Central Avenue Service Center - McKinleyville, California

Mike Pixley

10 star service always .A mechanic short,was promised about a week. Gotvverchile back in 3 days..plus every thing checked out. So nice to leavevthis shop and no worries. Thank you so much.God bless your shop and all that work there...

THE HOT DOG HOUSE

I brought these guys my car when it overheated, and they immediately replaced a water pump and radiator that were only a year old.
$800 later they replaced a hose clamp that had gone missing (and was clearly the problem), and charged me another $30.
To make it worse, they told me to remember to put coolant in my car like I'm some kind of moron.

Andrea Peterson

I brought my car in for a diagnosis because first gear was shaky on engagement. I was told that they couldn’t find anything wrong but that I should probably have the flywheel resurfaced and that would fix the shakyness. I made an appointment for them to do the flywheel and replace the clutch, and also to put on an aftermarket sway bar I brought in since they would have to take the old sway bar out to do the flywheel anyway. I also asked if they could calibrate my tpms system for my new wheels. They said it would have to stay the night one night, so two days worth of work.

I received no update on the work being done on either day my car was supposed to be getting worked on. I finally called the shop just before they closed on the second day to get an update because supposedly it would have been done by then. I called and no one answered. I got a call back thirty minutes later from someone who seemed like they may be a mechanic, I’m not sure. The man seemed very confused and said that none of the work had been done because they had to order a new flywheel that morning because mine was broken completely. I was not told how much it had cost before it had been ordered. He also said the sway bar I brought in was the wrong one. I had it custom ordered, just didn’t have time to do it myself. It was the right one.

My car ended up having to stay at that shop for almost two weeks while I started my summer job and had to borrow a car. I had to call the shop to get any information or updates, they never called me. I was told by multiple different people that I brought the wrong sway bar in, that it was missing parts, that things didn’t fit and no work had been done. At one point a woman called me about an ABS light being on the dash, and I told her that there had definitely not been an ABS light on when the car came in, and she said “but the mechanic put it in the notes so it was on”. Only when I came to the shop to confront them in person did I get any straight answers about pricing, parts, labor, and warning lights. When I asked them why the ABS light was on, the woman I had talked to on the phone looked at me and said “oh I meant the check engine light, sorry”. Honestly it’s really important to be detail oriented when you run a business. I guess they are used to dealing with people who don’t really know what’s going on with their cars.

They ended up charging me three times what a brand new fly wheel costs from Honda parts directly, saying “that’s what it costs from the dealership”. That I can understand, I suppose, but buying a part that costs thousands of dollars without letting the customer know first is inexcusable. I ended up finally receiving only one call from the shop the whole time my car was there and the man introduced himself to me as the owner. He told me that the sway bar had been put on, and that he was sorry about the confusion. Confusion? I had four separate employees tell me that I had brought the wrong sway bar in. At the end, I just threw money at them to get my car back. All the warning lights were still on the dash.

Go ahead and reply “sorry we weren’t a good fit for you” if you want. I’m sorry your mechanics can’t tell if a sway bar will fit. The owner needs to hire a full new staff. He at least seems competent. If you absolutely must go there, insist on speaking to him directly.

Richard Benson

This place came highly recommend by a friend, so I was excited to take my van there.
I paid $150 diagnostic fee and they were unable to diagnose my problem. They recommend that I replace a part that I have already replaced and gave me a quote for the work. This quote for future work included another diagnostic fee of $145 and a $127 fee to install the part and $245 for the part for a total of $541.... This part only takes 5 minutes to replace... I know this because I have already replaced it myself.
Thank god I have some knowledge about vehicles and this place only scammed me for $150.
For this price I received no new information on my problem, only advice to throw more parts at it and hope one of them fixes my problem.... It was a complete waste of my time and money.
Needless to say I will not ever go back and don't recommend that anybody else go there.

Desmond Johnston

Shawn is a great mechanic! Knows his job and pleasant to work with.

ashley lyon

Proceed with caution our car was damaged from someone trying to get our gas and they refused to help pay for the damages and tried to put blame on us every chance they got.Since the owner responded my partner gave you all the reasons we know it happened while parked at your shop and at the end of everything you just said I won’t pay for it. We tried to talk with you and you were rude. It came in with it and left without it.

Laurel Chism

We've been taking our vehicles to central Ave service for 15+ years and we've always been treated with respect. They keep their word and their prices are very reasonable. Office staff are kind and helpful.

Stephanie Goodwin

Got an appointment and was serviced in a timely way. Evening drop off was easy. Was treated kindly and respectfully. Price was fair. I recommend Central Ave Service center.