Where are you Located?

North State Auto is a mobile operation, so we come to you. Currently there are no plans to have any fixed location. North State Auto serves Shasta County and Tehama County areas

What Brands of Vehicles Do You Service?

We provide service for BMW and Mini Cooper vehicles using our factory dealership training. We also have factory dealership training on Volvo, and we offer services for Subaru as well. Often, clients reach out to ask if we can help them with a brand of car other than what we specialize in. We take those on a case by case basis depending on the nature of the problem.

What Type of Car Repair Services do you Offer?

We specialize in diagostic services. To be more specific, Check engine light, ABS, DSC, and all other types of warning light diagnosis and repair. We're also very proficient at electrical circuit diagnosis and repair. We regularly perform cooling system repairs, maintenance services, fluid leak repairs, door latch and window regulator problems, air conditioning system diagnosis and repair, brakes, spark plugs, fluids, engine and fuel system cleaning procedures, filters, and more.

Is There Anything You Can't Do?

Yes. Since we are a mobile operation, we don't have the luxury of having your vehicle on a lift like a shop would. Therefore we're limited on the amount of undercar service we're able to provide. That means we're often times unable to provide some suspension repairs, transmission repair, or anything extensive that must be performed strictly underneath the vehicle. Nor do we provide any body panel repairs, paint, windshield replacement, wheel or tire replacement, vehicle accessory installation, and we cannot code or program used control modules. Obviously there are exceptions, and if there's anything we can't provide, we can at least point you in the right direction in helping you get your issue resolved.

Do You Use OEM Parts?

Yes and No. It really depends on the situation. In an urgent situatiuon where you need your car fixed ASAP, we'll often get what we can get quickly. The difference between us and other shops (even the specialty shops) is, rather than lie to our clients and tell them "we only use OEM parts" while they install some cheapo chinese parts, we believe in transparency. There's nothing wrong with some aftermarket brands, however the knowledge of knowing which brands to use, and which not to use comes with the territory when you've been in the business for 25 years.

What type of payment methods do you accept?

We accept all major credit cards (with a 3% processing fee), cash, and in some circumstances we accept barter. We do not accept personal checks.

Is Your Mechanic Factory Trained? Probably Not.

North State Auto • Oct 23, 2022

Why Do All Shops Claim To Have Factory Training?

It's a selling point, plain and simple. If you click around on websites of local repair shops, you'll notice somewhere on each and every one where it claims their technicians are "factory trained." Okay... what factory exactly? The term "factory training" refers to brand-specific training one receives from a specific make of car. If a technician is employed at a BMW dealership, that individual receives brand specific training courses periodically at an actual BMW training facility. These training facilities aren't available to just anyone. They're only available to employees at BMW dealerships. BMW is the "factory" in this example, and they're offering the training.

Car dealerships are required to have a certain number of technicians that reach varying levels of training. They typically fall into 4 or so levels, ie; from beginner to master technician. It's like going to college in a sense, you have to take certain courses and pass certain tests in order to achieve the next degree or level of certification. However, unlike college, you have to keep taking the newer updated courses in order to maintain your certification level, so if you achieve "master BMW technician" certification, you don't just get to chill and not worry about it anymore, you have to keep taking and passing the new and updated courses as new models and technology are introduced.

Seeing every shop under the sun claim to be "factory trained" is a bit of a pet-peeve of mine. I've lived in the Redding area for several years now, after working for one of Northern California's premiere luxury European car dealership networks. I've gotten to know just about everyone in the European car repair field here in Redding. 99% of them have never worked at any European car dealer, so how is it that they claim to be factory trained exactly?

Another point I think is funny, is they don't specify which "factory" they claim to have been trained by. Factory training is brand specific, there's no such thing as a catch-all factory training. So while there are a couple shop owners up here that at one point worked at one brand of car dealership 30 years ago, unless they only specialize in 30 year old cars from that brand, their training isn't relevant.

What Factory Training Does North State Auto Have?

As previously mentioned, I was employed at one of northern California's premiere luxury car dealership networks, and previously for another dealer network, for a cumulative total of 18 years of my now 25 year career. Meaning, for 18 years I received factory training at BMW, Mini, and Volvo. I was master certified for BMW and Mini for many of those years. I also achieved Volvo diagnostic technician certification and hybrid/elecric drive specialist certifications. That is true factory training.

Not only are 99% of technicians in Redding NOT factory trained by any European car manufacturers, but I don't know of any specialty shops in the area who send their technicians to any training at all, for that matter. They're all mostly learning as they go, using their clients' cars as their training material, and are simply "YouTube certified".

It doesn't take factory training to do an oil change on a car, however once it comes to electrical diagnostics, coding, or programming vehicles, many shops start to flounder, and simply tell their clients "it needs to go to the dealer." What they're saying is, "it needs to go to someone with factory training."

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