Tehachapi Automotive

We were driving home from Bakersfield on highway 58 after Thanksgiving when our car broke down. Thank goodness Tehachapi Auto was open. We were towed to their shop and they worked hard to fix the problem. Even though the part was not available, the amazing mechanic was able to repair our car enough so we could get home to San Diego and repair it at the dealership in San Diego. They were very friendly and extremely helpful and we are so grateful for their help.

Screw these guys. Took my car here to get a smog. They advertised a 40$ smog & want to charge you over a 100$ for cars older than the year 2000. They told me that older cars take over an hour to smog complete bs.

Never used the auto service but have use the DMV service several times now. always fast friendly service. always explains fees and never the lines of the Bakersfield dmv. well worth the 39$ fee for straight registration

Took my VW in for a tune up and it came back running like it was worked on by a blind man. Their excuse was "We dont know how to work on VW's" They know how to overcharge for shitty work though.My dad took his Jeep in for it's 100k maintenance and they didn't change the timing belt, so it blew out on the highway trashing the internal mechanism of his engine causing $1600 worth of damage. Fuck Tehachapi Automotive

What an absolute shame. Having lived in the Antelope Valley for over 48 years, in the community of North Edwards and Boron, I have needed a mechanic that was reliable. I thought I had found one in Tehachapi Automotive, but what I found was an owner that was interested more in milking the customer out of as much money as possible with the least amount of labor attached to the charge. He charged my a/c using dye to find any leaks. The freon emptied, you could see the leak with the naked eye, he charged me "a diagnostic fee" of $120.00 to find the leak that stood out like a sore thumb. He told me they could not fix the leak, I had to take it elsewhere. Brought it back, unfortunately, the leak was still there. The honest mechanic said it starting leaking the second he started putting the freon in, he immediately stopped. They charged me $69.00 for 1/2 hour, which was really five minutes. Had they stopped and said, go ahead and get it fixed, no charge, I might not have been unhappy, but it was obvious this was a real gouge job. Too bad, I would have told as many people as possible that I'd found a reliable mechanic. As it stands now, I will tell people just the opposite. Such a shame people can so obviously rip off people. It was interesting how the owner hid in his little office as I left, he knew he was wrong, so wrong.

There a bunch of THEVES here over priced peaces of shit. They wanted to charge me $1500 for a fan belt that costs at the dealer $700. Fuck this place. & charged me $105 per hour to check the problem on my car. He told me you have no choice but to fix it here. I said WTF I do have a choice to go elsewhere.

I have never met a bigger bunch of crooks in my life! As I'm waiting to get ripped off and price gouged myself, they're ripping a guy off right in front of me for a failed smog because of a check engine light. Anyone that has had a vehicle smogged before knows that a smog shop will normally warn you if you have a check engine light, your vehicle will not pass smog, NOT TEHACHAPI AUTOMOTIVE! They'll just take you for every dime they can.I was quoted over the phone $550 to replace a $45 sensor on my truck. Since I didn't have the time to make the repair myself or take it to another shop and it was a $94 diagnosis fee, I told them to go on and do the work. When they finished my truck they tried to get me for $650. I argued with the mechanic and made them honor the $550 I was originally quoted. Needless to say these guys think they have the Midas touch and apparently charge $100 per hour for their work (higher than any shop I have ever been to). Not only do they charge and extremely high price per hour, they do everything they can to up-charge and tell you things are wrong with your vehicle that may or may not be. They tried to tell me I had bad batteries. You don't have to be a genius to know that when you have a vehicle that won't start because of a bad sensor, that it will run your batteries down trying to start it. Of course my batteries had a low charge, it hasn't been starting right and hasn't had time on the road to recharge. Also, they do not have an hourly labor rate posted in their office, so who knows how much they're charging others. Take your vehicle ANYWHERE else to be repaired!*UPDATE 2/9/15I received a letter in the mail today for my complaint, from Tehachapi Auto. They claim in their letter that they do a complete inspection on all vehicles. This is why they told me about my "charging system being low" and that the batteries needed replaced. Funny thing about this so called "complete inspection" they do. 1) My batteries are still working just fine. I have had no issues with them. 2) They didn't mention that I had an oil leak or a bad power steering pump on my truck. I knew about both of these but they didn't know that. If they really did a "complete inspection" like they say they do, these things should have been easily caught.They also claimed no one waves the diagnosis fee when you have your vehicle worked on at their shop. If you've ever had your vehicle to a shop, you know better. If no one waved that fee a lot of people would take their vehicle elsewhere, after finding out what's wrong with it. They also claim their hourly labor rates are posted and cheaper than the other shops around. If they are, I sure didn't see them and I had to sit in that waiting room for quite some time. So I had the time to look around and did not see anything. I guess at every shop you should ask the rates and if they mark the parts up 100% because that is what these crooks in Tehachapi do (Crankshaft position sensor at Autozone - $44, Tehachapi Auto - $88 - 100% mark up). I don't know what the other shops around Tehachapi charge but I do know I've been to specialty shops in Bakersfield that charge $85 per hour. At a specialty shop, you would expect higher prices because they are experts in their field.One more thing. What I originaly brought my truck to the shop for, is not fixed (intermittent stalling and not starting). All they did was pull a code and replace a sensor. My truck is still doing the same thing. They obviously don't have real mechanics there. They are parts replacers with fancy tools and lifts, nothing more than that.I hope, through my terrible experience, I save someone the time and trouble of going to these thieves. It's so sad that you cannot just simply trust people anymore.

Consumer Beware... Very nice, friendly business, but the usual smog test pass-or- don't-pay policy does NOT apply here. My vehicle failed the smog test due, as the very nice man explained, to the fact that it had recently been worked on & would need to be driven at least 200 miles in order for the on board computer to reset. Fair enough, and certainly not his fault. But had they asked about any recent repairs to the vehicle it would have saved me having to pay for nothing and spared this business yet another unfavorable review. The man insisted on charging me $71 for the failed test, and were I to return it would cost an additional $71 for the re-test + $10 for the smog certificate. So a total of $152 for finally getting the smog check completed? No way. There are other smog shops in town that charge $39 and are pass-or-don't-pay. I have never in 20 years of California smog checks encountered this sort of policy. I had done business with this garage in the past & been happy with them, but after today's experience I will not be returning. A person who picks your pocket with a friendly word & a smile on his face is still picking your pocket.