John’s Jaguar Service

They continue to prove to be the best guys around. They continue to do great work on my car and I’m so grateful for them. Not to mention that they are always very wonderful to me.
Today I got stranded at a park that I went hiking, won’t bore you with the details but six hours later and I’m still waiting for a tow truck from a local company.
When Dan (lead Mechanic) heard about the ordeal he immediately called the guy he uses and is sending a tow truck to get my car and take it back to the shop.
Dan has been very gracious to me many times before so I wanted to make sure that I pay my compliments here for him as well.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

John and his team were a fantastic help. I took in my MG just after i purchased it for a full check up and they got me in straight away and turned the car around in a day. Their tips to help maintain were also much appreciated. I’ll be back for sure.

I wish I could of gave them eight stars! I just bought a beautiful used Jaguar XK-​8. This is my first Jaguar, I am a Ford truck man mostly, so I was a bit nervous about the purchase. Five days after I bought the car and the second time I was driving it, all the warning lights started to flash and the warning read out on the speedo was giving all this dire warnings. «Restricted Performance», «Gear Box Fault», «Disc Brake Fault» I thought the car was totaled! Needless to say I did not sleep much that night. The next day I called John’s Jaguar and I talked with Dan. The past owner had them take care of the car for many years and could not say enough wonderful things about them. In five minutes he somewhat calmed me down and told me to drive it to them. I went down there expecting the worse, but as soon as I got there Dan greeted me and started to look at the car. He plugged in something that looked like a specialized IPad to a socket under the dash. All of a sudden all these screens came up and he pushed some buttons and in five minutes the car was perfect. Then the previous owner ordered some parts for the car and he put them in at no charge! I gave them $ 75 just because he seemed right. They did not want to charge me anything. Then he went to his computer, pulled up the complete repair history on the car and told me about parts of the car that were still under warranty. Taking care of my Jaguar, will cost me more than my wonderful Ford work trucks, but with the people at John’s Jaguar it’s worth it. Thank you guys again.
Sincerely:
Michael

These guys are the real deal. The best shop to take your car for service especially if you drive a Jaguar. I’ve been having trouble with my car where the transmission light comes on and off, and every time it does, my car has trouble accelerating as I step on the gas pedal. They advised to change the TPS sensor, which is what the smog test showed, and the reason why the check engine light is on. After the fix, my Jag has been cruising like new, almost like new. Highly recommend this shop. John the owner is a cool guy, as well as the workers there.

What a nice guy! He’s very knowledgable and honest. He explains everything to you, how things work, why something needs replacement. Good customer service too.

Shame on me for not reviewing Johns Jaguar before! I’ve owned almost 30 classic cars over the years and been to many different garages in different countries. Despite labor rates being so high in the Bay Area, I wouldn’t take my Jag anywhere else.
Yes, I’ve spent thousands here. But I’ve been very satisfied with all the work done over the last 3 years. The one time the repair wasn’t successful, when a reconditioned part fitted turned out to be defective, they had the car back in and re-​did the whole job for free — and it was not a small job.
Go there and the shop is always full of British classics in various states of repair. John’s boys clearly have the reputation and experience to be able to deal with a range of cars.
Above all, John is as honest as the day is long. He’s a patient pragmatist and he knows these cars can be a nightmare to deal with. Very easy to engage with and always happy to chat.

My XJ would repeatedly fail to accelerate while driving. It also had fluid leak and faulty pneumatic suspension. John told me he had corrected the acceleration problem by reattaching a loose hose. In the process, he claimed to have discovered several other items that needed repair and charged a couple thousand.
Despite John’s claim the acceleration problem was not resolved, Took the car back in and paid a few hundred more. Still wasn’t fixed. Took the car to Embarcadero Auto (a Saab garage) where the mechanic diagnosed a faulty accelerator actuator and repaired the problem the same day. John refused to refund any money.
John claimed to have repaired the transmission leak, but the leak persisted. Had to take the car to another garage for repair.
Despite spending several days with the car, John insisted the suspension was OK. I took it elsewhere for replacement of the air suspension system.
The money spent at John’s was a total waste. This guy is either senile, totally incompetent, a thief or perhaps all three.
I did not know this garage was so bad. YOU however have been warned. The other glowing reviews below I can’t believe are genuine. Don’t repeat my mistake.

Well YES John is good for the little stuff. But for the big jobs… I can say that he is not great. In fact prior to purchasing an XJS I had John do an «inspection» and he gave it it’s blessings and ignored the over heating. Shortly after owning the car John charged me thousands of dollars to address the overheating to no avail. Furthermore John did not want to admit that from the beginning he failed to ignore one of his own Technician’s diagnosis that the car infact had a blown head gasket.
I could have sued John for buying the car and then the thousands of dollars he charged me to address the overheating, but instead I have taken my 5 Jags (XJS-​v12, XJ12, XJ8, XJR, VDP) to another mechanic in the East Bay (Diamond Certified) and will never return to John Art’s facility. Instead of apologizing or offering to repair the blown gaskets at a discount, he shied away and instead highly recommended that I just pour chemicals to seal the cylinder heads!!! It’s evident to me that he picks and chooses the kind of work he wants to do for the day or for the week.
Never again with John, he likes easy jobs and charges more than is fair. He’s good for little jobs like oil changes and brake pad, but beware if your car is on the verge of a serious problem. I can mention other stories with John like all the door dings I got after every visit because of the small size of his shop… but the above story is the worst of all. For risk of having the above comments being deleted from Unilocal data base, I will end here.

I recently brought my ’62 TR4 out of mothballs and they were a great help. Well lit shop was so clean you could eat off the floor!
I’ll be back!

