Nate Smith’s Optimal Auto Care

Being from out-​of-​town, I was nervous about taking my Bug to a mechanic I did not know. However, the reviews on Unilocal were great, so I thought I would give them a try.
Despite being booked up, the staff made time to diagnose my Bug. I was confident with the diagnosis and work performed on my car.
Should the need arise when I am in the area, I will definitely return to Nate’s!
Excellent, fast, friendly service! Great value! Thank you!

Meg, Nate and the whole crew … great people. Trustworthy, they do not try to up sell you. They are not the cheapest, but they get the work done correctly. The service here is awesome friendly always great you polite and cheerful. My last visit my car didn’t pass smog and they fixed it. I thought i would have to drive to the smog station and get smogged but what was a nice surprise they did it for me. They saved me a hour of my time. I highly recommend them over the dealers and always call make a appointment they are in high demand.

I have been coming to Nate for 15 years now. What I appreciate the most is that they take time to diagnose the problem and then do a great job fixing what is actually broken. They are 100% honest people really good in what they are doing. I do a lot of work on my BMW myself, but sometimes I had to give up and bring my car to Nate. I remember that nasty overheating problem on my 528i that I could not solve. They magically fixed it. Over the years I also tried other mechanics and on bigger jobs I compared quotes. This is why I can say with confidence that Optimal is the best BMW place in town!

Took Mini in for service and brakes — great job on both!

I’ve taken my BMW to these guys a number of times now and I trust them. A few times now, I have taken my car in for what I thought was a more costly repair, but they informed me it was actually far simpler and less expensive than I feared (they could have just gone with my suggestion and performed a more costly repair).
One time, a repair they performed broke again after two weeks. They made the problem right again for me and didn’t charge me extra.

My Mini Cooper was overheating on the 17. Before heading back over the hill, I stopped into Nate’s to have them check the coolant. It was almost closing time but I was helped immediately even though I was not a regular customer. The vibe from this shop was professional, helpful, and they didn’t try to sell me something I didn’t need. If I lived on this side of the 17, I wouldn’t hesitate to have Nate’s work on my car.

This is a reputable place to bring one’s car for repair and service. The workmanship is of the highest quality. And the added bonus is that the service reps are personal, informative and like a great family. Nate and the team there are clearly invested in quality and friendly service. Need I say more? I have no hesitancy in taking my cars to Nate.

Nate Smith’s is a great find for me and my BMW! They’re professional, polite, very knowledgeable and took time to explain some systems I was curious about. Thanks, guys!

Nate’s is awesome! The front office staff are always friendly, knowledgeable and helpful — and they’re never pushy about additional services. We’ve taken our ’08 X3 here a few times and have always gotten top-​notch service. If you have a BMW on the Santa Cruz side of the hill, Nate’s is the place to go!

I had some major issues with my Audi last year (ie it had to be towed to a garage) and a friend recommended this place. I found that they were extremely professional, honest, and fair. It took them a few days to figure out the problem (after contacting Audi mechanics in Germany) and they found out that most of the issues could still be covered under warranty which I would never have known… would certainly come back here again and would highly recommend to anyone

We brought the car in to see if a minor accident had damaged it. Nate looked at it the next day. The service here is always excellent and we have taken our car here for many years and will continue to do so.

Great work Nate and Company. Before I even pulled into the shop I had Nate Smith on the phone helping me work through the logistics of an intermittent problem that we had discussed prior. The problem that historically had been happening every two weeks or so was happening right now!
I arrived at the shop engine running roughly, left the car running, for fear that turning the car off and then restarting it would remedy the problem which had been the case in the past. Nate came out listen to the engine and wrote the repair order. He then notified his technician Mark who came off his job pulled the car he was working on out of the garage bay and then pulled mine in to see what he could find. Mark noticed me pacing behind the car anxiously and queried me with pertinent questions then listened intently to my answers. I know when people are listening and Nate and Mark both have and had excellent communication and listening skills which is an obvious imperative when working through these sometimes hard to trace intermittent problems. Mark not only found what I believe to be the culprit (loose ground from engine to chassy) within the matter of minutes, but also talked me through his thinking process along the way and for an analytical mind like mine this is/​was a big deal.
No, it’s not ok to stand at the garage door and ask silly question while the tech works on your car, you can explain your observations and wait for the professional to come to you with questions if they may have them.
You may pm me if you have additional questions about Nate Smith’s shop, this was not my first positive experience at Optimal Auto. Sincerely –Aaron D.
Update — One day later Nate called to check on the car and see if I had anything to report. We’ll be back, hopefully a long time from now, but we’ll be back ;),.thanks guys

While driving my BMW from Phoenix on a Friday afternoon my car started losing power. After stopping at Nate’s they diagnosed the fuel pump failing and got the car in the shop right away. This is the best place to bring your car! I highly recommend this shop.

