Honest Auto Repair shop

On 19FEB16 I took my Xterra in for them to replace the plugs, plenum gasket and valve cover gasket. Needless to say, my vehicle never ran so horibly as it did when they got done with it. If I wanted it done like that I would have hired a drunk monkey.

They're not at all honest, knowledgable or cheap. Take your car in for one thing and it will come out even worse.

I was told that they can replace a seal in my gas tank for $123.00. THey called back and said the tank was cracked and to replace it with a junk yard tank would be $500.00... To save money I bought a tank at the local junk yard and gave it to them and they said the bill would be $235.00. Well they called back and told me they could not use it because the lines had been cut.

Their excuse is the lines were heat shrunk on by the factory and they could not perform that therrefore the tank needed to be returned and to get a new one. TO make a long story short they decided to use some J.B. Plastic Weld on it and hope for the best.

The fix lasted 3 days and I am back to square one and out a total of about $400.00 and they didn't even replace the seal.

This positive comment is about mechanic shop of "Best Auto" located at 2220 W. First Street in Santa Ana. I've never used the body shop under the same roof (different owner.)

An older guy owns the place, and has been doing not only excellent work but totally honest for me for the past 15 years. For example, I'd ask him to replace all breakpads, but he would inspect & tell me that only the front (or back) needs to be replaced. He would also tell me whether I need to use more expensive dealer parts (I've had newer imports) or "generic" parts would work.

I never bother to look at his estimates because his final bill always surprises me - almost always less than what I expect to pay. Even my dealership service rep is aware of him and usually sends me back to him if not covered by warranty.

Just sharing this info because I know how valuable an honest & reliable mechanic could be (especially to a single woman like myself.) The guy doesn't even know that I am writing this review. I just hope that he doesn't retire any time soon.