Kami’s Auto Service and Body Shop

I brought my car here 2 years ago.
I said, «I believe my car is not starting because it needs a new alternator.»
He said, «Well, we’re going to have to diagnose the car first before just replacing the alternator.»
I said, «Okay.»
He calls me back, «Yes, it’s the alternator.»
I bring it in, pay for the services, and a few days after the service was complete, it doesn’t start again.
I call him, «We’ll tow it here, fix it and you can pick it up later.»
He «fixes» it.
2 weeks later, it doesn’t start again.
I call, «I don’t understand why it’s not working if you fixed it.»
He says, «We’ll we replaced the alternator like you asked.»
I said, «So was that not the problem?»
He says, «I don’t know, but we can’t tow it here again and if there are repairs that need to be made, you have to pay for it.»
Lovely.

Very good customer service, nice people :)

CAUTION: My check engine light came on and it was just about time for registration renewal. I brought my car in to check the situation. I was told the fuel air sensor was bad and there were several oil leaks. I was also told there was some kind of exhaust leak and the part needed to fix it could only be bought from the deal for a cost of $ 1,500 for just the part never mind the labor and they said it would definitely not pass a smog test without fixing this part. They recommended not fixing the car due to its condition. When I went in to pick up the car and ask about these problems they then proceeded to try and get me to buy a used car through them saying they sold used cars and would help me out.
I took the car to another mechanic for a 2^nd opinion and they said yes the fuel air sensor was bad which I already knew from the check engine light and running the car on a scanner myself as well. But they said they were not able to find any kind of exhaust leak after looking for over 45 minutes and said that my car was actually running great and should be perfectly fine to pass a smog test after the fuel air sensor was replaced, which was only $ 300 including labor and took maybe half the day to bring the car in, have it evaluated, fixed, and picked up.
Be weary when going there. I felt like they were more interested in trying to get me to buy one of their used cars as opposed to giving me an honest evaluation of my car and what needed to be fixed to keep it on the road.

10 stars for PJ. It’s 6:20 and he waited for us because the car was overheating on the way here. Life saver. Thank you PJ!

This is my second time here and I am still as impressed as I was the first time.
The first time I came to Kami’s was on a rainy Thursday evening. While driving home from school my front left tire went flat thanks to a nail in the road. I was able to put in my spare and called Kami’s 30 minutes before closing time. TJ assured me that he would still be there past closing time to take a look at my tire. Sure enough he took my tire and promised me it would be patched up first thing in the morning. The next day I called at 9 AM and found that they had already patched up my tire. When I came in to pick it up TJ even offered to put it back on my car for me, without an additional charge. I’m from Orange County and places I’ve been to back home actually charge to put back your tire so imagine my surprise when TJ said there was no additional charge to do this.
The second time I came to Kami’s was to get an oil change for my car. TJ was also here this time to help me. As I waited at the Starbucks down the block for my car TJ called me to let me know that my air filter was very dirty and he RECOMMENDED that it be changed. Note that I said he RECOMMENDED. Unlike other mechanics he did not say that it NEEDED to be changed. I hesitated at first, but gave in to his kind suggestion.
Tire patch: $ 20
Oil change: $ 36 (regular oil)
Air filter: $ 25
Customer service: priceless
Thanks, TJ.

Needed a new radiator and after calling other places (their labor rates were way off!) Floyd and Kami’s gave the most fair
in both radiator rate and labor cost for a job that should only take 1 – 1.5hrs. Thanks to Floyd for keeping it real and for being so accommodating. Being a mechanic’s daughter and having grown up on a
shop my whole life, it’s good to know there’s a spot I can take my car to in the future even away from home.

I’ve been a regular customer for years now and Kami’s Auto Service has never let me down. You never get the runaround and try provide honest, reliable service.

Who really wants to spend their Saturday morning at the car shop because they got a nail in their tire thanks to the never-​ending construction on the 405? Well, that’s how I spent my morning and thanks to the lovely people over at Kami’s, the experience was actually quite a pleasant one.
Floyd’s down-​to-​earth, warm demeanor set me at ease right away, the service was quick, and the waiting room was inviting, comfortable, and even had WiFi so I was able to kill two birds with one stone and get a little work done while I was there.
The cost of the service was reasonable and on-​par with the estimates I had gotten from some trusted friends who work in the auto industry.
As much as I hope that my car doesn’t need service again any time soon, I definitely know where I’ll go next time it does!

