Don’s Auto Repair

I was way past the 3000 mile mark after a cross country drive and a few months in town and I needed to get my oil changed; which is one of those things I always seem to procrastinate too long before doing.
My buddy recommended Don’s as a place his brother in law uses without hesitation. When I heard that the in law, who is one of the most suspicious and cautious people I’ve met, trusted them with his Porsche, I figured I could trust them with my 10 year old Jetta.
They told me to just come in a few short hours after I called. I walked down the block and had a coffee and came back. Chris was both professional and a pleasure to chat with about the neighborhood and LA in general while they finished up with my car out back.
A trustworthy auto shop is so important while so far from home… even if where you are, used to be home. I’m glad I was able to find someone I wouldn’t hesitate to use again. I was satisfied enough to write my first Unilocal review of a business that isn’t a restaurant.

This place is awesome! Chris knows what he is doing, and he cares about your car/​engine. All the guys at Don’s seem really cool/​down to earth. It is close to coffee, smoothies and a café — built-​in awesome waiting room. Also the price is right. I love his place! I’ll come here from now on

I went in with a broken Bumper and couldn’t drive my car. They removed it for an extremely reasonable price and I was able to drive away and enjoy my day. Thanks!!!

This place is the best! They are so nice — and super helpful. They’ve saved me so much money over the last couple of years. Best mechanic around.

I’ve been going to Don’s for many years and just had another positive experience with my 15 year old car that I’m giving to a family member and wanted to make sure was in good condition. Chris was honest, explained the problems and options, and got the car done quickly. There is no hard sell here, just honest assessments and clear explanations.

This place rules. They are so nice and never try to pull one over on you. As a single layday, I always try to be on the lookout for those who would take advantage of a person like me. I know a few things about auto repair, but I’ve got a really busy schedule so it’s good to know there is a shop where I know I won’t be taken advantage of. The guy Chris who runs the front-​of-​house is polite, respectful and friendly. In fact, all the guys there are, and they never make me feel uncomfortable or uninformed. They take the time to explain what they are going to do and afterwards give you advice on how to keep your car in good shape.
Good people, fair prices and above all, honest businessmen.

After Highland Park Automotive closed down, I started bringing my work truck here for repairs. It’s always been expensive and they’ve always done something wrong. Service with a smile, but slightly incompetent. In one instance, they left a plug for my AC unhooked when they replaced my radiator, and when I came back to tell them they messed the AC up, they tried to convince me the freon needed to be recharged.
Last time I came in, they charged me $ 115 for what I was told would be «one hour» of labor, and they also told me my front brakes were «at 10% and need to be changed urgently.» I can change my own brake pads, so I did. The pads still had at least 50% left. Now I wonder what else they lied to me about. They could have had a long time customer but I’ll never go back to this place.

Called this place to ask for a quote for what I know is wrong with the car. Needs a clutch replacement (I work on cars just don’t feel like doing it.)
Guy on the phone said I need to bring it in to get a quote as they are not sure what’s wrong with it. I told in the clutch is bad and needs to be replaced. He said well you can fix it yourself bro have a nice day then hung up on me.
Never will I go here

First time I have ever done car regular check up by myself. A little nervous at first since I don’t know anything about a car besides driving it. Called in, Chris answered very friendly and no appointment needed. Drove my car over and got dropped off at my house for FREE! I can wait at home, not wondering around to kill my time around the shop. An hour later, they called me again fingered out the best money efficient way to keep the car running safe and comfy for me. How thoughtful~ there was no doubt to trust them. It’s like give my car to my dad to take care of it. Hassle free and great price. After everything is done they came over and picked me up, again for FREE. Super super nice. While I was paying they parked my car at the point that I can easily drive away (I’m not good at backing up lol). It was an amazing service. I’m so lucky to find them on my first try!!! They definitely deserve a 100 stars if there is an option for that! Very professional, thoughtful, caring and friendly people!

Very rude on the phone didn’t want to answer any questions and said I was wasting his time

Don’s Auto Repair has never steered me wrong, no pun intended!
My husband found this place when we moved into the Highland Park neighborhood in 2009. We’ve been bringing our cars here since then, and still do so even though we moved out of the neighborhood. I am a very happy customer, and so is my husband. We are please with all of the work done by the mechanics here, and we really appreciate Chris and Vic.
I think their services are reasonably priced too, and I even enjoy sitting and waiting for my car’s oil to be changed, because the environment is friendly and welcoming.
I also never feel pressured by these guys. They will give me a list of things my car will be needing in the next little while, but there’s no pressure to do everything at once.
I highly recommend Don’s Auto Repair. You won’t be sorry you tried them out!

Very knowledgeable guys… but very over priced they tried charging me double for the part I needed and still tried to over charge me for the service install that took someone else 10 minutes to install… Great place if u got the money to throw away… only thing I would recommend this place for is if u absolutely can’t figure out what’s wrong with your car… Iam sure they would figure it out for you. I just would not recommend you doing the service there.

