My vehicle registration renewal is due soon, and I was driving around after 6 PM to find a place still open that does smog check. The regular place where I do smog check has already closed. So this place was opened, but it seems they are just about to closed. I met Hein, and he said he is willing to do it for $58. I was reluctant because most places charge $40. He knew this and he quickly changed to $50. I said okay. Though the sign inside said $31 for smog check for regular size cars (I'm not sure if the certificate is included). But I thought it's fine if I'm going to pay an extra $10 or $20 if they are willing to service me just as they are about to close. Hein then looked under the hood and pointed out five things he wanted to repair. The belt was supposed to be cracking and needed to be replaced. Then he said the brake fluid needed to be refill for $20 and then the transmission fluid also. Then another large part that has to do with brakes had to be replaced. And the windshield wipers needed to be replaced. What he didn't know was that I saw my regular trusted mechanic earlier that SAME DAY for an oil change. And my regular mechanic didn't say any of those things were wrong. As a result, I turned down all those repairs. The smog check didn't pass. He said it had something to do with the car computer being wiped clean or that it wasn't driven long enough on the freeway to record the gas emissions. He did give me an official printout, so I trusted him on that. He said if I bring it in before two weeks, I can get it retested for free. However, he said I needed to reboot the car's computer, and he said he will do it for $30. It sounded fishy. I asked him again if it was necessary, and he said it was. So I agreed to do it. Later I researched online that Autozone will reboot the car's computer for free or you can do it yourself by just disconnecting the car's battery for 10 minutes. Why would he charge $30 for something that can done for free???? In addition, he also said I didn't pass the smog test due to his visual inspection of the gas cap. He used a flashlight and showed me that there were cracks in the rubber seal. Though I wasn't able to see them. He said he would sell a new gas cap to me for $25. I declined because a gas cap at Autozone only costs $8. Then he said I needed a toyota factory made gas cap to pass (which usually costs more than $25). I called the DMV and asked if this was the case. They said no and that any good, generic gas cap would pass. With hesitation, I took my car back two weeks later to get the smog check retested. Once again, they ask me if I wanted to fix those unnecessary things. I declined again. They did keep their word and did the free re-test. As other reviews mentioned, they do some minor good gestures. He saw that my tires needed more air and he did refilled my tires for free (which any mechanic will do anyway if you ask them to). But that small gesture doesn't make up for trying to screw me out of hundred of dollars for unnecessary repairs. AND I REPEAT, I SAW MY REGULAR MECHANIC ON THAT SAME DAY, SO I KNEW FOR A FACT THEY WERE UNNECESSARY. STAY AWAY from this place. I hope this place goes out of business due to their unethical business practices. I know there are dishonest people, but this place takes the cake. read more

I agree with Fatty N. Despite knowing the owners, I was manipulated by Hien. My car suddenly stopped running nearby. I had no choice but to bring to him. He told me that I had to leave my car there for them to inspect the problem. I came in the next morning. He said he still hadn't found the problem. I decided to take my car to somewhere else since it could still run for awhile. He came back to me and begged, yes begged!, me to leave the car there. He pretended to be sincere and worried about my car stopping on the way. As a part of his begging, he came up with a TOTAL $40 quote to fix the problem. I thought it was decent. Few hours went by. Hien called me and said he needed to order a part for $100. I was furious. I told him stop working on my car. I came to pick up my car and the a&?hole charged me $120 for LABOR!!! He dared to suggest me for more repairs. FYI, I'm driving a standard Honda Accord 2003, not a damn Mercedes/BMW/Audi. I would understand the price if my car is a high-end car. It has been awhile but yes, I will file a complaint with the BBB! I took my car to my regular mechanic. He told me Hien used duct TAPE to tape my air duct hose so it wouldn't leak!! I couldn't believe when I saw the duct tape myself. I paid $120 for duct tape. I fixed it at my regular mechanic paying only a total of $40 for part & labor. My car has been running fine since. A piece of advice when dealing with auto technicians. Given the experiences that these auto technicians have, diagnose should be quick and FREE! Yes, I said FREE. When you tell them the problem that you're having, they should already know what the problem is. That's exactly what my mechanic is. Whenever I have a problem with my car, I tell him the problem. He doesn't even need to "diagnose". He fixes it and fixes it right! He doesn't charge for $100 for diagnose nor exaggerate the problem. With problems for a standard car, an experienced, reliable, trustworthy mechanic should know how to fix it without diagnosing. If your mechanic is not experienced, he would definitely charge you for his incompetence. EDIT (in answering your comment to my review): Ha-ha. What can I do but laugh at your spurious comment? The truth tells otherwise and people already know it. If you're going to use duct tape my car, I would expect it to be freeee...well I maybe pay you $10 for a roll of duct tape. My car was at your shop the whole day. I came back to get my car and got there before my brother did. And you said he was the culprit behind it?? hahahah... read more

