RPM Automotive

DO NOT GO HERE!
The receptionist was super nice and helpful but Chuck (who I believe is the owner) is the most disrespectful person I have ever worked with. I took my car to a different shop to get it diagnosed and they discovered it was the transmission. Luckily the other shop was nice enough to not charge for diagnosis and were happy to give me an estimate but I wanted to shop around to get other numbers. When I called Chuck, he immediately had a very bad attitude and seemed annoyed with my lack of knowledge of cars. He ended up diagnosing it himself and gave me a similar price for the cost of the transmission but didn’t really tell me anything that I already knew. When I went to pick up my car, I felt as if he was judging me and looked down on me since I am younger.
Hopefully I can save some people the trouble from being treated disrespectfully and you can go somewhere that will treat you with the respect that you deserve.

So nice to work with a family shop. Chuck does what he says he’s going to do when he says he is going to do it. It’s nice to trust your mechanic.

Thanks Chuck your the best !!!
Your shop and staff are the best did a great job with my car.
They are very trust worthy and took great care of my car. They even called a rental car for me and gave me a discounted price on my rental.
The great thing is they are AAA approved
thanks again !!

My BMW 335i broke down in Glendale. Because it would have been expensive to tow it to my home area in Santa Clarita, I trusted AAA to recommend a repair shop within 7 miles of my breakdown. With that, my car was towed to RPM. At first I was told by Nathan (at RPM) that I had a ruptured hose… he then proceeded to say that we wouldn’t be out of the woods until the new hose was installed and another pressure test was conducted to insure the car was indeed fixed.
By the end of the day, I got a call from Nathan telling me that my water pump failed and it would be about $ 600 for the pump and about $ 400 labor. This now brings the grand total to over $ 1200. At this point I’m beginning to get concerned. So I googled their shop and found only two comments on google reviews, both of them very negative 1 star comments. I also found quite a few 1 star comments here on Unilocal.So I decided to call my home town mechanic. When I gave him the details he laughed and suggested I get my car towed to his shop. So, I call Nathan back to let him know my plans and that I was sorry, but I just didn’t feel comfortable with them working on my car.
Now, what I’m about to write is why I’m leaving this review. I asked Nathan why there would be a hose rupture and a water pump failure at the same time? He then asked me, «When your water pump fails and your car starts to overheat, what do you think is going to happen with all that pressure built up?» OK, I’m not ignorant when it come to cars. I used two be an auto mechanic myself, and I happen to know that when your car overheats, there is an overflow reservoir to help relieve the pressure, and when the overflow reservoir fills to capacity, there is an overflow hose that will allow the water to escape and spill to the ground. Every time I tried to explain this to Nathan, he would rudely cut me off. His ignorant theory was that when my water pump failed, the car overheated and because of the pressure build up, a hose ruptured due to all the pressure… lol. I finally gave up and told him that the tow truck would be there first thing in the morning… and we ended the phone call.
NOW, did he warn me that my car wasn’t put back to together and that it wouldn’t be ready until a specific time… NO. So the next morning, the tow truck arrived right when they opened and I then got a call from AAA telling me that the tow truck driver was at the shop, but the car was still not put back together. I then immediately called RPM and talked to Nathan. Nathan then proceeded to try and make me look like an idiot for assuming the car would be ready for transport first thing in the morning. I’m telling you, Nathan is sweet talker when he thinks you’re potential revenue for the shop, but the moment he’s butt hurt because you’re going to take your business elsewhere, he turns into an asshole.
Was RPM trying to rip me off? Honestly, I have no proof that they were. And I have to say, I was so close to changing my mind and having them proceed with the repair. What was the deal breaker? Though the reviews had me concerned, the deal breaker was Nathans attitude. When given the slightest bit of conflict, he becomes rude, condescending and arrogant. My recommendation? Avoid this place. There are much better choices in the Glendale area.

Chuck and his staff at RPM did a great job taking care of me and my 2006 Honda Civic.
I originally went in for a routine oil change and headlight polishing (my head lights got that gross white film on the inside) and they did a complimentary brake check – the brake pads ended up needing to be replaced. I completed trusted his recommendation and went ahead and took care of it since I was already there. It’s really important to find a place you don’t think is being dishonest and I truly trust RPM and the integrity of their work!

