Cal’s Auto Center

My 1999 Saturn Wagon lasted for 15 years due to this shop’s good faith, told me what to do to kept her running, helped with smog, only fixed what I needed, til she finally said goodbye last November. So, naturally, I brought my «new» VW Passat Wagon 2010 in for evaluation to see what kind of great deal I got on Black Friday??? YES, great price, great car! Cal can work on her, and says she’s very good to go, maybe needs back brakes in 6 months. I will be so happy to stay with the same shop I’ve trusted so long. Besides, I can bike there in 15 minutes!

Was very disappointed with the service. Had my car towed and was charged $ 85.00 for them to tell me it wasn’t work fixing it. They offered to buy it for $ 300.00 and the car is worth much more. I would not recommend this company.

Plesently surprised by how affordable and quick on repairs Cal’s Auto was. I will definitely be coming back when my car needs work again and I will be recommending you to friends and family.

Cal is honest. That’s right, an honest mechanic. He starts with the least expensive thing that could be wrong and goes from there. He will talk you out of repairs you don’t need. I will drive a hundred miles to bring my cars here.

AMAZING ESTABLISHMENT.
Quality service. Affordable. Fast. If anything is wrong with your car, Cal will let you know straight up what is needed. I was told by another auto shop that my brake shoes needed to be replaced soon, Cal checked it out and said it was good for at least another year since its at 40%. Saved me from an unnecessary $ 175 auto job. This type of business model is definitely appreciated and wish all others were the same. Will go back here for all my car service needs. Cal is definitely a business worth the support especially if youre in the marina del rey area where most surrounding businesses actively practice price gouging customers for all theyre worth –_​-​. You can have faith in humanity here if you ever lost it.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I Love Cal’s!!! He is HONEST, he won’t rip you off!!! His prices are soooooo good and he fixes your car perfectly. I highly recommend this auto shop!!! His shop is the only place to go!!!

CAL’S AUTO CENTER IS THE BEST!!! They are the most trustworthy mechanics I’ve ever encountered. The mechanics at Cal’s are very clear, honest and straightforward in explaining the issues with the car. They did a great job changing my car (2006 Nissan xterra) brakes pads and also couple of days ago i went for some oil leakage they fixed it, after that i felt a big difference while i am driving, so smooth. Car maintenance can be a drag for someone like me, but when you can trust that your mechanic has your best interests in mind you don’t mind taking your car for regular service. There prices are very reasonable. Before finding them I had some pretty awful experiences with random mechanics around LA.
Highly recommended:-)

I’ve brought my car to Cal’s a few times for repairs, and this most recent experience was great. I brought it in after having starting issues, and Cal ran the computer diagnostic and addressed the problem. A few days later the issue was back, and he worked tirelessly to figure out the real problem, and even made the repairs under warranty. Thanks for the help, Cal!

I brought my car into Cal’s for a Timing Belt Package this past summer because it had over 100 reviews and 4 stars on Unilocal,along with an unbeatable price. After receiving the car, I was super glad because I thought I saved a ton of money. However, the transmission acted stranger than ever and much more was to happen.
I ended up bringing my car to another mechanic to do a complete transmission flush, because Cal refused to and said my transmission needs to be rebuilt. While chatting with the new mechanic about how I got a deal with my Timing Belt recently done, he quickly noticed something was wrong. The nuts/​bolts look untouched and remained as dusty as any used car. Somehow this mechanic was 110% confident that Cal did not perform the tasks he said he did on my receipt.
With my receipt in hand, I confronted Cal. After several back and forth disputes, the truth was revealed when my mechanic opened up the parts and showed an original worn dusty Honda timing belt. No interior work was performed. At the end, at least Cal reimbursed me and paid for my mechanic to complete the timing belt package. I’m writing this to urge you to always be sure that you know what you’re paying for.

LOVE.
Back story: I was having battery issues awhile back (may or may not have left a light on in my car overnight. whoooopppsss) and took my car to a place in MDR to have it juiced back up. There I was told my battery was OK, but that the battery connectors were bad and I’d need to have them replaced or, «your car will just lose power.» I might have believed the guy– had he been able to make eye contact and NOT kept looking to his boss for approval. I told said dbag car mechanic ill take my chances, thanked him for powering up my battery and made a mental note to get that checked out in the future, but was pretty sure my BRAND NEW BATTERY was just fine thankyouverymuch.
Fast forward to today, I decided to finally get my tires rotated and came to this place based on glowing reviews. During the tire rotation I asked Cal to take a look at my battery connectors to make sure it was fine. He came back confused, explaining it was 100% great, clean and no worries needed and that is was definitely a new battery. YAY FOR HONEST CAR REPAIR SHOPS!
Will definitely be bringing my car back here in the future. They also have great wifi while you wait, incredibly strong coffee (and I’m an addict), and even water with a cute little ice machine chugging away! 5 stars!

I took my kia into Cal’s to have my timing belt replaced. It was quick and painless and Cal was straight forward and friendly.
I feel fortunate to have found this spot as I intend on returning for future issues with my ride.
⁵⁄₅

Don’t go anywhere else! Seriously, no BS, hard working, nice, clean, early hours, convenient location, fast service… and prices so low, I don’t think he makes a profit.
I got timing adjusted a week ago, he cleaned throttle body for FREE today in under an hour! Said he considered it «under warranty»! :) not hard, but definitely a messy job. Much appreciated.
I have got a lot of work to do, building up my vehicle, and, if I can’t do it myself, I will only trust Cal!

