Soquel Alignment and Exhaust

I am giving 4 stars despite really getting nothing for $ 100. Robert is nice as can be, wants to help and will do what he can to get a job done. I would call his mechanic style more «shade tree» as opposed to precision technician. He will figure things out as he goes and knows the same sort of shortcuts that a home mechanic would. I think for 90% of the jobs that come through his shop he will be a 5-​star experience and his regular alignment prices are on the lower side.
My Story: I brought my car to get an alignment with slightly modified suspension, but had all documentation about how to adjust it and it is even simpler than stock. He was very upbeat that he could do it and said no problem at all and he didn’t need my documentation on how to adjust. In turn I was flexible about the settings I wanted and said do what you can and subtly left the paperwork anyway incase he got stumped in private. An hour or so later he calls to say it is done and would require him to remove the wheels and do a bunch of other stuff to adjust. I just installed the suspension and knew this wasn’t the case, but he couldn’t do it and I didn’t want to throw good money after bad.
I paid $ 100 and he offered to for sure get it for another $ 100-​$ 150 and 3+ hours if I left it with him to figure out. I left and went home with a scissor jack and a monkey wrench and got it near perfect and took to another shop. The only part that I really did not like and find inexcusable is the front alignment which is all factory components was COMPLETELY different side to side. If you are going to send me away because you can’t do it, the right thing would be to do what you can and not mess up everything and leave it. Particularly because I explained I had a 9 hour drive later that day.

In n’ out with perfect alignment in 20 min for $ 60, HELLYEAH! Go see Robert! He’s local, kind and get’s the job done. Compared to the 90 min quote for $ 89 from Big O, I was so glad I did a little Unilocal research and changed course!

Extremely unprofessional. I wanted a quote for a catalytic converter. He said «I need the car». «I said it’s not currently registered can you give me a quote on the phone». He says «no I can’t help you» and hangs up on me. Wouldn’t answer when I called back to ask why the response. I would have been happy to drive it there if that’s what I needed to do. Who treats people this way?

Went to see Robert at Soquel Alignment & Exhaust today for a small weld job on my muffler. He did it in 5 minutes while I waited & said it was no charge! What an honest nice guy! Gave him a $ 20 to thank him for the great job! I will go back & tell all my friends!

This guy really knows his stuff, Robert has won my approval and I will be returning to him with all of my cars alignment needs. I read a couple reviews here that had me wonderi if I had brought it to the right place, after 2 minutes talking with Robert I knew he was capable of doing a good job. His prices at very fair and I would recommend him to all my friends and family without any doubts.

I called around to see what alignments cost and decided on this shop because of the reviews here, the price, and the guy was great on the phone. I asked when I could come that would mean the least wait time, and he said about 3 PM. Okay — arranged my afternoon to be there then.
First thing he tells me is that he accepts only cash or checks. Would’ve been nice to have been told that when he gave me the price over the phone — and when I told him that he said, «I don’t deal with the public much. Mostly I deal with (think he said companies???)» All I can say to that is: it shows.
He said to give him an hour — I came back in about 50 minutes and my car was ready He was in the bay working on another car and I waited a bit for him to come out so I could pay him. No problem. I paid (with my only check — more are on order but wish I had known no credit cards) — was handed some paperwork, and left.
While at a red light, I looked at the printout of ranges and saw my front right tire was way out of range before and actual, so turned around, went back to ask why and what it meant. He came out and said there was an issue with the caster (maybe from an impact) and that’s why he couldn’t do anything with it. Okay — well — I still didn’t understand what that meant, but did know it would’ve been nice to have been told when I picked up the car.
I asked if it needed to be replaced, or … what’s involved? He said he could schedule a diagnostic if I wanted. I asked if that’s what he recommended — and since I’m driving cross-​country in a couple of weeks wanted to know if it would be an issue. He said, pointing to a guy standing by the office «He’s waiting for his car» and walked back into the bay to continue working on that guy’s car, leaving me standing there with my basic question. He had spent =maybe= 30 seconds telling me about the caster and I guess couldn’t be bothered with another 1 – 2 minutes.
I have no reason to believe he doesn’t do a good job — but I’m female, know next to nothing about cars, and want to go to a shop where they’re willing to spend at least 3 minutes answering questions!
I won’t be back. Not worth the small savings.
I’m giving 2 stars based on faith he does good work. But for customer service he gets a zero.

Thanks to Robert, my BMW drives better that ever! He replaced the struts and bushings, aligned it and what an improvement! If you need Front end, Exhaust work or an Alignment, call Robert! One of the Best Auto Techs I have the pleasure to do business with! Shop here! You’ll be glad you did!

Robert is a stand up guy, one is the few mechanics in the area that won’t try to rip you off. He does great work and is very well priced. My F150 runs better than ever. Thank you so much Robert.

Robert is fair and honest! He does superb work. We’ve had him do custom work on our Motorcycles and our Mini Cooper. He has a small shop and does all the work himself — so if you have to wait to get on his schedule it WILL be worth it. AND if you are in an emergency situation, chances are he’ll figure out a way to help you out. He’s a great guy!

Great shop that did some custom work. The owner was super nice and willing to do extra so the job turned out top notch. I have used half a dozen shops in the area over the last 15 years and I will only be bringing future projects here. Robert even sold me a part at cost after I brought the wrong part to him to install; nice and honest guy.

This is one of the small shops in the area that I like a lot. Robert, the owner, is a cool guy and very knowledgeable — he’s got some pretty cool cars of his own that he’s built. His rates are quite reasonable and he’s done an excellent job with everything I’ve brought to him so far. He’s also worked with performance aftermarket parts I’ve brought in, which is a plus.