Redwood City Automotive

ADS Mobile's 15 years in the business have taught the company that more is more. Every car that the company's mobile team of techs services receives a wash, a tire dressing, and a rim, glass, and well cleaning—no matter what service the auto came in for. Those services cover a broad range of aesthetic improvements including paint-job touchups to cover minor dings and scrapes and window tinting to help retired coal miners to adjust to life in full sun. Of course, an extensive repertoire of wash and detailing packages dominates the company's menu of services, including more exotic procedures such as the wet-sand treatment, which restores badly damaged paint to a fresh-from-the-showroom gleam.

For seven years, the techs at Garageworks have built an entourage of returning customers and national accounts by gracing all cars they treat with an eye-catching gleam. In addition to detailing vehicles, powder coating paint jobs, and maintaining entire fleets, they also mend ailing autos with Japanese, American, and aftermarket parts. To ensure customer satisfaction, Garageworks finishes each service with a friendly follow-up call and a lollipop in the car’s favorite flavor.

Teamwork is key at The Shop, where it’s not unusual to see technicians working together to diagnose and repair failing brakes and transmissions or pooling their manpower push a stalled car into their workspace. The ASE-certified auto sanctuary specializes in Japanese and European auto performance and maintenance but can also perform general repairs, tire and alignment services, and complete vehicle inspections on all makes and models. The techs keep a massive inventory of parts from brands such as Hawk, Trust, Stance, and BF Goodrich, but they also aim to keep things as cost-effective as possible by working with OEM and aftermarket companies instead of whittling parts from wood.

The family behind SCR Automotive recognizes how needy cars can be and built a service center designed to pacify even the most codependent chariots. Offering bodywork, mechanic services, detailing, and classic-car restoration, SCR's 20,000-square-foot facility bustles with activity. Five cross-trained technicians maneuver between 27 different workstations, changing oil, rotating tires, erasing dings and scratches, and banishing dust on consoles to the atmosphere of Pluto.