First, Chris is the man. Super friendly and really is a soothing presence when I’m freaking out about whatever weird thing my old car is doing. I haven’t had a car is over a decade, am new to LA, so the whole car drama and repair shops are new to me.
Initially, I tried Palmer’s. I went in there with a obvious oil issue in my engine (it was burning oil and was bone dry when I got there). I had done my research and knew what diagnostics I wanted run to fully understand the problem. I was the first customer there before their doors even opened. First, they added oil and tried to send me on my way, then when I insisted on diagnostics they didn’t get done. 2 hours turned into 6 hours.
I called Chris and tell him my problem and I ask what tests he would run. He said everything I wanted and they could see me right away. Sold. They did diagnostics, but kept it real and charged me
nothing, because it was nothing they felt was financially worth fixing on an older car, like mine (expensive internal engine work). But they gave me advice on how to handle the oil over-​usage and said to come by anytime to get my levels checked.
Then, yesterday, my car keeps threatening not to start and I call Chris in a panic. He gets me in immediately. The car turned on fine when I dropped it off and he asked to keep it so they could catch the car acting up –they didn’t want to start replacing things until they fully understood how the car was behaving. It needed a new battery that was in within an hour and then did a full service oil change, including an oil flush, for just a few more dollars.
Chris and team, you guys rock and it’s a good feeling to know I have a caring, honest place to turn to when I’m in car trouble.

Trust-​worthy, knowledgable, attentive, generous, frank, fair… definitely patient and clear with a car-​clueless customer like me.
Chris went out of his way for me over the past few months– kindly buying my clunker when it died, inspecting used cars for me at a moment’s notice, and this week, selling me a used car for an extremely reasonable price. I could NOT be more happy with this new used car, or more grateful to Chris for ending my used car search headache!
If you’re looking for efficiency, expertise, and empathy (like I was, with my numerous car woes), look no further than Don’s Auto Repair.
(In some other review, Chris was characterized as «the man.» I concur. I’d try to find something wrong with my car so I can go hang out with him, but I suspect that I won’t have car trouble for a long time!)

This is a great shop! First took my car in for an oil change last year after not feeling very comfortable at other repair shops. Had great service. Took the car in again the other day took get rid of an engine light so I could get the car smogged. Chris was very helpful honest and upfront on what needed to get done. They worked on the car and did everything necessary to get the car smog ready and it passed! The folks at Don’s are very helpful and customer friendly and the place has a very good small town local feel. Don’s is definitely my go to auto repair place!

Took a car we were looking at buying into this shop, I think it was Chris who helped me, he was so great. Did inspection and gave me his opinion on car, very timely and very easy and affordable. Thank you.

Don’s Auto Repair is the only place I trust to work on my cars. I’m very particular about my cars and I love that his technicians highly trained. I’ve been a customer for the past 7 years and I love the customer service I receive. I never feel like I’m being over charged and I can always stop in with questions and about the car and have them addressed.

I haven’t had Don’s do any service to my cars, but after my first experience with them earlier today, I couldn’t NOT leave a positive review.
I live in the neighborhood, and was diagnosing a leak on my car. Turns out, it was missing a crush washer/​gasket leaving me with a pool of coolant and no wheels to drive to get the part I needed. I walked down to the strip on York and tried the obvious: the hardware store + auto parts store. No luck.
I walked into Don’s and immediately, the guy behind the counter asks me how he can help me. I tell him what I’m looking for, and in two minutes, he comes back with a box full of different washers. Perfect! He tells me to go through them and take a couple of whatever size I needed. I took out my wallet and he said, «Nope, put it away. If what you got doesn’t work, come back and we’ll give some more.»
How awesome is that? Helpful, friendly guys who aren’t looking to squeeze money out of you, it’s kind of a rare find in an auto shop these days. Again, I haven’t taken my car in here for service yet, but the next time it needs it, it’s going to Don’s.

Professional service, excellent rates, nice & honest mechanics.
I found Don’s through Unilocal and was inclined to leave a positive review due to their great service. A+++

I thought to myself, «I’ve had pretty good luck with restaurants, could it be that I’ll get lucky and find a good mechanic on Unilocal too?»
SOOOO glad I decided to look, and found Don’s, the epitome of your friendly neighborhood auto shop. I took my car to them after the dealer recommended a few repairs, a water-​pump replacement among others — most mechanics would just go ahead with the job, but these guys actually ran their own diagnostics to make sure the repairs were needed, and saved me a bunch compared to what I would have spent at the dealer. My car was long overdue for some TLC, and these guys got it running great, at a great price. They are open Saturdays, which is SO convenient, and they’ll even give you a ride if you need one.
HONEST, friendly, quick, reliable, HONEST — what more could you ask for?