I have really mixed reviews about this place. Let me start by saying i've been a loyal customer of city tech auto also and have been looking for a new mechanic that i can trust. I also read the reviews about Success Auto and decided to give them a chance to see if all the 5 stars were true. I went in to do a rear brake change and was quoted ( $130 ) which was awesome !!! Then i soon realized that this entire place was baiting me in for my entire bank account. I was really disappointed. To make a long story short, my $130 brake change turned into a $600 repair. A mechanic by the name of Long was an expert on suggestive selling and was a real charmer at doing so. When i drove in, i told them i heard a squeeling at the rear brakes and needed my rear brakes checked. He said okay. 5 hours later and 4 cellphone calls in between, i was told that i may need to change my air filter, ac filter, power steering fluid, coolant fluid, transmission flush, etc...All this was over 4 phone calls while i was at the hair salon across the street. What made me suspicious was the fact that he tried to sell me brake hardware for an extra $30. My car is only 2 years old people. I used to be a mechanic and was really wary when he added that on top of my brake job. Then came the big wham-o that just totally set off the alarms in my head. He then told me that I needed to change both disc on my brakes. You only need to change the entire disc if you've been driving with worn out brake pads forever and totally rode it down to the medal. Even then, you can still grind the disc down to smooth it out to use with the new pads. I new this because i used to do brakes way back then. I kept quiet to see how far he would go with more money making suggestions. I was left with going back to City Tech until i find another decent mechanic that doesn't take me for an idiot. The pros: I have to admit the customer service was quite overwhelming. He made me feel important and seemed to check everything in the car from A to Z. He even told me to come back and he will clean my engine. If he did all this and just stuck to the original problem of just doing my brakes, then he would've have been my mechanic for life. read more

It seems that they do a good job BUT beware of being quoted and finding at the end that you have to fork out more. They go ahead and act on what needs doing when they see it needs to be done BEFORE you have approved it. Twice I've been here and had to fork out almost double the initial quote because there were more things that needed repaired than initial assessment. It may be a good thing in the long run, but not being given a choice to hold off on spending another couple of hundred is not appreciated. read more

Things cannot be any worse of my experience here. I was here just to repair the tire,nothing more.But instead,they broken the tire pressure sensor when they are removing the tire.After they reinstalled the tire,computer system indicated the tire pressure sensor fault.They took a very long time to figure it out,but finally failed.And then they refused to take the responsibility and gave me a quote $85 for repairing the sensor. It's completely ridiculous!They are so unprofessional and irresponsible! Then I was trying to call the police to solve this problem but the police needs at least one hour to get here because they were taking care of a family dispute. Considering i really don't have time to wait, i went to a dealer to fix it. Bad experience,totally. read more

I've been coming here for over 10 yrs. Was referred to Hien from an ex bf. Hien is definitely 1 of the nicest & most honest & helpful guy! He explains things patiently to u & keeps u in the loop about everything. I absolutely appreciate this great place! Hien will give u awesome deals. read more

I worked with Hien and he was awesome, very honest and thorough mechanic. I went in for a brake change and he checked everything else out in my car for me. Which is nice for someone like me that's forgetful and haven't changed certain things in FOREVER. So his diligence saved my car! The additional fixes were things I knew I needed like an engine oil change, so I did not feel like they were fishing me for more money. Instead, I felt like a very important customer. Hien stayed past closing time to fix the additional items for me. And on top of that, he took time to add in some thoughtful gestures - like balancing my tires, defogging my headlamps, replacing lost bolts (for no additional charge!). This is a mechanic that truly cares for the health of my car. I went in a second time because my check engine light came on. Hien went out of his way to call the toyota dealer on my behalf. Because the light came on for a recalled part I had already went to the dealer to replace. He found out that the dealer only replaced half of what they were suppose to! But anyways, he took the time to explain the problem to me and to contact Longo Toyota. Best mechanic I've come across. I definitely plan to take my car to him from now on. read more

My car would turn off spent 150.00 at one shop still having problem went to second shop same problem 350.00 spent. Took to success and after 2 days was fixed. Very good been coming back since I highly recommed this shop for all your car needs ask for loi or hien thanks... read more

I've been coming to this shop for since 1995 and I love them! They've always taken care of me and give me recommendations of what to service and keep an eye out for next! read more

