Crown Auto Service

Crown/Fernando was initially recommended to me by a friend for a broken window repair a few months ago. They did a great job with very fair price - below my insurances deductible and I have a very low deductible). I was impressed. This week, my engine light came on a day after the dealership in downtown performed annual service and charged me an arm and a leg. I made the mistake to go back to them, only for them to perform a simple scan recommended over $3k of repair without clear diagnosis and explanation. I paid a $280 diagnosis fee to get my car back and decided to take it to Crown instead. Fernando said he would run the diagnosis for free, and give me recommendations and quote based on results. Half an hour later, Fernando called me and told me there was a small fault in the coolant sensor. He fixed it without charging me and told me to monitor the engine light and temperature. Hopefully the problem was fixed. Either way, the fact that he did not try to sell me repairs I didn’t need at the time says a lot about the integrity of this place. Auto repair industry notoriously lacks transparency and consistency of quality of standards. I am lucky to have found Crown that I can trust. I will bring my car here for all future services and repairs.

Great people! They are honest and quick. I’ve taken 2 cars in on very separate occasions and have had both experiences be amazing. The first was control arms on a Kia that no other shop would work with my extended warranty on and Crown got it done in a day and warranty covered it completely. The second I was traveling and just in LA for a few days and had issues with my F150s timing and crown couldn’t completely fix it but got it up and running to make the trip back home and didn’t charge me a dime for a full diagnostic and topping off my fluid even after I insisted on paying the day rate.

Crown Auto Repair was great. They checked my car quickly, explained what they found clearly, and got me back on the road fast. Everyone was professional, helpful, and easy to talk to. I really appreciated how honest and straightforward they were. I’d definitely recommend them.

Bottom line up front: AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Do Not believe their deceitful lies. I am very glad that I had a regular mechanic a little bit out of the way that I could take the car to in order to independently verify the things that were told to me by the shop. I took my car to them after seeing the coolant temperature rise at stoplight over the course of two days. After six hours and a free diagnostic test, they stated that the head gasket was warped/blown. Mind you the car never had any misfires, and OBD two scan did not reveal any misfires P001-004 or 008, there was never any smoke, there was no smell of burning coolant, the oil was not milky, or any of the other hallmarks of a quote completely blown head gasket/warped head“. I thought it was weird that they could conclusively say there was a head gasket failure without performing a compression test so I took it to my normal mechanic an hour away. If they hadn’t have quoted me 3,000 dollars to fix the issue I may have believed them, I’m glad I didn’t. Mind you the shop told me it was not safe to drive the car at all. The car ran great and cool the entire trip to the normal mechanic. My mechanic then proceeded to do a complete battery of tests, including a compression test. The results of the test were as follows: cylinder 1- 186 cylinder 2- 182 cylinder 3- 191 cylinder 4- 184. The mechanic also observed a nominal and even wear/burn pattern on all four spark plugs. He performed a vacuum leak down which the car passed with flying colors. As well as performing a pressure smoke test with zero leaks. Checking the oil it was smooth with no milkiness or contaminants. And checking the cooling system there were no leaks or drips of any kind. Total cost at the normal mechanic: 185 dollars for the tests and replacing the spark plugs and oil. I don’t know if these guys thought my family and I were easy suckers, but they should not be trusted. They are scam artists trying to see who they can play as a sucker for a quick buck. I’m sure they do good work most of the time, can you really trust them if every once in a while they will lie just to try and convince you to sell them your car?

Fernando and the whole Crown Auto Service are the best! They always make sure our trucks get repaired/serviced properly. Highly recommend!