Ray Frey Auto Center

SHORT UPDATE:
It’s been about 5 years now since I first started coming to Ray’s for my car needs.
Five years later, and now even moving from Clairemont to Point Loma, much further away from the shop (~13 miles which is a long way in San Diego! If you live here, you know what I mean.)…Well, I still would not take my cars anywhere else then to Ray! Absolutely, 100% the only place I go for my car work needs. From oil change, to smog check, to the annoying expensive break downs with older cars (that are still less than having a car payment! ;-)) Ray’s all the way!
LONGER UPDATE:
Like I said, I no longer live, nor even work, in the area. But, i still would not let anyone else work on my cars, be it oil changes or repairs; unless I was out of town and in an emergency situation.
Over all these years I see Ray happily about 6 times a year for basic maintenance needs… 2 cars, 3 oil changes per year per car, and one smog per year for each car. These are the happy times when your car is running right, and you just need to give it its LOVE and care to keep it running correctly. For all these happy visits I go out of my way because I trust them to do the job correctly, not sell me on anything I don’t need, give me a through inspection to alert me to other potential maintenance needs there may be now (or upcoming), all at a great price, in a timely manner and with an amazing car wash to top it all off. It is truly top notch service!!! Can’t say enough!
Then, there are the unhappy visits :’(By this I do not mean it is unhappy because of the service or anything, I mean the unhappy visits that come because you drive older cars. A 15 year old Mustang with ~200K miles, and a 6 year old Subaru with almost 100K miles. Ya, when you have an older car, things can go wrong without notice. My thought is, as long as the maintenance costs are less than the value of the car, not getting too frequent or outrageous, and are less than making car payments, it’s worth doing. Well, even during these unhappy times Ray is they guy to go to! With every unexpected unhappy visit I have had this shop has ALWAYS diagnosed and fixed it perfectly and the first time, within one day, every time! Never have I had to go back after a problem because the repair was bad or the diagnose was wrong. NEVER! And as always, the same level of service and great car wash!
They have been perfectly spot on with everything every time. Ray, and especially his office staff, mechanics and car wash guys are absolutely worth their weight in gold. Very knowledgeable, honest, trustworthy and just good people.
Ok, I have rambled on enough here… but it is not every day you find such a great mechanic shop!

Are these guys even open anymore??? I called the number 2xs and both times a woman said hello then hung up on me, she didn’t say the name of the biz. So either they closed, changed phone numbers or are rude to customers. Any of these gets 1 star.

They took me same day, I barely waited.
For under $ 100 they changed the oil and smogged my van.
Ray was full of great advice.
In the end when I came to pick up my van, they had cleaned it!
Blew my mind.

Took my 17 year old RAV to Ray Frey and they repaired all to excellent condition within 24 hours. Fantastic service, great staff, terrific work and timely. They offer shuttle service within a relative mileage radius. I absolutely will be going back and can recommend without any hesitation.

The receptionist is a condescending rude woman. I called and asked if they do major services and instead of helping me, she made me feel simpleminded. Before you talk down to anyone else, I’d like to let you know that we all don’t work at an auto shop, we all don’t know that you don’t have to make an appointment and it’s first come first serve, and we all don’t know what your prices are.

Cheaper than the others I called. Smogged it right away. 20 minutes and they washed it for free. Can’t beat that.

I stand by my first review. I came here today to have a coolant flush and to have them look at my brakes. I had called ahead they said labor is $ 50 if I bring the coolant. Great! I had two jugs in my car ready to go. Once there it took a while for them to check out the car. I was okay with that. Ray noticed that I was waiting for awhile and kept me updated on the progress. I didn’t mind the wait, that just means that they have a lot of customers which is a good sign for any auto shop. Their free wifi kept me occupied as I was passing the time. Mon-​thurs they provide rides too I believe, but call to confirm. They also provide coffee, filtered water and a bowl of chocolates. Once the chocolates were discovered my low carb diet went out the window. Free calories don’t count right?
There was a little snafu when one of the workers told me that the brakes just needed cleaning for $ 5 for the cleaner. I said alright let’s do it! The bill shocked me because that cost was just the cleaner without the labor. I was a little bit disappointed but understood that labor is always charged separately because who works for free? I just told the lady behind the desk to remind the gentleman to always inform the customer. The lady mentioned it to Ray who was insistent on setting things right. He gave me a discount that was more than I expected.
I love how they have the customer’s experience in mind. This philosophy extends from the moment I walked in and was greeted until I left with my newly washed and repaired car. I will recommend Ray Frey to anyone who is looking for someone whom they can trust their car to.

