Butterfly Auto Mobile Mechanic

Marco is the best! knowledgeable, reliable, and does excellent work. He helped me reinstall the brembo calipers on my car after I sent them out to be refinished. Marco did a great job and was very reasonably priced.
I will def be back to work with Marco again. What great service and quality work!

Marco is fantastic. By far the best mobile mechanic I have ever dealt with. Fast, communicative, efficient and no BS! He was extremely familiar with problems I was experiencing with my BMW 525i and was able to remedy them with incredible speed.
Marco has got a great attitude and is very personable as well. He is now my go-​to mechanic on wheels!

My daughter attends SFSU, her car broke down. We had it towed to her home. I (Dad) live in Los Angeles. I found Marco, read his reviews and decided to give him a call. We figured out a good time for him to show up to assess the problem. Within one hour, he made a trip to the auto parts store and had her car back up and running. Good guy, good prices, we will definitely use him again!

Marco is a very very honest person to do business with, I called him to get my 1964 Chrysler going so I can drive it without any troubles, Marco showed up on time and did his diagnostics and informed me of all details and cost.
If you want an honest good mechanic with prices that match, Call Marco, ;)

You’re crazy if you take your car to a shop, Butterfly automobile mechanic came to your door steps. He’s extremely reliable and trusthworthy, which is a hard couple trades to find in a mechanic in this day.
I call him my Jesus because he is always able to save me whenever I need his service.
The best in town!

Marco is amazing! He’s worked on my car at least four times (188 000 miles, 1998 Honda). He’s fast to answer calls for help, he’s on time, does amazing work, has fair prices. He is THE standard for honesty and INTEGRITY. BEST MECHANIC EVER!

This is truly mobile auto repair. Marco returned my call right away and came to meet me within a couple of hours. He figured out the problem quickly, drove off to get a part, then came back and fixed it. He was very friendly and explained my options clearly. He understood that I didn’t want to pour a ton of money into my old car. I would definitely call him again.

Marco is as good as it gets!!! He is prompt, super nice and so honest. He will be the only guy I call on from now on.

Marco was on time and delivered exactly what he said he would. He also gave me tips on where to go for good prices on emission checks. Cool guy.

Returned my email submitted through the web site promptly and set an appointment for within 24 hours. I have a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee that needed a new water pump, belt, power steering pump and pulley. Not a simple job, and very tight working condition. Lots of parts to take off just to get to these. I started the job (have done minor work on lots of cars) but did not have time/​skills to finish this job. He gave me a thorough estimate before starting (ended up being accurate) and then completed the job in short order. We started up the engine, and BAM the power steering pump that I bought (Duralast junk) blew a seal. There was not time for me to go get a new one, so he left, and the next day picked up a quality one for me, came back and installed it!!! He also only charged me for the work time since he goes to the parts store so often. Jeep is up and running great now. Put about 120 miles on it since he did the work. Also was very nice a professional, and way less expensive the dealer, plus did not have to have the car towed. Thanks!

Seeing all those positive reviews I called Marco and I was very disappointed.
I needed to replace a starter on my 98 Dodge Caravan and he quoted me with $ 260.
I can buy a starter at O’Reilly’s for $ 60-​$ 70 which means Marco wanted to charge me almost 200 bucks for 1 hour of labor.
I’m not aware of any auto shop charging that much for the labor.
Do your homework before you call Marco.
It looks like he got greedy.
====================================
I just saw Marco’s reply and I’m still disappointed.
When I called you you said you have a flat rate for replacing a starter — $ 260.
You didn’t ask me any other questions whatsoever.
I just bought starter at O’Reilly’s for $ 69.99 and a mechanic at the next door gas station is replacing it for $ 85. Total price: $ 154.99
P. S. It’s 6 cylinders 3.8L engine

Marco was great! Dead car in the bottom of an underground parking lot. Diagnosed the problem as a dead fuel pump. Came back the next weekend when we dropped the tank and replaced the pump. It was more involved than we had anticipated, but Marco hung with it and got it fitted and she fired up. I would definitely recommend him to my family and friends.

Marco did an awesome job. Came to my house and changed out the starter and spark plugs on my TSX in less than 2 hours. Saved a tow charge and the more expensive dealer cost. I’m already making a list of some other work that I would like done.

Marco is wonderful. Being able to come to the house made a huge difference in my schedule, and he’s less expensive than shops who pay rent. Marco double-​checked a diagnosis I got from a different mechanic and Marco ended up saving me about $ 1000 because he found that the door to the air was what was broken, not the entire heater core (like the other mechanic had said). Marco is an honest, kind, and smart mechanic.