Performance That Lasts A Lifetime — I am confident leaving my vehicle with Nate Smith. The entire staff is experienced and obvious experts. Overall, I’m a DIY guy and happy to work on my own car. Knowing the level of care, precision, and attention to detail they put into their work, I will continue to bring my car and recommend others to do the same. I truly appreciate my experience at Nate Smith’s Optimal Auto Care.
My Experience (s) in more detail:
Profile and Oil Pan Gaskets: As this work would have taken me most of my precious weekend, NSOAC was able to repair my car for a very reasonable cost, warrantied and punctually.
Head Gasket (And everything included in the top end):
I had recently purchased a vehicle that blew a head gasket months into my ownership. The work was more severe than I had thought (warped head). With Nate’s team and expertise, they helped me find all the parts I needed, were very fair with their labor cost, and helped me get my car back on the road – even better than it was before I got the car.
Again, I was very impressed and thankful for their expertise and knowledge.
I highly recommend taking your precious vehicle to the experts who are best in the county. –Tmswell

If you love your genuine car, you will really dig the genuine care you receive when you go to Nates optimal, his crew kicks ass in office or in garage, always friendly and super knowledgable.
Nate is rad, I showed up at his shop today (not the first time) on my way to work, he helped me out when all of his mechanics were busy, and helped me drive off the lot with a safe car (330ci 2001) calling it a favor, long story short, huge loss of coolant, red temp gauge, needed to be refilled, bled and a hose reconnected properly. I have had serious work done in the past, always on dot.
I always feel safe leaving the shop. I first learned of Nate’s shop when I was a kid due to my dad taking his BMW E24, (635csi 87′) here for all work needed. Highly recommended! I wouldn’t go anywhere else, so take my word and find out for yourself!!!
Special thanks to Nate and his crew!

I’ve known nate since 1976 when I had a 1600 bmw and he worked as manager at the dealership. he is as fair as the day is long. Very honest as is his wife. He is very dedicated to his clients and makes an extra effort to see all sides of an issue. I wouldn’t own a bmw if he wasn’t in business. He has extensive knowledge not available elsewhere. Come to nate first and save yourself from shopping around and know you have arrived.

I have been taking my BMW’s to Nate for over 30 years. I first met Nate when I bought a 1983 320is. He was the service manager for Santa Cruz BMW, which long ago closed. He then opened Optimal Auto Care. He has serviced and repaired all my BMW’s, the 1983 320is, a 1985 325is, a 1988 M6, a 1999 540iT, and a 2003 540iT. Nate is the most knowledgeable mechanic for BMW’s I have ever encountered. Since I live in Salinas, it is a hassle getting the car to and from his shop in Santa Cruz. His intimate knowledge of all things BMW makes it worth the drive. Always professional, always very busy, which speaks to his experience and quality service, but always excited to talk about anything BMW, Nate Smith is simply the best BMW mechanic on the central coast.

Fast and efficient service. Within minutes after my arrival, they started servicing my vehicle. Compared to other BMW mechanics in the area, the price was right and service was stellar.

I will not take my car anywhere else! I have taken my 2003 Mini Cooper with high mileage there a number of time and the service has been honest and cost effective (Mini’s like BMW’s are not cheap to work on, generally parts.)
This time I had an error code that even after repairing the part, it still showed up. Nate and team spent a fair amount of hours trying to figure it out. They did not want to replace a computer that didn’t need to be. Based on Nate’s experience in the market, he personally dug deeper into his resource pool and found a way to fix it.
Then, the best part, and the part that NO OTHER SHOP in the country would do, he didn’t charge me for the labor hours they spent trying to figure it out. I was happy to pay, but they said, they should have had this knowledge and they had learned how to deal with the same thing in the future, so they didn’t charge me!
Wow, other shops would have never done this. Now, I want to buy my next vehicle with Optimal’s help, then bring my cars to Nate Smith forevermore.
Thank you, Nate and Team!!!

Last week I dropped my car off at Optimal Auto for a Service/​Inspection 2 (major service and inspection) on my 2002 325i. Everything went pretty smoothly and I was informed of maintenance that needed to be done in the future etc.
When I got back to my car I noticed my «Service Engine Soon» light was still on which is weird because they told me over the phone that all of the codes have been cleared. The owner Nate hooked it up to a computer and checked/​cleared the codes again, the «Service Engine Soon» light was now off and he let me know that his mechanic must have forgot to clear the codes before giving me the keys. Nate told me it must have been the oil level sensor that tripped the warning light and that if it comes on again to call them.
The next day, my wife starts the car in the morning and the light comes on again. My wife speaks to Nate and lets him know that the light is back on and he says it must be the oil level sensor. Nate also let’s her know that if we bring it in and get this sensor replaced and it does not fix the issue that he would put our old one back in and not charge us for the part/​labor…
Today I brought the car back in to have the sensor Nate said would fix the problem replaced. I also let them know to check the wiper blades and to call me if they need to be replaced and also to let me know when the car was done. I never got a call from the shop by the end of the day so I called them to make sure my car was done before I headed over to the shop to pick up the car. They said everything was all done and that they replaced the wiper lades.
When I get there to pick up the car they said everything was all good and I was ready to go. When I got back to my car and started it, I immediately noticed the «Service Engine Soon» light was still on. Unfortunately I had to make another appointment to resolve the issue.
After speaking with Nate, he he informed me that they replaced the wrong sensor and that would explain why the light came back on. Thankfully Nate made things right for me after spending $ 300 on a mistake they made. He refunded my money for the wrong sensor that was replaced and Nate was very apologetic for the inconvenience.
This morning I brought the car back to have the correct sensor replaced. I got a call from Nate letting me know that after replacing the sensor the «Service Engine Soon» light was finally off and my car was ready to pick up. When I picked the car up, I checked to make sure the light was off (and it was). Happy to see the problem finally resolved.
Although we had some trouble with the woman who works there over the phone, overall, Nate resolved our issues and made things right.