Stress-Free Auto Care / German Motor Specialist

I’ve taken my car there twice. I’m very happy. Overall excellent customer service and great work on my car. I’m very pleased. Paul and James are both super kind and helpful and responsive. I recommend this place

There are 2 parts of this review 9/1 and 6/17. One for their manger Rhett and One for My experience with James at Mountain View:

6/17 Review: I came in for a normal oil change and ended up with over 10K suggestions of services with my 67K miles car which was just serviced a year ago. I somehow was assigned with this service manager, James. As a female driver not knowing so much about the car. There is a difference between the car professional people telling me what is necessary to be fixed right away and being led along of 10K + of services that are not necessary yet. I consulted their suggestions with another professional and many of the services were not necessary yet. When I confronted with James, he did nothing but to defend himself. Worst yet, when I felt that the trust were gone, I called him 8am in the morning when the shop first open to cancel my services, he told me that the my transmission oil and engine oil were drained out already yesterday unless I want my car to be towed. Last but not least, they don't charge for real hours that they work on. Instead, they charge you by a "lump sum": $500 labor to change sparks and $500 labor to change transmission oil. When I asked him about it, he said that is most of the car services companies do rather than go with what is the best practice.

9/1: About 2 weeks later after the service, my engine light was on. Since the trust was gone with Stress Free, I took it to my trusted mechanic at San Jose. Original he thought it was emission problem and order the part, I had to leave my car at the shop for 4 days. As he was double checking, he found out that the engine ground wire and coil was loose and he asked me who serviced my car previously? ! (Stress Free MV). So I explained the situation by calling in. Paul was incredibly patience listened me out and encouraged me to communicate. So, I reached out to Rhett Whitehill and explained the situation. He asked me to send all the receipts which I did. He then said that they had warranty service, which again no body ever explained to me. I simply asked him to reimburse me the cost of my time, part of the poor services that they did and the cost of fixing engine light on problem. And I will be happy to revisit my review. OMG, he then said that he "feels that he is bribed by my reviews. " I can't believe this. I have extremely busy schedule and I am doing with my precious time simply for JUSTICE and hoping people will take their services seriously with GOOD WILL and taking Accountability, rather, I am met nothing but defensiveness, delay of time, and insult.

I’m a regular customer. Better service prices than at dealer. Keep you informed at every step of process.

Paul is courteous and professional whenever I take my Porsche in to Stress-Free auto care / German Motor Specialist. He’s knowledgeable and truly tells you what’s best for your car. I’ve taken two of my family’s vehicles into the shop to be fixed and will continue to do so.

I got a flat this past Tuesday and my tire pressure warning light came on while driving on San Antonio Road in between work and home. I checked the tire and realized I could probably make it a few more minutes but needed to find a repair location close by. I had previously brought my car into the Stress-Free Auto Care location on El Camino Real in Menlo Park when the light came on and had no tire or pressure issues and the car had been reset for free so I felt great returning. I dropped off my car, the charges were explained up front and took a courtesy Lyft the rest of the way home. Stress Free found a nail in the tire and patched in up and also fully inspected my vehicle so I felt reassured that nothing else was in urgent need of repair. I was able to walk and pick up my car the next day and was grateful for all of the clear communication and the photos included in the inspection so I could see exactly where the tire was punctured and that the rest of the vehicle was completely fine!

Awesome job guys thank you for your assistance and fixing my car and definitely will be back on my next maintenance regular check thank you so much Paul for your assistance for my fiat 500

Best experience at Stress Free Auto Care with my mini Cooper. Our service professional was fully experienced with BMW and Mini family. Paul P.s expertise was very much appreciated. Thankful to find someone honest and informative 10 Star!

I was on a tight timeline and needed a “noise” analyzed and fixed. They were able to determine and fix the problem keeping me informed via text throughout the day. Highly recommended.

Generally very high marks. Nice touch to provide ride service after dropping car off. They honored the repair pal estimate which was very good. They do make a good effort to keep you up to date with texts and emails. They appeared to perform the repairs appropriately. Only slight mix up was hiccups of their internal communications causing unnecessary delays in finishing work on the car. Paul who was our contact in the service department did his best to overcome this delay. Overall happy with care and service and would definitely recommend.

This is my second time using Stress-Free Auto and it was as good a service as the first time. I had to replace all tires on my Audi and while I could have gone to a regular tire place, frankly I got a very fair price on tires from Stress-Free and I trusted that they did the work well. My last experience with a dedicated tire shop on our other car didn't go well - TPMS wasn't reset so 10 minutes after leaving the shop I'm getting tire pressure warnings, tires were inflated to 36psi all around rather than the 30/33 on the door label and when I asked they said "it's OK" and that was all the explanation. Stress-Free answers your questions and understands you care about your car. I'll keep coming back

This is the first time I got some major repair done at this location (instead of MB dealer for my E350). Like my first visit few months back for oil change, overall I am so impressed with their depth of knowledge, transparency on the issues found & work being done and on top of that strong customer orientation. Specially thanks to Paul who was my service advisor through out the repair process.

They performed an extensive auto diagnostic on my vehicle. They sent me a PDF and advised going to another shop specializing in Honda repairs to troubleshoot my specific issues relating to the transmission and suspension problems. Very professional and courteous

My experience at German Motor Specialist is always pleasant, and this time was no exception. Paul is always great to work with, and I had the pleasure this time of working with James. The entire team does a good job, is trustworthy and pricing seems fair.

Posting again from this week's service. I stand by my five-start review. These guys are straightshooters. They only do work that needs to be done, stand behind their work and keep me updated on progress.

I had an amazing experience from beginning to end. Jim and Paul were extremely helpful and offered recommendations for my vehicle. I was kept informed throughout the process via text and email, which was very appreciated. The customer service is fantastic. I wholeheartedly recommend Stress Free auto care!

Paul is just wonderful to work with, with clear and professional communication; the service is efficient and never with surprises, shop is immaculate. I highly highly recommend these guys for all of your auto service needs!

This team. I have only good things to say about their customer focus and deep deep experience. A happy returning customer.

Talk to Paul a real pro who really knows cars! These guys obviously take pride in their work and customer experience