I have been an SF mechanic for more than 30 years and have run A & C Auto Clinic on Oakdale Ave in The Bayview for over two decades. Three decades of cars, customers, and a city that changed around me. A lot of people ask what has changed and what hasn't. Here is the honest answer.
The cars are different.
Three decades ago a typical Bayview car was a Honda Civic, a Toyota Camry, a Chevy pickup, or a Ford Taurus. Carbureted holdouts were still rolling in. Anti-lock brakes were optional on some cars, not standard. Today the typical car is a Toyota RAV4, a Honda CR-V, a Subaru Outback, or a Tesla Model 3. Every one is rolling software you cannot see. The diagnostic tools we used back then plug into nothing made today.
The work is more digital and the customer is more remote.
We used to figure out problems by sound and feel. We still do, but we also have to read code from a dozen modules to confirm what the ear hears. A misfire that used to be “number 3 cylinder” from listening at the valve cover is now “P0303 with stored freeze-frame at 2,400 RPM and 65 percent load.” Both work. The car gets fixed. The path is just longer.
Bayview customers are still Bayview customers.
Some things have not changed. Most of our customers still live within a mile of the shop. Many of them are second-generation. People whose cars I worked on years ago are now bringing in their kids' cars. That continuity is the part of the business I am most proud of. If you live in the neighborhood, this is your shop for Bayview auto repair.
The neighborhood has changed around us.
Whole blocks have turned over. The auto-body shop two doors down is something else now. The corner store changed hands twice. Some of the long-time families moved out to Antioch, Tracy, Vallejo. Some of them still drive back here for service because they have known us since they were kids.
What the next chapter looks like.
EVs are coming faster than people think. We service hybrids and EVs already. The 12V system on a Tesla still fails the same way the 12V system on an old Civic did (charging-system work runs through battery, starter, and alternator), and the brakes still wear out, and the suspension still gets hammered by Evans Ave. The work is not going away. It is changing. We will keep up with it the way we always have, by buying the tools, learning the systems, and treating people the way we want to be treated when we are the customer.
If you live in Bayview and you have not been by the shop yet.
Come by. 2800 Oakdale Ave, Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm. Walk in. Tell us what your car is doing. We will take it from there.