This is a lengthy review, but please take the time to read it.
I started what should have been a simple, 45 minute project on my girlfriend's car, replacing an ignition switch. It evolved into the ignition cylinder failing, her car unable to be used because the key wouldn't turn, calls to towing companies, and staring down the barrel of a possible $1500 repair, and this was on a Saturday. Of course no repair shops were open and she was dead in the water until who knows when. After a few phone calls to some mechanic friends of mine, 805 CAR&KEY kept coming up. I don't trust most repair shops, and the idea of having a mobile service work on the car was a little nerve-racking. I found their number online and, at first the call went to voicemail. I figured "screw it, this is probably some dude who does this on the side and won't be able to help anyway" and was going to have to deal with having totally ruined my girlfriends week when all was trying to do was fix a problem that I had fixed in the past with no problems. A short while later, my phone rang and it was 805 CAR&KEY. I was blown away that this business called ME back and I didn't even leave a voicemail! I spoke to Darrin (the owner), and he was very knowledgeable and professional on the phone. This guy really knew what he was talking about, and gave me a very reasonable quote, even considering that he would be traveling to the north county to do the repair, and it was an emergency, last minute, late in the day job on a weekend, but I was still hesitant. Since my girlfriend was already stressed about the situation, and since it was her car, I told Darrin I would run it past her and call him back. I did just that, and she was also a little skeptical but ceded to my best judgment. I called back and confirmed with Darrin. 40 minutes later, he was at her house. I was pleasantly surprised when he rolled up in a large, new, service van with his company logo nicely displayed in professionally done graphics on the vehicle. Maybe, considering the price he quoted, I was expecting a lot less...I don't know haha. My skepticism faded even more when he opened the sliding doors...the work area in the back of this thing looks like the inside of the Starship Enterprise. It is equipped with all the latest equipment for his trade. Very impressive. I gave him a quick rundown of what was going on and he got to work. He knew exactly what the problem with the ignition cylinder was, and in what seemed like no time at all, he gutted and rebuilt the cylinder and had 2 brand new keys made and even had the equipment on board to "learn" the keys to the vehicle, as this vehicle has chips in the keys. The Honda DEALER would NOT have even that. He ran into a little hick up, but Darrin went out of his way to try to figure out what the problem was, tried multiple possible fixes based on his knowledge of Honda vehicles, and had the equipment on-hand to check the vehicle for codes. The problem ended up being that the ignition switch that I purchased from AutoZone was faulty out of the box. The point of that story was to say that Darrin went way, way above and beyond being a mobile locksmith in that situation, stayed longer than he quoted for that job, and wanted to make sure that my girlfriend and I had the desired outcome from his work. THIS GUY CARES ABOUT HiS WORK and TAKES PRIDE IN WHAT HE DOES. He was not satisfied with the idea of leaving the job without the vehicle being road-ready again. Nobody offers this high degree of customer service and professionalism, at least nobody that I've ever dealt with.
Darrin is a dying breed these days. He is a younger guy but has old-school work ethic and customer service, is very personable, and he knows his sh___, er...stuff. Keep in mind that he is a one-man operation, and may not be able to immediately deal with your problem, but if he can't get to you immediately, he is worth the wait. He's not a psychic or a magician, but you can bet money that he will give 100% effort to alleviate your problem and get to you in a timely fashion. His quote to me came it at roughly $1000 LESS than Honda would have charged to fix this car, and even after all of the extra time and energy he spent working on this car, his final bill was EXACTLY what he originally quoted me. This guy truly cares about his trade and about his customers, and in my opinion, deserves your business. I had never met Darrin or even heard of him prior to this interaction, so this is not a review left by a friend in an attempt to drum up business, however, I feel like I made a friend during this difficult situation. If you didn't gather, after reading this review, that this guy earned every "star" I rated him, I don't know what to tell you. He deserves more stars, but Yelp only offers 5 max. read more