Sterling of Lomita Auto Body

A little backstory: my Toyota Matrix was struck from behind while I was stopped in traffic. Although the other driver’s insurance company assumed liability, they also called my car a total loss. Well, I wasn’t looking forward to a monthly payment for a new car, seeing as my Matrix was paid off, so I talked to Lars and Elmer at Sterling, and asked if they would repair it. When they said yes, sight unseen, I got a check for the salvage price from the insurance company and towed the car to Sterling.
Lars was willing to work with me, and did everything to keep the price of the repair down. When all was said and done, they repaired the tail end for less than half what the insurance company and the other repair body shop quoted.
Now, let’s be clear. This was not a prime job on a 2015 Beamer. This is a 2007 Toyota Matrix that I just wanted to be able to drive. The job, however, looked as good as I could have possibly expected. The tail end looks new, even though they were able to save me money on parts and labor. Now if only the rest of my car looked as good as the repair ;)
This is the second time Lars and his team have done right by me, and I feel that they are the ideal place to go if you want your car fixed, not totaled by the insurance company. I have a lot of love for my car, I’ve had it since it was new, and I didn’t want to start over. Sterling Auto made me extremely happy to be driving off in my newly fixed Matrix.
Would absolutely recommend their shop. Anytime, to anyone.
Great customer service, great body work.

Absolutely the shistyest auto related business I’ve ever dealt with. Are cars with new paint jobs supposed to have their paint peel off like a birthday present within less then a month of finishing the job?
Four to five months ago I was recommended to come here .and boy was that a mistake. I was sold a 15 – 20 year (yeah right!) paint job for my 300zx by a guy named jesse for 12,000 $. This was an intense custom job so I was willing to agree to that amount of money… which seemed very high. From the moment I dropped the car off there were problems. The car was quickly disassembled and left out in the sun for the dash to warp and the entire interior (which I had spent 6 months working on myself and spent over 10,0000 $ on) … to be covered in dust. I specifically stated that the car not be treated like that… a nd lied to. that it wouldnt. There is still lots of dust behind my dash which i may never be able to get rid of — VERY PISSED off about this. I couldnt believe it when I showed up 2 months later to see how the car was treated. What also shocked me was that it hadn’t been touched. I signed the agreement being assured it would be completed in 2 months max. 2.5 months later I had to go to the shop and work on it myself to get it completed. I spent 2 weeks coming everyday to try and coax jesse to get it done. and all he did was lie to me… and accuse me of being difficult. I had never been treated so unprofessionaly… and felt as if I was being blackmailed as he tried to talk me into giving him the remainder of the money and even wanted me to enter into a shady third party loan agreement. I felt if I didn’t work on the car myself I might never get it back. So I stayed and pressured him through what I felt was my only shot at getting the car back at all. 2 weeks later .‘we’ got the car done as best as I thought would ever be possible… and I paid him the remainder even though he skimped out on a lot of the other things we agreed upon. There were also all sorts of areas on the car that weren’t done or properly finnished. including things that were never put back on the car. Soon after i took the car home. paint started coming off in various spots. Little spots. so I just rolled my eyes and cursed them… remembering the hassle I went through. but today… paint started peeling off all around the gas tank… and the more I look at the car… there is no way this is a 12,000 $ paint job. Although some of the people there were friendly and I don’t think jesse is a bad person… something is seriously wrong with this business. Apparently Lars. .the owner of Sterling just rents him the space but something is off here. From what I could see. there’s all sorts of unlicensed people doing work here. Saw other things that shocked me… not only would I never come back here but I’m taking you a-​holes to court. I want my money back. This whole thing was robbery.

