Meet John Rodriguez, Jr. Of Divisadero's Longtime Precision Auto Repair

Meet John Rodriguez, Jr. Of Divisadero's Longtime Precision Auto RepairPhotos: Stephen Jackson/Hoodline
Stephen Jackson
Published on November 24, 2015

Last month, we asked readers to nominate local people, businesses and organizations that are doing good in their communities to be featured here on Hoodline. This week, we're running a series based entirely on those reader suggestions. Here's one such story. 


The Rodriguez family has been running Precision Auto Repair at 717 Divisadero St. for over 50 years, and they don't intend to stop anytime soon. Since opening his shop in 1962, patriarch Joe Rodriguez, Sr. has worked to provide the neighborhood with a fair and reliable mechanic, as well as striving for a tenant-friendly approach to his properties on the corner of Grove and Divisadero.

"He has been a longtime witness to the northwest corner of Divisadero and Grove, which he owns (the pot shop, the BBQ joint, the garage)," wrote our tipster. "His sons run the shop now, but he is there every day (and in uniform). He could cash out for around 20 million, but he doesn't care."

Although we were unable to speak with the man himself, we were lucky enough to catch up with his son, John Rodriguez, Jr.—who's been there since 1975—to learn more about his family's tenure on the block for the past five decades. 

How long have you been working in the neighborhood?

I've been in the neighborhood for 40 years. 

Did you grow up in this area?

No, I grew up out in Daly City and got involved with the family business that my father got going in 1962. I've got two other older brothers that work with me, Jim and Joe, and we're all three years apart and we've been doing it as a family since 1962 in this same location. I started working here in 1975.

John Rodriquez Sr. and Jr.

Tell us a little bit about your dad and his decision to open this business.

Well, Dad went ahead and started working on cars at an early age and racing cars, and he then decided to become an auto mechanic, starting out on Van Ness Avenue working with all the dealerships there. He didn't like working for anybody, so after that he went to Grove Street here, right where the Louis Merlo Construction Company is. [Ed. note: That'd be 1336 Grove St.]

That there was a body shop and repair shop for about six years. For about six years my father was a foreman at the repair shop on the top. So he was on this block since the mid-'50s. I guess he then went ahead and heard that this place was open, up for sale. He was a very young man and had no money and he went ahead and borrowed money from all of the family members because the place was up for bid.

Was it already a mechanic shop?

It was, but originally it was a horse stable.

Do you know how old the building is?

I think 1902. It survived the quake.

Is your dad from San Francisco?

He was born and raised here, in Potrero Hill. He went to Commerce High School, met my mother there and they were together as kids. Then he went to service and he ran the motor brigade in the army. He worked on all the Jeeps in the army. 

John Rodriguez, Sr., a few decades back.

You've worked here since 1975. Tell us a bit about how Divisadero was back then. 

It was a whole different vibe, it was real rough. As I remember, times were just different. There was just a lot of thievery itself. I could remember people coming in vans and opening them up and wanting to sell all the hot items. That was a big big thing early on. That's one thing that stuck with me. Whether you wanted to buy a color TV or if they had just robbed somebody else's shop. The longshoremen used to come here all the time after stealing things off the containers and they'd just pull right in and try to sell you what they could. It was just a tougher time. Now, when I open up the door I'm not looking over my back.

So you feel the change that has occurred here is a positive thing?

Way positive, yeah. I just like all the renewed energy and all the good ideas. You know, I've been through it with all the gangs and the shootings, and a lot of drugs here. Climbing up on my roof to clean the gutters and see all the hypodermic needles and all that stuff just on top of the roof. They'd shoot up and get high just on top of the roof there. 

Specifically, how is the corner of Grove and Divisadero different?

Well, greatly. That corner used to be really a place for drugs, prostitution and everything like that. Over here in the apartment building, the police used to do all the stakeouts on the barbecue there. They were running a lot of drugs through there at that time. 


What do you love most about your work as a mechanic?

Helping people. I truly do. I always tell people we can help you as a team. I feel like being a good communicator in this industry is important. As a profession, people have given it a bad rap and I think a lot of it is a case of miscommunication. You've got to communicate and tell people what you're doing and kind of break it down. That's what I feel I do a good job at doing.

What's it like knowing so much more about cars than your clients do?

That's the average thing and I just try to be humble. I've been in it my whole life. Sometimes I feel like I'm blessed with a second sense, I could just sniff things out and find them. I try to be humble. Everybody just wants their car fixed and they want a safe and reliable car.

Does your father still work on the cars?

He doesn't work on cars, but if a break drum needs to be machined, or if something needs to be welded, he'll do that. The last time he took out that tow truck was probably about a year ago where he actually did a tow. I guess he was about 85 years old, so that may be somewhere in The Guinness Book ...


That's amazing. So, he still comes dressed and prepared for work everyday. What's his motivation behind doing that?

He's just always had an inner drive and he likes to see what his three sons are doing and how they are going to move forward with this whole thing. You know, he owns this whole corner. He owns the property on the barbecue [4505 Meats], the cannabis club [BASA Collective], the units behind the cannabis club. He's here at 7:30 in the morning and he leaves at five o' clock.

Wow. This area must be worth so much at this point. Have you been getting approached to sell it?

Yes, quite a bit recently, and he isn't just going to sell out itself. We've always just been workers and our thought always was that you get this revenue in and you keep working and you just stay out of trouble that way. All of a sudden, for the family to get quite a few millions of dollars, I think it would create problems. It just does.

Like I said, our father and mother just feel like it's provided well, everybody gets a good piece of the pie, and they are trying to keep the tenants with some pretty decent leases. I think that everything that he's put there is different from one scope to the other, but I think the neighborhood is benefitting from it, and it seems like everything is coming together okay.


What role in general do you feel you and your family play in this neighborhood?

We provide a good service. I mean everybody knows that if they need a good, honest repair shop they can come to us. I think everybody knows that we're fair. We try to help out Ryan [Farr] over at 4505 Meats, he's a young guy and my parents like them there. Just trying to help out the neighborhood. Charlie over at the cannabis club, he runs a good, clean business. Nobody has problems over there. He's changed things around ... just helping out people and making an honest living. 

I think my father has been a staple and an icon here. A lot of people walk by and they have to come in and say hi to my father. They reminisce with him a say, 'God I've seen you for 40, 50 years. You look the same!'. Over the years my father has been fewer with his words, but he'll give them a smile, and that seems to be a daily occurrence, where somebody will just pop his head in and say hi to Dad.


What do you think the neighborhood needs the most at this point in time?

Well, I just think that everybody's on task really well. I'm just so impressed by what I've seen in such a short period. I really am. There's not one standout thing that I could recommend, I'd have to chew on that a little bit. 

What are your favorite kinds of cars to work on?

I like the cars from the '60s. I kind of grew up in that era, I like the muscle cars. That's my thing, and my favorite car is the car I own, a '65 Chevy Nova. I've had since before I had a driver's license. It's a show car, I got married in it and it's just a great little car.

What do you hope the future holds for the family business?

Well, I'm trying to get some young blood in here. I have three sons and I know out of the three of them somebody will be here to carry it on. I don't feel like we're going to be gone in five years. That's what I hope for.