SOS Automotive

I found a place where I am 100% confident that they will take care of my vehicles. I love this place.

Going to a new automotive repair shop can always cause anxiety about the quality of the repairs and honesty of the people who run the place. This should not be a concern about SOS automotive, Israel and his staff are top notch. I have found them to always be honest and trustworthy, returned back after I was told by another shop that I needed several repairs– I was going there because it was only 3 miles away. Israel said let me check on the laundry list recommended by the other place… at the end I only needed brake pads. I will continue to make the 28 mile drive to get my car serviced. By the way the address listed on this link is incorrect: now at 681 e. San Bernardino street in Covina.

I have a BMW X5 that can be a little sensitive sometimes and I’m glad to know that SOS is here to take care of it. Israel can remain so calm as he explains why and what needs to be done, even when I am not the most pleasant customer (that would be because I don’t understand why it needs anything). I had to come to the understanding that BMW’s are built well and require a little more $$ to keep in tip top shape.
Thank you SOS for keeping my «Lil Red» running like a champ!!!

I don’t know much about cars and I often feel like auto shops take advantage of that when I leave my car with them by overcharging me for services I don’t really need.
That being said, the guys at SOS were really helpful, informative, and affordable. Most other places charge $ 90+ for just a diagnostic and they only charge $ 40 here which is waved if they service your car. My 2001 Volvo was making this really strange noise that all the car experts in my family were baffled by and SOS found it and fixed it in just a few hours. My car is running like new now.
Thank you Steve and Israel!

Was driving down the 10 freeway and my 2004 Volvo S60 started to overheat in traffic.
I quickly pulled over and looked under my hood, everything looked normal.
I didn’t want to cause any further damage, so I got on Unilocal and found a few repairs shops nearby, I decided to go with SOS because of the good reviews.
They diagnose and repaired my vehicle the same day. The cooling fan was faulty. Overall was a good experience. Recommended for sure. Thanks SOS!

You have three choices for having your car serviced.
You can go with an independent mechanic. Most of the time, patrons will be extremely happy as independents rarely charge as much as dealers and will provide great service.
You can go with a dealer, but you will pay more here. Generally the benefit is they are extremely clean and have amenities that independents can’t offer due to space limitations.
The last and best choice is to find an independent mechanic who is an automotive enthusiast. That is what comprises the staff at SOS. They are all factory certified and love working on cars. Anyone who has been around cars for years will confirm this is indeed a rarity. They will treat you fairly, but most importantly, they will take the time to explain the repairs to you. They will tell you what needs to be replaced and tell you about other items that COULD be replaced. This is in stark contrast to dealers who seem to emphasize that every item is catastrophic and needs to be attended to ASAP.
If you know very little about cars, SOS is for you. They will not take advantage of you. They want to build long term relationships with their clients. They appreciate their clients and you can see that based on their waiting area and congenial nature of the staff.
I drive over an hour to have car problems taken care of, not because it’s convenient, but because I trust them. Give them a try, if you don’t like them, you’ll still be paying a lot less than the dealer.
The absolute best part of the shop is talking with their Master Mechanic Israel. You can tell he has gasoline in his veins rather than blood.

My husband and myself recently purchased a used BMW 525i in the area. We’re from Marina del Rey and needed a mechanic to fix a few minor problems before we took the car home. SOS automotive was recommended to us and we were both really impressed with the service and cost of our repairs. Israel, the owner, did a thorough inspection of the car and afterwards explained, in detail, which repairs were critical and which were less pressing due to our limited budget. I was really impressed with the staff’s professionalism and their in-​depth knowledge of BMWs. Covina is about a 40-​minute drive from MdR, but finding a mechanic who doesn’t give you the «run-​a-​round» and makes every repair sound as if its of a critical nature is very hard to find. That’s why my husband and I will be bringing our BMW here from now on.

Finally found my go to service center for my BMW… Patrick was fantastic with updates and follow up. Reasonable price and service… Very Happy!!!

