Had a few fuel/air delivery issues with my classic fuel injected Super Beetle. Brought it in for an assessment and had a diagnoses that afternoon. Brett worked up an estimate for parts and labor and went over my options. I gave him my choice and he went to work and finished the job as promised and stuck to the estimate. Old school shop. Very knowledgeable, honest and fair. read more

After many years of dealing with the poor workmanship of Canyon German Auto and it's owner Brett it's time to tell the story of their absolute poor mechanics work. On two separate occasions I took my VW Westfalia to CGA for a pre-check of the engine prior to leaving on camping trips. On both occasions my wife and I were stranded on the side of the road within hours of having the engine inspected. The first time I found that CGA had not inspected the engine at all and after my own visual inspection found rotted spark plug wires and connectors and those same wires laying across metal carburetor linkage that shorted the wires and caused a build up of gas in two of the cylinders almost causing a fire. The second occasion happened just 11 months later. After expressing my displeasure to Brett about the lack of detail and poor workmanship I unfortunately decided to give CGA another shot and a chance to redeem themselves. Unfortunately the results were the same. I had CGA inspect the engine again prior to another camping trip. CGA was to replace the ignition, remove one of two fuel line cut-off valves and lubricate the accelerator cable. The ignition was installed improperly causing my horn to sound every time I turned to the left. Driving like this was ridiculous and proof to me that Brett had not test driven the bus afterward. Additionally, unbeknownst to me CGA removed both fuel line shut off valves and reconfigured the fuel line causing gas to build up in the cylinders while the bus was at rest. And on top of that CGA moved my spark plug wires to once again rest on the carburetor linkage cause another short in the wires. Again, just hours after leaving his shop on Highway 1 near Santa Barbara massive amounts of smoke started billowing out of my bus. My wife and I had to pull over to a local mechanic. Once again two cylinders were dead, the wires shorted and gas had now filled the crank case, exhausted manifold and muffler. We had to stay at the mechanics shop in Santa Barbara for 3 hours while the mechanic replaced the wires and spark plugs and dried out the entire exhaust system of gas. All told, what should have been a simple 4 hour trip to Jalama State Beach took us 10 hours with our horn going off every time we turned left and our bus almost catching on fire. I finally stopped the horn by finding it under the front part of the bus and disconnecting the wires. I spent nearly $350 correcting the blunders of CGA and refused to pay Brett the original $400 for the non-existent service. Since all of this has happened I have had the misfortune of running into Brett in town. On one occasion while sitting down with my wife for lunch we were both verbally assaulted by Brett and his girlfriend. Once again, this morning I was peacefully eating breakfast and again verbally assaulted about paying a bill I refuse to pay because of poor workmanship. I'm now considering a restraining order against Brett. Brett and CGA have legal channels by which to attempt to remedy this if he so chooses. Verbally attacking me and my wife is not acceptable. I DO WANT TO MAKE CLEAR THIS REVIEW IS NOT OF THE BODY SHOP THAT RENTS SPACE FROM CANYON GERMAN AUTO. THE BODY SHOP DOES FINE WORK AND I WOULD AND STILL RECOMMEND SCOTT FOR ANY COLLISION TYPE WORK. read more

This place has been around since the beginning of time and Brett has always been there. Back in the day when you had to figure things out the hard way, prior to everything being computerized. I was a young kid, always wanted to hang around there and I had aspirations to be a mechanic. I wanted to be a part of that place, but they laughed at me, always giving me subtle hints to get lost, so finally I did. All I could ever afford was to get my air dam repaired and repainted from scraping it so many times. I would remove it myself and take it in there, Brett would carry it back to the body shop and ask the short guy with the hair plugs "how much to squirt" (paint it) and $100 was cheap, even then. It was a one of a kind ALPINA air dam so I had to preserve it. But they were professionals, they knew what they were doing, working on all those 911's , 928's and everything else under the sun. That was 35 years ago. I haven't been down there since then but they knew what the hell the were doing in the 80's I know that. That makes everything a breeze to work on these days. I always looked up to them. Five (5) stars for all the crap they have to put up with in that town. Laguna has become a liberal sewer, just full of whiners throwing nickels around like manhole covers. I get a real kick out of the negative reviews, what a joke.. read more

Excellent work and detailed explanation of issues with my eurovan. Friendly and quickly completed the job. I am extremely satisfied

Brought my BMW in for repair, got it back in worse shape - twice! They also left me with a gas tank running on fumes! I should have gone after them for it, but instead just put as much distance on them as possible. Stay away from these jokers. I wish I could give them no stars. read more