I don’t write Unilocal reviews often but Marco definitely deserves 5 STARS *****
–Reliable
–Knowledgeable
–Friendly
–Honest
–Hardworking
–Affordable
The starter on my 1989 4Runner had gone bad and the old hammer trick wasn’t working anymore, so I found Marco on Unilocal and gave him a call. He picked up when I called and I explained my problem, he told me he would have to check the price on the part and would call me back with estimate.
A few hours later I heard back from Marco, he had tracked down the part and gave me an estimate but did mention it could be more less depending on the difficulty. His price was more than fair and we set up an appointment for the next morning between 10−11am. Last time I had to get my starter replaced by a local mechanic it took a few days before he even had time to work on my car, so I was very pleasantly surprised.
At 10:05 I received a text from Marco letting me know he was still finishing up another job and would be there in 25 minutes. Sure enough 25 minutes Marco was at my apartment ready to get work.
Though I was positive it was my starter Marco checked to make sure, which I didn’t mind as nobody wants to pay for wasted labor. Marco had already picked up the part from the store and immediately got to fixing my problem.
After his initial inspection he said it was going to be a little harder than he expected but that he was still going to charge me the same price. I had never heard that from a mechanic in my life. My 25 year old import suv has a very tight engine bay and I somewhat figured it would not be easy to get the starter out of there and was prepared to pay more than the initial phone quote.
I went back to my apartment and about and hour and half later I got a text from Marco saying it was done. Sure enough I turned my key and it fired right up. We talked about how difficult the part was to get out and despite the extra time and effort it was still the same price as the original quote.
I had already planned on tipping Marco for his service (no different than the guy that drives to my house to deliver me pizza). He seemed more than surprised and happily accepted the tip. He then told me his mantra «I don’t make customers, I make friends» and that he did today. I will definitely recommend him to any of my friends with automotive issues.
In the end my car works again and I paid no more in labor and parts than I would have paid a family friend. However, I saved a bunch of money on towing the car and time spent shuffling cars around but best of all I would say I did make a friend.
Thanks again Marco!

Marco is the best in town. No joke.
My ’98 Chevy Cavalier straight up died one night. I called Marco the next morning and explained the situation and he knew right away what it was, went and picked up the alternator and fixed it. Took him less than an hour to get the part in and get me back on the road.
Not only that, he’s super nice and very honest! He didn’t try and charge extra for stuff I didn’t need, nor did he take all day to finish the job to try and get over on me for labor cost.
Listen, you can waste your time trying to find a good honest mechanic in SF and sit there with your ride stuck and waste your day, or you can pick up the phone and call Marco and know that you’re in good hands. I *HIGHLY* recommend him!

I called because of the great Unilocal reviews.
We scheduled a 9am appointment for the next day.
At 9 pm I realized I couldn’t find my keys so I called to reschedule and didn’t get an answer so I left a message.
Worried that he didn’t get the message I called the next day at 8:30 am just to make sure. I also texted. I got no response.
At noon I found my keys and called to reschedule, still no answer.
Three days alter and after a dozen calls and texts with no response I can only assume that he is dead, his phone was stolen or he is just completely ignoring me.
The bottom line is that my time has been wasted.
Perhaps a «professional» in any field dealing with customers knows about basic communication.
Actually, it’s 10:25 am, I’m gonna give him one more chance before I post this.
Still no answer.
end of original review
===========================
UPDATE: Since he chose to respond, i have my phone in front of me and will give an exact transcript with times.
First call July 29^th 4:29pm lasted 4 minutes. he agreed to do the job. Sounded nice, I was excited to get my van fixed.
9:29: I text: «Hi I called about the toyota van appointment tomorrow. I can’t find the keys so I should probably reschedule. I’ll call you when I find them or get replacements. Sorry.»
No response. Why? So easy to respond. He has no Idea I’m a Unilocaler.
Not wanting to be rude, assuming he might have missed the text, I do the courteous thing and actually call the next morning as well.
I call 3 times starting at 8:30 am ending at 10am. No calls are answered. Two calls last 40 seconds, the one in which I left a message apologizing and asking to reschedule lasted 53 seconds.
No response. Now I’m worried I called the wrong number or that he is upset at my 9:29 text.
At noon I find my keys. Since he was pleasant on the phone the first time, and accepting my role in rescheduling, I give him the benefit of the doubt for not responding to my texts. so I call again.
No answer.
Then at 1pm I text: «I found my keys. Can we schedule this?»
No response. I probably should have just left it at that, but I find it perplexing that someone with such good reviews on Unilocal would just ignore a customer with whom there has been no negative interaction.
At 3:15 i text: Not interested?
No response.
at 3:30 i text, «Marco I have been trying to reach you to reschedule. Please tell me if you are interested or not. Your Unilocal seem to suggest that you are a good guy so it makes me think you aren’t getting my messages.»
No response. Nothing. Not a word.
The next day, purely based on his good Unilocal reviews I give it one more shot.
10:25 am (as shown above), I text: «Ignoring me has earned you a one star Unilocal review. Sorry but nobody likes to be ignored and have their time wasted.»
Honestly Marco, how hard is it to answer a call or text even if it is to say no? Certainly would have been easier than defending yourself against my honest Unilocal review.
I have given rave reviews and thousands of dollars to my main mechanic, Carlos at Carlos Executive Auto. The only reason I was even looking for a mobile mechanic is that I ran out of AAA free tows.
TRANSLATION: I’m the best customer a mechanic could hope for because I’m lazy, i’m friendly as fuck, I pay in cash, I give great reviews/​recommendations and I have 3 old cars and 2 motorcycles that always need fixin.
In this whole thing he only communicated with me on the first call and no other time.
Guess he doesn’t need the work,
I’m cool with that. Good luck,
You still get 1 star.
Oh, wait, one more thing, my van isn’t a Previa and I got a whole set of 3 belts at O’Reilly for 20 bucks.

