CDO Transmission

After looking all over San Diego for a good place to get my transmission fixed, I was referred to CDO by another auto shop. Art and his team immediately made me feel welcomed and confident that I found the right place. He got my transmission fixed for a grand less than all the other places I had gotten quotes from AND it only took a few days. Art was honest, caring, and gave me the best price. What more could you want?

Art and his team are awesome. My beetle convertible got totaled and I bought a 07 VW Jetta, car should be awesome, but like all VW’s the d9g transmission has a bad valve body. And VW refuses to correct problem.
Every place I called said I need a whole transmission and gave me 5,000 quote. Art checked my car and said just valve body as usual for VW’s. 1660. 00 was my bill.
Love these guys… Need work call them, they will fix it right first time.

I brought my Toyota Tundra here today after clocking in 31 000 miles. I asked for a transmission service because I tow a 5^th wheel every summer. I also asked for an oil change as well as servicing the rear differentials. CDO dropped the pan, changed out the gaskets, tranny filter and replaced with synthetic trans oil. Also had my engine oil changed with full synthetic. The owner stated that my differentials didn’t need changing and looked super clean upon inspection. I was very happy with the service and the price was reasonable too. At least they didn’t just take my money and performed a service I didn’t need. They’re honest and I’d recommend them to my friends. Price was fair as well.

It has been 2 years since my last review. I have referred many more people and everybody loves the price, service and warranty they get from Art and his crew at CDO. I felt compelled to write this as I saw a couple negative reviews. After having two of my personal vehicles serviced at CDO, over 5 corporate vehicles and several friends cars and trucks, I feel like an expert on CDO and want to make it clear that this is a 5 star operation.

Beware! Or at least get a second opinion before getting work done at CDO. The transmission in my 2003 Toyota starting acting up, and my mechanic referred me to CDO. I dropped off my car and a few hours later I get a call saying I need a new transmission ($ 4,000). The car is not worth much more than that, so I starting looking online for similar problems and solutions for my make/​model Toyota. Long story short, the problem was a defective ECM computer chip and not my transmission. Toyota issued an extended warranty to cover this defect, and the dealer covered all the costs to instill the new chip. My care is driving like new.
I could understand CDO making an honest mistake and misdiagnosing my transmission problem, but when I told the owner about the factory recall for the faulty chip, he tried everything in his power to convince me that I would still need to replace the transmission along with the chip, and that I should let him do the work. Toyota dealership just laughed.

I heard about CDO on Unilocal!Art is amazing! I started coming to him last year. Ever since then, between me and my family, we have probably seen Art and his crew about 4 – 5 times. He always takes care of my Scion and has really good prices! His crew is very friendly and I never leave this place as if I felt like I paid too much! I highly recommend CDO Transmission!

I had our 2004 Tacoma towed here for them to look at transmission after it broke down. They were able to inspect and give us a free estimate for the truck. We ended up not using them only because truck has 200k+ miles already and cost to do the work wasn’t worth it. A lot of shops would have charged us to inspect and leave our truck there for a couple days so I appreciate their help!

I was referred to CDO Transmission by my mechanic for my BMW. CDO gave me the best estimate and warranty for replacing my transmission. I was provided with a rental car and the rental was extended when there was a slight parts delay. The car was repaired in time promised. And when I returned to have the oil replaced as part of the warranty it was done within an hour with no charge. It’s so refreshing to find ethical and competent repair shops like CDO. I highly recommend this business.

Art is fucking amazing. Not only did he tow our car to his shop and diagnose the problem for free; he fixed our car the very same day he got it. The repair was way cheaper than we thought it was going to be. Art even told us about a potential recall on our car and advised us to check it out before having other work done so we wouldn’t be paying for something that was covered by the recall.
The shop also washed and vacuumed our car for free.
Art is a real stand up guy; we highly recommend him to anyone needing repairs.

I found this place on Unilocal.Seen all the reviews about it, and how Art is the man.
Well went to see him today. My transmission was leaking. Took it to him as a second
Opinion. Other shop said the transmission was leaking from seals and needed rebuilding. Art showed me that the trans case had a crack. He could get me a used one for $ 1500 or rebuild mines and replace the casing for $ 3000.
Well I don’t have that kind money. Art and his staff checked it out for free and quickly
And showed me a crack on the tranny. They didn’t see another crack that was the main issue. But I can’t blame them. If there is a crack there is a crack and they will prob replace the whole casing which has all the cracks. I am currently trying to fix it with JB weld. If that doesn’t work, I will probably be back to see Art.
Good guy, straight forward shop. Wish more shops were like this.
I owe a stereo shop a few miles away so I know, that you need to be all about the customer. Thanks for the quick service Art

Good experience!

