Universal Tires & Auto Service

Came back today to get 2 rear tires mounted and balanced on my 2008 BMW 335i. In and out in 30 minutes. Thanks again. FYI: Ken mentioned today that they are moving at the end of the month to a nearby location, but they are keeping the same business name and number.

This place is absolutely great. Great staff and great prices. Ken is a delight to deal with. The mechanics here are fast and friendly. Great service all around

I found this place randomly through Google maps and it was only while I waited that I checked out the stellar reviews. I needed a tire rotation and expected to pay the $ 25 that most other places had quoted me. After 10 minutes (no kidding), I was out the door and paid nothing — I simply got a «thank you and have a nice day». I will be back for all other car needs — they said they work on Volvos & Saabs. So happy to have found this place!

This place is amazing. No charge diagnostic! Perfect alignment for $ 40. Owner Ken is super nice, laid back, straight forward and honest. 4 brand new tires come with free balance and rotation all in $ 560. In and out within 1 hour. Mechanics knew exactly what they were doing. Ask for Ken. You’ll be happy you did.

I got a nail in my tire. Noticed it at a gas station near by so I quickly found this place on Unilocal.Drove straight there. I was immediately assisted. The guy working wasn’t much for words and conversation, but he can change and plug a tire in no time. I probably was in and out in less than ten minutes. My tire has been working just fine. No fuss shop that got me back on the road and for ten bucks it was exactly what I needed.

My family has been going here for years. They are honest and affordable, and they always do their best to save their customers money. They have always done well by us.
I recommend Universal to all of my friends int the area.

Got a nail in my tire that threatened Saturday plans
Triple-​A filled it at trader joes
Parking lot and i stopped at this place on the way to our planned event. painless! They popped my tire
Off, removed the nail and patched it up in 5 min all
For a super reasonable price. Also felt like a mom n pop which I love supporting in our hugely corporation run city. I hope I don’t need these guys anytime soon but I would definitely
Go back!

They were very nice and helpful in patching up my tire! Only $ 10! I was in and out really fast.

The best guys around. The owner puts his heart and soul into this business and you can tell. They are honest, dependable and always keep their word. It’s a pleasure referring my friends here because I only hear «thank you’s» from them.

I’ve come here on two separate occasions in three years and I’ve never been more satisfied: 2 flat tires & tire rotation (which would have cost me at least $ 50 a tire anywhere else). They are quick and inexpensive !! The owner is very nice and his employees are nice and work fast to get you back on the road!

This place is VERY hole in the wall so if you’re expecting the kind of service that you’d get at a dealership then go elsewhere. I ordered tires for my vehicle on
because they were $ 60/​tire cheaper than at the dealer. All the installers wanted like $ 20−25/tire to install them though. Pep Boys, Firestone etc all nickel and dime you for valve stems, balance weights, tire recycling, taxes etc. I had been to this place before for a flat repair. They fixed it and mounted it on the car for $ 10 out the door (compared to Firestone which wanted $ 25+). I called them up and they offered to install the tires for $ 10 each. The dealer that changed my oil told me I needed an alignment which would be $ 79+ tax. This place quoted me $ 60. I got there and nobody greeted me right away but I made my presence known and they offered to help right away. They took the car and told me it’d take about 2 hours. I called them up 2 hours later and they told me the car was ready. I showed up and they ended up charging me a different amount! They charged me less! They told me the car only needed a front end alignment so they only charged me $ 40 for the alignment plus $ 40 for the tire install for a total of $ 80 out the door. Less than what I would have been charged anywhere else even for just the install. Couldn’t be happier! Highly recommend this place.

The tire pressure light came on this morning, so I stopped by universal tires to have them check if I had a problem. The owner was very nice and directed me to a guy that would take a look at my tires. He looked everything over while adding air and checking pressure. He said everything looked ok and asked me to turn on the car to make sure the light was off. And sure enough it was. The amazing part of it all was, they didn’t try to charge me anything for checking and adding air to my tires. The fact that they didn’t try to sell or jip me (a young girl who was alone and has not one clue about cars let alone tire pressure) is pleasing and I will definitely return with any future needs.

OK — full disclosure. These guys are never going to win any Ms. Congeniality awards. They’re nice enough, but not super friendly. Their shop isn’t the most elegant. But they also don’t try to sell you (let alone oversell you — a rarity in the car business). I recently drove over a rather thick nail stuck to a substantial piece of metal and needed to get my tire patched, FAST. These guys were the closest place to me and proximity was important. I drove in, waved a guy down, and in less than ten minutes my tire was patched and it cost me ten bucks. They did great work, it was affordable, and no nonsense. I appreciate that. I’ll definitely come back.

