Garfield Smog Check

"Unfortunately Mr. Tran retired BUT the new guy that runs the place is awesome. Totally takes his time and explains everything and will even counsel you on how to fix stuff yourself so you don’t have to spend money later on. Definitely one of those rare mechanics with a heart of gold that isn’t just about the money. AND he knows his stuff! He will not rush you and he will not charge you for anything unless he tells you first."

"These guys are amazing. Very honest and polite. Best of all they do really good work. Been going to him for many years now. We even take our work trucks to them to work on."

"My ratings on Mr. Tran & Jose are: Honesty = F Service = F Workmanship = F Simply put, I did not experience a single good thing from this neighborhood garage, because both Mr. Tran and Jose were not capable of repairing vehicles appropriately. Most importantly, they were NOT honest individuals, but a couple of wolfs in sheep's skin. Facts: Thanks to one of my Vietnamese friends at work, I came here to install both Power steering wheel pump and high-pressure hose approximately 3 weeks ago. Initially, Mr. Tran gave me quotes with Honda parts and Aftermarket parts (non-Honda). Specifically, he quoted $630 for Honda parts and $462 for non-Honda parts. Furthermore, he insisted using Auto Zone auto parts as opposed to my favorite O'Reilly auto parts, so I went with his recommendations for the aforementioned parts. My Honda civic, after getting my Steering wheel pump replaced with Auto Zone parts, started to make a wheezing sound that is so loud that I thought that my Civic was about to explode; however, Mr. Tran and Jose (the only mechanic who worked on my vehicle) insisted that the noises will go away after driving my car for at least 2 weeks or so. Because this replacement of a pump and high-pressure hose was the only repair done outside of a Honda dealer for the last 9 year period, I went back to my reliable Honda service consultant, Mr. Guillermo Hernandez at Honda World Downey and had him check the work done by Garfield smog check. Findings were the new steering wheel pump turned out to be a defective auto part. Back to Garfield smog check, I presented the official findings from Honda World Downey. Mr. Tran did, reluctantly, obtain a new part from Auto Zone to have Jose install the pump the 2nd time; however, the high-pitched whistling (or wheezing) sound was even louder and scarier than the previous version. Once again, Jose in the absence of Mr. Tran, tried hard to convince me that his Cadillac had the identical issue of an awful noise; however, he was able to get rid of the sound after driving about two (2) weeks. To give this gentleman the benefit of the doubt, I agreed to drive extensively to see if the awful noises would go away. For this round of testing, I took my Honda Civic to Yosemite national park on September 15th, 2018 to test a long-distance drive to comply with Jose's request of driving test and another week of driving locally; however, the wheezing and whining sound did not disappear at all. Back to Garfield smog check on Monday, September 24, 2018, I sat down with Mr. Tran and asked him to replace the faculty Auto Zone parts with Honda parts. His estimate was about $500 over his original estimate, so I went to O'Reilly's auto parts to get Honda re-manufactured parts for both pump and hi-pressure hose for less than $200 and asked him to replace them. Now, he wants me to pay for both parts and labor - total highway robbery. All the defective and faulty parts can be returned for a full refund; however, he still wanted me to pay for parts twice and additional labor when I did not cause any of the aforementioned issues. He may well be the wolf in sheep's skin - appears to be courteous by acting like a Hollywood yes-man; however, when he makes mistakes, he comes up with all sorts of excuses to ask for additional charges. He was far from being honest, and his only mechanic, Jose was only good at wiping out oily surfaces of some of the old parts, not addressing the root causes of the burning issues concerning customers."

"Dont you just love those small shops that dont do any advertising yet are always packed? Quality of service with the jolly smile always makes it worth the drive from sd/LA to see Tran or Jose. They close weekends so plan accordingly."

"Great service. Tran (owner/mechanic) will make sure he does the job right and give you a very good price. My family has been going to him for YEARS"