Cliff Brown Automotive

 

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2

Samuel L.

Encinitas, CA

I thought Cliff Brown was OK for a while.  They are open on weekends and would let me bring my own parts.  Fast-foward to when the check engine light comes on and a friend's scanner says the oxygen sensors need to be replaced.  I order the sensors and take the car into Cliff Brown, who are also going to do some other work on the vehicle (a VW Jetta).

A few days after the car is done, the check engine light comes on again!  The OBD scanner comes up with the same exact issue.  My friend thinks it must be a wiring harness issue and recommends taking it to a European specialist since electrical issues on these cars can supposedly be a nightmare.

I bring the car to Lusti Motors who, after evaluating the vehicle, inform me that the oxygen sensors were never swapped out!  So, Cliff Brown stole my expensive O2 sensors and charged me for work they never did.

Avoid these guys, they scammed me out of hundreds of dollars.  I am going to report them to the California Bureau of Automotive Repair.

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2

14

Jason O.

San Diego, CA

Brought my last car in here years ago, they quoted me over $500 in repairs. Took it to another mechanic where they told me I don't need all the repairs Cliff was quoting me. I gladly paid $175 and said so long Cliff Brown

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Elite '08

144

417

Nick T.

San Diego, CA

Today I took my car to get smogged in Clairemont ( they shall remain nameless) and it took the guys 30 minutes before they told me that;

1) My car didnt have a full tank of gas and that they needed to have the tank full in order to smog the car. WTH ? Why ? I dont think I've ever filled this baby up to the brim with gas before and I wasnt about to start today.

2) They wouldnt be able to smog my car until Monday.Why couldnt they have told me that when I first rolled up ? Thanks for wasting my time. Assholes.

I left and went to Cliff Brown on Park Blvd . These guys rock. I walk in and I take in the scene thats in front of me. Theres an old Chinese movie playing in the background mixed  with the sound of air tools and theres 3 guys in the  office .Two were eating lunch with greasy hands and all are smoking, indoors mind you.

" If you were in this shithole for 9 hours, you'd smoke in here too !  "

Yeah I suppose I would. I'm told to come back in 1 hour so I head across the street to Cream ( thats another review in the making )

My work car is a beater. It runs ok but it reeks of gas and oil sometimes, has problems starting and makes all kinds of funny mechanical noises.

Honestly, I was expecting this money pit to fail miserably at least a couple of times and inevitably be tagged as a gross polluter. But somehow someway it passed ! I couldnt believe it. This wasnt even a shady hook up or anything.

Thanks alot guys ! You are now my go-to place for smogs !

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Elite '08

47

156

lisa f.

San Diego, CA

I have an inherent distrust of auto mechanics. I've worked for more than one service station and know what sometimes really takes place. Having said that, I am probably harder to win over than most. If the car gets fixed I assume that it was never really broken, and if it doesn't I assure myself that the mechanic is incompetent.

Not so with Cliff Brown. The service manager, Barry, is super friendly and puts up with my weird sense of humor (which most mechanics don't get, giving me blank-faced, open-mouthed stares which only add to their sense of incompetence.) He also tells the truth. Like when he said, "Lisa, your car is a piece of crap and you should sell it immediately." Well, not in those words, but I did what he said. Before that Cliff Brown had repaired my BMW a number of times. (Not for the same problem.) It was older, and notorious for the problems it had. I'd gotten estimates from other "foreign car specialists" only to find CBs prices much more reasonable. And the work gets done quickly.

They don't work on my current ride--'68 Vdub bus--but I still take in the Passat, which is showing it's years. And that's what led to this review:

The Passat crapped out one day. Turned the key, nuthin'. No click, click, no guhhh, no nuthin. Called AAA for a jump. Guy says battery's good, alternator's good. He tows it down the street to the Shell station (pissy review coming soon). The guy calls and says it's a blown fuse, but it keeps blowing. Doesn't charge me the 12 bucks labor and refers me to an electical guy in Poway. Grrr, Poway, but I think the guy must be Swell if he didn't want his 12 bucks.

Guy from Poway calls next day and says whilst trying to Locate the problem, it has appeared to have corrected itself. In other words, the car starts, but he did no work. He asked if he should continue to search for the problem. You know, so it doesn't happen again. Well, duh, Yeah. Five days and four HUNDRED dollars later, guy says, "Duh-huh, I dunno." But it starts so I take the car.

Two days later, it again does not start. Being much closer to home I have it towed to Cliff Brown. I tell them what happened and leave. Thirty minutes later Barry calls and tells me the starter is going AND there is a crack in the battery which is causing it to occassionly short out. It cost less to find and fix the problem than I spent at the stupid place in Poway, AND...AND...I got the car back that afternoon.

If you question all mechanics, but find yourself in need of one despite  it, check out Cliff Brown. YAY!!!

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Elite '08

76

230

Joe A.

San Diego, CA

Been a client for years, initially because I lived in University Heights, and their location was too convenient, but I still take my car there, and frequently refer friends, for the same reason noted by Lisa... Barry's a straight shooter.

I've heard others complain about the price of the labor at Cliff Brown, but I've never felt that their prices were high, considering the level of honest appraisal and the quality of their work. Good guys, no question.

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0

3

jacqueline e.

San Diego, CA

I brought my car in to Cliff Brown Automotive for a basic oil change and asked if he could also look for any problems i may need to address with my car. He called me about an hour or so later with a detailed list of what I needed and quoted me prices that were extremely high (almost $2,000 in total). I told him to just go ahead and do the oil change and I would think about the rest.

Later I asked my friend, an ase certified mechanic to take a look at my car and at the estimated bill that they gave me. He could not believe what they were charging (his words were" you'e being rapped" Then when he inspected my car himself - he said I didn't need half the thing that the guy at Cliff Brown's said I needed (especially the expensive stuff) and in fact soem things that I did need he didn't even mention. For example - I was told by CLiff Brown's that I needed front brakes with routers and an an adjustment on my rear brakes, when in truth- my brakes are fine, and I need new wheel bearings on my left front wheel (which Cliff brown never even mentioned). Cliff Brown's was also going to charge me $320 for a tune up that in actuality only costs $60 (I bought the spark plugs and wires myself and my friend installed them in less than an hour- as for the rest of the tune-up, what Cliff brown's said they would do was a joke) I was also told by Cliff Browns that I needed new struts and that one was even leaking oil - a $620 service- My friend the mechanic said my struts are fine and not leaking any fluid. In addition to gauging my proposed bill - the air filter cliff brown installed was not even done so properly. They failed to properly close the air filter box after installing the new filter (which by the way I said not to do since I had a new filter at home I was planning on installing that night) By not properly sealing and closing this box, my friend told me the filter collected air it shouldnt have (or soemthing like that, im not a mechaninc- which is why Cliff brown probably tried to take me for a fool).

All-in-all i think when they saw a young girl walk into their shop asking them for help- they tried to take advantage of me. My car, though very well maintained since I've had it, isn't even worth $2,000.

I definitely think someone should look into this businesses practices when it comes to packing ona bill.

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