Elite Auto Collision Repair Center

I took my car here recently to get an estimate for some minor body work on my car’s driver door. The estimate I got was for about $ 1,700 for a 3 day repair job. I took it over to Benny’s Auto Body on University Ave and they gave me a quote for the same repair for $ 700. Big difference, huh? Where do you think I’m going to be taking my car?

Best experience I’ve had at a collision repair shop.
I was rear ended and it took forever for the insurance to get their paperwork together. They finally sent me to this shop and the staff there were friendly and helpful and walked me through everything, answering questions I didn’t even know I had.
Bonus– they cleaned and detailed my car before giving it back!
If I ever need work done on my car again, I’ll definitely go back and see these guys.

They did an excellent job fixing my car which was rear ended. Organized all communication with insurance company of other side, organized pickup to go to rental car place, provided updates on repair status. The repair took longer than expected, which was fully compensated by additional free services on my car, which looks great now. Adrian is pleasure to deal with.

Elite Auto Collision (EAC) is a family owned business and for me, has been a super easy experience with my vehicle. I used EAC on two occasions. In 2012, and 2015… my vehicle was damaged in a commercial parking lot by traditional California driving (aka people that like to hit and run).
On both occasions, EAC made the process easier on me than my own insurance company. My insurance is actually as good as it gets (Ameriprise and USAA). I am honestly not significantly concerned with updates for my vehicle (I.e photos of every step and process). I just want it fixed in a timely manner… which EAC did on both occasions. Unlike other auto collision centers, EAC uses only OEM parts versus non-​factory parts.
This is great because you’ll get the exact part for your vehicle versus a fabricated duplicate that might not fit perfect. Companies that use non OEM parts aren’t violating any law, they’re simply not obligated to do so for older vehicles. Going back to EAC’s final product, they personally pay the difference that your insurance doesn’t cover in order to get those OEM parts (e.g bumpers).
Adrian and Yasmin (the owners) are legit and friendly. Both are super cool. They even installed aftermarket headlamp units for me (free of charge). This further articulates the kind of customer service that you want when getting your vehicle serviced.

Check in was straight forward. Staff was friendly and gave me a ride to rental car place. It is better to call for updates than trying to use email. Will update once they complete my car.

The left front side of my car needed to be fixed after a minor collision. We took it to the dealership to get looked over but didn’t feel comfortable with what they told us. Going off of my insurance’s recommendation we decided to go with Elite Auto Collision and we’re so glad we did! Since the beginning they were receptive, honest and very detail oriented. They walked through all the repairs with us, answered questions and were very genuine in their concern. When it came time to pick up the car I called to see if they could look over a few things to get detailed. Not only did Yasmine (their super sweet receptionist) offer suggestions but a few minutes later she called to tell me that she had asked the detail guy to look over the things I had requested and for free! I should add that this was on top of the already complimentary detail work they added. We’re very happy and would definitely recommend. Thanks for doing such a great job and going above and beyond with your customer service!

Like a previous reviewer said, avoid this shop at all costs! This place is so shady and unprofessional. Not only was the paint on the bumper not matching the rest of my car, the worker did not do things as agreed beforehand. He said I would get lifetime warranty on the clips that held the bumper that he was going to replace. But after I paid, he gave me the receipt that said I only had 3 years of warranty. He also charged me 40 dollars extra, because he had «fixed the grill» even though we had only agreed on him fixing the bumper (the grill was still intact and needed no fixing). I decided to take a look and pointed out that the grill was cracked and wanted to see exactly where the additional charge came from. He said he was closing soon and asked for my debit card and hurried me out the door. Never coming back to this place again.

