Apex Auto Service

This is the best auto repair shop I have ever found in my life. I love the way Eizo patiently explains everything to me with pictures. He is so respectful, polite, and caring in all his interactions with customers. His prices are very reasonable and I feel that I can really trust him. I am a counselor by profession and have a pretty good intuitive sense of people’s character when I interact with them. I’m telling you, Eizo is as honest as they come.

recommend getting ur oil change here if u want great service and high quality oil for cheap. Also have to make an appointment before u can come.

Does Eizo need more testament? Probably not, but our two Pathfinders (still trying to get rid of one!), Mazda truck and MR2 are still kicking. Yet somehow Eizo doesn’t look a day older than when I first brought the truck there 16 years ago! He eventually hired another top notch mechanic — from Japan, of course — and they are able to turn cars over a little bit faster than before. Thanks to these great reviews, Apex Auto is ALWAYS busy. But don’t worry, Eizo is still as thorough as ever. How he finds the time to document everything is beyond me.
I DO bring my MR2 here for oil changes, after a Jiffy Lube monkey overtightened a nut, allowing all the oil to leak out into the underpan. I brought the car to Apex because the light came on. Poor Eizo cleaned it up as best as possible and thank goodness my engine was OK. He’s the only one I trust to touch this car now and I know with his good care it will probably last another 20 years.
Also, Eizo is awesome if you just need his opinion on a used car you’re thinking about buying. If you can leave it there for a little while, he will be exceedingly thorough about all the things that are wrong with it. He even ran a very thorough background check on one vehicle that we’d unfortunately already purchased and it was all kinds of funky esp. w/​the odometer, which appears to have been rolled back like, 200K miles. Now that he’s selling cars, too, the next time we need a used car I definitely want to buy from him. You can be sure these cars have clean titles, real odometer readings and are in tip-​top mechanical shape.

There really doesn’t need to be another storybook review about this place — everything was fantastic, easy, and transparent.
I got my 100k tuneup on my Honda Accord done here (and, being the shitty car owner I am, this was my first scheduled maintenance). He gave me a quote for free, with detailed pictures and an itemized receipt of what would be fixed and approximately how much everything would cost.
I did some outside research, confirmed what he had recommended, and left my car. Picked it up the next day, and, to my (grateful) surprise, he had fixed some other things he found while doing the maintenance without charging me. He explained, again with lots of photos and detail, what he did, why he did it, and what would need to be done in the future.
If you’re looking for an honest and reputable place to take you car, I can’t praise Apex loudly enough.

Apex Auto Service is great, maybe the best garage in town for Japanese marques, but understand you have to share Eizo & Co with the rest of us! This is a small shop, maybe 3 bays, and parking lot full of cars waiting their turn. My advice is:
Plan ahead — take your car here for the 30K/​60K/​90K scheduled services, whatever interval your manufacturer recommends. They will perform all the work they say, and more, and it will be documented with photos. Take good care of your car and you won’t need to come in for emergency repairs, generally speaking.
Give them time with your car, like a week. It will be locked up in a fenced lot, and if thieves were to target the place trust me, there are usually more interesting cars sitting around than yours. The best thing is to leave your car while on vacation somewhere and pick it up when you return.
Be prepared to pay for a few extras that weren’t on your original list of work. IF you cannot deal with that, be sure to stress that up front. They will call you if they stumble on some major broken part, but not the little stuff. Or like my last visit to get all my belts changed, I ended up getting an oil change — that was a judgement call by Eizo — it wan’t much money, so no big deal.
Understand that even a 5-​star rated shop isn’t perfect — I once had an accessory belt installed that was the wrong part number, and it squeaked after a few months. It all ended well and I didn’t have to pay for rework so all is forgiven. A shop like this that does a great job, treats customers well, and is very trustworthy is hard to come by, and to be valued.

It’s been a while since I worked with a mechanic that left me feeling well taken care of, and that changed today. I am happy to add another 5-​star review to the pile here, and expect I will be back, given the age of my vehicle and the excellent service I received.

