Blanding Auto Repair

This place charges one hour minimums and horribly inflates their labor time. I watched in person as the owner drove up my car, messed with the window for 15 minutes then went back to the office. I grew impatient with them doing nothing and decided to take my car at which point the owner came out demanding $ 110 for their analysis that my window motor (the very reason I brought in the car) was broken. He then claimed he was spending time in the office «reviewing the diagrams». I paid and left — total time spent was less than 35 minutes. Only come here if you are ready to get ripped off.

The owner Lum is incredibly friendly, helpful and responsive each time I’ve brought him one of my vehicles. He was able to diagnose a potentially hazardous gas leak in my lexus and also a map sensor issue on my accord which kept turning off my engine.
His auto repair store is conveniently located on the border of Oakland & Alameda, right off of the Park St. Bridge. Highly recommend paying him a visit for your automotive repair /​needs. Honest, fast and quality service!

Very helpful — saw me right away and did a minor fix while I waited. I will come back!

Our 2008 Chevy Impala went into «Limp Mode» (check engine light, power reduced) on the freeway on Friday afternoon. Called and spoke with Lum, he said to bring the car by in the morning. We did, received an estimate for diagnostics and had a call about 2 hours later explaining the issue and giving a quote on repairs. I also threw in a request for some minor maintenance. By mid-​afternoon they had the problem fixed and the car was ready to pick up. The final bill for the work was exactly what was quoted and seemed fair for the work that was done. We were nervous to take our car to a new mechanic, but I think we made a good choice.

Just got my car back – took it in for an oil change. They were done within the day, which is good. Workmanship seems good and price was reasonable. Gave me a free ride back to work, and the owner is friendly.
But when I tried to pick it up in the morning, about 10 min after their opening time, the garage was closed and gates were locked. Called the place and they said their mechanic wasn’t in yet. What the heck – don’t they have another person to open on-​time? Wasn’t able to pick up my car and it was inconvenient. It made me look like an idiot in front of my ride. Will not be going back for an oil change.

Took my 1991 Honda Civic in for a tune up. First time here. Saturday service. Same day service. No frills. No non-​essential extras. Honest mechanic. What’s not to like?
Would have been five stars except I had to make calls to inquire as they didn’t call when they said they would.
All in all, I’ll go back.

Took my car in to have a headlight fixed. Seems easy enough. The repair guy claimed he could do the job but clearly had no idea what he was doing. Stopped him from continuing and left.

Awesome, I didn’t even have to ‘CHECK IN’ to get a discount.
Quoted me $ 69.99 over the phone, offered a $ 10 discount on the spot. Got in and out in less than 30 minutes for less than $ 70 including the smog cert. NICE.
Watch out for the super sketch driveway. But there is a decent waiting area with 3 chairs and outlets if you need some extra juice for your devices.
Happy days!!! My baby passed. Thanks BAR!!!

I’ve been ignoring a lot of maintenance on my car, so I’ve seen these guys three times in the last few months. In all three cases they have taken very good care of my car and me. Women are often the target of shady mechanics who insist that the flobbernozzin needs immediate service for $ALLTHEIRMONEY, but I’ve never gotten any of that from them.
If you can’t live without a car while yours is in the shop, the Enterprise across the street gives a discount if you mention the shop.

Oh man, I really wanted to like this place, I really did! I originally came here because of their hours, so I could drop the vehicle off after work.
When I got back from a trip to Tahoe, my truck’s check transmission light was on. There was practically no fluid in the transmission. I told them I just wanted to make the car reliable for the winter, so look it over and let me know all suggested repairs.
They flushed the transmission and the front and rear differential, and I had to ask, well what about the transfer case too? Let’s get everything addressed if we’re going to replace fluids.
$ 1000 later I drove it out of the place and the check engine light came on. I took the car back to have it re-​inspected. I told him I needed to take it to smog. He found a plugged up vacuum hose, something with the egr valve. Then he found the radiator hoses should be replaced — how didn’t you see that the first time?
So the next day, I take it into smog and it fails visual inspection because of two leaking fuel lines in the front. I know I should have looked under the hood but I was in a hurry and I have many other projects. When I opened the hood, the fuel lines are staring you right in the face, drenched in gas.
I ran over to the auto parts store and replaced them for $ 2, then went back and passed smog. I just couldn’t believe that this was missed on inspection. It couldn’t have been a very thorough inspection if I’m being told radiator hoses need to be replaced but not a work about obviously leaking fuel lines.
Customer service was very nice, kind people. The language barrier was a bit tough, but not too bad. But jeez, they missed a lot of stuff. Total cost for everything was around $ 1700.