I took my wife’s car here to have her battery tested and replaced, under her AAA warranty. They were very friendly, and replaced the battery quickly and without any hassle. However, when they called to tell me it was ready, they also told me that both the low beam and high beam bulbs on the driver side were out and needed to be replaced. They offered to do this for $ 60 – 80. Replacing these bulbs on Hyundai’s is very easy so I told them I would just do it myself. When I went to do this, I discovered that the lights had simply been disconnected, which obviously happened when they were replacing the battery, and reconnected them in 30 seconds.
The battery they replaced is literally right next to the headlights that were «out», and it didn’t occur to them that maybe something got knocked loose during the installation? And what are the odds off all three lights, high beam, low beam, and turn signal (which they didn’t even catch) being out all at once?
I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren’t trying rip me off, but even that best case scenario suggests a sloppiness in workmanship, and a lack of common sense in problem solving a very simple mechanical issue.

I’ve been coming here to get my car serviced a few different times. Whether its for my ignition sensors, brakes, water pump, or my front lights getting installed. Chuck and his crew are very direct and helpful. Everything is clearly written on the invoice of work that has been done. Rather than fix your car (things that you didn’t say yes to) and charge you for the work done, Staff will always ask for your consent before doing any work that is needed. Chuck and Ricky were very helpful this afternoon. Thank you very much RPM!

RPM Automotive is great! Really affordable prices and great customer service! Great complimentary snacks! The owner Chuck is great and knows a lot about cars. He’s a funny guy to talk to! I highly recommend you bring your vehicles here!

Apparently honesty doesn’t sit well with these guys. My previous review was deleted, so, I’ll sum it up pretty quickly. Rude, disrespectful, dishonest, thieves. They were trying to charge me $ 500 more than a shop down the street. Take your car woes elsewhere.

I was about to go to work in the morning and my car broke down on the side of the road. Thankfully I had AAA and they came right away to tell my car to a recommended shop called RPM automotive. Chuck from RPM automotive called me before my car got towed there to expect my time and diagnose the problem over the phone. What’s my car got there Chuck was very nice and the service was very good. We knew what the problem was he ordered the part the same day and installed it the next business day and I was in and out and my car runs perfect. I would definitely go back there for an oil change or any other future problems.

I went to RPM because I needed a pre-​purchase inspection as certified by the AAA Auto Club and they were certified to do this. I actually live in Long Beach, so I picked RPM off the Auto Club website without knowing anything about them, because the seller of the car I planned to buy was in Glendale. They were super helpful to me, inspected the car for two hours for the auto club price of $ 89.50, gave me a list of small things that were wrong with the car that helped me get the price down a bit but otherwise John told me the car was good and worth buying. I was very pleased with their service, customer service and attitude. If I lived in Glendale, they would be my regular mechanics.

I have had many bad and costly experiences with this shop, and would suggest you take your car somewhere else, as I now am. I am still trying to let go of the negativity that dealing with this business has caused.

In a nut shell I just wasn’t too pleased with this place. They’re prices are high and there is something about the owner I don’t trust. I’m also very familiar with my usual shop who is very accommodating and sometimes works with me on pricing. They just don’t do smog checks so I went to RPM because it is right around the corner from my place.
I wouldn’t say they’re accommodating or that customer service is at the top of their list. On the same token, I was so aggravated with my situation (a year long battle with my check engine light) that I may not have been the nicest customer they’d seen that day.
A few things that irked me:
1. They don’t do a free retest on smog checks unless you get your repairs done there. Since my repairs were under warranty with another shop (and RPM prices are a bit steep), I only get a 50% discount on a re-​test. Say whaaaat?
2. They were closed during lunch time. Maybe I’m ignorant to shop service etiquette, but having grown up in an auto body shop as a child and having to deal with my own car problems since my first car 16 years ago, I’ve never been to a shop that closes for an hour at lunch time. What about people who need their car serviced at lunch time? (And if you can’t get there before or after work, don’t worry, they’re not open on Saturday either.) Pretty sweet hours for them.
3. This one I will admit I partly blame myself… When I did come at lunch time (not realizing they were «closed»), I just needed to see if my car was in «ready mode» for a re-​test after my repairs were complete. Its a simple task of hooking up a little computer to the box under my steering wheel. It literally takes 2 minutes. The owner said I had to come back after lunch. Seriously? You can’t take 2 (3 tops) minutes to just run a quick scan? Certainly its not because he doesn’t know how to operate it. However, I’m sure my explosion of frustration that I had to come back… again… probably didn’t make him want to help me out. I will admit that. :)
Honestly I won’t go back. Even for a discounted re-​test. What if it still doesn’t pass? Another 50% discounted re-​test? I’m just kicking myself for not going back to the last place I had a smog check a couple years ago who is a test-​only center that offers free re-​tests. And since they’re a test-​only facility, they can’t scam you into paying for repairs through them in order to get a re-​test for free.

