage and wrote up an estimate for replacing the front struts, which they they could do that day, as well as having the tire shop across the street replace the shredded tires and align the wheels. The estimate was fair and I agreed and left the car with them.
I came by and picked up the car before closing Friday after Konrad had a chance to test drive it with all the work complete. Indeed everything was fixed and the car made a comfortable, safe, and high speed drive back to San Francisco, and has continued to drive happily around the bay area.
The experience was great. Despite my being an out-​of-​towner who doesn’t know much about cars and is in a hurry to get back on the road, the shop did not try to gouge me and completely fixed my subaru on the same day and with minimal fuss. Thanks Adams Import!

After waking up to a lake of oil under my car this morning, I coaxed it over to Adams Import and Eva was kind enough to fit me in even though I had not called ahead. All of the mechanics were very friendly and smiling as I waited, seems like a super nice group of people!
They were able to take a look at the car right away — Within an hour, Eva called me to let me know what was wrong and gave a price quote for fixing the issues which were an immediate concern, and letting me know a few things I will want to have done in the coming months which are not critical.
The price was more than fair for the work being done, and I am happy to know what the trouble was so quickly.

So far so good. I had timing belt changed, temperature light on and strut mounts replaced in addition to other things on my TDI Jetta.

I had a terrible experience at Midas in PB. They took advantage of my lack of knowledge and basically had me paying for labor twice on jobs that could’ve been combined.
Konrad, Eva and the mechanics at Adams Import cut right to the chase. I got fair estimates and quality work. They seem to care more about cultivating return customers by being fair, honest and professional which is definitely a benefit of a small, family owned garage.
Thanks for the quick and painless experience! I will definitely be bringing my car here for all my future maintenance.

Eva, Andy and Conrad, best trio for auto repairs and sales.

Great service on a quick smog check. Thank you very much.

I called around a million different places to fix my Mercedes when I had a hose that broke. This place was not only the most affordable they were really honest and really worked with me by giving me options on how to repair it and even kept me in informed on different prices for parts that I needed. This place is by far the most honest place I have found in San Diego, I wish I would have found this place five thousand dollars ago. My car was done the next day. Seriously the most honest and affordable shop I have found. Trust me I’ve dealt with some shady up sellers in the past all over SD.

I was lured into the Smog station because of the $ 10 off coupon and the location. I ride a 95 hoopti, and like most other test centers I was charged $ 55 for the smog test (including the $ 10 off thing).
I failed the smog check, and asked the mechanic if he offered a free diagnostic test, or had any idea why the smog test failed, he said nope, and no. Super bummed and ready to break up with my car, I asked a girly friend if she new any honest mechanics who don’t charge an arm and a leg. She did. Awesome. I ended up in Chula Vista where I think a 15 year old mechanic took one look at my smog report and said «all you need is a good tune up, see here you barely passes this part which means your filters are probably dirty».
So I got the tune up. Two days later I went back to Adam Ave smog to see if he would smog it again at a discounted rate (most smog centers will do this for free) but he said no way jose, I have to pay the full price. Huge bummer, so I went to my old neighborhood in North Park and had the shop on Bancroft pass my test for 38 dollars. I knew that if I failed again, this place would retest me up to 2 times for free.
I’m giving the place 2 stars because the mechanic was not overtly rude, just incapable of being a decent mechanic.
Heres a link to cite that offers coupon to have you car diagnostically tested for free if if fails. Its not for Adams Ave import but I recommend going to one of these places over Adams Ave, esp. if you have an old car.

