I purchased a 1966 Chevy Corvair Corsa and had it shipped from Nebraska. However, when the delivery driver was backing it out of the truck he dented and scraped the rear passenger side panel. I knew I wanted to have a classic car specialist perform the repairs. I had heard good things about Drifter's Garage by word of mouth so I decided to take my car there. The owner, Ron was really nice and I felt him to be honest and trustworthy right off the bat. The shop is filled with beautiful classic cars and trucks in various stages of restoration so I felt very confident in their abilities. I'm so happy I chose Drifter's Garage because my car turned out amazing. The quality and workmanship were top notch. The dent repair and the way they matched and blended the paint, I could not tell there had been any repairs. They even washed, buffed and detailed the older paint into looking new. My dad, who is a big classic car guy and very critical, agreed. Needless to say, I am 100% satisfied with Drifters Garage. Thanks Ron and crew! I will be back when I need other repairs or maintenance. Ben read more

Kudos to Ron and his crew. They did a beautiful job on my vintage 1996 Jaguar XJS convertible. They fixed numerous defects and dings that have happened over the years. The car looks brand new. Marvelous job at a reasonable price. I highly recommend Drifters Garage. read more

Drifters Garage - 1996 Jaguar XJS - Body Shops Near Me - Escondido, California

I took my 2004 RSX in to get a ceramic coat on the paint as well as a good interior cleaning. Daisy hooked me up and gave me way more than I ever expected. The moment I got into the car is when I realized the shape it was in originally. I thought my carpet was a darker cream color but in fact that was just dirt, the cleaning changed the color of my carpet. Would recommend 100 percent and looking forward to future business with them. read more

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I had a garage incident with my 1963 Cadillac convertible. I found Drifters Garage through word of mouth, and the fact that they worked with State Farm claims. The owner Ron is an amazing guy. They were prepared to take my 18.5 foot vehicle on the same day, and treated it with complete respect. The shop knows what it is doing by looking around and the high dollar classics entrusted to them. Ron and his team went the extra mile for me, and had it back completed in a week. Ron even offered me a ride home after drop off to save me the Uber fare. It is a pleasure doing business with a man with such experience and integrity. Ron is a wealth of knowledge, and has quite the resume to ensure your prized possessions are well taken care of. Drifters will be getting my business for all my classic Cadillac needs going forward. Thank you Ron and Drifters! read more

Drifters Garage - Body Shops Near Me - Escondido, California

So I promised Ron that I would follow up on a review after all the work was done. Here you go: As you can see the work was extensive and although I believe my wife was going to have an anxiety attack throughout this process.....we crossed the finish line! Like any resto, it can be assumed that there is always going to be some tweaking. Ron and his team were pure professionals and whenever there was an issue he was quick to resolve it. I now enjoy the car as much as I can and you can believe that people stop me all the time to talk about the car. Thank you again Ron!!!! read more

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Drifters had my car 40 months, I drove the car into his Escondido shop. After 40 months, 42K, A DOZEN missed completion dates, & all Ron's lies and shortcomings... I finally had to just pick up my unfinished, no longer running car with parts missing. Owner tried to tell me that my brand new Holley ECU was outdated and would no longer run the car. A complete Lie... he welded on the car while the computer was hooked up, which Fried the computer. Ron blamed Holley and refused to replace it, instead he gave me the car back with my brand new $3,000.00 Holley computer completely MISSING. The Car that Ron told me was ready for pick up was unfinished and a complete mess. The fuel was varnished, all the injectors were frozen shut, the new 9" rear-end is installed incorrectly and crooked, the drive shaft is to short (owner told me he had it lengthened...another lie). Every square inch of the car was covered in sanding dust. Paint job looks great from a far, but once you look closely you see all the runs, assembly chips, and blemishes throughout. It has a crooked ripped bird sticker that was supposed to be airbrushed on, It has trim and rubber issues throughout, alignment issues, the hood is so far out of alignment it has already rubbed paint off. The whole time Ron was lying to me and putting me off He finished fully restoring his own car, which did not even have a motor when he started on my fully assembled running car. At the end of this all My car is an unfinished mess, The owners car is done. After 40K and 40 months of calling and calling Ron, being lied to, not ever getting what RON promised was the biggest nightmare. Ron is a lying thief that should definitely not be involved in anybody's life time dream car builds! He will only turn your dream into a NIGHTMARE! EXACT Same experience as Bruce B with his out of state truck review! Bruce knows first hand what I experienced. read more

I stopped by in January 2018 and spoke with Ron about my 77 Trans Am. Had a great conversation with him (he definitely knows cars). He sent two of his guys out to my house to take a look at my car so that he could provide a high level estimate for me. He sent a mechanic and a body/paint guy. Both were pleasant and knowledgeable about the car and what it would take to restore it. Most of the work (according to them) would be mechanical with a little touch up and buffing on the body. They spent over an hour with me answering questions and providing suggestions. They said that they would communicate to Ron what needed to be done and he would get back to me with an estimate. No one has ever gotten back to me and it is now March. I am left to assume that they were not interested in the work or are busy with other clients. I didn't feel like I should have had to follow up with them. I felt that if they were interested in working on my car they would have contacted me. So this review is solely based on the lack of communication not on their skill or knowledge. read more

