Motor Masters Automotive

TLDR: Bad customer experience, high pricing for trivial amount of work
The deets:
1. Called and set up appointment for next day at 11am to diagnose a check engine light
2. Next day, arrive at 11, office is closed. Mechanic approaches me and asks to drop off car
3. I refuse since I intend on going to work in the afternoon. I want a quick scan to diagnose the issue, from there, I can schedule a follow up appointment or try to fix myself (not sure what the point of scheduling an appointment was since they were completely unprepared to take in my vehicle and work on it)
4. Offers to scan the car for 100 bucks (!) (I probably would have been willing to pay 20 for the inconvenience of using a scanner in my car, but common, 100?!)
5. I refuse, mechanic calls boss, boss shows up 5 minutes later
6. I explain what I want. He says that «A code only says so much» and wants to fully diagnose the issues. Normally charges $ 185, wanted to give me a «deal» and do it for $ 135
7. I refuse, and leave with my car.
Here is the ironic part of the story:
8. Drive down the street to Pep Boys.
9. They immediately scan my car in the parking lot for FREE. Also have the option to do a full diagnostics check for $ 90, $ 100 less than the usual price at Motor Masters.
10. I have the scanner codes, do a google search, find a YouTube video showing me what the issues were and how to repair them myself
Motor Masters get one star (not zero) for being up front about pricing (when asked.), saving me a whole lot of money. I would not recommend Motor Masters Automotive to anyone, take your business elsewhere to a more professional and honest business.

It’s easy to tell that Mark just lives and breathes cars and that obvious love for what he does is infectious. I’ve recommended Motor Masters to several friends and all walked away with nothing but good reports.

Mark is «that guy» you have been looking for, he knows his business and Motor Master he is!
I tell the story of my RV’s disc calipers freezing 100 feet from is business at 6:30PM! After troubleshooting the issues that night he ordered hard to get parts (front of this Vintage RV is a 1978 Dodge Sportsman) and then spending the night in our RV in the parking lot (plugged in!). Mark located STEEL calipers (he sent back the Phenolic cheapies), REAL cotter pins (yes he noticed the pins on my new Ball Joints were «standard» so he replaced them these massive pins) and in a bucket he has kept for decades he found REAL keepers (not sure where these went but they were far more robust than the ones he pulled out), new brake hoses, pads and rotors turned this baby stops on a dime and straight as an arrow. We are bringing our RV to Mark and leaving it with him because Mark is «that guy» who you want to work on your ride. You can trust he will go the extra distance and make it real nice.

If you want high quality service at very competitive prices, I strongly recommend Motor Masters. They are very honest, explain any car problems in laymen’s terms if needed, and have extensive expertise. They quickly diagnosed and repaired my Prius when it suddenly stopped running, and charged very fair prices, much lower than competing offers.
Mark, the owner, was very straight forward, explaining the technical problems in simple terms. He is very trustworthy, taking pride in providing excellent service, and will not push for any repair which isn’t needed.

STILL taking my truck here when needed. Maintenance, tune-​ups, service, and repairs. All of it. MotorMasters is the only place I will go, period. At the end of the day Mark has always been straight and honest with me, this is paramount in car repair. I needed a major maintenance to get everything through smog. no problem. Mark handled it all, and I’m registered and on the road.

From shops I had tried this is the WORST, i had to take my car here as it had and electric problem, mechanic did not seem knowledgeable about this, it charge for inspection, and apparently found the issue, but my car started failing, with a problem did not have before, so took my car, and was CHARGE again for inspection (this should not had to be) but did not want to discuss this, so this time mechanic wanted to change a part, but i did not authorize and said I would pick the car, at this point, he mentioned car was ok to drive ?, he more or less fix the issue, i felt it was a ripoff, wanted to change and charge for something not needed.
This is a dishonest, expen$$$ive car maintenance.

I recently went to Motor Masters couple months back. My battery was worn out, so I googled auto shops in San Mateo. Came across Motor Masters and called Mark. He’s a pretty straight foward guy. He told me that it would cost about $ 100. Went back the next day, while he started fixing it, he said they were some complications and the rust would cause him to remove some nuts and bolts. Long story short, I ended up paying $ 350. I was like whatever, just fix my battery and so I can take off. There’s better auto shops in San Mateo, don’t be surprised if your estimate, is less the actual price you pay.

We live in Santa Cruz but if we lived in the bay area we would go to Mark in an instant! We were in the process of purchasing a car from a local used car dealer in San Mateo who is also «A» rated by BBB of San Francisco (Motor Masters is «A» too). Although the dealer has a good rating by BBB we still checked with AAA for their certified mechanics and chose Mark to do a pre-​inspection so we would cover all bases.. My husband knows about cars and was certain that Mark knew what he was doing when he first talked with him on the phone. The dealer took the car to him and he gave it a thorough inspection, at a reasonable price, so that we would know exactly what we were purchasing. We feel confident that we have done everything possible before purchasing a car and it was Mark at Motor Masters who gave us the added security for our major purchase. If you want the work done right this is the place to go. Many thanks Mark.
Frank and Kathy

We love, love, LOVE Mark. He is the first honest mechanic we’ve ever dealt with and a really cool guy. I came across him by accident (after another crappy mechanic messed up my car and it broke down on El Camino) and we’ve been with him ever since. We live in San Francisco but make the drive down to San Mateo just because he’s the only guy we trust to be honest about what really needs to be done, his rates are decent, and he really knows his cars. Plus, he has a cool coffee machine in his waiting area. And a cool dog that occasionally makes an appearance. We. Love. Mark.