In the end – along with quality repair work – it’s all about professionalism, courtesy, & care for the customer.
As someone who’s been living in Lemon Grove for about 6 months, I knew little about where to take my car for servicing. I was pushed into a decision when I had a blowout on the 15, serving to remind me that it was time for new tires. Since time was of the essence, I had to decide quickly where to get new ones. I took it to a place on Broadway, felt like I’d gotten a good deal, and went back a few days later to have them align the tires. These seemed like honest guys, a business I could trust. So imagine my surprise when I got home, parked the car, and when I got ready to leave for work, my transmission immediately started slipping in and out of gear. I didn’t want to think what I was thinking, especially since I knew I was due for a transmission fluid change, so I checked on Unilocal,found CDO, read all the reviews and decided to give them a try.
When I got there, Art was very helpful in getting the process underway, mentioned it would take a few hours (to be expected), and asked me if I needed a ride home. I gratefully said yes, and noted that this was service above & beyond. Later, when I got the call that my car was ready, Art asked if I could find my way back over there since they were, at the moment, swamped. I said I’d call around to see if I could find a ride. No one was available, so I decided to bite the bullet & try for a cab. Finally lined one up, and right after I made the call to the cab company, Art called to ask if I’d found a ride (they were closing in 20 minutes). I said I couldn’t contact any of my friends & that a cab was on the way. Art said, «No, no, don’t do that… I’ll come get you. Call the cab company & cancel.» I asked if he was sure and he assured me it was OK… no passive aggressiveness in his voice at all. Just plain, good old common courtesy. This was, to me, pretty amazing.
On the way there, he told me they’d gotten my car up on the hoist and found out that there were 3 to 4 quarts of transmission fluid missing. First thing I thought was, «Leak.» But before I could even dwell on that, he went on to say that they checked it over thoroughly and found no leak whatsoever. So, it turned out that what I was suspecting was probably true, and Art agreed with me: It was circumstantial evidence, but it all pointed to the person who aligned my tires deciding he wanted to get some more money out of me… in spite of them knowing I work for a very low-​paying job. I’ve come to refer to this as what I call «The Jiffy Lube Treatment.» You go in there to get your oil changed, and later on – with a BIG smile on his face – the guy tells you, «Yes, SIR, your oil’s changed! HOWEVER… we noticed a leak in your radiator, we noticed your struts need replacing, we noticed your drive belt is cracking, and we noticed your transmission fluid appears to be 3 to 4 quarts low. And we would be HAPPY to take care of this for you for the low, LOW price of $ 2,500.» I’m exaggerating here, obviously, but every one of you know what I’m talking about. I was pretty appalled that the tire dealership I’d put my trust in could pull a stunt like that, so later on I came in here to check them out (WHICH I SHOULD HAVE DONE BEFORE), and found that their average rating was 2 stars out of 5, with most of the reviews being 1-​star. Lesson learned.
When we got back to the shop, Art brought me my invoice… no charge. I said, «What???» They’d had the car most of the day AND had replaced the transmission fluid. Not even a labor charge. I was floored.
How sad is it that in this day and age, with many more people living below the poverty line, there are still places of business that will try to take advantage of the ignorance of their customers and try to rip them off any way possible? Art mentioned that a lot of these tire dealerships are pressured to upsell all they can… and on the surface, I see nothing wrong with that. I did hotel work for 12 years and we were ENCOURAGED (not pressured) to upsell the rooms. Nothing wrong with a business wanting to increase its revenue. But the mindset that some of these places adopt, by thinking that the only way they’ll ACHIEVE that is through nefarious methods, is really kind of sickening. Yeah, they’ll pull the wool over SOME peoples’ eyes… but not everybody. And it’s the ones who find out the kind of sh*t they’re pulling who will spread the word and alert others to the fact that they’re crooks. So comforting to know that this world will never be at a shortage of people looking to stick a knife in your back if you’re not vigilant.
Anyway, CDO has a new regular customer and I will take any other car repair needs to its parent company, Don Henderson Automotive (THIRTY 5-​star ratings in here). Knowing I now have trustworthy outlets for car repair is a big load off my shoulders. My thanks to Art & his staff for being true professionals.

