Larry’s Independent Service

Love Larry, he is Honest and his entire staff of Licensed Mechanics are amazing. If your in South Orange County and are looking for reliable mechanics, Larry is the guy you take your car to. I called to see if I could make an appointment or bring my car in to have my brake light looked at and my headlight. Both on the drivers side. I figured the Fuse or Bulbs are out. Larry said, bring it in after lunch we’ll take care of you. And, they did

These guys are great — had an issue that needed to be sorted ASAP and they turned it over in under 2 days. Special mentions to Larry who seems a proud and genuine guy — he called to discuss repair recommendations/​options a few hours after dropping my Subaru off plus Carlos who answered the phone initially, said he could work us in and was very considerate offering us a lift home when we became carless.
I was especially impressed when after an initial recommendation that was too pricey and extensive Larry’s said they would call me back with a bare-​bones repair plan, and did so without any fuss or snideness. Although a simple job the car is once again fine and they made a customer happy… cheers guys!

I took my wife’s Honda Odyssey into Larry’s shop today. On 24 hours notice, Larry’s crew was able to easily handle what needed to be done and provide a list of items which need immediate attention. Of course, my wife is happy because her car is going to be fun to drive again but for me, the quality of workmanship and professionalism shown by this crew of specialists is exactly why I continue to take our cars to Larry’s. Thank you again Larry, Carlos and gang for a great job!

We’ve been taking our vehicles to Larrys for years! If you’re looking for a honest trust worthy mechanic, Larrys independence is where you need to go! Best OC shop you’ll ever find! They tell it like it is, (good or bad) and recommend your best option to go with! There’s no pushiness or charges that aren’t previously explained! The staff is awesome as well, and trust me you won’t be disappointed! Thank you Larry!

Larry’s is such an honest and reliable place to get your car repaired! They have never pressured us into doing anything that was not needed. In fact, if he sees something could be a problem in the future, he will monitor it and only suggest to get it fixed when it’s absolutely necessary. They will take you home and pick you up if needed. Great service, fast and efficient! Highly recommend!

As HONEST as they come!
I bought a used car & quickly realized there was something wrong with the breaks. I took it into Larry and had his crew check it out. They checked out everything. They also did a background check on my car and found out that there was a SAFETY RECALL many years ago. Larry called us and told us that he would be happy to fix our breaks but that because it’s a SAFETY RECALL, our dealership that we bought the car from should cover it at no charge. We called the dealership and sure enough, it’s covered. Also, really surprised that our dealership didn’t notify us of this recall. Kudos for Larry for finding out about a very serious safety issue AND for being honest & letting us know that we didn’t have to pay for it.
I would recommend Larry’s Independent to ANYONE!!!

I really lucked out searching Unilocal for a local mechanic. This was my first time trying Larry’s after reading some of his incredible reviews. They are honest and accommodating, as well as great mechanics. I am so fortunate to have found Larry, he and his staff are amazing. I will recommend him to everyone.

Larry and staff do great work. My family and I have had our cars serviced by him for years. He goes the extra mile and because his name is on the wall, you can tell the extra pride in detail is there.

I took my Ford Ranger pick up to Larry primarily because of one of his excellent mechanics Paul Galante. Paul diagnosed the problem immeadiatly and repaired the issue. I also had my transmission serviced and the trans was sealed up tight with no leaks. Larry is recovering from surgery so things are a little slower to get done right now. but that should improve when things get back to normal. I will take my vehicle back when I need repairs or service.

Still going here and he is still the most honest and sincere mechanic we have ever been to. Everyone here is so nice, with a good sense of humor. Thanks Larry for everything!

I have always received excellent service here! I highly recommend Larry’s Independent Service because of its courteous staff and skilled mechanics.

I have had quite a time finding a great shop for my car and my search is finally over. I have a Honda Prelude which started having some starting problems. I took it to two shops and was given almost an instant response that I need a new starter. They quoted me immediately and did not even take the time to really evluate the problem. I found Larry’s shop from a recommendation from a neighbor. I took it there and they were the first to want to take time to evaluate the problem. After they took it in and performed the evaluation, I think about 30min, they concluded that it was an electrical issue that could be resolved shortly. I can’t tell you how much less expensive this repair was compared to replacing the entire starter. I was very impressed with the shop actually diagnosing the problem before just changing a part like the other shops wanted to do. Thanks guys. Also, there actually is a Larry and he is in the shop! Highly recommended!