This review is long overdue, but after my most recent experience, I had to do Eizo Matsuda justice. I know everyone already had great things to say about him and his service, so I’m not going to break that trend.
In 2010, I had the timing belt, water pump, etc. on my car changed by Eizo. He gave me a very fair price and spent extra time on my car since a lot of the bolts were rusted. The car was originally from the east coast, so needless to say the rust was probably pretty bad. He mentioned that he had to spend about 2 – 3 extra hours to get the job done. And still tried to have it done by his original estimated time. When I came to pickup my car, he had everything neatly laid out. Pictures of the job he had done, the old parts that he removed, and an itemized invoice showing me the charges. He told me that since he gave me the quote for the service, he would not charge me anything additional, even though he had to spend extra time on the car. I looked underneath the hood, and everything was cleaned to perfection. The car is running GREAT!
My most recent trip there was due to some items that the dealer said I should get done. Eizo checked my brakes and a leak in the valve cover gasket. He told me my brakes were still good for at least another 6 months and didn’t need to be done now. The leak was very minimal and did not require any immediate attention. He spent time taking pictures of the brakes, rotors, and drum to show me how much pad was left. When I came back to pickup the car, I asked him how much I owe him and he said «no charge.» Are you serious? Not only is he such an honest mechanic, he’s also a very nice guy. Ever since I started coming here, I knew that I would not be going anywhere else for my major car service.
He does get very busy and you need to book your major car appointments a few weeks ahead. Oil changes and the like are probably not worth the wait, but I would highly recommend him for any major car service. As they say, the best things come to those who wait… and it is so true for Eizo and Apex Auto Service! Thanks again for your great service!

Eizo, the owner, is very nice. But I feel he’s a little overwhelmed as you can see he has a lot of good reviews/​customers. When I contacted him to follow up if the car was almost finished-​he told me he would call me back in 5 minutes; I had to call him 15 minutes later to check. In his defense, he also did the same while I was settling my bill and another customer called and he said he’ll call them back in 5 minutes. I think 5 minutes call back time is what he aims for. Just be patient.
I was surprised and I appreciated was his through review of what work was done. He takes pictures of his work and tells what’s he’s done. The receipt’s are detailed and neat. I’ve had other shops/​mechanics who I’ve gone to who almost scribbled what they’ve done.
The price I believe was reasonable-​replacement of brake pads and labor cost me around 220 bucks.
I also wanted some maintenance done and like another review-​he needs three weeks ahead. He quoted me for a tune up service and other essential maintenance services a reasonable price-i’d save at least $ 70 bucks compared to my dealer. If your going to change you oil this is probably not the place because of advance time you’d need to make an appointment.

I have been working with Eizo for over 10 years now, honest, takes pride in what he does. A mechanic you can trust

This is far and away the BEST mechanic in Seattle. I have been with this shop for almost 17 years and have nothing but good things to say. Two days after Christmas my Subaru wouldn’t start, I called AAA, turns out it was a bad battery and an old starter. They towed my car in, and I could see that Eizo had a zillion cars lined up to work on, but thankfully he took my car because it was an emergency. I picked it up last night at 11:00 p.m.!! He was still there working, trying to help out all the customers who were counting on him to get the work done. I felt bad that he was working so late, but so thankful that he was there and that I can trust this person 100% with my car. Thank you Eizo! I hope you get some time off and some rest in the New Year!!!

This was the best experience I have had with auto repair shops ever. They are thorough, keep in constant communication with you, take pics of all issues and go over each repair in great detail. Prices are very fair and they will also let you know if a fix can possibly wait awhile longer (for those of us on a more restricted budget).
I feel very fortunate to be so close to this place.
If you want good, honest service, go here.

Let’s face it, beside dentists, people don’t like mechanics!
BUT…
Apex is probably the exception and redefines customer service. I’ve never encountered an autoshop that won’t charge until you come back the following week to have him check it.
My story is as follow: he said the earliest appointment would be 3 weeks out but if I wanted to drop it off and leave it overnight, to come by in 2 days.
Left the car there, the following day he calls and said all of the following needs to be done which I approve all of it. On top of that, he said it’ll be ready tonight if you want.
I go pick the car up and he said one of the problem is still there and that he will work after the shop closes and will find a solution. The following morning (after taking everything apart), he calls and said «I can’t fix that specific problem and suggested that I go to the dealership because they have more specific machines to diagnose this. He also said that he wouldn’t charge me a dime for any of the work he’s done so far (tune-​up and spark plugs).
About 30 minutes before the scheduled time, he calls and said he found the solution and that the car will be ready in 3 hours. 3 hours later, I go pick up the car, it runs smoothly and he says: «I’ll charge you this amount next week when you bring the car back so that we make sure the problem is gone.»
On top of that, the total was less than I expected. I will now bring all my cars to Eizo, THE BEST MECHANIC in Seattle… and takes the cake for best customer service ever.