After hearing of a good experience from someone about Javier, I stopped in Tuesday talked to Javier and made an appointment with Eva for today to have my diagnosed. Eva is the desk person taking care of calls, paperwork, payment, appointments etc. (comes across organized and professional). My problem the car is great one ride and then sometimes trouble starting it and it coughs or conks out or stutters when i am driving on another ride.
When I dropped my car off at 8am, i signed a piece of paper with Eva stating the diagnostic would cost $ 114. I inquired if this would be put toward the repair if I chose to have the car repaired. Answer, no. Instructed that we should have diagnosis around lunch.
Got a call from Eva explaining that there four problems showing up for service light and the air sensor connection was my problem. Javier took a care of wire and problem solved. Turns out I need to replace a hose but not detrimental. They ordered part. It was $ 87 including labor. Talked to Javier on phone and he very informative. Since fixing the connector was not labor intensive, diagnostic fee was put toward the fixing the connector.
Later, Javier gave me a full 15 minutes just talking about all the codes that came up on the car and he answered my traditional 20 questions.
The guy talks well (technical, yet talks so I can understand), very knowledgeable, and definitely thorough.
I ended up going back again because it turned out to be the mass air flow sensor. I like the way this place diligently looks for a used part. A new one from the dealer was over $ 600. They helped me find a used one that was under $ 150. Big savings. I got ride when I dropped of my car from a Conrad so I didnt have to arrange a ride for my next visit.
Again, I talked to javier and asked him another 20 questions about my car. He didnt mind at all, seemed like he enjoyed it, as in, he enjoys what he does.
So, long story short (too late), I overall had a good experience.
whats a good mechanic?
fixes problem on first shot, fair pricing, knowledgeable.
i missed one. sometimes something comes up within a month or so that you mysteriously need a repair on. dont think that will happen here.

Found this place from Unilocal.and then a coupon for smog check from SDReader for $ 30 out the door including certicate. I got there a little before closing, and instead of turning me away, owner Andy welcomed me and accepted me into their queue. Very friendly and accomodating, they were able to finish the smog check job, even staying late to do so. about 30 min past closing time.
Nice to support an independent long time «mom & pop» business like this here in San Diego, especially when most places are chain or corporate nowadays. Please give these guys a try and ask for Andy or Eva. Support local biz! This review is totally unsolicited.

I have had my BMW’s worked on here before and always been satisfied with their work and billing.
However, $ 601 to service the air conditioning and replace a seat belt buckle on a 318? $ 170 to diagnose the air bag light when I can buy the tool for $ 129 at Bavauto? I figured I would only use it once or twice and it couldn’t cost more that $ 129 for 5 minutes worth of diagnostics…
And I only paid $ 80 to have the air conditioning serviced on my Ford, and it is the same process…
$ 601, really ???

LOVE THIS PLACE… i’m a new car person… so when my warantee expired i didn’t really know where to go because i didn’t want to pay the dealership prices…
I found this place and am so glad i did. They are honest, helpful, not overpriced, and tell you what you need and what you don’t.
For anyone with an import… (I have a mercedes benz and bmw) this is the place to go!
Friendly, and professional!

I can not believe how lucky am to have found this garage!!! They have saved me thousands of dollars and have helped me keep my 1995 Suzuki Sidekick running strong.
Both Eva and Andy have been up-​front with me and have given me the information I need to make a solid decision on my car repair.
I trust them and now have all my girlfriends going there!!! Especially for a women… it is sooooo hard to find a garage you can trust!!! I am sending all of my female and male friends there.

I went there for a smog test because they have the Golden Shield that the DMV requires. If you go on The Reader’s website you can find a coupon that will make the smog test $ 30.70 out the door. Usually they are around $ 40-​$ 60 so its a really good deal. It is around $ 22 if you don’t pass.
They are right next to a Valero gas station so I got to run two errands at once. It took about 20 minutes for the whole thing. I just sat in their office and played on my phone. Overall it was a good experience.

This endorsement is based on one smog check incident, but I trust these dudes.
I came in because they have a coupon in the Reader, but it also helped that as a smock check station they are Gold Shield certified, which means they pass a somewhat more rigorous inspection and they have no disciplinary actions against the station or its managers. I’m not sure it’s a big deal, but at the very least it’s not a bad sign.
More importantly, they checked and fixed my ignition timing (a cheap repair) before the test, which allowed it to pass, a repair I know I needed.
So my junker is street legal for another 2 years! Hooray!
(It’s the little things sometimes.)