Calabazas Automotive

"I have been a customer of this shop for 30 years. Tom has always been friendly, professional, fair and very effective at trouble shooting and making repairs to all of my vehicles. I have referred many friends and they have been happy with the service they have received at this shop. You will not be disappointed,"

"Do you want to be treated in an untimely manner, experience alarming body language or trickery, and pay a premium for all of it? Check out Calabazas Automotive! First of all, this is NOT an RV repair shop. There is neither sufficient clearance in their work bay nor a lift that is capable of carrying large vehicles. Mine was not even particularly massive, a truck camper measuring about 13' in height. After waiting thirty minutes for the business owner to finish shooting the breeze with his friend on the phone, I was quoted double the RockAuto price for lower quality Mevotech parts in addition to an inflated labor rate equivalent to actual large vehicle repair shops. So, I tried to negotiate the price down. In response to this, the business owner began to raise his voice, standing and leaning forward. He began to pretend that it was impossible to work on a front end without replacing every associated part, and he was doing me a favor by not forcing me to replace the perfectly functional control arms and CV axles. You might be asking yourself, why not run out the door? Unfortunately, with a road trip about to start and the symptoms of the front end problem just materializing, I had no choice to find any available shop. Why not fix it myself? While I have a tool kit for other repairs, front end work on this size vehicle needs large and expensive heavy duty tools I did not have access to. So, I detached my truck camper and the work proceeded. Come to find out, despite his initial insistence on a total front end replacement and my repeated clarifications, he neglected to replace one of my right ball joints! Anyone who has worked on suspension before knows that the standard practice is to replace all parts in pairs. Despite this mistake, he refused to rectify the problem without another enormous labor charge, as the vehicle was already put back together. Note that it was impossible to notice this before reassembly, as one does not have access to the vehicle during work. To top it all off, while taking the vehicle across the street to get re-aligned after the front end work, it began making an incredible metal crunching sound that startled the alignment technician so much he insisted I return to Calabazas Automotive right away. While I determined the problem to be related to a brake shield the mechanic mistakenly bent, it is still borderline absurd to experience a problem like the noise after such an agonizing repair process up to that point. After reading this story, ask yourself: despite the other positive reviews, is this business a place where you want to spend top dollar of your hard-earned money to even risk the chance of an experience as unpleasant as mine? There are many reputable shops in the area."

"Parking lot is busy and a bit tight for big vehicles like mine. Went here because a lot of places either can't or won't work on cargo vans... not sure why, it's just an unfortunate fact. Got an oil change with synthetic blend and a bumper to bumper check over for a little over $200. Owner is super friendly and great for conversation while you wait."

"One of the best and honest mechanics I have had the fortune to deal with. Tom and his team are absolutely Amazing!!! They are down to earth, friendly, honest prices and quality service. This is my go to mechanic and highly recommend!!!"

"Tom and his crew do a great job. Will only fix things that need fixing. Really listens well and goes above and beyond to try to diagnose mechanical problems. Most importantly for me as a woman I am treated with respect. And his prices are reasonable. I have been going here for years."