California Motor Works & Tires

Every time I go to California Motor Works they impress me with their level of service. Fast, friendly and affordable, I completely trust them to give me a fair price, not suggest repairs I don’t need and to make me feel secure and comfortable through the whole process. Thanks guys for exceeding my expectations each and every time.

Guys left my window open when it was raining, talking about it was an accident. How is it an accident when it’s been raining for 4 days. Don’t bring it here…

Not the best service, but convenient location.
Came in for a smog after I fixed a bunch of things on a car I just bought.
First let me just tell you, that this business is VERY SMALL.
Their parking lot is on a giant hill and is SUPER TINY.
There’s cars parked everywhere so you just have to squeeze in through.
They also share the plaza with two other businesses.
If there’s no parking, then park on the street.
There seems like there is no wait times for smog here which is good.
But always call in to double check.
Expect about 30mins-​1 hour wait for your car to be smogged.
It’s $ 39.95 for the smog and an extra $ 8.25 for the certificate if you pass smog.
THINGS TO KNOW FOR SMOG:
1. Make sure that your vehicle DOES NOT have a check engine light on.
They will immediately fail you and still charge you for the smog even though they see the check engine light on as soon as they start the car.
2. Make sure that your check engine light actually works. I unknowingly failed smog because the light bulb on the cluster had burned out.
3. If you’re uncertain on whether your check engine light works at all, just double check it by taking your vehicle to a repair shop to get your car scanned for any check engine light codes.
If you don’t have any check engine lights, then you should be good to go!
I was really upset when I found out that my vehicle passed everything except for the check engine light bulb. But luckily, Alan, I believe he’s the owner, was very generous in explaining to me the reasons and offering me to re-​smog it after I repair the bulb.
P. S. Man with the beard at the front desk is not very friendly or talkative. Very awkward.

I had a tire shred to bits on the freeway and was towed here by AAA. It was nearby, which was helpful, but my experience there was only ok. They had to call over to a warehouse to ask about tires and prices and what was available, so even after I requested to have several options for replacement tires I was given 3 choices (which is ridiculous, as other tire shops have their entire inventory available on the website, have customers review the tires, and you can compare prices yourself) and had to have the information relayed to me one by one as the staff spoke to the warehouse on the other end of the phone. I was stressed out and late for work and wanted to get my car back on the road ASAP which is the only reason why I did business here. They had to drive to the warehouse to pick up the tires before someone was able to start working on my car. They were nice enough and I was grateful for that but I probably wouldn’t recommend.

I had a problem with my axel this past summer and decided to look at the AAA reccomended shops. I found a few and called to do some research and to get an estimate on pricing. CA Motor Works was friendly on the phone and had answered all my questions. So, yesterday I returned to get my car diagnosed because my car was acelerating funny and my check engine light came on. I had let a oil leak go too long without having it taken care of and it caught up with me and ruined the spark plug causing it to misfire and drive funny. They were great to quickly get it diagnosed and set me up with a rental car from next door and show me the estimate of the repairs. my car is running great now! They have earned my business and trust! I’m so glad I decided to go with them, they have great and friendly customer service versus some other shops I’ve been to where I feel like I’m inconviencing them and they talk to me like I’m stupid. just because mechanics are in demand doesn’t mean you can forget about customer service, having your car in the shop is already frustrating enough.

Came in for an oil change and was told I had a bad oil change plug, then another tech came in and told me the threads were bad in my oil pan. This is outrageous. I had a oil change done by a trusted mechanic a few months back and there was no issues with the plug or threads.
The other reviews must be true as this shop is very shady.
Beware.

Called AAA because my car had died near the 805 freeway. They towed it here for repairs, and man… I hope there’s been folks who have reported this business to AAA. They are a rip-​off, scam artists, unfriendly, unprofessional… the works.
If you need auto repairs done, you’d be much better off doing some homework. Please read these Unilocal reviews before hand and listen to those of us who have had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with this place.
Take your car somewhere else! The Kearny Mesa/​Clairemont area is full of other, high-​quality auto repair stores.

Excellent customer service, and quick work! Even though the garage was packed, and there was a lot of business, I was in and out in 45mins! Very professional, and competitively priced!

There’s no doubt in my mind these people are crooks. Like many others, I came in with my coupon from the Reader for $ 16.99. The guy told me because it was a Honda it would be $ 48. 3 times the coupon price! The check engine light has not come on in my car in 2 years. Low and behold, I come back 40 minutes later «Sorry your car fail engine light come on during test. We fix for you!» Complete crooks. I know they did something to cause the light to trigger and I intend on reporting to the Bureau of Automotive Repair.