I came in 3 years ago for oil change & now I can say with honesty these mechanics are legit & more over they have a, "get it done correctly the first time style" that even the big dealers are slowly lacking!! Honesty!! Work is check by Master-Mechanics certified on site to make absolute the work & customer are totally satisfied. After the work is complete all labor performed is checked & double checked!! My 1997 & 2007 vehicles are maintained regularly here at Success Auto Tech Off the 10 freeway @ San Gabriel Blvd, San Gabriel All employees pamper all classes of vehicles * Porsche * Lamborghini * BMW * Lexus * Even Classics Up to 9 stalls for vehicles Stop by & get a Oil Change & New Mechanic that you can depend on!! Ask for Hein & or Lance Thanks read more

I came in here for a full synthetic oil change, pointed out some other issues I was having, and got a short list of problems with proof. The guy had it all listed out with prices and I was able to pick and choose without any harassment, and they were able to take care of all of it quite quickly. There was never once where I was waiting and saw nobody working on my car. Even though my car is a little dirty inside and out, they treated it with a large degree of care. I had it all done at a great price and seriously doubt I'll have to return till the next oil change. My father owned an auto repair shop and having grown up in this environment, I can tell you that I see nothing that concerned me. I think I can safely say that I finally found a shop (aside from the dealer or an expensive European specialist) that I can rely on and not get screwed. read more

I took my car to 4 mechanics and no one could tell me what was wrong with my car. Finally I tried success auto tech and they fixed it in an hour! Since then we've taken all of our cars here and I really feel like they're trustworthy and competent. read more

This place will sucks your blood dry you have been warn. The owner is very dishonest but they try to act like they care a lot f... Some bs . Do not come here. I used to come here before and then I stopped for awhile cause of their bs then just a couple days ago I decided to give them a try again but unfortunately it's still the same try to sell u things that ur car don't need and they charge a lot. This place is totally trash. DONT COME HERE FOR SERVICE.. read more

I am shocked to see these guys got a "3" stars on their ratings; they don't even deserve a "1." I visited this junk shop two years ago once and never went back. Why, you may ask? All because this Long guy was trying to rip me off. I went there to fix my A/C because it wasn't blowing cold air. Long - recommended all the unnecessarily recommendations such as changing air filters, flush transmission fluid - just trying to squeeze the $ out of my wallet. Thank god I didn't buy into his b.s for two reasons. #1, I am a salesman myself so I know when people are trying to hustle me. #2, the timing belt he recommended me to change cost $140 and not surprisingly til this day, my car is still running good with the SAME timing belt I had two years ago! The reason why I am writing this review is because my girlfriend just recently visited this place for oil change; she said it was somewhere "cheap" on S.G Blvd and I wasn't aware that she went to this junk shop until I was helping her pay her credit card bill. She said the "cheap" oil change was only $35 but I was shocked when I saw her bill was $280!!! And I saw a long list of b.s recommendations on the yellow invoice. I was so pissed because she works hard to earn money. Nevertheless, there's nothing we can do since she has already paid those shady folks. I am writing this review, hopefully to prevent more people getting scammed by these shady folks! AVOID THIS PLACE OR ELSE YOU'D REGRET IT! read more

This place is a joke! I always go to Avon Tire for any auto services. Since they stopped doing smog check there. I came here for a smog check. I don't remember his name, but he seemed like the manager or someone in-charge. He told me that I need engine air filter & transmission fluid change. What he didn't know was I know my car better than he does. I just did that a few months ago. I am NOT going back there. read more

Horrible experience. The situation that I faced is pretty much the same as the earlier reviews. I got a flat tire in the morning. I went there and they told me they could fix the tire for just $40 something. It seems no problem in the beginning, but later on, a guy named "Long" told me I needed to change the timing belt, and the transmission fluid as well. I just took my car for service a few months ago, and I'm damn sure I've changed the transmission fluid at that time. How come the fluid got dirty again for just a few months? I said "no, thanks". And now, here comes the main part, "Long" told me the tire cannot be fixed and I have to purchase a pair of new tires. My bill suddenly pops up from $40 to $440. With the timing belt and transmission fluid, it ended up cost me $770. Although I have said "no" for the service, they just kept annoying me until I say "yes". They kept me and my car like "hostage". Don't even try to come here, unless you know how to print money~ read more

Buyer Beware.....While Hein does a great job, he will tell you you need work done that is not necessary He told me I needed some work done that I had just had done ---and done well. I gave 2 stars because if you know what needs to be done, take it here and have them do that work -----but nothing more! They will bait you. read more