You are only as good as your last mistake.
Had Cal pump freon into my car twice and both times AC still wouldn’t blow cold air. Second time Cal sat in the car with me with warm air coming out of the vents and he just shrugged and said «this feels fine to me.»
I had been going to him for a year prior to this experience and I had always been happy with his work but I was very baffled by him not taking responsibility for his work.
Then a friend who had her car serviced at Cal’s based on my recommendation chewed me out because Cal’s people messed up her car too.
Quality of service has gotten way down hill at Cal’s.

Cal has been maintaining all my family’s cars for the last 5 years, and I just can’t imagine a more honest, competent mechanic. He’s such a «straight shooter» it’s almost comical, especially contrasted to the stereotypical/​expected persona of West Los Angeles. Sometimes I wonder how he even tolerates the local culture of shallow showmanship. He would fit in better in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, or some other honest-​hardworking, blue-​collar town. We’re blessed to have him, and his unusual little garage in West LA is one of the reasons I love this city.
In any case, he has performed maintenance and repair work on our Prius, Prius C, Subaru Outback, Subaru Impreza, Honda CRV, Toyota Tacoma and Saturn Turdmobile. In every single instance, his (and his employees’) work has been solid, quick, and priced fairly. Now I’m moving far out into the ‘burbs, and man, I hate the fact I’ll have to find a new shop.

Cal is very professional, nice and diligent. Him and his crew are very knowledgeable with all makes and models of cars. They do excellent work and charge a fair price.
When it comes to mechanics there are many shady people out there– thank god this is not one of the places. The integrity of this business has made it successful & continue to flourish for years to come.
I highly recommend cal’s auto center!!!

My driver’s side mirror was demolished by a guy on the 405 a couple of weeks ago. I went in to see Cal (based on your reviews), he looked at it gave me the cheapest estimate of the other two places I had gone. He told me he would order the mirror & install it in 20 mins in the afternoon. I showed up after picking my famished son up from school. I explained to Cal my 5 yr old son was very cranky & hungry… Cal said I will take care of this quickly. I was in & out (with a brand new mirror) in less than 10 minutes! My son & I were very grateful!
I highly recommend this place for the fair prices & excellent service!

Really needed to get my brakes fixed. Car would dangerously vibrate whenever I hit the brake pedal, even at speeds as low as 40mph, and I drive mostly on freeways. Not good. I put it off for awhile but finally got it fixed when husband went out of town for a work trip (free extra car for me to use!).
Chose Cal’s Auto cause they were within a decent walk’s distance, they got good Unilocal reviews, plus they were open on Saturday. I kinda just crossed my fingers and hoped they were a good shop cause I didn’t call for a quote or compare prices with any other shop (a practice universally NOT recommended: p). I did find out the general cost online just to know what to expect. Dropped my car off on Saturday. Since I didn’t make an appointment, Cal said he wouldn’t be able to fix it until Monday. He called Monday morning with a quote and I was pleasantly surprised that it was on the low end of what I was expecting! Whew!
All in all, I felt he was very professional, gave me a good price and I’m now enjoying non-​vibrating brakes. Would definitely go back for any other repairs in the future.

Cal knows what he’s doing! He answered all my questions, and it was clear that he’s not trying to rip anyone off or mislead you. His prices beat all the dealers/​auto shops that I called, and it was easy to schedule an appointment and bring my car in.
He’s very professional, clearly knowledgeable and trustworthy. I’m not bringing my car anywhere else.

I brought my car in for service around 9AM on a Thursday — Cal was a bit skeptical telling me that the day was pretty booked — it was doubtful the car would be done in time. I get a call around 2PM, saying the car will be ready for pick up in an hour — pretty amazingly fast service if you ask me.
The shop is pretty clean, and looks to be very well run and professionally maintained. Cal was very upfront to me about the initial costs and services that needed to be done on my car — he even told me certain services i thought would be needed were not needed till much later. I love an honest mechanic.
I had quite a bit of work done on my car as I haven’t really brought my car in for service since the car was purchased (other than the standard oil changes — and one time brake pad change). I had the brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant, and spark plugs replaced –for a pretty reasonable price of $ 300 — seems pretty fair to me.
While i was in the shop — i noticed that many of the customers appeared to be regulars and knew Cal by name, seems like a great honest place of business. I will definitely be coming back here for any auto related needs.
My one bit of advice is to bring your car in as early as possible — as it does seem to be a first come first serve basis.

I had a terrific experience at Cal’s with fast service and a no-​BS diagnostic!
I brought my car to Cal after my engine check light had come on for the second time in a month and my usual mechanic couldn’t find what was wrong. Cal seems like a very straight up guy who wants to run a smart business and keep his customers informed about the condition of their vehicle.
I brought in my car in the morning and got a call that same afternoon that my ignition coils and spark plugs had to be replaced. I felt like I got a fair price for the work performed and my car has been doing well ever since! I also noticed that I was waived the diagnostic fee once they found the problem and fixed it!
I would definitely check out Cal’s again for my future auto needs.