Cr Automotive

 

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3

Kirk S.

Sausalito, CA

I've been doing the Don Quixote quest for awhile now, dreamin' the impossible dream of finding a good car mechanic in Southern Marin that's close enough to a bus stop that I can drop my car in the morning, catch a bus to work in SF, and take the bus back to pick it up in the evening.  Long ago, when this place was owned/run by Richard, CR Automotive was great.  Some years ago Richard sold the business and now it's not quite as reliable.  For some things -general maintenance, engine work like timing belts and water pumps and so forth- these guys have been just fine.  

But if it's something big, or over a few hundred bucks, then I suggest at least getting another opinion.  

Case in point: I took one of my cars to CR because I was having trouble getting the manual transmission into 1st gear and thought the clutch might be going.  They drove it and said it needed a whole new transmission.  When asked how they could tell it was the transmission and not the clutch, the guy replied "experience".  A new transmission would cost about $2500 -and several hundred more for a new clutch, which should be replaced since they were in there anyway- so I decided to check with Aamco in San Rafael.  They guy at Aamco took about 30 seconds to say it was just the clutch that needed replacing and the transmission was in great shape.  Clutch replaced, car works great.  The scary thing is that if I had taken the advice of the "experienced" guy at CR Automotive, then my car would probably be working just as well as it does now, but I would have forked over $2500 more than necessary.

And so the quest continues.

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