Took them my Toyota Tacoma and they did a great job fixing a minor scratch that was on the side of the passenger door. I chose Sterling because this was a cash job and insurance was not involved. The vehicle had been damaged by my roommate who was paying for it out of pocket. The workmanship was excellent, but I had a very minor problem with the color match on one panel. The paint on the truck is slightly faded, so it wasn’t Sterling’s fault. Lars and Elmer made it right and blended the panel a little bit better for no charge. I couldn’t be happier with the work. Lars (the owner) is a good guy that stands behind his work. if you live in Lomita/​Torrance and need any paint/​bodywork done at a reasonable price, this is a good place to check out. Thanks Sterling!

The friendliest and fastest auto body place I have ever been, by far! Lars went out of his way to retrieve parts that Nissan had on back order! He even went above and beyond to travel to pick up the part! What a great way to do customer service. He also kept us informed all the way through the process and paid special attention to dot all the i’s and cross the t’s. can’t stress again how great everyone was not to mention the fab job on the car and even finished before promised, now that’s special. Thank you Lars I will be referring everyone I know you really made the best of a bad situation!

Lars and his guys are professionals that know the ins and outs of any car. Fast and friendly service! Came in to replace the belt moulding on my windows and couldn’t be happier with their service!

Laars, owner, is an awesome can do person. He is honest as the day is long, does great work and excels in customer service. We have had several cars fixed by Lars and his crew over the years, as recent as yesterday. Highly recommend Sterling of Lomita Auto Body.

This body shop provides outstanding workmanship, great customer service, and very fair pricing. Over the years, I have taken different vehicles here three times, both for body work on dents and for annoying rattles or squeaks in the frame. Lars and his crew care about the quality of their work and about customer satisfaction. They listen carefully, give me and my vehicle total respect, and take the time needed to do the job right. I cannot recommend them highly enough. Thanks, Lars! You should be proud of the high quality of your business!

I was recently involved in my first collision. I was broad-​sided by a semi truck and as a result, my driver side car door would not open and was badly dented. I was also suckered by the CHP into exchanging info instead of demanding that they file a report. Long story short, I did not get all the info like the trucking co name etc and it was becoming huge headache trying to figure out what I was going to do. Originally one friend told me about another bigger name auto body place in Torrance. They took one look and told me the door needed to be replaced and it would cost $ 2,500. Then my neighbor told me I should go to Sterling. He said he’s been taking his car there for years. I’m soo glad I listened to him!
At first glance from the outside, Sterling kinda looks like an old hole-​in-​the wall kind of place, but once I went into the office, it was actually kind of cute and cozy. Andrea, the lady who works in the office, was very nice and introduced me to Lars. Lars looked at my car and let me know that I had options. He did give me the option of replacing the door for about $ 1,000 less than that other place or he said he could try an get the dents out and he would probably be able to get the door to where it could open again. He gave me an approx quote of around $ 600-​$ 700. I thought my car would be there at least all day but my phone rang at just 12:30pm and they said my car was ready! When I got there, all the big dents were out, they buffed out all the black semi tire marks and my door opens and closes just fine. And the final cost was actually less than what they quoted me. I have an older car and really did not want to throw $ 2,500 into it for just one door. I am forever grateful to Sterling and Lars and will definitely be recommending them to friends and family in the future! I feel like I have now found my word-​of-​mouth, local, trust-​worthy body shop.

Sterling is great — they’ve repaired major and minor damage on two of my cars and both times the car came back better than new. Lars can estimate high, but thats because he is an absolute perfectionist who takes a lot of pride in his work. If you want your car fixed right, this is place to go.

Yikes! The first body shop I visited for an estimate for a paint job on my little old Toyota Tacoma was at Sterling of Lomita Auto Body since I lived about two blocks away. Their estimate??? $ 4,000!!! This was for a ‘good’ paint job… not show quality… just good. Two other estimates from other shops… $ 2,500 and $ 1,500. I am a ‘car guy’…and my $ 1,500 paint job turned out awesome. The prep was perfect and I photo documented the entire process (Phat Boyz in Long Beach). Now…$ 4000??? That would have been ROBBERY! I’m glad I sent my car 15 miles away rather than two blocks. It was worth it.