Catalina Auto Center

We took our Odyssey to Luis for it’s 100K service on a friend’s recommendation. He gave good advice and was very fair on prices. The best part was how he went above and beyond on customer service. He called us at 10pm the night we took our car back, worried that he hadn’t tightened a screw enough. He drove to our house the next morning to check on it. It was fine, but the fact that he took the time to double check was amazing.

Brought my Toyota 4Runner to Luis to check it over. Top off the fluids, check the breaks. Etc. He was honest and no repairs were needed. Based on my experience I will bring my 4Runner back to Luis.

Just had another great experience with Luis. The dash was lit up like a Christmas tree thanks to my teenager not paying attention to service alerts. I called in the morning and Luis told me to bring the car over at 3:00. By 5:00 the transmission fluid and oil were changed, tires rotated, and a bunch of other little things taken care of, and we were out the door for $ 150. Can’t beat that anywhere. Thanks Luis (even if it didn’t teach my daughter a lesson about the importance of car maintenance)!

It don’t get no better than this when you need work done on your Acura — hands down! Honest and low cost. He keeps my 1999 Acura 3.2 TL (213,000 miles) running like a charm. I will never take my car anywhere else for anything.

Catalina Auto Center is conveniently located one block off of PCH and specializes in Hondas & Accuras so decided to give them a try.
As mentioned by other reviewers Luis has a heavy accent, so he can be difficult to understand (especially over the phone) but he seems to know his stuff!
I called ahead and he said no appointment needed, to just come on by. I brought it in for a rattling sound as well as some routine maintenance. Right away I was helped — they took my car for a quick spin to try and pinpoint the sound and when that didn’t work they put it up on the lift to get a better look and give me a quote before I left. I appreciated that they helped me right away and worked quickly to get an accurate quote.
I thought his prices were very reasonable and his service was very speedy. I’ll be back!

Based on the great reviews I decided to give Catalina Auto Center a try. They are only a few blocks from home and even though they specialize in Hondas and Acuras, I figured brakes on an Infiniti wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for them.
The cost seemed fair for factory brakes and he manged to get it done in about 5 hours. So I left happy; but about 6 months and only 3000 miles later, my brakes are squeeking. I took it back to Catalina Auto, but of course my brakes wont squeek on demand so they couldn’t really diagnose the issue. Still trying to decide how much I am going to persue this.
On a side note, I asked if while the wheels were off the car that they could just rotate them for me. When I came back he said he didn’t because the newer tires should always be on the front and that’s where mine were. I have rear wheel drive, it should be the other way around on my car and I would have hoped he would know that.
Maybe they should just stick to Hondas and Acuras…

We have brought our cars (4 Acuras) to Luis over the years. He has always given us an honest appraisal of what needs to be done, works quickly. We wouldn’t take our cars anywhere else. He is a perfectionist as evidenced that a couple cars went through our family to our youngest — a 20 year life span.

I was told about Luis’ shop about 5 years ago. A friend of mine and his father have been going to him for years (Luis kept their ’82 Civic alive forever!) and they highly recommended I check him out when my car overheated on the freeway (turned out I blew a hole in a cylinder). I first took it to Firestone a few blocks away for a quote, then went to Luis and his quote was easily 25% cheaper, maybe even less than that. He’s an honest mechanic– if you’re strapped for cash he will let you know if there are things that are getting close to needing replacement but won’t hinder your ride. Basically he doesn’t make u feel like your cars going to explode if you don’t fix something like some mechanics do. Luis will also give you options in terms of replacement parts– when EZ Lube stripped my oil pan causing an oil leak Luis was able to find a solid used part for half the price of a new one. On another visit to Luis, I had been ticketed by cops for my aftermarket exhaust and needed a stock one put on to get my ticket cleared, Luis again was able to find a used exhaust system at a fraction of the cost of a new one.
As a few others have stated, his english isn’t the best but i never had an issue understanding him. I recently got rid of my Honda Civic and bought a Nissan Altima– I know he specializes in Honda & Acura but i’m really hoping he does Nissan’s also, if so i’ll be updating this review soon since I need my 60k mile servicing done and plan to swing by his shop today.