Update — They said that this is a «fake negative review,» that we do not exist as one of their clients, and that our review is part of an extortion scheme. It would have been great if they cared as much about helping us with decent work as they do about the reviews they get on Unilocal.To say that we might be part of an «extortion scheme» and to flag this review is weird and disgusting. Can you imagine paying him to do work on your car, it gets botched, you write a review on Unilocal,and then he says you are part of an extortion scheme? Please. The review we gave was MILD compared to what we REALLY wanted to say. We never went back to ask him to fix what he didn’t get right — we don’t trust him. We never mentioned any other car shops. Extortion scheme. What a joke.
Here’s what we wrote initially — and what he calls a «fake negative review» —
I wish we could give NEGATIVE 200 STARS! If you see a good review about this place, they probably wrote it themselves. Don’t go here unless you want to get ripped off. We needed a pre-​inspection on a used Volvo we wanted to buy. Israel Acosta told us that the car «was in great shape and we wouldn’t have any problems with it and that we should buy it.» So we bought it and soon after, we knew something was very wrong. This Israel Acosta guy tells us we need to buy more parts for the car. So we spend another $ 1000 at his shop. And then the car stopped working completely — it broke down in the middle of town and we had to get it towed at 9 p.m. at night to another shop. The new mechanic told me the engine had been overheated more than once from the previous owners and that «anyone with a brain would have seen the problem because the plastic covers were melted into the engine block.» This Israel Acosta seems like a total thief, we felt that he lied, wasted our time, and squeezed us for a lot of money. We ended up paying someone else to rebuild the entire engine.

If you are looking for a good mechanic, SOS is the place .
The staff is professional and courteous,
I was referred to the shop 3 years ago and will continue to go there even though I drive
from Rancho Fontana to get there. The price is good for BMW services and the service is great!!!
Check them out

Great service on my volvo s60! Worth a drive to Covina from Los Angeles.
I recommend it to Volvo drivers in LA and Inland Empire.

Great mechanics! Bozzani farms out their jobs here when they are short on time and staff. If a dealership is willing to trust a 3^rd party with their reputation you know it has to be good! Add to the facts a bunch of mechanics from VW Pasadena signed on here recently? My cherry tomato isn’t going to need service by anyone else!
They never over charge, use genuine parts, and are fast! Very trustworthy and friendly. I always talk to Israel who runs the whole place!

I would give this place –100 stars if I could– I saw the thief mechanic come right out of this place. I quoted around at 5 places and they were all in the same price range and then he gave me his price of almost 2.5 more just because I told him I have a BMW. The conversation was completely pleasant until I said I had a BMW and then his tone changed completely. It was a minor job to top if off, asking in the thousands when others were in 350 – 400 range. RIP OFF– save yourself the time and grief!!!

Love this place! people here treat us like family. The workers are very friendly and owner is one fantastic guy. Will never stop bringing my cars to SOS. I always leave this place Happy and pleased…

I’m so fortunate to have found SOS Automotive. I have a Volvo XC-​90 with 150,000 miles, SOS has it running like new. Excellent service and the best price. Thanks Israel and Steve, I’m telling everyone I know and will return for my next service.

The absolute best Volvo repair facility in the San Gabriel Valley. They do not sell you anything, they will not lie to you and your car will be ready when specified. No hassles ever. Very honest good work.

Excellent service and more importantly very good at what they do. These guys are former master techs from Volvo and BMW dealers. They knew exactly how to fix my 2008 BMW. I have been asking my dealer to tell me why my brakes click and they could not tell me. I brought to SOS and in 2 min they showed me it was because a brake clip was put on wrong by the dealer. Once my warranty expires I’m bringing my car here for all services and repairs.

Took my Sons 2004 A4 car here from OC. To have the transmission repaired and found the personal to be very friendly, and trust worthy. I am very satisfied with their professional staff. that was Egor to help resolve the problems he was having.
Its been a couple of weeks and no problems.
Great job guys, keep up the good quality work.

My car is a 2001 volvo v70 2.4 t with 65 000 miles on it.
My wife is a schoolteacher and does not drive much
and we have other volvo’s to drive. I had Steve work on the car
to replace timing belt, idler, & tensioner. Also, to replace
driver’s side spring seat. I also requested advice on a
transmission problem. All were done in a professional
manner with no drama. Thank you to Steve and Israel,
we will use your services in the future.

Going to a dealer is over-​rated and over priced. In the 2 years I’ve had my S60 I had gone to 2 Volvo specialists (also on Unilocal), not much cheaper then the dealers, but stopped going to them for different reasons.
Then I found SOS! Fairly new, very helpful, professional and you CANNOT beat these prices. Period!
I would tell you not to go there so I can have them all to myself, but I wouldn’t be able to keep them in business :)
If you need an honest, dependable, fast and super affordable mechanic — come here! Danny is great, Israel is so knowledgeable and I get my car washed! How great is that?
I did not rave about my other mechanics at all, so this is how much I am inspired that there is finally one that I can!