I have been doing business with Dave since he moved the shop to Campbell, close to 25 years now. During that time I have met and became friends with other customers that have been shopping and having their VWs worked on there for as long as I have.
Todd has been there for years and always thoroughly explains to the novice and the experts what the repair shop will be doing or what the part being purchased is for. Todd, Dave, Blue, Mike, Nick and others through the years have given me good sound advice, keeping me from wasting money on things I did not need or repairs that were not needed. They have also advised me on repairs that were needed that down the road, that besides saving me money, I am sure saved my life.
I have sent many friends and strangers that ask me for a trust worthy shop to Peninsula Auto. Later, they all tell me how much they appreciated my advice and how well they were treated. Many of my friends that own older air cooled bugs, ghias, buses will not take their VW's any other place. Many of them have been doing business with Peninsula Auto for over 20 years. They tell me their VW's are part of their family and the people at Peninsula Automotive understand that.
Recently i needed to rebuild the engine on my Meyers Manx dune buggy. Being short on cash I went to Peninsula to see what my options were. Dave and Todd assured me that with my experience, that I could rebuild the engine myself. Although I had never rebuilt a VW air cooled engine before, with their expert opinion encouraging me, I bought the parts from Peninsula and headed home. As I went out the door with my box of parts, Todd tells me, call us if you run into any problem. I called them and sure enough Todd got Dave and Blue on the phone with me to talk with me. They thought I needed a custom tool so Blue told me how to make one. The engine is running like a top.
I am 53 and have been working on cars since I was 15. Mostly Chevys and Datsuns. Skill level 1 to 10, around an 8. Welding, custom fabricating, rebuilding engines, transmission, differentials, and electrical.
I currently own a '58 Vette, a 240z with a 350 Chevy V8 engine & Vette 4 speed, a stock original 240z, a '72 Baja Bug ( with a 2110 cc engine & custom built transaxle, disc brakes, full roll cage, etc ) and 2 original Meyer Manx dune buggies. In the past I have owned two '57 Nomads, several 55 Chevys, 65 GTO, 31 Chevy, the list goes on. I do and did 98% of the work on them myself.
Although I was a professional mechanic for 5 years, mid to late 70's, I am finding that VW's are a different kind of animal and it is awful nice to have a helping hand especially from the group at Peninsula Automotive that honestly care for my safety, my welfare, and my pocket book.
I know when I am being bull s****d and cheated. I will tell you straight up, that if my mother drove a VW, I would insist that anything I did not personally have the time or the knowledge to do, that the only place she take her Vee Dub to, would be Peninsula Automotive in Campbell, California.
If you are reading this and wondering where you should take your air cooled or water cooled Volkswagen, do what some of the owners of VW show cars featured in Hot VW magazine have done when seeking honest advice and good honest mechanics, do what my good friends do, do what I do, do what my mother would do, go see Todd at Peninsula Automotive in Campbell, Ca.
Wayne K.
I have been using these guys for years now. They have kept our ancient Vanagon ('87) on the road for many trips. Their service is great. Recently I took it in, to check a "funny" noise under the vehicle. They diagnosed a bad fuel pump. Seems reasonable, so I gave the go-ahead. Earlier I had also taken a ruptured power steering hose to them. They had a contact that could rebuild it at half the price. Well, long story short. It turns out the problem was that the hose had not been rebuilt correctly and it had nothing to do with the fuel pump. So they put in the old fuel pump and found the correct power steering hose. When I went to liberate the beast, I expected a stiff repair bill since they put a lot of labor into it. Instead, they said, “Hey if the guy had done a correct job on the power steering hose, you would not have brought the vehicle in, so no charge!” Go find a repair shop like that! Definitely recommend these guys if you are into VW.
Cheers,
Hans
Our son introduced us to Peninsula Automotive in 2000. He had a Vanagon that they did some drive axle bearing work on. He was very pleased with the results. In 2004, we bought a VW powered Dune Buggy and have taken it to them a few times for work that I could not do myself. We have found Dave, Todd, Blue, Mike and the other technicians to be professional, highly skilled, knowledgeable, trustworthy, courteous and reasonably priced. They work hard to please the customer. We are very satisfied with the work they have done for us. That’s why we keep going back to Peninsula Automotive.
Karen & Larry Baumann
Retired H.S. Auto Shop Teacher
I am currently a customer of Peninsula Automotive Parts and Service and have been a customer of that establishment in excess of twelve years. I use the word establishment, as a satisfied customer I find Peninsula Automotive to be fully established in their service, dependability, and reliability in all aspects. I expect quality service and I do receive such from Peninsula. Their parts service is exceptionally prompt. Peninsula in my years of experience has delivered excellent service as I have purchased major items (engines, transmissions) with no problems. I have also had my 1964 VW completely refurbished there and I have been more than pleased with them.
Booker Anderson USN (ret)
Certified Flight Instructor