This service at this repair shop is the reason why people hate mechanics… Clerks at the desk not capable of scheduling appointments, manager arguing with customers and telling me that I would have to pay EXTRA to have their mistakes fixed… I meant to leave this review a long time ago but it seems like my wife and I were not the only ones having problems, do not go to this shop for any service!
We were among the first customers to purchase the Groupon for a new Kenwood dash stereo installed for $ 99 (which states it includes wiring, faceplate and a system test to ensure it works fully before giving it back) since my wifes 2005 Chevy Colorado’s stock deck was malfunctioning. We bought the Groupon on 9÷5÷2011 and made an appointment for 10÷2÷2011 @ 1200 via the manager over the phone but when we showed up 10 minutes early for our appointment we were told by the manager that we had «bad timing» as he was just leaving to go out to lunch with his desk clerk and told us to reschedule! When my wife called to reschedule the appointment she was told that missing the first one was OUR fault and that we would have to pay extra for the reschedule… needless to say we argued that and they GRACIOUSLY waved the fine.
When we finally made it in to have the stereo installed a week after the initial appointment, we were told at the shop (again by the manager) that the advertised deck (a Kenwood KDC-​108, Amazon value $ 79.89 and average rated ⁵⁄₅ stars on
) was no longer sold due to being discontinued by the manufacturer and we would be given «a better but comparable stereo» (a Sony CDXGT260MP Amazon value $ 51.89 and average rated and average rated 3.5÷5 stars on
)and that we would have to ay almost $ 85 extra due to a wiring harness and installation labor (I had figured we should pay for the harness but not the labor as it states it was included in the Groupon). At this point I need to tell you all that I have owned many aftermarket car stereos in my car which among them include 2 Sony’s and 2 Kenwood’s and in my opinion Sony car stereos are terrible, they have poor sound, bad controls and terrible radio reception, whereas all the Kenwood decks I have had have been superb in all areas. We did not know the difference at the time and told the manager that we had no problem with the last minute change and were told that it would be about an hour before out car was ready and we would be called when it was done. About 3.5 hours later, 30 minutes before the shop closed we called them to ask if it had been finished and we were told that they had called my wifes cell phone twice AND left messages (obviously not true not only to no missed calls but no voice mail on her phone) and told to pick her car up quickly before closing. Upon picking up her car we were disturbed to find that the dash was not seated correctly because the stereo’s face plate bezel was put on wrong and that the clips that hold the car’s dash onto the metal backing had been bent!
As we had already been highly frustrated with this shops service and that it was closed by the time I had fixed the bent clips (Easily done, the face plate was obviously replaced haphazardly and too quickly) and put the face plate back correctly we decided to go home and wash our hands of the whole ordeal only to find when we turn my wifes car off that the deck had been wired incorrectly and it never turns off without physically removing the face plate of the stereo or turning it off manually! Needless to say we were very annoyed and called the shop back the next morning only to talk to a person we had not previously talked to that told us that it was indeed installed wrong and we could take it back and have it and the cars dashboard replaced correctly so that the stereo turned off normally (when the key is taken out of the ignition) and the dashboard was placed back correctly, he was very concerned that we should have our experience with this company professional and that installation was done appropriately. When we took the car back later the same day we were met by the same manager we had seen the first few times (not the guy who told us it had been done wrong) who looked at the car VERY briefly and told us not only had the stereo been installed correctly but that the car stereo we had would not turn off with the key being removed without an extra wire being attached to the accessory feature of the ignition, something this shop did not and would not do. At this point we asked for the manager to take back his deck and refund us the money we payed and he said that if he was to take it out we would have to pay ANOTHER installation fee (roughly $ 65) and that they would not refund our money or replace the stock deck or dashboard and that we needed to contact Groupon for any refunds! At this point we told the manager that instead of taking a $ 160 hit to have him make a hole in my wifes car we would live with the problems.

I made the drive from North County to La Mesa and it was worth my time. I picked up one of those Groupon things for a discounted car stereo installation and I was happy that I did. It took about 40 minutes for the install and the guy doing it was really careful and you could tell that he had great attention to detail. I can’t remember his name… maybe Aaron, Adrian, Alan… something like that. It was an «A» name and he did an «A» job. They said that they were super busy from the Groupon-​thing and literally had 100’s of installs to do! Well, you couldn’t tell, because I didn’t feel rushed or anything. Super cool.
Thanks again guys for hooking up my Chevelle!