I had my 2004 Honda Accord smog checked by this merchant in Aug 2013. Service was quick, professional and efficient. Front counter employee checked me in and I waited about 15 – 20 min for the service. I did not read the reviews prior to going to this merchant, otherwise I would have probably not gone. However, each review has to be taken individually as each person has a different situation. Total paid after SD Reader coupon discount was $ 25.20. A fair price for this type of service.

Went to get a smog test on my car to this place and passed everything but the visual. They had told me that it failed because I had a crack in some pvc pipe assembly that was related to the smog test. They said that after everything is said and done it would cost 200 o get it fixed and retested. Unfortunately I paid for it and they got the part but apparently the part that they needed and the one got was wrong and I paid for the wrong one. Seeing how I got the wrong one they said they would order the new one that I really needed and come back the next day when they have it. So I returned and the part they ended up getting for me was more expensive then the one that I had already paid for but because I prepaid for everything they said that I would need to pay for it. Then when they went to test the car all the sudden it had a check engine light that they had run a dianostic test to fix and it would run me 75 plus repairs even before they resmog. The part that I paid for was put on and I told then I was just going to have them reset my light and go through my 3 drive cycles before I do anything. Before I even get 10 miles down the road the light comes back on. Don’t go here, its not legitimate. I have seen a trend that if you brought in a coupon then some how you have a problem with your car but if you don’t then your car is just fine. I brought in a coupon and magically my car is broken. Should have read Unilocal first

This place was the downright worst place I’ve ever taken my vehicle. It was so bad I’m thinking about contacting the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
I’m only 21 and I do most of my own automotive work. So I don’t go out for car service very often. But of course when smog time rolls around it’s a necessity to actually take my car in and let someone else touch my baby. A smog check is simple and should not be cause for any mechanical harm… until here where I will pick up at the end of my experience with this joke of an automotive service establishment.
Upon failing the smog check the counter guy almost skipped an explanation of what errors occurred but went on about how I could come back for a recheck at a nice discount. (my ripoff radar went up at this point as the majority of places I’ve been offer one free retest and don’t shy away from questions regarding the state of my car). The mechanic reports to me that one of my hoses (quite a hidden one) had been repaired with duct tape and so he had nicely TORN IT OFF, and showed me by putting in 3 or 4 fingers and yanking open the hole even more. This destructive action, making a small leak into a huge gaping hole showed on the smog test so much that my car was reported as a gross polluter and now I will be summoned for smog checks annually, twice as much as the rest of you. Then he slammed my hood down on a metal clipboard and I had to get my tweaked hood open myself to get it back.
My mechanic who replaced the hose said he had never ever seen a gross polluter on a car as new as mine and that when I took my car in for a test the smog technician had no legal right to make any modifications to the systems in my car and furthermore he must test the vehicle as it drives in. He could have failed the car functional test based on the shoddy hose repair, but doing damage and then testing to create a reason for me to have to get smogged every year is beyond unethical.

I brought my car here for a mandatory smog check. There’s a coupon on the website but they told me it didn’t apply since my DMV registration listed STAR certified station required. The guy tried to justify it by saying they have to run more tests (they don’t) and when I asked him which tests, he didn’t know. In the end I just paid the difference because I had already driven out there and it wasn’t really enough of a difference to debate over.
The actual smog check was fairly quick and I was out of there in 25 minutes.
A couple things I discovered after I left:
1) Even though the OBD II port isn’t behind the ash tray in my car, they removed it and didn’t put it back in.
2) The mechanic didn’t close my hood all the way and I noticed it bouncing up and down on the freeway.

This place is the biggest ripoff ever. I intend to report them to the BBB as well as the state for what happened yesterday. To begin with it was a mistake to go there in the first place I hadn’t realized that they were the same place I went to 2 years ago for a smog inspection they told me my truck needed a new air conditioner compresser price $ 800.00 I called around and went to another place that told me if I needed it the price was $ 450. Turned out I needed a cleaned hose and new freon price 129.00 fix lasted more than 2 years until I sold the truck.
Yesterday I bring in my fine running car and they tell me it fails smog they say that my hoses are cracked and need replacing price $ 116.00. Tell me if I go somewhere else I have to pay again for smog. I go to another station 5 minutes away show them the hoses they smog my car no problem. I ask if I were to replace the hoses the price $ 45.00. Quite a difference. I would recommend no one go to this station for anything. The owner was rude and I am going to pursue this ripoff. There was nothing wrong with my hoses and I wasted the price of a smog inspection. An awful place. If I could give it a zero that is what they deserve.