Many of our family has been going to Ray Frey’s for years now, excellent service and excellent staff — great mechanics — Ray is a master mechanic himself and will not fix your car if it isn’t broken. I refer friends to Ray’s all the time. A Honest and reasonable mechanic is hard to find — I know I used to bring my old Buicks here and they were old and always having complicated problems. Now I have a 2007 Buick LaCrosse which I bought used at CarMax as a fleet car with 40K miles on it. Ray checked it our for me while I had time to return it. I bring it here for regular maintenance and occasional maintence and repaire on the extented warranty I bought through CarMax for 3 years worth it on a used car.
The reason I am writing today is I had a failure of the power steer. evidently related to the replacement of the something in the Rack and Pinion and Power Steering Pump in October 2014, the manufacturer would not stand by the parts now in March 2015 the Power Steering Pump fill tube had a pin hole leak which eventually burst under 15,000 psi pressure and all leaked out. So Ray covered the whole repair and the rental car from Enterprise I had from Friday to Tuesday (as I had dropped my car on Friday noon and they were so busy they couldn’t the parts and complete the work until Monday and test drive my Buick until Tuesday morning). Ray also reimbursed the the cost of the rental car! He has a negotiated shop car rate with the nearby Avis location which Enterprise met they have a larger selection of cars — And they pick you up.
Thanks to Ray Frey, his shop manager Bob, head mechanic Miles, all the mechanics and support staff and front office staff Crystal and Lisette, which include his wife behind the sences — In all this local business employees about 60 people. :-) Give them your business you won;t be unhappy took and all the 5 star reviews — Mark Freeman — Clairemont — San Diego Native.

Honest price. I highly recommend it! Perfect customer service and they do it quickly. Also easy to find.

My boss/​buddy actually recommended Ray’s and I will say Ray Frey’s is beyond a doubt TOP NOTCH and will always be my #1 recommendation to anyone looking for a great mechanic who will not rip you off and who knows what the heck they are doing.
Ray’s waiting area is immaculate and inviting. The establisment is well run. He knows what he’s doing as a business man; it is obvious. His team loves and respects him and he has only the best of the best workng for him. I LOVED the diversity and atmosphere, not to mention the candy dish and ice cold water offered to his customers.
After being laid off a few years ago, my money was extremely tight and my car got neglected big time!!! Fortunately this past year I was blessed to start working again and getting back onto a level playing field again. Needless to say, when I went in to Ray’s, I went in with a mess (my car) and left knowing I would be safe on the road. Thank you Ray!!! Teresa, Crystal, Ricardo, Sam and ALL THE TEAM. This Auto Shop is top top topnotch. You can go in feeling assured you and your vehicle will be in good hands.
See you for my next maintenance check. flo

5 stars easy, but they deserve 10!
I’ve been coming here for at least 5 years and the crew at Ray Frey has got to be the most honest and genuine shop in town. They offer pretty much every service that you would need for your car except putting on new tires, but they will gladly rotate and balance your current ones. They will also let you know if you need new tires and recommend tire shops in San Diego.
QUICK STORY:
One of the amazing things about Ray Frey Auto is they will recommend a competing business if they can’t help you. This has happened maybe twice since I’ve been coming to Ray Frey and one of the few times this came up was when I had three burnt out reverse lights. They couldn’t the part for my car the same day or by the next business day; so Ray personally called around San Diego and found another shop that could help me out that day oooorrrrr I could wait an extra couple of days to get my lights fixed through Ray Frey. (The other shop would have charged me the same price BTW) I chose to ride dirty and get them fixed at Ray Frey. You can’t find that level of customer service anywhere nowadays.
SIDE STORY:
I’m moving to Vegas in a few days and Ray even offered to find me a trustworthy mechanic in the Henderson area where my new apartment is located. Booyah!
Great place and trustworthy; plus they wash your car after they have serviced it… for FREE!
P. S. — The owner Ray is usually hanging out behind the counter and if you’ve been in there more than twice he will most likely remember you or something about or your last visit.

First heard about them thru multiple clients that had a great experience then used them myself and confirmed. Great team not only in the garage/​shop but also behind the counter — they listen to your situation then actually give you options. I have personally seen Ray provide options/​choices that save thousands of dollars (in particular watched him talk to a senior lady (widow) who came to Ray for a second opinion on a transmission replacement.
After driving the car himself, riding in the car with the lady, and listenting to her describe her driving (church, grocery store and bingo for about 12 miles a week) Ray let her know that because she drove so little the transmission should last ALOT longer than your average person driving about 250 miles per week. BOTTOM LINE — Great customer service, great repair work and Honesty!