Had a bolt in my tire tread and went looking for a patch. First off, the Yellow Pages listed opening of 7:30AM is wrong. Allegedly they open at 8 but none of the shop guys had shown up by 8:15AM on a Monday so I left.

I have to agree with Johnny T. This place is really confusing and I left, because I didn’t trust the people there. Here are some of the problems I noticed when I walked in:
— Nobody greets you, and there is no actual customer service. You have to make yourself known before anyone will lift a finger

— Super confusing place. After I finally got someone to check my car, the mechanic left and no one told me what was going on. After waiting ten minutes I finally asked the mechanic who at this time went back to working on other cars, how long I had to wait. He replied, «No one has assisted you?» and I told him no. He then went to the people in the office angrily to tell them to help me. His frustration with them, led me to believe that this wasn’t the first time this has happened. They finally came out to see me, but I was already leaving.
— When they stopped me, they told me that If I wanted to get my engine light fixed, I would have to pay over 400 dollars. After I left them I went to Bobby’s Auto repair shop, and they charged me only 200 dollars! So it was obviously a scam and I felt it.
I really am confused just like Johnny about all the five star reviews. I did not see anything like that when I walked in. This place was awful.

I’ve been going here for almost 20 years. They are the best. They do top quality work the first time and have excellent judgement about when something needs to be done or can wait. In 20 years I’ve never had a problem with them. Work is always done in a timely manner. Most important they are very honest with a high level of integrity and very fair pricing. I wish Unilocal had additional stars since especially with auto repair it is a rare find to meet anyone this good. Many times I came in thinking my car needed major work and they found something very minor so I know they are not trying to sell any work I didn’t need.

Ken, the owner is a fantastic guy!
I had my New 20″ Black wheels mounted and balanced on my Mercedes for under $ 80 dollars. The staff was great. I showed up, and left out with the new wheels installed in less than an hour!
SUPERB!
I will definitely recommend Ken’s Universal Tire Center Shop to all of my friends!

I came in 2 weeks ago for a front end alignment. The service was very confusing. Nobody told me how long the service would take, if I should wait, go home and come back, etc. Eventually they told me that they would have to replace some part in order to perform the alignment. Price: $ 240. At that point I was told that I should come back in the morning and leave the car. As it happened I had to drive to San Francisco that morning, so I had to put it off. Glad I did.
I came back this morning. Again, the service was indifferent. Actually, this time it was downright oblivious. I stood around hoping to catch somebody’s attention. The waiting room/​office is not pleasant. Its filled a constant stream of second hand smoke from a person who I assume is the boss man. I stood around for a bit. Not once was I greeted or did this man even make eye contact. I was maybe 10 feet away from him, so there was no question that he knew I was there. I got sick of the shabby service and even sicker of the obnoxious smoke and took my business elsewhere.
Universal Tires & Auto Service may indeed by honest and affordable, as the other reviews state. Maybe if someone, anyone, had bothered to give me a nod, a wave or a quick «be right with you» then I could have found out for myself.

Ken, the owner is the most honest guy out there. He will tell you exactly what you need to have done, and only do the work when you absolutly need it. Staff is super friendly and cater to the customer. Wouldn’t take my car anywhere else.

Nail in the tire + hour long drive the next day = HEADACHE
Thankfully, the gruff-​fatherly type who owns Universal Tires, makes the scenario a cinch to deal with. He’s of few words with customers, but honest and fair in service and price. In fact, his usual word quota consists of, «Hey, [insert employee name] fix that»…“That’ll be $ 10″…and «Have a good day, bye.»
My husband drove in here with my son and me after we had a leisurely Saturday lunch. I thought, «ugh, can’t this wait until we’re not with you?» It turned out to be a fun little outing. We got to watch the entire fix which thrilled my almost 5 year old boy and we were in and out in less than 15 minutes. $ 10 for the patch, no pitch about how we might consider new tires because the tread looks worn, no up-​sell for a tire rotation.
Trustworthy and auto repair are too often antonyms, but not at Universal Tires. I won’t even flinch the next time the tire pressure light comes on… just a hop-​skip-​and-​a-​jump to Universal Tire!