I’ve never been a customer of this business before, but I got an emergency. I phone called a little after 8pm, and he picked it up! I asked how early he can take a look at my problem and he said, «Now». Luckly, I live a couple of miles away from the shop. I stop eating dinner and headed down there. He quickly took care of the problem with temporary remedy. He told me how much I can drive this car until the problem is fixed completely. I think I will be the customer of his business.

I have never been emphatic about garages or mechanics; their explanations and general credibility leave much to be desired. My experience with mechanized transportation lean toward inspecting the innards of «Car and Driver», but I would prefer to be prudent and exercise preventative maintenance than encounter the emergency *CLANK* *CLANK* *SPUTTER* *BOOM*. So when I bought my SUV earlier this year, I wanted a thorough check-​up, dot my «I“s and cross my «T“s and searched for a reliable garage. Needless to say, Apex Auto Service came highly recommended through the Car Talk website and Unilocal.
Eizo first did a transmission flush; he photographed the nasty sludge that was there and the after-​photo. He went above and beyond the to get it super clean using 2.5 times more than the recommended amount. Next, I had the 60k and 75k done at the same time. Unfortunately there was hiccup and the back sparkplugs were stuck. I was told Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evening around 8:00 he called again to let me know he got both of them out, replaced and will be ready Friday afternoon.
Multiple services, several days in the shop and ~$ 1500 later my Pathfinder is in tip-​top shape.

Eizo is the guru of Japanese cars. I have never trusted anyone with my beloved Acura Integra as much I trust Eizo. I moved up to Seattle not knowing any mechanics, and found an overwhelming number of positive review for Apex Auto on Cartalk.com’s Mechanic Files (great resource), so I decided to take the plunge.
Since day one, he has shown me nothing but hospitality, and has always been willing to look at my car or perform minor maintenance without asking anything in return. I am severely depressed that I will never find his replacement now that I have moved back to California.
His establishment is not in the nicest area, nor does it have a great storefront, but all the essentials are there. He is strictly a one-​man operation, and because of this, you must book about a month in advance. However, it’s well worth the wait.
Eizo is the ONLY mechanic I’ve ever met who has documented every step of every repair/​fluid change/​replacement with a digital camera, printed out all the photos in color, labeled every photo to explain the step-​by-​step process, then explain to me the whole thing like a power-​point presentation. I was BLOWN AWAY. I had him do the 90,000 mile maintenance on my Integra, which if you don’t know is major. This includes: timing belt, water pump, adjusting valves, changing all fluids, etc. Everything was completed on time, within his original estimate, and the documentation was insane… I have like 10 pages of photos to go with my invoice!
If you’re a car owner who has trust issues with mechanics, or if you’re a car enthusiast who will not settle for anything but the best mechanic, then look no further. Just know that Eizo comes in high demand, so you have to work around his schedule if you want his magical hands on your car.

Great work, timely, and no surprises on the price (same or lower price then any other Honda shop in Seattle).
To paint you a picture, the brake shoes [rear brakes] on my Civic are within 10,000 miles of needing replacement. It’s not a scientific thing, the wear rate is a function of how you drive but you do want to replace the before you damage the drum.
I dropped the car off last night and left my house keys in side it (because I’m smart like that). When I realized this at 11:00pm he cheerily answered the phone and without hesitation told me to come by & pick the keys up.
The following day I dropped in early, before the wheels were back on & he took the cover off the drum. Instead of pictures we looked at it together. The shoes were still serviceable with a low probability risk of being me wearing them, good to go for another 10 thousand miles. No change needed and no charge.
When I got home I had a pleasant surprise, a slightly out of place fender was re-​formed into proper position. He never said a word about doing this. That fender thing happened during the last good snow fall (December 18^th, ’08) as I’d slid into a concrete barrier… aesthetically it had been a minor annoyance but nothing more.
I hope these few words can give some sense of how good Eizo is and how much I think of him. To level, he’s busy so making an appointment is important.