AVOID THIS SHOP AT ALL COSTS!!!
My car was damaged from someone pulling from a left lane into the front side and driver’s side door. The insurance company referred me to Elite Auto. When I went to drop my car off, no one was in the office or anywhere to be found. I had to call them from my cell phone to get someone in the office. I dropped my car off, and it sat in a building for a week before they started working on it. They sent me pictures everyday of my car sitting in the same building, in the same spot, untouched. They even sent pictures of the rear of the car, where no work was being done.
After two weeks, I finally got the car back, and immediately noticed there was wind noise. I took it back two days later and they informed me the issue was the door seals, but that they would adjust the convertible top to see if it helped. When they adjusted the convertible top, they did not put it back in correctly, so the rear window makes a clicking noise constantly. In addition to that, the window they were supposed to fix is still not fixed properly, and makes noises when it is being put back up.
While waiting for them to adjust the convertible top, an older lady told me it would be 20 minutes before they were finished. She said that every time I asked, but it took over two and a half hours to «complete» the work. After being told «20 minutes» for over two hours, I spoke to the younger lady in the office, and she informed me that it would be 20 more minutes, and the older lady had no idea what she was talking about.
When they called to tell me the seals were in, I asked the younger girl if I would need a rental car. She said she would check and call me back, but failed to do so. I was unable to make my first appointment to have the seals redone. When I called to cancel, I was then informed I would need to leave the car all day and pick it up at the end of the day. I made an appointment for the following week.
When I showed up, I was informed by the older lady, that they did not have an appointment for me, they did not have time for me, and I would need to reschedule again. I contacted the insurance company and informed them I no longer wanted to work with Elite Auto. The insurance agent contacted Elite Auto and was told that I did have an appointment that day, and that the older lady I spoke to had no idea what she was talking about.
I got their mistakes and the remainder of the repairs finished at another shop. It took 20 minutes to replace the door seals.
Sandra of this shop responded my to my review stating that the person who made my appointment was not there the day of my appointment. I know that’s crap because I angrily pointed him out to her. I said an old man made my appointment, and as the old man walked by, she said «He’s the only old man who works here», plus I recognized his voice. She also tried to state that adjusting my DOOR was not a permanent fix to the wind noise, but they did not adjust my door, they adjusted my convertible top… and adjusting was not my problem. The fact that their technician could not properly put the top back in place was my issue. They left it folded where it should be tucked under. She also claimed that they pleaded with esurance on my behalf to get authorization for the replacement seals. This is also untrue. I spoke to the esurance representative myself. Why lie to me? I know the truth. I was there.
Oh yeah, Sandra also states that the filtered reviews attest to the positive work they’ve done. They are most likely filtered because they are FAKE.