Called for a price check on a oil change for my make and model. actual price + labor was about $ 20 more then quoted.

I’ve been going to Luis for years. I was recommended to Catalina by a fellow Acura owner after I complained the dealership’s new management was definitely trying to rip off people (was happy with dealership until new management) by giving outrageous quotes! Also, they constantly tried to upsell me with services that turned out to be unnecessary (shockingly, my car still ran spectacularly for years w/​o the extra services!)
You go to Luis for honesty, knowledge & reasonable cost. But, if you want someone who clocks in/​out 8am-​5pm & sanitizes his shop every day, then you want to go elsewhere. Luis owns a bare bones, independent shop for people who just want to get their cars’ mechanical problems fixed or prevented.

This is a one man auto shop. Luis knows absolutely everything about Hondas and our family has been taking our cars here for years. Luis is absolutely trustworthy and even when my wife goes in by herself she has never once felt taken advantage of. He’s knowledgeable and honest, what more is there?

Ill just add that my dad has been going to Luis for many many years with both his Hondas and he loves Luis. My dad actually worked in auto service for many years but got too old to do his own work so he takes everything here now.
He speaks very highly of him and I have recommended many people here based on my dad’s experiences.

2 years later and just wanted to add that Catalina is still great. Luis is great… honest, reliable, his prices are fair and reasonable, and he does great work. My 2003 Civic is still running like a charm.

Mixed feelings about this place. This is a place better setup to fix your car — not for preventive maintenance. I came here for an oil change and felt a little out of place in a 2 year old car. It’s a shop geared towards repairs of older cars.

My Honda was making strange noises and my initial thought was «uh oh, the cost of this repair is going to rape me!». After doing a Unilocal search I found Catalina Auto Center… which is conveniently located down the street from my house.
I dropped off my car on a Saturday morning, told Luis the situation, and it was fixed 3 hours later. Parts and labor were under $ 350 which made me VERY happy as I was expecting to drop at least $ 500 on this repair. My check engine light was also on, he did a diagnostic for free, along with a free brake check.
I hope I never have to endure car trouble again with my lil Holly Honda, but if the time comes… I will definitely return to Catalina Auto Center!

After getting my dead battery jumped, I brought my 2003 Acura in on a Tuesday at 1:00pm. I was quoted the price for a battery replacement, also asked for an oil change, and came back two hours later to find all the work had been done. The price for the battery included labor for installation, and the oil change was likewise done at a really fair price. No haggling, no upsell, just quick, dependable service done with a smile. I drove out of there feeling confident that the work had been performed well, and I’d been given a fair price.

Great job on my Honda. It’s great having a good mechanic in the neighborhood. I have a lot of confidence in Luis.

Catalina Auto Center specializes in Hondas and Acuras so I called to see how much they would charge to flush and exchange my transmission, brake and power steering fluids and my cabin filter. The dealer quoted me around $ 800. Catalina Auto Center’s quote was for less than $ 400 and they said they would check the fluids and filter to see whether they really needed to be exchanged or not. True to their word when I returned to pick up my car they told me the filter was fine and I only ended up paying $ 217 for all the work and labor.
It was a little difficult to communicate with the employees, but I’d much rather deal with an honest mechanic who struggles with English rather than a shady employee at the dealership who speaks well and dresses spiffy but lies and overcharges.

What I don’t understand about the negative reviewer is why someone who lives in PV would slum in RB and who told him about it to begin with?
I just found my old mechanic and will share that he was $ 50 less. AND that he said I only needed one wheel fixed, not both as Luis had suggested.
I’ve written a review of that mechanic which you can find under my profile. Just like to keep it real and provide options.

I have the opinion that if you go to a repair place that is spic and span, you are probably paying for a certain image. Bundled with that image is a staff behind it which ultimately results in higher prices to the customer.
Like Joy K, I’ve heard a number of his customers state that he’s done work or looked over their car and NOT charged them for his time. When he’s not charged me for his time, I told him that I’d like to pay him so that he stays in business. Being a former sole proprietor, I know what it’s like to meet payroll, pay rent, sales tax as well as liability insurance.
Not too many of his kind still around…