Ron Stahr is a great metal worker and a crappy human. He will take your money, use parts off your car, and leave you with a half finished project and a judgment he won't pay back. He had my husband's car for over a year, didn't finish the work, sold parts off it, and straight up stole our money. Google his name, or his former business in Salinas called Stahr Chassis, Monterey or Santa Cruz County civil court records, or for some real good reading maybe look up his insurance fraud case. We gave him the benefit of the doubt, believed that he was starting over and had changed... stupid on us for that! Keep close tabs on your car, parts, and checkbook, wear your hip boots, and keep a clothespin on your nose. He told me himself he "could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo". read more

Ron & his crew at Drifter's are the ones I trust to do the challenging work on my Corvette. I just put larger than stock HRE wheels on my 2007 C6 Corvette and wanted to lower it about an inch to complete the look. My main concern was tire rubbing since I went up in size to 19"x9.5" fronts and 20"x11" rears. Ron & crew took the time to measure everything perfectly and ended up lowering it 7/8". Attention to detail and getting it right the first time is what you really want in a shop like this and they did a fantastic job for a very fair price. My entire Corvette club CorvettesOfSanDiego.com holds Ron in the highest regard. Great job Ron, Thanks!! read more

Drifters Garage - Lowered, running HRE Flow forms 1" over stock and no rubbing, thanks Ron! - Body Shops Near Me - Escondido, California

Huge shop! I saw the classic cars parked outside and walked in to see if they could service my '69 Camaro. Other shops in the area wanted at least double.... They were done with my car within a day (others said 2-3). Got my car back all clean and now it rides better than ever. I recommend Drifters to anyone looking for a great place to service a classic or hot rod, not easy to find a good shop for that... Wish I had the money to build a car with them. I will be back! read more

I first went to Drifter in 2015. They patched a hole from a CB antenna and painted the top of the cab on my truck. This was at their old shop, they did a beautiful job no problems. So in 2018 I took it back (to the new shop) to have the whole truck repainted. After a few delays I got it in and painted. Then the rush to get it done. It was the end of the day when I picked it up, the day of a car show. Shop to Show with in an hour, I was happy. After about a week ALL the paint issues started to show up. Cracks, dirt in the paint?, little blisters, issues top to bottom front to back. I let them know after many delays I took it back to have it fixed(2times). It was a spit polish, put on missing parts and rushed out. Over about 2 years and calls and talking to John still nothing fixed and the paint issues weren't fixed. The second time in it was rushed out to me the day it was to be loaded on a truck for my move out of State(2021). With in an hour of leaving the shop it was on a truck headed out of State. Now it's 2023 the many issues have yet to be fixed. The top of the cab is showing rust signs in the many cracks, blister have flaked and communication with them is no reply and/or no plan on how they want to fix this from the beginning unresolved issue. If you go there have Ron personally do the work or I hope by now he has a whole new staff. The $9.5K paint job I got was/is TRASH. The return communication with Drifters is best put at none. Maybe they think because I'm out of state I'll go away? It's on Ron/Drifters to fix this. read more

If Leonardo da Vinci sculpted cars then Ron at Drifters Garage is his reincarnation. I am stoked for what the future has in his new facility. Hope to see more of his builds at Cruisin' Grand. read more

Ron is a straight shooter and a very honorable man. Sold my son a Plymouth Barracuda when he could have got more money elsewhere. He even waited at the shop while i drove from the bay area to pick the car up. thank you Ron, Patrick thanks you too! read more

Ron is amazing. A true artist. Love his professional services and how friendly he is. Makes it coming to his place a pleasure. Money well spend. And his smile is omg, that alone was enough to stop by and meet the guy. read more

Took my chevelle there to have a new hood aligned and drop spindles installed... And have been there for various minor fixes that other shops charge double for.... Quality work at a fair price. The most important part is that Ron is very honest and loves what he does...... Give this shop a try and you won't be disappointed. read more

Ron and the guys there are the best that I have seen in a long time! They really help me out my timeline had shifted due being transfer and they stayed late just to paint the my Harley! Especially love the one off paint job as well! If you want the best customer service go to them! read more

I had a bad experience with Drifters Garage. They charged me $250 to look at my car for a repairs and paint estimate. John and Ron were both friendly . Got a tour of the shop. They were going to get a detailed estimate to me in a couple of days and follow up with a call to discuss my options. I waited 6 weeks. No phone call!! no estimate!! I finally decided to send them an email requesting my $250 returned to me for an estimate I did not receive, which prompted a call from John. I was told he did call me, which is not true. John told me he might have called the wrong number. We ended the conversation with him saying that he would check his phone messages that he sent out and he would call me back. Still waiting for that call. I got curious and started looking at their reviews on the internet and found other customers who had similar issues with poor communication and cars that were kept for long stays incomplete etc. I do believe they are capable of doing good work, but their regard for their customer is very poor. Beware!!! read more

5 Star for Customer Service thus far but will know more when the car is done! My husband and I drove to Escondido this past weekend (we're from Eastlake) to talk to them regarding restoring my husband's 73 Camaro, primarily paint and interior and I am sure there will be more. We had an appointment at 10:00 with Ron but he was out of town but was impressed with his crew and catered/listened to our needs. We were there for over an hour talking about the car. Todd, Adan, Juan and Able were very attentive and their customer service is impeccable and could not wait to move forward with the project. That Saturday afternoon, we towed the car for them to examine and provide us with a quote. Hopefully we can all agree with the price. Looking forward to seeing the end process!!!! read more