Let me start by saying if I could give them 0 stars I would.
See this page for more info:
I recently purchased a Groupon for a Kenwood In-​Dash CD/​MP3 Player, with installation. The Groupon clearly stated the only additional costs would be «tax & gratuity». I gave it to a friend as a birthday gift. When my friend went in to redeem it, he was not given the advertised Kenwood stereo, but instead a comparable Sony. He was then charged an additional $ 89.43 all total; $ 74 of this was for «parts». He has a 2005 vehicle with a stock stereo in it, pretty standard stuff. When contacting Elite Auto Collision Repair to inquire why the gift I had given ended up costing my friend nearly the price of the gift, I unfortunately had to deal with Yasmin Assemi, part-​owner of the troubled collision center. I very politely explained to Ms. Assemi what had happened and expressed my dissatisfaction with my friends experience. The Groupon was advertised as a «$ 280 value», both the car radio advertised, and the one that was actually installed retail for no more than $ 79.99. This leaves an unexplained $ 200. I can only assume that is for installation. Pretty pricey installation if you ask me. Especially when Ms. Yasmin Assemi told me that the $ 74 for «parts» charged to my friend was for two parts. One being an antenna adaptor, the other a harness to hold the smaller stereo in the place of where the larger stock stereo had been. I asked Ms. Yasmin Assemi, if these are pretty standard parts to use on any installation, shouldn’t that have been noted in the promotion? I asked for a detailed invoice to show me how they came to that $ 74 figure. I also asked for a break down of how the «$ 280 value» had been established as the radio itself was only worth a maximum retail value of $ 79.99. Yasmin refused both of these requests, as well as my request for contact info of the other owner (s), so that I may try and come to an agreement with them. My friend was not given the box, or the remote that comes with this model of stereo. All Yasmin Assemi offered to me was a $ 50 store credit as a «courtesy» to me because I «obviously felt as if I was treated unfairly.» I refused this option as I, nor my friend needed anything further from this Collision Repair Center.
After going round and round with Yasmin, and realizing that she did not care to listen to me or try and put herself in my position I threatened to inform people about this via Unilocal.I checked there Unilocal page and they had six reviews; four 1 star reviews, and two 5 star reveiws. Several of the reviews mirrored my own experience with the business. Hours later after finding their facebook page and expressing my concerns there, with the again the threat of informing people via Unilocal of my experience, I noticed that three new 5 star reviews had been posted. One of the «reviewers» even referenced everyone of my concerns in her glowing recap of her «experience» with this business. I found it odd and far too convenient and looked into it. The profiles of the three people who had created the reviews were brand new, created that evening and had no other reviews for any other businesses attached. I contacted Unilocal and they have since removed these fraudelent reviews. Keep an eye out for this, someone did it again 01/​10/​2012. It is also now gone. Seriously, if you are giving such poor service that the only non-​1 star reviews are fake, fix it, don’t fake it.
Also, this business charges 9.5% sales tax, when La Mesa, CA, sales tax rate is only 8.5%. I have also at this point contacted the approptiate state officials to inform them of this. I also contacted several other car stereo dealers, and found out the «parts» they are charging $ 74 for retail for about $ 30.
I found the other owner of the business, Adrain Assemi, on facebook and sent him a private message informing him of all this and emploring him to be an ethical business man and make this right.
Eventually after emailing them and informing them that I was going to file a claim with the Better Business Bureau, contact consumer advocacy groups including but not limited to the local media, and quite possibly take them to small claims court on prinicipal, Adrian contacted me. He informed me he would give the refund as requested. He seems to be a reasonable fellow. It did however take three more weeks and at least 3 – 4 additional phone calls before I actually saw the refund post to the credit card.
Even though at this point the stereo cost me nothing, I would still never go back to Elite Auto Collision Repair for any reason. I had to spend way too much time on getting this resolved. In my opinion, the only reason I think I was even refunded the money, is because I created a Facebook page about my experience and started informing everyone I knew about them.

Thanks to Groupon, I found this place to install a radio. Pretty good deal got me a detachable face Sony stereo which included installation. It was quick and painless, took about 1 hour for installation. Not sure if they still have the Groupon Deal but if they do, take advantage. Setting up the appointment for installation is also a breeze. Feel free NOT to feed the big guard dog in the parking lot or purchase a used car offering 700% interest rate and stick to getting the stereo installed. I know its tempting given that they are located in the same lot as a used car dealership. You can say hello to «larry» from Three’s Company though, I think I saw him there!

So far my experience with them has been pretty bad. I called to make an appointment to get my deck installed for the deal that I bought on one of those Groupon and Signon things. Then I was looking for the coupon so I could go and found that I couldn’t find it because it was bought on my wife’s account and I didn’t have the password. I called them back to let them back right away to let them know that I couldn’t come because I can’t give them the coupon and they told me to just come anyways and that they could figure it out. So, I went and they told me to try to figure it out with my wife. and if I couldn’t they’d call Groupon. I told them I didn’t use Groupon for this one, it was Signon or something, but my wife wasn’t available. I had already tried to figure all this out before calling them back anyways. They told me that they were sure they could figure it out and said I should go look at the car with this sales guy.
So, I go out and he tells me that I’ll need an additional part to install the deck and that will cost me another $ 45 to $ 55. And I can upgrade to a Sony deck for only $ 20. He tells me that it is a really big upgrade and it is only $ 20 so it’s worth it.
I told him that the deal I bought was for a Sony so I don’t need to upgrade. I get back in after looking at the car and there was no progress made on finding the deal. They didn’t even have the phone number. I had filled out my information on a sheet when I first went in, but they didn’t do anything about it even though there was just one other guy there and they weren’t actively doing anything for him. They kept telling me to sign onto my email on their laptop to look for it. I explained that I had already done that and I couldn’t find it. Why would I call in telling them I couldn’t find it without actually looking.
Then the sales guy tells me that I should just buy another deal for $ 99 and give the one I got to someone else. I said, no I’m not doing that. I’m thinking $ 99 plus $ 20 for the upgrade to the one I already bought plus $ 55 for the fixture thing I need. Hell no.
Then the guy tells me that I might as well buy another package because if I came back again they wouldn’t honor my Groupon and I’d have to pay for the installation out of pocket since I showed up once.. So they insisted that I go in even though I gave them prior notice and because I listen to them this asshole is threatening to not honor my purchase??? I told him, «That’s bullshit.» And the receptionist tells me that no he thought blah blah blah, making excuses for him. Personally, I think she was just covering for him and he was trying to strong arm sales tactic me.
So, they keep reassuring me that they will find my deal and they ask some other lady to find the number to Signon so that they can call to verify. The lady doesn’t come back for like 5 minutes.
They had internet on the 2 laptops that were right in front of them and they couldn’t just look it up. Then they called Signon and the person on the other side apparently hung up on them. I finally had enough and asked for my key back to leave after wasting more then 30 minutes of my time.
No deck. Sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Totally pissed off that some guy just tried to rip me off. If I didn’t have a Signon thing that has already been purchased, I wouldn’t not come to this place again. Horrible … horribly desperate place. Ack