I’ve taken my 2007 ACURA TL in for oil, fluids and brakes. My 2006 NISSAN ROGUE with 100k miles for shocks, springs, wheels, tires, alignment, clutch, full tune up and a smog. That was a big ticket but finished it quickly for a fair price. Cheaper and faster than quotes from other shops. I’ve referred plenty of friends to this shop and they have all had good experiences. It’s hard to find a reliable and honest mechanic. I’m glad I found one.

These people are scam artists. I came here for a smog check, mostly because I had a coupon, and they failed my smog. When I asked them what could possibly be wrong, they gave me a well rehearsed, script of how they wouldn’t know unless they took the time to figure it out and they wouldn’t even tell me their hourly rate, even though it was posted on the wall behind them. When I pointed it out to them, it was like they didn’t want to admit it was there. I don’t see how people who fix cars for a living couldn’t made an educated guess as to what’s wrong based on the readings. I got the hell out of there. A few days later, I was telling a coworker about that place and he told me he had gone there with the same coupon as me, and they did the same exact thing to him too!
I ended up taking my car to my dad and he thought it would be my spark plugs. We changed them for $ 50 and I got it resmogged at the Smog Clinic down the street, and passed with flying colors. Don’t bring your car here, you’ve been warned!

AAA recommended this place when my car had to be towed off the freeway nearby. My timer belt had broken and they claimed it had damaged parts of my engine as well. Given that the car wouldn’t start I didn’t have many options to have it repaired elsewhere. I wish I had paid to have had it towed somewhere else. They charged me over $ 2000. After talking to other mechanics which all confirmed that my timing belt would’ve cost around $ 260 and even if there was other damage it wouldn’t have costed more than $ 800, I am confident that this place is dishonest and scamming people.
On top of the lies and outrageously overpriced repair, they opened a 12 pack of soda I had in my trunk. First of all, they had no reason to be in the trunk at all — my engine is on the other side of the car! Secondly, that is just petty and the remaining 11 soad cans went flying out of the open box all over my trunk!
This place is awful. I have contacted AAA regarding their rating of this business.

First off, watch out for the reviewers with five reviews or less. Like Marcos B. Lol. Look at that guy’s profile. Who would sign up to Unilocal to write ONE review?
These guys are your typical crooks, especially the Vietnamese dude who wears only black clubby clothes. I’m next in line to get my smog done and bring in the $ 11.95 smog coupon. The Mexican guy I talk to rings me up for about $ 22 because of the transfer fee and smog certificate.
Then a soccer mom pulls up in a recent model Honda Odyssey. She is handled by Vietnamese-​dude-​in-​black. She also has the coupon, but somehow is rung up for around $ 30. When we both sit down and I tell her to look at the coupon and double check what she was charged.
She then realizes she was ripped off by $ 8. She then shrugs her shoulders and says she’s not going to fight it and also will never come back to the place.
I also notice that Vietnamese-​dude-​in-​all-​black pulls HER car up before mine and does her smog check.
I guess first-​come-​first-​serve means nothing to this place.
We both passed our smog checks, but service was pitiful. I can’t imagine what I’d get if I brought the car in for real car repairs.
Great job guys, so they now have two customers who will NEVER go back to this dump.

Went in for a biennial smog check for my 2005 vehicle. The coupon from the Reader (sucky publication, by the way — but coupons are the only thing good about it) promotes their $ 11.95 special (plus certificate and electronic transmission fees). Their motto was the ‘fastest smog check in town.” Well, I can honestly say it’s true, as I was in and out of there in less than 15 minutes and my car passed with flying colors.
I can’t speak for those vehicles with the probability of not passing, which I assume would encounter both problems and additional costs. But if your car is relatively new, and you’re just following the DMV formality, then this place is the best! Clean waiting room too, with lots of good mags to read while you wait!

My family has been going here for years now. They provide excellent maintenance work as well as repairs. I was old-​fashioned and kept going to the dealer until they just frustrated me too much. The dealers are so big they NEVER remember you and just treat you like a number. So, on my dad and sister’s advice, I took my car to CA Motorworks. No line, no number, and Allan (the very helpful owner and or boss) asked me my name on day one and has not forgotten it since. I trust these guys. I believe they are honest. I have never been there and felt like they were trying to sell me anything extra or unnecessary. I highly recommend it if you are near 163 or 805 on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Ask for Allan.