I've had OK work done at a couple of other well reviewed shops in the bay area but nothing comes close to my experience with Freddie. I live about 60 miles away and it was worth the drive.
About a month ago I noticed that my clutch started to slip under load going up hills, and my engine was leaking oil so I gave Freddie a call. There were a couple of other things I wanted him to look over (sway bars and brakes) too.
I brought my car in on a Saturday and he inspected it thoroughly. As we walked around the car, he asked about noises I'd heard while driving. I did have a good amount of squeaking over bumps and some tapping coming from underneath the car. Freddie found that the front control arm was starting to go (causing the squeaking) and that my downpipes were hitting my transmission (causing the tapping). To his credit, he didn't tell me that it was necessary to have those issues fixed, instead he said he'd reseat the exhaust while doing the clutch and it was up to me if I wanted the control arm fixed or not.
In the end, this is the work I had done:
- Clutch replacement w/ resurfacing flywheel
- Valve cover gasket replacement
- Front left control arm replacement
- Rear brake pads (Hawk HPS)
- Exhaust/Downpipes - Freddie discovered that the loose pipe had a crack in it and the other pipe's bracket was broken off. He welded both back himself.
The work was supposed to take a couple of days but it ended up being a week, which wasn't Freddie's fault. Audi of Concord took a lot longer than expected getting him the clutch parts and wasn't straight on getting us the right parts. Once he got them (a week late) he knocked it down in a few hours.
I just picked up my car today and I've never been happier spending over two grand on car repairs. The clutch makes it feel like a new car, all of the random noises seem to have stopped and he made me feel very confident that he looked it over and fixed anything that was remotely close to being off. It's like going to the doctor's complaining of chest pains and the doc not only cures that but also that ache in your neck you'd forgotten about. It feels good to have a clean bill of health.
On top of the regular work, Freddie did little things like add more screws to my aero pan (they were missing a few), tightened the shift knob down (it wasn't fastened very well) and had it cleaned up very well. He seems to take care of your car like it was his own.
Compared to other shops, where I always seem to be missing more screws/bolts afterwards because mechanics are lazy putting everything back together, I came back with a few more this time :)
Thanks Freddie, you'll see me around again.
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