Ministry of Transport

 

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Di T.

San Jose, CA

I made an appointment to bring my beetle here.  This was the first time I would bring my car to a non-dealer.  After reading all the 5 star reviews I figured I would give "Dan" a try.  I had an 8am appointment.  I arrived and the gate was closed.  I called and left a message that I was waiting.  I waited for 20 min and no one showed up so I left.  I didn't get a call back from them till noon that day.  They apologized and didn't really give an explanation on why no one was around.  I find that very unprofessional for a business.  They asked if I wanted to reschedule and I said I would think about it.  As far as customer service goes they get 1 star, but I gave an extra star since I can't review on how they actually service cars since I didn't use them.

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Melinda S.

San Jose, CA

Dan is the man to go to for VW repair.  

I bought a used '93 VW Eurovan, Ruby, and she quit on me on my birthday.  So I got towed to Big O Tires and they couldn't work on the car so they called Dan, who they have a relationship with.  He came over to Big O, told them what was wrong and that he could fix it if I towed it to his shop (2 miles away)!  Now that is service.  I had it towed there and he fixed the problem and pointed out a few other could-be issues and said he hoped to not see me soon:)  

I took it there again to get the oil changed and things checked out, and he gave me a ride to work and then took care of Ruby.  Not being used to driving an older car, I didn't put oil in her nearly enough!  doh!  But Dan explained the mechanics of the engine and the reason why it made the sounds it made with low oil and that won't happen again!

I'd trust him with just about any vehicle.  He is knowledgeable, consults with others to figure out an issue if he isn't sure, has a great staff of mechanics and has an 'art gallery' on the wall of his shop!  What more could a girl want?

He didn't oversell, and is very methodical.  I would definitely recommend him to any VW owners

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Karen E.

San Jose, CA

Dan McAuliffe is a gem.  We have taken our cars there since 2000, and he has saved us money and sanity.  Not only is he a great mechanic, but he is an ethical businessman.  He will not recommend you have unneeded work done on your car, in contrast to many mechanics.  He will in fact often tell you something you're worried about DOESN'T need doing right now.  He has worked on everything from our '49 Hudson to 2003 Jetta, and he's someone you can wholeheartedly trust to tell you the truth.  Sometimes we have had a car break down on the weekend when he's closed.  He said to tow the car there and gave us his lock combination to put it in his lot until Monday, what a great convenience!  Highly recommended auto resource in SJ!

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Ryan D.

Campbell, CA

Ministry of Transport is awesome. Dan is the man!

I took my Jetta to him after the check engine light came on and another mechanic found oil leaking into other parts of my engine.

Dan did a ton of research about my oil problem and printed out online bulletin board postings about a defect in VW engines where the engine leaks oil due to bad rings in the cylinders. He also printed out VW specific documentation of how they troubleshoot it and what they look for before offering to repair the engine. I was totally surprised he would take the time to research my problem and then hand me all the information.

I highly recommend Dan for any repairs to your car. He's a real mechanic, not some guy who has a car repair manual and a computer to tell him what's broken.

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5

David B.

San Francisco, CA

Dan totally rules.  Seriously.  I used to work in SF and took my car (2002 Passat Wagon) to Advanced.  Now I've found my South Bay alternative.  Dan is friendly, knowledgeable, and he has a nice dog.  My car is fixed for very little money, but I also hung out and really enjoyed that.  Send this man some business--and avoid the headaches of going to Suckyvale VW or Boardwalk.

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D M.

San Jose, CA

Dan, the owner, saved me from having to buy myself a new car. After all the top rated auto mechanics (Yarnell's and Auto Tec) couldn't diagnose or fix the problem, and after Frontier Infiniti continued to deny there was a stall problem with their own car (Infiniti), Dan pulled through and showed why he's a master mechanic.

I used to think that mechanics that specialized in foreign cars or specialized in makes of cars were the people to take my car in for repair. Well I am wrong. Those may be the right people to go to for a common problem or a tune up but what if you have a problem that is obscure, such as your car stalls when idle issue?

What I like about Ministry of Transport is the owner is also the mechanic that works on your car. You talk to Dan, then he tests your car, and fixes you car. None of this talk to some service consultant or some expert and have them relay the message to their mechanics. It is all interpretation of what the mechanic who fixes your car hears.

Dan broke down the problem of my car in plain English. He called me to explain what he found, and then got my approval to go ahead with the fix after giving me the actual price I would pay for the fix. Do not let the location or business scare you, Dan is the master mechanic you want to take your car to when no one else can fix it. Actually if I had known before, I would not even have wasted my time or money getting my car fixed elsewhere.

Infiniti said only they had the special machines that could troubleshoot my car. Well obviously there "special" machines could not do the job. Dan hooked up my car to the reader and it spit out three codes, which no one else seemed to have found or told me about. He explained those three codes. The first two fixed were for new coolant sensor and new thermostat. He said it might also be related to the knock sensor but did not want to charge me more money in case it was not, so he left it at that. The car lasted me exactly 89 days, 1 day prior to the warranty expiring. I took the car back in and Dan honored the warranty. He scanned the car again, saw that it was the knock sensor causing the problem, and replaced it for me the same day.

When everyone else could not reproduce or thought it was the Idle Air Control valve, Dan could not reproduce the stall either but he did a heck of a job to diagnose the issues and produced results. Action talks, bull$hit walks.

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