I recently got my car stereo installed thru these guys. I purchased the $ 99 Groupon to install a very basic Kenwood model which is around $ 70 – 80. At first I was hesitant to buy the Groupon since these guys claim that the original price for Kenwood stereo + installation was $ 280!!! Are you flipping kidding me? But I still bought the Groupon since if I get the stereo+installation done anywhere else, it would be the same price anyway and I wanted to support our local mom&pop shops. So I when I went to get it done, these guys said I’d need to pay extra for wiring harness and housing since my car is bone stock. He said I need to pay additional $ 68 for all the additional parts. Waaahhh? By this time, I’m already fuming. What a rip –off! Since I cannot do anything with already purchased Groupon, I went ahead and got the stereo installed. Oh by the way, the installed stereo wasn’t even Kenwood. They said that they ran out of Kenwood model and they would offer me an «upgraded» Sony model. First off, I am not a fan of Sony car stereo and I hated the fact that they tried to sell it to me telling me that this Sony model is «better» than the Kenwood model they originally offered. The installed Sony stereo was basically an equivalent model if not an older model than the Kenwood. If they sold around 80 of these Groupons offering the Kenwood model and they ran out already?!? BS! Well, at least this time they told me ahead of time that they were going to install a Sony not Kenwood right? Oh, and it gets better. they didn’t give me a remote/​manual/​box. I had to go back and ask them for all the goodies. Just be very careful with these guys. I’m a regular using Groupon and this is by far the worst experience I have had. Just call ahead and get everything squared away with these guys before you do any business with them. Don’t get jipped like I did! Definitely do not recommend!

I had a groupon coupon that i bought for $ 99 to install a kenwood mp3 player into the dash of my car. The deal did not mention that special cars needed an additional fee upon arrival. I have a honda accord coupe and I was told that the groupon did not work because it would cost another $ 115 for parts and labor to rewire the system… this is on top of the $ 99 i already paid for! I wish the company would have indicated that on the groupon before i bought the deal. I ended up not wanting to pay the extra $ 115 and just asked them for the kenwood mp3 player… now i have to find someone to help me install it for cheap. :/

I am entitled to my own opinion and had to rewrite this review due to the fact they tried to take legal actions against my previous negative review on Unilocal!!!So I would like to explain my experience with this company.
My parked car was hit in the front and was described as a driving hazard due to the «airbag light» and damage to my front bumper. My car was towed to their shop which I found using this website. It took almost a month to get it fixed. This unexpedited service forced me to extend my car rental which created even more financial duress.
I paid an extra 100 dollars to fix a scratch on my fender. The end result was a similar to bringing it to Maaco. The finished product looks like it was painted over with supplies from home depot.
Althought I was very patient due to the severe damages from the accident I expected more professionalism out of this business. My car was not fully repaired when I picked it up. After pickign it up I noticed the airbag light warning was intermittenly turning on and off. I called the shop which I was then instructed to drop my car off again. As a consumer I expect some form of quality control. This did not happen.
The second time in this shop lasted two weeks. After two weeks I called the shop. I was told they were waiting for my insurance to pay them and that my car was ready but they werent able to release it to me till they were paid. That very day I called my insurance agent. With my insurance agent we went over what they was paid for. Seeing the problem lay with the auto shop we connected to them through a three way call. When my insurance asked «Why they arent releasing my vehicle?» The lady from the auto shop said it wasn’t done when I was told prior that all repairs were complete.
I got the run around and till this day my car air bag is still turning on intermittently. I would not recommend this place. The service was unprofessional, rude, and untimely. This has been one of the most horrendous experiences with any repair shop and caused me great duress. I hope whoever reads this heeds my warning and stays clear of this shop.