So my 97 Mitsubishi 3000GT, starts giving me transmission problems. For some unknown reason, the car randomly won’t shift out of first and sometimes gets kicked out of OD on the highway? I look up transmission shops on Unilocal (awesome app) and after reading several great comments and one bad (really the bad one was just due to them being impatient), I decided to call COD. Spoke with Art and made arrangements to droop odd my car at 7:00am the next day. He was a bit short on the phone, but who can blame him… He’s a busy guy and everyone wants to go to him. When u get to the shop, it looks a little discouraging from the street, but once you get to his shop in the back, it’s a legit shop. So I drop my car off on a Tuesday and right away, he seemed to know what was causing my problem. The next day he calls me and tells me what the problem was and quotes me under $ 200, but he had to order a part that would take a day. I was sooo happy! Thursday afternoon he calls me to tell me my car is fixed and ready to go. Sweeeeet!!! At this point, I’m more than satisfied, but here is where I’m amazed at his «above and beyond» customer service… So turns out that Thursday was a crazy day at work and I could not get to the shop by closing time so I told Art I would pick it up on Friday. Well, that Friday work was crazy too. Art calls me to remind me about my car. Due to my work demand, I told him I would be there just before closing. Instead, Art offers me this «unheard-​of» solution!!! He asks me if I have a spare key, which I did. He tells me that he will lock my car out front of his shop. I said, «but I haven’t even paid you?». He reminded me his shop is closed Sat & Sun and didn’t want me to go through the weekend without my wheels, so he tells me to just pay him next week. I was shocked!!! I offered a credit card payment over the phone, but he told me to just pay him next week. Wow! Truly going above and beyond for his customers. So I pick my car up that Friday night and it runs great! :-). Will definitely recommend to everyone in need of Tran serv. Just be patient if he can’t take your car in that same day… COD is worth the wait. Amazing, honest, polite customer service. Thanks Art!!!

Maybe this review is unfair because I never actually left my car here but I have good reason. My wife first tried to drop our GTI off here but she had a few questions she wanted answered before she left her car there. The employees could have cared less about here questions and just wanted here to leave the car so that way we could deal with whatever policies they may uphold. Not only that but my wife knows as much about cars as me and when she wen to question them about the difference from replacing solenoids to valve bodies they shrugged her off. I maintained my faith in Unilocal and wanted to go to them because of their 5 star reviews. So I took off work a few hours early so that way I could bring the car by and talk to them myself. They were not there. I called their number and asked them if they where opened. He replied they decided to close early today. This really lets me know that they would be working on my car if I had decided to drop it off, but no they are just going to keep taking time off. Then he tells me to just drop it off with some guy at another shop near his. YEA RIGHT! CDO get your act together.

Before i found CDO transmission I was almost in tears. Sold a perfectly running 2000 Jeep. To buy a 5 speed honda civic that I was told was driven by a adult, to find out it needed a clutch/​transmission *cry. I had another shop install my clutch, Wish I had gone to Art sooner. After clutch install the car ran worse since the bearings in the transmission and 2^nd 3^rd and 4^th gear all grinded. The car was getting worse everyday. Art/​Alex and all the crew that word for CDO everyone knew exactly what was going on. Replaced what was needed and rebuilt my transmission 1300 $ for a 3year warranty and fixed some other minor problems under the hood! I love this shop. For now on I will go to CDO for just about anything. Thanks again!!! I highly recommend this shop to anyone with a tranny problem!

It’s a great day when someone cares and truly goes the extra mile for another person. I’ve never even met Art at CDO Transmissions, but was referred to him by my mechanic (owner Mike at Wolff’s Foreign Car Service) after years of problematic issues with my Lexus RX300.
After getting a whopper of a quote to fix my car at Lexus ($ 2,600), Wolff’s referred me to their preferred transmission specialist Art at CDO. He didn’t want me to put more money into the car if it needed a transmission, too. We were trying to decide whether it was best to get rid of the car. Art provided an extensive diagnostics at no charge and even offered to drop my car back at Wolff’s when he was finished. He gave me peace of mind that my car’s transmission was not failing. High character, quality, and true caring. Thank you, Art! I will highly recommend my friends and family to you should they have transmission issues with the car. In addition to a thorough diagnostics, you went above and beyond and it is truly appreciated!

Totally impressed. Art is the man. Excellent customer service and he is the fairest in the auto repair business by far. My hat is off to this guy and his crew. I really appreciate how much he has helped out. Accurate diagnostics/​estimates and sticks to his word.

I found Art when my transmission went code blue in San Diego,
he repaired it at a fair price… and it has been problem free ever since
he in honest as the day is long… no reason to go anywhere else

The best auto shops send their customers to see Art at CDO. This is the best transmission and clutch service in San Diego county. Highly recommended.
Art looks you in the eye, shakes hands and keeps his word. The service is done right, at a fair price and covered with an exceptional warranty. No one wants to have a transmission problem. But if the bad news comes and help is needed go see Art. I was more than pleased with the results. He will take care of your problem with honest and reliable service. Excellent!

I was also referred to CDO by Eric at Don Henderson, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the experience here.
My 2000 Honda Accord’s clutch was totally dead, and I was bracing myself for the worst – it’s cost me close to $ 1,000 the last two times I’ve had to get a clutch replaced.
But get this… Art at CDO offered to tow the vehicle in and do the estimate for free. The clutch itself turned out to be fine; I’d just blown out the slave cylinder. CDO had it replaced within two hours and I walked away having paid only $ 171!
And not only did they save me a bundle, they washed my car for free!
Bravo!!!