It seems like it takes forever to find a good mechanic. I found one I can both trust and appreciate. Larry’s Independent Service is fairly priced (it’s not the cheapest shop around or the most expensive) and they’re honest. They’ve saved me money from needless brake repairs to the 100K mile service. I take pride in my cars and Larry’s matches it. I recommend Larry’s to anyone looking for a good, decent and honest mechanic.

Bringing in my car for service has never been a fun experience and I don’t expect it to be. I just expect that the shop I bring it to doesn’t try to rip me off. I definitely did not feel taken advantage of at Larry’s.
I had my honda serviced here recently using one of their promo coupons. While there I had them look at a few other problems that I had been ignoring over the past few months. What was really cool is that they didn’t just tell me what was wrong and how much it cost to repair, they actually took me back into the shop and «showed» me what was happening. I really appreciated that.
On a side note… one of the cleanest shops that I’ve seen. That alone tells a lot about a mechanic. I’ve always taken that into consideration when judging a mechanic.
I will definitely continue to go here.

The staff at Larry’s Independent are very dependable and most of all honest. I’ve always feared of going to auto repair shops because I would not know if the mechanics are honest. It is great to know that I can trust the staff at Larry’s and that I drive my car without worry because it is well maintained at this shop. I will definitely recommend Larry’s Independent to my friends and family.

I’ve been going to Larry’s for over 10 years and have always been very satisfied with the work they have done and their prices. They are the most honest and genuine people you will meet in this business! I highly recommend them.

If I could give less than half of a star, I would. My car has been at Larry’s off and on for the past 30 days. The last stretch was a full two weeks. I was never offered a loaner, nor was an offer made to pay for car rental for any part of that time; not even one day. My life has literally been turned upside down from my experience at Larry’s. I have missed classes, driven an hour out of my way every day for two weeks to share a car with my boyfriend, and still do not have a fixed car. The day I finally picked it up, the engine light came on. After spending $ 3K, I could have made a down payment on a new car. My old car is not even close to worth that. I am writing this to save others from what I have gone through.

You know, I don’t even know if Larry is a real guy or not but what I do know is that he is pissing me off!
There is nothing honest about these guys. I am willing to wager that the 2 positive reviews on this page are from personal friends of owner.
So while I was on a business trip here in California, I decided to use this place. While I was driving to Orange County from Las Vegas I began to hear a grinding sound whenever I hit my breaks. It was obvious that one of my break pads were worn out. Also, it had been over 3000 miles since I changed my oil, and since I was on business I didn’t have the luxury of changing it myself. So, I wanted to replace a worn brake pad and get an oil change. I got my referral to this place by your generic Orange County middle age man who wears a Harley Davidson shirt and talks about Jesus all the time. Maybe it wasn’t the best place to get auto advice from.
Let me tell you something first. All the 1-​star reviews here hit it dead on! I experienced every single problem that the other reviewers complained about.
First of all, they didn’t change my oil because I didn’t want them to after I talked with whoever the f*ck it was that was working there. He wanted to charge me almost like a hundred bucks for an oil that wasn’t even synthetic. Here in Clark County, it’s easy to find a place that only charges you $ 10 for 4.5 quarts of oil, oil filter, with air pressure and tire rotation thrown in for free. And Larry wanted to charge me a fortune for half the service. Now, this is what really pisses me off… my oil plug almost fell off a few minutes after I left this place. There was a large amount of oil dripping out from the area around the plug. What the hell were they doing? I know you ain’t supposed to screw on the oil plug too tight, but these guys apparently didn’t screw it on at all. Second, why the hell were they even screwing around with the thing when I told them I didn’t want an oil change from them? Could you imagine if that oil plug fell off when I driving back to Nevada in the middle of that lifeless desert? You know, I have been changing oil since I was a teenager and I ain’t no professional mechanic and I’ve never made a serious error like that.
Also, here is another heads up. This is one of those scam type of auto repair shops that tell you «I found another problem». You come in here for new brake pads and an oil change and they will claim that you got some bullsh! t problem then quote you a couple thousand dollars. After the guy checked my car, he found what I already knew. He found one of my break pads were worn out. He quoted me some ridiculous amount. It was like $ 500 or something. Yeah, that would work if I was some ditzy bleached blonde chick from Newport Beach or one of those college kids from Scottsdale (believe me those guys are stupid), but there ain’t no fooling me. He also said I had some kind of engine problem which he quoted me at $ 5000 or something. I actually stopped listening about 10 minutes before he quoted me because I knew I had stepped in the bullsh! t.
I drove my car away and asked a guy at the AM/​PM, and he told me to take it to some guy named Lee who was a across the street from Larry’s. He quoted me $ 15 for the oil change, $ 120 for the brake pads and found no problem with my engine at all.
I came to the conclusion that Larry tries to rip off very wealthy Orange County elitists who don’t have any clue about auto maintenance. Those guys are probably the only people who would fall for a scam and pay $ 1000 for an oil change or something.
You should see the testimonials on Larry’s personal website. They all look like they were written by the same guy. Literally, they all look like: «Yo my name is Nicky. Larry ain’t bad. Larry is good. Capisce?»
What can I say…