I usually go to Jiffy Lube when I am at home, but I needed to get an oil change ASAP so I Unilocaled this place and called to make an appointment. I went in right away and it was only a 10 minute drive from UCLA (where I live).
Floyd greeted me and was super friendly!!! Great guy.
He also gives a student discount which is awesome. Every UCLA student should go here! The walls are painted Bruin colors!
The service was fast and after I asked him to he even installed a new air filter and only charged me for the air filter, no service charge.
If you are looking for a convenient and nice place to get some work on your car done, GO HERE!

Very good customer service! Floyd was very helpful and cheery throughout my visit. I had a coolant and oil leak and found out I needed four parts and an engine cleaning. I was reluctant to do the cleaning so skipped out on that part in the beginning but was debating whether I should get my engine cleaned the whole day while they were waiting for one of the spare parts to come. Because the engine needed to be partially cleaned to put one of the parts in, Floyd called me and told me he could take half off the labor price for the engine cleaning which helped a lot!
They had a nice TV, couches, and snickers when I walked in and snickers are always a good thing… Service was great and everyone was very helpful.

Nice place, clean, TV in waiting lounge. Floyd gave excellent customer service. He is a real friendly guy! I did not have an appointment and I needed my tire patched from running over a nail. But I was able to go in and got the tire patched in less than hour. It was a fair price.
They are near the Starbucks and they have a small parking lot and plenty of street parking.

I found Kami’s Auto Service through a living social deal and have gotten 2 oil changes here since then. Both times have been great, pretty hassle-​free outside of a bit of wait time. Floyd gives great customer service and was very friendly and helpful. Water, vending machine, and television are available while you’re waiting. There’s a Starbucks right down the street to kill some time as well. :)

Great place!!! Found it through Unilocal while looking for a place to get my oil changed. Got excellent service and recommendations on what repairs I needed now and what repairs could wait. However, you get more of a discounts when you get more things done at one time. I thought the prices were reasonable, and I felt like I was dealing with a reputable business.

My car needed an oil change and due to the proximity to UCLA and the Unilocal ratings, I decided to give this spot a try.
As a female college student, I really don’t know enough about cars or pricing but they were pretty helpful for a seemingly decent price. For just a regular oil change it was around $ 36, it took about an hour and I just chilled on the sofa in the reception area. The mechanic also told me that my front break pads needed to be changed, and something about needing to resurface the rotors soon or else they would need to be replaced; he explained it in layman’s terms which was much appreciated.
The only reason I give it 3 stars is because I called early in the morning about scheduling and was told to bring my car in at 3. I show up at 2:55 and was told that the mechanics all left for lunch and that I should come back in 40 minutes… Uhm WHAT. Fortunately, as I was sitting in my car trying to find another place to get my oil change, because I decided that waiting 40 minutes to come back when I showed up on time seemed ridiculous, a mechanic came back and the receptionist waved me to go back in.
I am hesitant to go back, but probably will because I don’t want to go to jiffy lube.

Loathe to give my business to the jerks over at EZ Lube, I embarked upon a hasty Unilocal search for «oil change» which eventually brought me to Kami’s Auto Service.
From calling the shop to check availability, to getting my car serviced and paying the bill, this was a wholly pleasant experience. At 30 for an oil change and checkup on my 2005 pontiac, this place was around $ 9cheaper than EZ Lube. And better yet, the guys here are super nice and very fast. Their waiting room is spacious, with free wifi and a big plasma tv.
All in all, I am give this place more of my business in the future. And would most definitely refer it to my friends

** HONEST AND GREAT SERVICE, EVEN FOR AN OIL CHANGE **
I came here for the first time a week ago to get my yearly oil change for my Volvo. I had always gotten synthetic oil for my car according to all my previous mechanics, but surprisingly, the employee at Kami’s told me my car didn’t actually NEED that expensive synthetic oil (which would be $ 80) but the regular oil ($ 30) would suffice. Now, I’ve always learned you need to be skeptical at auto service places you’re not familiar with; but he even spent the time to look it up on the internet, and open up my hood. He showed me that the manufacturer actually printed in my hood, «Castrol recommended» — meaning that Volvo actually recommends a brand of NON-​synthetic oil. Apparently I’d been paying for this fancy oil when my car doesn’t even need it!
Well, in any case, I still got the synthetic oil change because my dad would have thrown a fit if I didn’t, but the point of the story is – I was surprised that this guy would actually try to help me SAVE money instead of spending it! That, ladies and gents, is a quality you’d be hard pressed to find in many auto service places.
He even discounted the synthetic oil change to $ 65 for me at the end. Maybe I got ripped off in any case (I don’t know the slightest thing about cars) — but at least he made me FEEL like I got a deal. Hey, ignorance is bliss right?
PS. A side story — when I came in, this funny old lady was leaving and cursing under her breath. I was mostly just amused — and a little worried what these people had done to her to make her so angry — but didn’t think anything of it. 5 minutes later, one of the employees came over to apologize to ME for HER «vulgar» behavior. Completely unnecessary but nice of them to show they care.