Based on the recommendations here, I called Apex to make an appointment. Apex is busy and his schedule was +3 weeks out. That’s a wait to be sure, but it’s fine as this was a maintenance and oil change call.
Because I have no other transportation I made it clear that I needed to have a fixed appointment so that I could wait and work in Georgetown while my vehicle was being worked on. He agreed on the scope of work and timing. However, when I arrived he informed me he may not be able to get it done and I’d have to schedule a follow-​up for «sometime in mid-​June.»
I bet this guy’s good and my rating is based on his availability. I liked the owner and his response to the issue with my car (he was very detailed and unrushed). But my advice to anyone who is lulled by the raves of this mechanic — move on to the next review. Apex doesn’t need your business and it shows.

My 2003 Subaru Outback had a torn CV boot so I took it to Firestone down on Rainier. They said it would be about $ 300 for the part and about $ 300 for the labor, and of course they would need to do an alignment for another $ 75 after that, so we’re looking at $ 675! Ouch!
It was something that had to be fixed soon otherwise the problem would get worse and could end up damaging the entire joint/​axle (more $‘s).
I decided to get another opinion and took it to Eizo at Apex. I stopped by around 10:30 AM but he wasn’t open yet. A few hours later I came by again and he was there, told him about the problem, he looked at it and said with a new part and labor it would be about $ 300. We talked about it a bit and he explained exactly how he would fix it and why it would cost the amount he mentioned, etc. Well, I’m thinking this is less than half of that chain place and this guy seems to know what he’s talking about, so heck yeah, you get the business. I dropped the car off the next AM and by the evening it was done. He said he would be working until midnight (!)that night so I could come by anytime before that. When I get there at 7 PM or so he’s got this incredible set of documentation ready; pics of the problem before, during and after the fix, detailed description of the fix, etc.
Bottom line is I’ve never in my life met a mechanic like Eizo. Very honest, quick, reasonable rates, explains and documents the problems all with exceptional customer service and without the hard sell and add-​ons. Yeah, he may have some odd hours, but that’s certainly nothing to complain about. So happy I found this guy!

After my car started making some interesting belt noises and my check engine light came on, I knew it was time to find a mechanic. Without a thought, I turned to Unilocal and was not disappointed. I have never seen a mechanic with such high ratings before, so I knew I had to give him a try. I called and left a message explaining what I was hearing & the light coming on, and he called me later that day and said to «stop by» after 5 the SAME DAY. I was in and out in less than 15 minutes; he diagnosed a miss-​firing sensor and re-​set it, and tightened my squeaking belt (even inspected it for cracks) and sent me on my way. He was more than happy to explain exactly what he was doing, and why nothing needed to be done, but what to look/​listen for in the future.
If my car has any other issues, it’s coming straight back here, and I am more than happy to recommend anyone I know to go down as well!

I’m still floored by the amazing service I got at Apex.
My appointment was a week out, but their late hours were perfect for both drop-​off and pick-​up (10am-​10pm on average). I dropped my Civic off because of a loud ratting, as well as for a basic check-​up and underpowered acceleration. Eizo called me the next day to discuss the problems and pick-​up.
Eizo, the main (only?) mechanic, has a very heavy accent. I’m horrible with accents on the phone, so we decided to talk when I picked Civ up. Even though he was done with work, he offered to wait until I was able to get a ride over (9pm).
At the shop, Eizo explained that he fixed the rattle by removing a broken exhaust pipe cover. He showed me the cover, told me what it does, then said that I don’t need it or can get another later — not while the price of metal is high. He then told me, step by step, what work needed to be done on my car. He didn’t try to sell me on urgency; he was pragmatic and considered that I only drive once a month when making recommendations.
Then I saw the bill: «N/​C.»
Apex could have easily charged for an hour’s time to find the broken pipe cover, and another hour to remove it (a prior mechanic had welded it together). He also could have charged for the check-​up, the crack he found in my catalytic converter… I would have been pleased at a less-​than-​$ 300 bill.
Instead, he fixed my rattling for free, figured out why Civ is so sad, and gave me an expensive (parts) but time-​friendly game plan to get her taken care of. I’m sold. I’m not going anywhere else.
And I’ll get better with accents.