I had read great reviews online about Larry’s Independent Service, and decided to stop in for an oil change as the shop was near my job in southern Orange County (this was in the summer of 2009).
I don’t doubt that other people have had fantastic experiences with them, but in my case, choosing to trust Larry’s with my car was certainly a mistake. After they completed a simple oil change, I was told that my Infiniti I30t’s power steering pump was leaking and needed to be replaced at a cost of approximately $ 1,200.
The next morning, I awake to find a huge pool of fluid under my car. I drive to work, and I see a pool forming there as well. Drive home, another even larger pool of fluid the next morning.
I take my car to another mechanic in south OC, and I was told that the massive oil leak was due to the oil filter being improperly secured during a botched oil change. Also, they tested my power steering pump, and determined that it was working flawlessly and was not leaking anywhere in its system.
So, what did I get from my visit to Larry’s? A horribly botched oil change (I could have done it better myself… and that’s saying something) and a completely incorrect diagnosis which would’ve set me back over $ 1k. Stay away if you value your vehicle and your sanity.

I don’t claim to be car savvy. I can pop open the hood of my baby (a silver ’05 Toyota Solara) and check the oil and other fluids and do a basic assessment. Thanks to my years at Denso I know a little about how an alternator, starter, and other car parts function but that’s as far as my knowledge goes so when it came time for an oil change and my 30k check up, I trust the experts. The experts at Larry’s Independent Service.
Years ago, two guys set up this shop in Mission Viejo and they have been reliably servicing the area for quite some time. I can trust my car here. Why? They’re AAA guaranteed. You can see that guarantee right when you walk in and you know you’re in good hands.
If the work is going to take longer, you can either sit and chat (guaranteed laughs there), get some work down with their free wifi service, or they’ll happily shuttle you home and pick you up when your car is done. Amazing! If you need to go to work, they can either shuttle your there or give you a loaner car. Again, amazing!
Granted, when you walk in the shop doesn’t look too spectacular and you might be a bit skeptical but hey, it’s a car repair shop. It’s not going to look like sunshine and roses. These guys mean business and you might see some grease spots. You know they’re working.
I got my 30k and oil change done for about $ 200. Beauty of it is, they stock Mobil 1. I love Mobil 1. It means my car can go 10−15k miles before the oil needs to be changed again. I’m all about convenience, folks. I don’t like pumping gas (wish they invented gas that went that long) or going in every 3,000 miles or 3 months for an oil change. Mobil 1 makes my life easy and it lasts me for a whole year or a little under.
Plus the folks at Larry’s are happy to explain my options and in a dummies version for cars. They tell it to me straight instead of shooting some mumbo jumbo car vocabulary at me. They also physically show me the problem so I can assess for myself instead coming out from the garage and telling me I have potential problems. If I can’t pay right away, they tell me how long I can go before the problem becomes a major deal.
If you’re a regular customer, you also get discounts and coupons in the mail. You gotta love that in this recession and they always remember your name and send you updates about your car and when you might be due for maintenance. Another great added feature.
Highly recommended to anyone looking for a great auto service shop.