If there were more stars, I’d give it to this repair shop. It’s extremely hard to find an honest mechanic, especially here in SD, but look no further. My girlfriend’s parents have been going to Ray for decades, and referred me to his shop. I’ve been going there ever since. Today he saved my 2004 Honda Civics’s life for a ridiculously reasonable price. Yesterday, I took the same car to another mechanic because he ‘specialized in transmission repair’ and after the test drive the the guy told me the transmission was shot and it would be $ 1500-​$ 1800 to repair the transmission, and three days worth of work, so I was ready to scrap the car seeing as how it books at $ 2600. It made no sense to keep it. Then I decided to take it to Ray as I recall my girlfriend’s car had a similar transmission slip issue. Sure enough Ray Frey saved it within three hours. He did the same thing with my girlfriend’s accord about 1 year ago.AMAZING. To top it off, they will wash your car after any service, even when you go in for an oil change!
My civic now runs great. I’m still pretty amazed. Ray will never do ANY service that is unnecessary and only what is right. He’s not a low-​ball guy or a cheap mechanic who will cut corners. Instead he will give you the fairest deal for the work, and he will stand behind the job because he knows his technicians are top notch. He will under-​promise and over deliver, that’s how he earns my trust and lifelong business, with integrity. If you want an honest, dependable, knowledgeable, professional, detail oriented mechanic who you can feel comfortable sending your girlfriend or grandma to, trust Ray Frey Auto Center.

The ONLY place I bring my car. I refer everyone I know. Always honest and fair. No after market parts and my car is always clean when I leave! Ray is the best!!!

Hands down the best repair shop in San Diego! Let me tell you a story.
I have a Subaru (best cars ever made, I know) and I have been taking it to Ray for a couple of years. They have always been SUPER honest and given me what was a great deal for regular maintenance items. I went to the Subaru dealership (across the street) because I had a specific engine issue that I thought was best for them to handle. The issue ending up being a simple fix but they told me I needed front brakes and gave me a quote. I went back to Ray and dropped my car with them letting them know that Subaru had told me I needed brakes. I got a call an hour later from them saying that my brakes looked great (50% on the pads still) and that I should be good for a while longer. NOW that is SERVICE! I couldn’t believe that there was a repair shop that could have easily took my money and they did the RIGHT thing.
I will never go anywhere else as a result of this experience. Ray Frey is amazing!

Great place. Been coming here for a few years and while I haven’t always been pleased with what I’ve been told (who likes to pay money for car repairs anyways?), I always thought he was being fair and honest. Ray is definitely a guy that tells you like it is with no bullshit so if you have thin skin or want it sugar coated, you should go somewhere else. However, I appreciate being told that my car is causing them a headache and want it out of there. I’d feel the same way.
Recommended for sure.

Wow… just got a free hand wash with my oil change. Worth the $ 30 itself. It’s like I got the oil change for free. If anyone needs a oil change this is def. the place to go. Make sure to get the coupon on their website.
I also need to get my brake pads replaced and the quote they gave me is less than my last time at Midas. They don’t take appointments, which is a bit annoying, but will take my car in next week for my brake job.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice?
Difficult to work with. Talks to me like he’s doing me a favor. The first time they mis-​diagnosed the problem on my car, I figured it was an honest mistake. Bringing it in for a different issue, now he’s just being a jerk. Not interested to listen to my concerns, given the first experience he put me through. I understand if he doesnt need my business, but they should put a sign up saying just that, and save people time.

Tried several other auto places in SD before hitting up Ray Frey’s last year. I’ve been back to them exclusively ever since.
Front desk people are efficient, no-​nonsense, and have a sharp sense of humor. Mechanics have always worked with me rather than against me to figure out what I need and what’s the best deal. Never got overcharged for anything. They’re clear and non-​hysterical (been surprised by how many places are ready to drop doom and gloom at a moment’s notice). Plus, you get the free wash with pretty much any service.
Best signal that this is a trustworthy place– tons of moms in minivans every time I come here. If they can all feel comfortable at a car place, you know they’re doing something right.

6 Stars.
I usually do not write reviews of nonfood places but for Ray Frey Auto, I will make an exception. There are simply amazing. Ray himself works there on a day to day basis and makes sure the job is done right. Today his shop was super busy but he squeezed me in for a quick oil change. He reminded that my wind shield wipers needed replacing which was great since I have been meaning to replace them. They really take care of your car, do not try to sell you unnecessary things, and are reasonably priced. I have been going here for a couple years now and I would trust anything that they said (within reason). I was hesitant to write a review bc I don’t want anymore people to know about this great place. Well if you read this, you should go here for any car troubles