The owner/partner of this place are a lier/rip off customer even their own friend and family members. They said, they will changed all dealer parts, but they switch to after market cheap parts from china/taiwan/third part of the world cheap labor. Please please please reconsider before u bring in your cars to this shop and use ur brain a little................ read more

i'm the kind of guy who gives credit where it's due so i feel compelled to write this review about my awesome mechanic. he was referred to me by another friend some time ago and he's always given me great service but this time he was over the top awesome! i'll try to keep this as brief as i can because if you are looking for a mechanic and are resorting to searching online reviews, you're probably frustrated and have viewed too many reviews than you care to read. onward.... halloween weekend, my tranny crapped out on my SUV. it had 102k mi on it. thinking it was likely out of warranty - i didn't have the original paperwork [long story] - i had it taken to my mechanic, Hien, at Success Auto Tech. he evaluated it and had several techs look at it and the consensus was that, indeed, it was the tranny and that it would cost [a buttload of $$$] to fix. i knew that fixing a transmission would cost a lot of dough so this wasn't entirely unexpected. great, i thought. this is just what i needed to hear before the holidays. so you know what Hien did? he called me and provided me with the VIN of my car, the mileage, and the phone number to the dealer. he recommended that i call the dealer to see about the warranty. dealer tells me that my powertrain warranty covers up to 120,000 mi! could you believe that?? had my SUV towed from Hien's shop to the dealer. dealer tried to 'persuade' me into other extraneous work but, thanks to my mechanic who also coached me on what to anticipate from the dealer, i was able to rebuff the dealer's pressure tactics. on top of that, my mechanic calls me this past Sunday asking if everything went okay with the dealer and if everything got fixed. yup, i say, all covered by the warranty and at NO out-of-pocket expense!!! also, when was the last time a mechanic called you and asked if everything turned out okay? if you need his services, ask for Hien at Success Auto Tech - i HIGHLY recommend him! i wish i could give more than 5 stars! read more

Came in to do my brake pads. Hien and Lon super friendly and can tell he wasn't giving me BS answers and run around. I know enough and what is a fair price and he gave me a fair assessment. Things i notice is there are several workers and they work pretty well together and sometimes multiple people will work on your car. They will check your entire car for any potential problem and some might think they are just trying to squeeze more money out of you, they will not force you if you don't want but will give recommendations and most of the time to me at least it made sense. Had flushed my power steering and before i left the shop Loc check my car once more and saw that the fluid didnt have the color they expected and I think he chewed out one of the staff and had them re-flush it. They test drive the car to see it all works, probably some of the nicest and meticulous mechanics i've met. On top of that they air sprayed out my engine bay, pretty clean and highly professional group of people. Will be coming back and recommending to my friends read more

I was recommend by my friend ,to success auto tech I did review the shop on yelp and there are some negative reviews,but I still want to try,I has the Mercedes s 550 has problems with running problem and the dealer want to fix my car for a lot of $ ,so I try second opinion to see I can save some money,long is the man ,who help me a lot and he is very honest and very nice guy , and he recommends some work that I need right away and some in the future,it is good to know and this is the main part he's fix my car problems for half of the $ ,on my previous estimate thanks ! long , now my car run like new and I very happy with the service,I will recommend all my friend and family members to this repair shop. read more

I come here for all my repairs , fair price and the owners are really nice, they always offer me Starbucks as I wait for my car to be serviced. They are very professional and quick with the repairs. read more

It's very interesting to see those extreme comments about this shop. I usually don't like to leave comment on Yelp because most comments are not creditable. But I do want to comment about this shop. I've been coming here since 18 years ago. I always look for Hien. They might recommended u to change this and that because of their professional experience. But I tell you, the car will not have a problem for a long time after fixing it. (Of course, it is not included if u hit something). I fixed my 2007 MBZ CLK550 here 3 years ago and costed me about $2800. U know the parts from MBZ are not cheap, they showed me all the receipt from MBZ that they bought the parts from them. Since then, I don't have to spend money on this car beside tires and oil change. Frankly, what I hate the most is the waiting time here because they are busy all the time especially Saturday. You think other people are stupid for them to trick? How many other auto shops around here within 2 miles distance? There are tons of mechanic shops around. They've been at this location for over 20 years. If they are not good, I tell u they will close the shop long time ago. Beside Vietnamese, I also see Caucasian, Hispanic, Chinese come here too. I hope this will help those people who want to find a reliable mechanic shop that will do a good job on your car. read more

the first time i went to this auto shop, they did a good job on my car... but now everytime i go it seems like they just do an "okay " job. their prices seem low for what they say they are going to do, but i honestly do not think it is quality work. after getting second opinions for what i need, it seems like i'd save so much time and money to get my auto work done some where else. there are so many places to go to get your your repaired, that i'd honestly reccommend shopping around first before settling. settling is always what i do and then it gets me and my car in more of a trouble later. read more