Please before you go to Canyon German, Brett ..please email me.pacific92629@yahoo.com...my ordeal is to lengthy....just say I paid Brett $12,000.00... my 911s still leaks and smokes..he had the car for 18 months dropped the engine 4 times, still leaked..he blamed the Porsche cylinders.....he might be ok on a old beetle, which leaks always...say your time and money...Go see OC Factory Service, Owen Cudley III, 2083 Laguna Canyon road, Laguna Beach, Ca.has training and experience...yes a certificate from Porsche Trained......all models. He is a great person and very experienced Porsche tech. read more

I went and had Brett fix my trans bushing, It was a hard inaccessable job near the hot exhaust----he did it fast and charged me 80 bucks That was 6 months ago and shifting is good 95 S500 119.000 miles read more

I first started going to Canyon German Auto in the early 90's when I owned a 1961 VW Convertible and Brett was able to diagnose and correct electrical issues (6v system) that other mechanics simply could not figure out. I moved on to a used 1988 911 Targa in 1998 and Brett did the Pre-Purchase Inspection. That car now has over 175,000 miles and Brett has maintained the vehicle since day one, including a top half rebuild about 5 years ago. I have just returned for a 14 day/3400 mile road trip and the car ran as if it were new. Brett and Ron have tremendous knowledge on the mechanical and electrical components of these cars and how to keep them running. He is honest to a fault in assessing mechanical issues, and fair in his pricing quotes; I can highly recommend Brett and his team at Canyon German Auto. read more

I just had my 1973 Karmann Ghia repaired at Canyon German. Its difficult to find technical expertise for old air cooled VW/ Porsches. The owner Brett, and his staff are first rate in dealing with exotic German autos, and collector cars. They will work on any exotic German hardware, including Porsche, BMW, Mercedes etc. They are also capable of repairing high end Italian Ferraris; I saw a Testa Rosa while I was picking up my car. If your high performance, street legal road machine was built by Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes, and even stock VWs, needs to be repaired or serviced these guys are technically proficient. If you are on the cheap and looking for a $20 oil change and system check for your Japanese rice rocket, try Pep boys, this is not your shop. However, if you are looking for a real mechanic, and not just a parts changer, bring your exotic hardware here. read more

I'm very grateful to have Brett and his team as my mechanic. He is proffessional, trustworrthy, honest and knows his stuff. Before Brett's honest low estimate, I towed my 96 Audi to another mechanic near me and got 2 outragesly high dishonest estimates. Brett found a better transmission with a great warranty. My car runs like new. I highly recomend this business. read more

Worked closely with Brett, the owner, on a repair for Mercedes 500 CLK. Brett went far and beyond pricing out used parts to help me save money, drawing up the estimates, then working with the insurance company... who ended up totally the vehicle (which means he doesn't get paid for the repairs.) He was gracious and helped get the car out, charged a nominal 20/day storage fee and one hour of work on the estimate ($135.) I've since referred two friends who got in fender benders and they were nothing but satisfied read more

Brett, the owner is a strange duck. He is knowledgeable about cars and thorough, but sneaky and unscrupulous. Be very careful if you do business with him. He is interested in the buck, and only the buck. He also has quite a few used cars for sale, and if you have a car you wish to purchase, he will find reasons for you not to buy it and then will steer you towards one of his cars (which he does give a very short guaranty). Here is a concrete example. My father, 88, has a 1991 Mercedes 300SE. This low mileage car needed a new head gasket (one of the few vulnerabilities of this wonderful workhorse engine). My father was given an estimate of $1,300 for his shop in Anaheim, but this was now too far away for a freeway reluctant senior.. Brett gave him an estimate of $16-1700. When he picked up the car he was handed a $2,400 bill for some additional work my father did not authorize. The car was probably worth $3,000 at the time. A year later my father wanted to sell it, and the buyers wanted to have it inspected by Brett. He bad-mouthed the car-the very car that 5,000 miles earlier he repaired at a cost only $400 less than the value! This is downright unscrupulous. A $16-1700 bill was passable but $3-400 more than the estimate of his long-time mechanic in Anaheim. If the car was worth far more dead than alive in Brett's eyes, why did he repair it for my father at a cost of $2,400? After the so-called"inspection" today, he hinted to the buyer that he had some better cars on his lot that he would guaranty. This gave the buyer quite an uncomfortable feeling. Think "conflict of interest". Please find an alternative to Canyon German since there are more reputable German mechanics in town. Or if Brett's slick and suave pitch catches you off guard, hold on to your wallet. read more