I’ve been a client of John for over 4 years and he is as good as they come.
Service — A+++
John and his crew are friendly and helpful. John will take the initiative to scan over my car and make recommendations for work before they become major issues. He will give me a time span of how long I have before I need to address any problem.
John has always took extra care to find me the cheapest possible parts for my car without compromising quality and integrity. I trust him explicitly whether he recommends that I should only use manufacturer part or when I can get away with after market part to save money.
My boyfriend is a novice mechanic and he trusts John. Friendly, courtesy, professional and fair are all adjectives to describe John and his shop.
Knowledge — A+++
John specializes in Jaguar. Jags are wonderful but strange creatures. He is sooooo good that even the Jaguar dealership (his competitor) recommends and speaks highly of him. John expertise and experience helps him identify and diagnose problems with great accuracy. It’s like going to heart specialist for your heart problem who isn’t wasting time examining your belly.
For the man who gave John a not favorable review because John recommended that he should get some tires, I find his feedback unfair and ignorant. First of all, John doesn’t sell tires, he has nothing to benefit by making the recommendation. He’s honest and helpful.
Overall, I LOVE John’s Jaguar Service. I couldn’t ask for a more professional service provider who is also funny and friendly.

John has been my go-​to guy since I bought my jag in 1998.
He is sincere, he cares about his customers and has had the staff to tackle almost problem. (And his staff is also courteous.)
He has chased down used parts when new parts weren’t available.
He has stood behind the actual and imaginary warranties. (Once, he replaced an gas pump which is installed inside the gas tank, and I drove the car for about a year until I couldn’t stand the high pitched noise emanating from the gas tank. Well beyond the warrantee period he replace the pump. I offered to pay, but he refused.)
He has done brake jobs on my XJS; he has replaced the differential because it was getting noisy; he has gone through my air conditioning system replacing equipment as needed; he has obtained used parts for my anti-​theft system so I could use it, and it wouldn’t fire off and stick when you least want it to, plus he services my Jaguar (oil, lube etc.)
If you want economy repairs go somewhere else. John uses Jaguar parts when he can, but always, always presents the anticipated cost for me to decide.
When he says I need something, I put the info in my to do list and schedule it when I can.
I drive from South San Jose for his service, and I know his service cannot be beaten.
NRH

THE GOOD
Got me a quote for fixing a window problem quickly, fixed it and stuck to the original estimate. OEM price for the part and charged $ 120/​h of labor. Definitely knowledgeable about fixing a jags idiosyncrasies. Good.
THE BAD
Mentioned that my breaks would soon need replacing, true, offered to do it for $ 700 including parts, not so good when you can get the job done with the same parts for $ 350 elsewhere.
Promised to take the car for a test drive: didn’t.
Promised to have the car ready the next day: didn’t.
THE UGLY
Mentioned that the tires would soon need replacing, not entirely true, and when asked said he had looked at the reserve tire and that it was in equally bad nick: straight up lie, the reserve is a new tire.

I took a risk and bought a used Jaguar. John has been great since I first had him check out the car. The last visit to John was especially worthy of a review because several of the cylinder coils needed replacement, one of which had been replaced by John last November. So John covered that cylinder repair under warranty. It is nice to know that in addition to being honest and hardworking, John stands by his work.

Just got off the phone with John; I was asking his advice about buying a 1984 Jag Vanden Plas for my 18-​year old daughter to use for back and forth to school. You know, to give the kid a little bling in her life now that she is getting it together.
The Jag I was looking at needed some work, big work, a new head gasket at least.
John gave me some sound advice, maybe from one father to another. His advice: Pass.
We talked for five minutes or so; gut feel tells me John is a guy I could trust with my own car, and more importantly, a car for my daughter.
Put him at the top of your list if you’re looking to have your car serviced or repaired.

I’ve been a customer for eight years and agree that this establishment deserves its across-​the-​board five-​star ratings. John and his team are knowledgeable, efficient, fair, and honest.
If you’ve put off buying a fun British driving toy because of maintenance fears, you now have no excuse.

Bryan is a charm. He knows the Jag like no other. I know you don’t want to have to take your Jag in very often, but they run an honest and great business. The owner John takes the time to explain your choices and no forceful argument to convince you to do something you don’t need.

John really knows what he is doing. He’ll get your Jag working really nicely, won’t try to get you to do work you don’t need, and will charge you a very reasonable price.
I’ve been to a lot of places that claim to know how to work on Jags but mess things up because they don’t really know how to work on them. If you care about your jag and are within driving distance then don’t take you car anywhere else.

The BEST for your Jag! Don’t waste your time bringing your Jag to the dealer. John gives you personal service and will test drive your car before he hands it back to you. Most shops and dealers will not only charge it up on you, but you never really know who is working on your car. They have 2 mechanics and the owner, John. All are cool and all know their Jags!!!
John will tell you exactly what needs to be done, how long it will take and will be up-​front with the cost. NO SURPRISES!
John’s Jaguar is the place to bring your Jag, old or new
By the way their new address is on 740 Valencia (415) 829‑8480

Excellent, excellent service. The top on my drop-​head wasn’t working & thought it was going to be an expensive repair. They found the true cause, it was a lot cheaper than anticipated, and a pleasant surprise to work with a business that thinks of its customers first.
Ryan is really efficient and friendly — kept me informed every step of the way. He spent the time (considerable) showing me what the problem was, the work that was completed and all the old parts and why they no longer worked. Highly recommended, first-​class service.

John Arts is a great guy & runs an excellent shop. Those of us with old British cars don’t have lots of service options but are lucky to have this resource. Competitive rates and he does what he says he’s going to do in the agreed timeframe.
Super nice guy & a source of great advice, lots of it free!