A-1 Auto Tech Incorporated

Very busy shop since they are so competent.

I have used A-1 since 1989 and I have three cars, all 11 years old or older; so the 25 times I have used them have occurred over 16 years and with three cars. One episode that occurred recently: I took a TA to A-1 to have a SMOG pre-check. It passed. I took it to the test station where it failed. Back at A-1 it passed, but back at the test station, it failed. The folks at A-1 asked to keep the car so they could track down the problem. Since I had two others this was no problem. The A-1 techs took it to another test station and it passed. It turned out that the station I initially took it to used an above ground dynanometer that left my engine on an angle and this upset the engine operation and caused it to fail. The California DMV knew about the problem but neglected to notify the test stations. The next time I took a car to the original test station, it used a dynanometer that kept the car level. The A-1 folks did a lot of chasing around on this problem, but the final bill was unbelievably small.

Very good shop. Both Frank and Chuck are always very clear about repairs. My Dodge mini-van had the usual 4 speed transmission problem and they tracked it down to a stuck solenoid rather than replacing the transmission as most shops would. I think their prices are usual for shops, nothing super cheap, but their work is definitely A- 1. I have continued to return to this shop because of the quality of their work.