I can’t speak about the other services that this business has to offer but don’t bother coming here for a smog check. I arrived on the morning of 12÷11÷13 at 10:15 and asked if they had time for a smog check. I let the technician know I was on a tight schedule. He said he could have it done in 30 mins. I asked if I could just leave my car and come back in an hour to pick it up. He said that wouldn’t be a problem. I returned at 11:30 only to find that my car was in the same exact location that I left it. I was really upset and asked why my car hasn’t been started yet. The technician said, «uhhhh oh uhhh sorry I thought someone would have had time by now but maybe you can wait another hour?» I asked why nobody had called me… I definitely would have just done it another day instead if wasting my time. I was annoyed that there was a blatant disregard for my time. I ended up going to Smog 4 Less in Oakland where I was seen within 15 minutes and paid half of what I was quoted at this sorry excuse for a business.

ReLly nice people!!!
There is sumone nearby that can do detail repairs but i just wAnted to have the engine checked out and thay found that my spark
plugs were in really bad shape! they repaired them and some other small things. Also while i enjoyed my rental car i had my car stored there for a week it was nice! my boyfriend crashed my car and it upset me but the service here from Laam (sp?) made things better

*Great reliable service.
*Lum is a honest mechanic, only recommends service you need. Does not con you into things you do not need.
*Great prices.
*Have wifi.
*Have coffee and drinks for you.
*Shuttle service.
*Quick service.
*ASE certified
*Star certified for smog check
I come here for my oil changes all the time and any other services. Tune ups, smog checks, brake service and everything else. I knew Lum when he was a manager of a Shell Gas station that was across classic bowl in Daly City. He was working on my car during that time too. That was more than twenty years ago. He been doing this for a long time and knows what he is doing. He is ASE certified, which is a nice thing to know. If you want quick, reliable, affordable and honest service, come to Blanding auto repair. You won’t be disappointed.
There is also nice little coffee shop just around the corner. Takes less than 5 minutes to walk there. Great tasting coffee and snacks for you while you wait for your car to be serviced. I always get pastries from there.

I took my Honda to Blanding Auto Repair with the check engine light burning bright and needed a smog check. Other another repair shop told me a $ 500 repair was needed in order to make the car smog compliant. Blanding Auto diagnosed the problem with an EGR valve and replaced it for $ 200 out the door. I passed a smog check two days later. These guys are awesome!

My radiator gave out on me, so I took it here to get it replaced. I don’t have a go to guy for my auto needs, so I took a chance on these guys. The staff seemed very competent and capable. The thing I liked the best was that they were able to finish the job when they said it was going to be done. Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the work that was done.
My only gripe is that when I went to pick up my car, they tacked on an extra ten dollars because they said my oil was low and that they topped it off with two quarts. I appreciated it, but I would have like to have been informed beforehand.

My daughter has been taking her Saturn to Lum at Blanding Auto Repair for some time. She’s felt well-​cared for and has been given good service at a reasonable price.
We moved to Alameda six months ago and after trying Royal Auto twice, first with some uneasiness and then with downright certainty that these people don’t play with a full deck, I tried Blanding. Night-​and-​Day difference, honesty and fairness, and excellent service with up-​front break-​down of parts and labor costs. Damned decent garage. My mechanics from now on.

Trust me, this is THE shop. Whether it is an oil change or to some major engine problems, this definitely is my go-​to shop for my car. Being a frugal college student, I definitely needed a shop that was great in price without sacrificing service. The owner of the shop is excellent and very honest. He did not beat around the bush and told me exactly what I needed and didn’t need. Service is always great and my car continues to run without any problems!

I had smog check done on my two cars, along with brake check. The shop looked clean and welcoming. Mr. Lum was very professional and seemed very honest, which are two characteristics that are hard to find in many car mechanics. I’m going back.

I had a good experience with this repair shop when my car died at a stoplight. I called AAA, and this was where my car was towed. The repair was fast and the rates were fair (I did my research), and the owner was friendly. I would give them 5 stars if they were open a little later on weeknights and offered customers a ride home.

I always (and only) go to Precision Auto Care in San Leandro for my oil changes and tune-​ups, but since I was about 2,000 miles overdue for an oil change, I wasn’t sure my car would make it the 20 miles out there, so I searched the internet for coupons. That’s how I found Blanding.
The owner and head mechanic, Lum, was very kind and friendly. I called in with a $ 24.99 coupon for an oil change, to which he said he would add $ 5 in taxes. When I got there, he said it would be an extra few dollars to top-​off all the liquids (which Jim at Precision Auto just includes in the price of the Oil Change).
I told Lum that I thought it was a hidden cost, that I asked him what the price would be over the phone for a reason, and he told me that he thought it was fair price for a fair service. All in all, I trusted him, as he explained that they have to buy the liquids (coolant, etc.), so in the interest of not arguing, I let him do the work, but next time, I am headed to Precision, where a $ 30 oil change is really a $ 30 oil change — no strings attached.