The starter went out on my car on Thursday night, I had a tow home and immediately began calling mobile mechanics the next morning.
First mechanic I call: «Yeah, if you could just e-​mail me your info, I’ll be able to tell you more from there, but I’m driving right now and can’t save your number or talk. But it’ll probably be like $ 60 – 80 dollars.»
I don’t bank on this, so me being a wide-​ranged, open-​minded, (and usually unconvinced) self, I call a second mobile mechanic in case the first one falls through.
Second mechanic: «Sure, no problem, I charge $ 100 to replace a starter, I’ll be there at 3 o’clock today.»
2:00 — I call the first mechanic back, because I am anxiety at this point and still heard no word from him.
Him: «Yeah, I looked up online and it’s just too difficult cause I gotta move all this stuff out of the way and put it back in place, and it would just — well, at this time, I am unable to do it.»
Fine, I’ve still got the second mechanic coming at 3 o’clock. I call to confirm around 2:15.
Mechanic: «Oh, yeah, what make and model did you say you had?» I tell him. «Oh, alright, I’m gonna look it up online, I’m still in Alameda, so it might be a little while. I’ll text you back.»
Text back reads, I kid you not: «Just checked it out and it’s kind of a bitch. It’ll be $ 140 labor and I’m not available til tmw.»
Fine. We set the time for 2 o’clock. I text to confirm the next morning, he’s on, reaching 1 o’clock in the afternoon, he cancels an hour and a half before we were scheduled to meet because he «forgot he had an appointment at 4» and wanted to reschedule for ‘tomorrow’, yet again.
12:45 — I immediately call Marco. He says he is driving from Daly City to diagnose an engine problem in the Marina District of San Francisco and that he would be back at my house, (which is near Daly City in SF) between 2:00 — 2:30. — There were no, «looking up tutorial’s online» just to realize it was a difficult starter to replace, he quoted me a price from the beginning and stuck to it. He was in and out, prompt, polite, and honest.
(And gave me a better price than the guy who continued to reschedule and give me the run around)
I would recommend Marco to anyone needing swift and quality engine repairs.
In fact, I’ll be returning for his services whenever again I need engine repairs.
5 stars, no joke.

My trusty Nissan Altima suddenly lost power while I was in The City. Two distributors and one sleazo mechanic later my car was still not running right. Marco came out to my car and spent 3 hours troubleshooting and correctly diagnosed the problem. He was personable, incredibly reasonable price-​wise and now my car is running better than ever! One of the best mechanics Ive ever seen…

Marco is the best. He was fast, affordable, trustworthy, helpful and so convenient! Super impressed!

Again, gotta say Marco is the man! He is not a businessman trying to rip you off by charging tons of labor, he’s not going to tell you to get things changed or replaced that don’t need to be done. He’s going tell you what you need fixed and charge you a fair price, and that’s it. Anyway, had a few things I needed replaced on my project car, in no time Marco was in and out, bought all the parts, replaced them and got the job done in a fair amount of time, that’s it. Couldn’t ask for more. I will continue to use Marco’s professional services for my automotive needs.

Marco was a nice honest guy, and that is hard to find in a mechanic.
He was working on my accord with his mobile service. I will use his service again.

Marco is by far the best experience that I have ever had with a car mechanic. I didn’t know what to expect when looking on Craigslist, but we had no choice. The power steering pump on our 4Runner was acting up and my husband wasn’t able to change it. This was yesterday night (Sunday night). He desperately needed the car for work the next day, so we called Marco off a Craigslist ad.
His quote was extremely reasonable. The work he did was perfect. The car was up and running by Sunday night.
Thank you Marco — we now have a new Bay Area mechanic!