I have been taking my personal vehicles and my business fleet to Chuck and his team at RPM for years now! Chuck is one of the last great Master Mechanics that is unbelievably knowledgeable, fair, honest, and likable! I can not begin to tell you how refreshing it is to be the customer of someone that takes great pride in his business, how he runs it, and most of all how he treats his customers!
I can go on and on about what a «raving fan customer» I am of Chuck and RPM, so do not hesitate to personally give me a call if you would like to hear more! –Tony Riccio 818−216−0067

If I were you, I wouldn’t come here. I stopped by this place because of the reviews. The owner, Chuck, may know what he’s talking about, but he’ll charge you an arm and a leg for labor and parts. The prices for the parts he quotes are outrageous. He’s a smooth talker; kind of like a car salesman.

After seeing the glowing reviews for this place, I chose to take my vehicle here for some repairs. Chuck seems very nice, but I was much less than impressed when all was said and done. One of my biggest gripes is the cost. The OEM part they replaced has an MSRP of $ 150 (actual street price from Toyota OEM authorized sellers is closer to $ 110), but I got charged $ 200 for the part. I also got charged for 5 hours of labor which, considering the location and difficulty of changing out this part (along with one other simple part), is ridiculous. The 5 hours was in addition to the 1 hour inspection cost. They must be moving in slow motion in the shop.
Now, before you think I’m ignorant of the time involved, let me say that I’ve: pulled and rebuilt an engine in my other car, re-​pulled the engine on that car (a few years later) to swap out the automatic transmission for a more enjoyable 4-​speed manual, I do all my own oil/​brake changes, and recently replaced my timing belt, idler bearings, tensioner, and water pump. So I know my way around a car. The only reason I took it to a shop is that my current apartment doesn’t have a garage where I can do these sorts of things myself.
Not only was it way more expensive then it should have been, but when I was waiting to pay, I was faced with some extreme awkwardness. When one of the shop guys was leaving, Chuck had a ‘discussion’ with the guy about getting his work done and some other stuff. There was definitely tension in the air. Then another mechanic was about to clock out and there was a very long, very awkward argument about work hours and days off and some other stuff as well. They were talking right in front of me and I felt really weird sitting there. It was definitely not cool to be having that discussion right in front of a waiting customer.
On the plus side, my car came back really clean. They had wiped down the interior, vacuumed it out, and given it a wash. They said that I needed another thing replaced, gave me a quote, and I took my car elsewhere where it was done at ¹⁄₃ the labor cost. I’m never going back to this place again.

Wouldn’t take my vehicles anywhere else. Chuck has worked on my BMW 7-​series, my Lexus LS and I even have him doing major work on my 1970 Corvette. The Corvette hasn’t run this well in many, many years. Fixed a lot of mistakes made by one of those specialty Corvette places in OC. Wish I would have found him first.
Hard enough to find a mechanic that does good work but better yet, that you can trust not to rip you off. Chuck at RPM is the best.

I have now taken 3 different cars to RPM for both small and large repairs. The service is great! Honest and accurate estimates, Chuck and crew are anxious to help and make clients happy. I took my son’s car in for an oil change, he also did a thorough check and even gave it a free car wash! The waiting room is comfortable and clean, full of fun car models, and you get free snacks and water!
I first went in because I was tired of being abused by the dealers and Jiffy-​lubes of the world, I wanted a familiar face who would recognize me and treat me well. I found it at RPM. Biggest thing for me, I TRUST Chuck!

I was trying to buy a car from a dealer in Glendale and had the dealer bring the car here for a pre-​purchase inspection. I was able to arrange the appointment on the phone with Chuck, the car was dropped off and he called me with the results. He was super easy to work with and didn’t take my credit card info until after he had given me the inspection results– which was surprising because I didn’t even own the vehicle yet!
Chuck honored the AAA inspection rate and then sent me the invoice and checklist in the mail.
I live in San Diego so I didn’t even see the car before I bought it. The car was in great shape and the dealer replaced the tires which Chuck said were worn out.
Very easy to work with and they did exactly what they said! What more can you ask for from a car service???

I went here for a quick smog check so I could register my car in the state of California. The guy behind the counter (Chuck) was SO nice. I couldn’t believe it. He offered us coffee/​water and to take anything from this crazy huge snack basket. (Cookies & Payday. :D). He also offered to drive an elderly woman home who was getting a smog check and engaged everyone in Oscar conversation.
Totally professional place. the smog check was done really quickly and the entire process was very simple. They gave me $ 10 off for being a AAA member and told me that I could also come in for some 38 point check thing for free. Total was $ 50 after the discount (not bad!). You can’t really fake being a super nice person who actually cares about their customers. This place was the real deal. I will be back next time I need another smog check or something needs to be checked out on my Alero.