A special announcement from Doug Brauner

The Sacramento region’s most-recognizable auto mechanic is hanging up his wrench.

Doug Brauner, known throughout the region as The Car Czar thanks to his many television and radio appearances over the years, is selling his automotive center of the same name after serving the Sacramento market with affordable maintenance and repair services for nearly four decades.

“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to have invented and grown my brand,” said Doug Brauner. “My owner-operators are fantastic caretakers of The Car Czar legacy.”

Located on the corner of El Camino Avenue and Bell Street, The Car Czar first opened in 1987 and has welcomed tens of thousands of satisfied customers who have trusted Doug and his top-notch team of repair specialists for their automotive maintenance and service needs. For 36 years, Doug made it the mission of The Car Czar to treat every customer’s car as if it were his own.

With The Car Czar as his home base, Doug quickly became the area’s foremost expert on all things car-related, leading to an on-air position with KMAX-TV’s “Good Day Sacramento” and KOVR CBS13 News, where he franchised The Car Czar brand for his moniker. His work on TV led to numerous broadcast and cable network appearances over the last 30 years.

Doug’s success with The Car Czar led him to open a second auto repair center in Citrus Heights, which was co-operated with the flagship location on El Camino Avenue until 2019. The flagship El Camino Avenue location features a multi-bay, 2,106-square foot commercial building on a quarter-acre parcel and is an ideal location and facility for automotive repair. Mike Luca, Senior Vice President of CBRE, is marketing the property on behalf of Doug and his family.

Doug will retain the rights to The Car Czar brand name, website and other digital properties, and intends to relaunch The Car Czar as a digital media brand where he will continue engaging with the public on auto-related topics — including the evolving transformation from the combustion engine to electric vehicles —  soon.

“The sale will allow me to spend more time with my family, and to focus on emerging automotive industry changes, which are truly revolutionary,” Doug said.

Martha S. (via Yelp)

“Brought my car in for a tune-up; air filter replaced, new spark plugs and fuel injector cleaner. Pricing was decent and they got my car finished in a very timely manner. I was happy that I was able to call the night before and be set up for an appointment for the next day. Jin and the other staff were extremely helpful and friendly. I will definitely be coming back for my future car maintenance needs. Thanks Car Czar!”

Travis H. (via Facebook)

“I brought my car in because I had no heat coming from the heater. Erin was able to get my car in to be looked at, while I had 2 rambunctious little boys with me. The mechanic pulled it in right away, and got to work! We were there for maybe 90 minutes, mechanic was able to both get my heater working and tell me what the problem is and what needed to be done to fix it! Erin killed it with customer service towards myself and my boys, as well as the phone calls and other guests while I was trying to get my boys to not turn into tornadoes and destroy the shop!”

Phil R. (via Facebook)

“We’ve been taking our two cars to them for the last 8 years. They’ve treated us better than any mechanic I’ve ever had. They’ll fix little things for us without charge, even when it’s not an add-on to another service. They’ve diagnosed problems with our newer car, told us that’s under warranty still and recommended that we take it to the dealer without charging us for the diagnostic. You just can’t go wrong.”

Clark J. (via Yelp)

“Took my old Subaru in for window fix and cv/axle repair. They quoted me a fair price and did great work. This place is busy for a reason. They do what they say and they don’t beat around the bush with upsell crap like other mechanic shops. I will be back.”