Oh boy, you really want to avoid these guys. I bought their $ 99.00 Groupon radio. It was to be installed and tested to be sure it worked properly. Well, Rey came out and told me it would cost $ 300.00. So, I agreed. He said it would take 1 hour, it took 4 hours. He did not test it. I got in to go and my antenna didn’t work. He said it would cost $ 250.00 for that. I told him I would give him a negative review and he said he would throw it in for free. He and his Tijuana installer ran over to another car and pull out a wire, which they said was an expensive internal antenna; they attached a large screw to the wire and literally stuck that into my brand new radio. That did not work as an antenna.
I also had them install a handle on my trunk lid. That charge was $ 75.00. It walk over to see how the guy was doing and happened to ask if he had done this type of work before and he said no. I told Rey that and he said oh no he has a lot of experience. Well, he was unable to do the job. Then they got another to come over and try to finish it off. He did get it back together, but the handle didn’t work properly and the window was crooked.
The make a long terrible story short it cost me $ 106.00 to have to trunk lid fixed properly and another $ 75.00 to have the radio fixed.
So my $ 99.00 radio cost $ 724.00.
These guys need to go back to wherever they came from. I’m 63 years old and this is the worst auto repair experience I’ve ever had!!!
This is also the first review of any kind I’ve ever done.

I was referred to Elite Auto Collision by my insurance company, and I’m sure glad that I went with them!
The right back end of my car was completely dented and scraped up and was already beginning to rust. The left side also had some damage, and paint was bubbling and peeling off of my bumper. It was a sad-​looking car. But when I picked it up from Elite Auto Collision, I was blown away by how beautiful my car looked. I swear it looks better now than before I damaged it. There was some poor repair work done by someone else before I purchased the car, but Elite removed the bad repair job and replaced it with quality work and quality materials. The paint job is flawless. And I got this all done for a very good price.
They went beyond my expectations and were completely professional, helpful, and communicative throughout the whole process. I also liked being able to track the progress of the repairs online with photos.
Adrian, the owner, was very friendly and closely monitored the repairs. I feel very well taken care of by the people at Elite Auto Collision. I hope I won’t need to use them again for a while, but the next time I need body work done, I will definitely take my car to Elite Auto Collision.

I dropped off my Toyota Tacoma truck to Elite Auto Cossision to repair some minor scratches on the tailgate. They called me the following day to tell me it would beready the next day at noon. I told them I would pick it up between 1:00 — 2:00pm while on my lunch hour. When I went the next day to pick it up at 1:45 it wasn’t ready because they still needed to put the «Toyota Tacoma» lettering back on. I paid the bill and left with my truck to get back to work, but we made arrrangements for me to return after I got off work that day so they could finish. When I returned to work I noticed a new scratch on my truck. When I went back to Elite Auto Collision later that day I notified them of the new scratch. They denied putting the new scratch on my truck and said they took some pre-​work photos to prove it; however, they said they were now closed and couldn’t show me the photos or put the lettering on back on my truck! I made another appointment to return the following week to finish the work and discuss the new scratch. When I went back they moved my vehicle behind a semi-​transparent vinyl curtin. I asked again to see the pre-​work photos– they said they’ll try to get them for me. I was suspicious they were going to take photos of my truck while I was waiting there, so I was watching them work on my truck. They asked me to wait in the customer lounge, but when I refused they yelled at me told me to leave and they never finished putting the lettering back on. Mind you, I was standing in front of the «authorized personnel only» sign. I’m disputing the charge with my credit card company now. My truck reeks of cigarette smoke to boot! They are totally unprofessional and fraudulent. I will never go back there again and would never recommend them to anyone,