AWESOME. Great experience, despite a few setbacks we suffered together due to the uncooperative weather. I am a girl who has never taken my own car to a body shop ever. The prospect of handling such a nightmare kept me away from body shops for 2 years after I hit my first garage wall. During the past 2 years, I’ve accumulated more battle scars, all from various garages, all on different panels of my car, each one worse than before. It was time to finally bring Wolfy to the hospital.
The people at Kami’s were super nice, helpful, and made my experience very pleasant. The mechanic gave me a VERY fair estimate, about $ 1100 less than another shop, essentially a 50% difference. My car was supposed to be done in 2 – 3 days, but due to the storms over the weekend, had to be kept 3 days longer to ensure drying. Then when it finally dried, the humidity caused it to dry unevenly, so they repainted it and paid for a rental car for me. I cannot stress how nice they were about the whole situation. Because I wouldn’t be able to get back to Enterprise by the 24-​hour cut-​off, Kami’s told me to go ahead and keep it for another day, because the delay was their fault (even though it really wasn’t). I ended up not needing the extra day, but their helpfulness really put me at ease and made the experience much better than it could have been. Thanks Kami’s!

Came in here for some maintenance work on my Outback on a Saturday morning… One other person waiting for a repair, so it didn’t take too long. Total came out to just under $ 100 for synthetic oil change and a tire rotation. Consider the reviews that stated really low prices, it came out to a bit higher than expected, but maybe they charge a little bit more for these types of jobs, vs the bigger jobs?
Clean waiting area with a big screen playing Pineapple Express while we were waiting… Friendly staff too. I’ll try them out a few times more and see how things go.
By the way, not sure how Albert was as a mechanic here, but seems like he has a lot of fans in the other reviews. However things were when he left seemed good enough as they posted up his phone number to get in touch with him if you want…

Update: Albert is no longer here, but stand by for info on his new WLA place of business! In the meantime, he can be reached at 818.233.0573.

I switched my auto care needs to Kami’s when I heard that Albert from the 76 Station across the 405 moved there. I have had my brakes changed, a complete tune-​up, and a new oxygen sensor installed since going there and am happy with the service and the reasonable prices they charge. Albert even let me use a laptop while I was waiting for my car in the lobby. Beats 5 year old copies of US Weekly and Popular Mechanics I would be forced to entertain myself with in other shops!
At the end of the day, I fully trust Albert’s diagnosis of my car’s issues and and feel secure that I am not being ripped off. Also, John at the front counter is a great conversationalist and has a wide variety of interests.

Moved to LA from San Diego and I’ve been looking for a simple place to get my car maintained. After browsing through a couple of places, put in a call to Kami’s this morning and got a estimate of $ 30 for an oil change for my 4-​cyl Hyundai. I feel that most non-​Jiffy Lube places charged half that but I wouldn’t want to risk my car getting messed up.
Went in, they took my car out back to get it serviced. Their waiting room is pretty nice with a nice selection of magazines and a TV. Interior décor felt normal for a run-​of-​the-​mill auto shop with shelves of parts and posters on the wall.
One surprise, they told me that there might be rats in my garage because apparently there were rat feces in my engine. They told me that they have had cases where rats chew on the hosing and wiring. Totally unexpected. Besides that they told me my car was ok and actually replaced my windshield wipers too.
Oil change with labor came out to about $ 31 while the additional wiper change cost me a total of $ 66. I would give them four stars save for the price. But I come from San Diego where oil changes are typically half the price they are here. It felt like a big hit to my wallet but it saved me a lot of stress knowing that my car is maintained and they didn’t try to sell me anything extra or un-​needed. I just hope nothing happens to my car in the coming weeks. Will be back for further maintenance.