Excel Transmission

Mr. Lee did the job for exactly the quote he promised over the phone for rebuilding my transmission on an older classic MBZ 300E, it was about half the price of westside quotes, even cheaper than out in the Valley!
I was warned by most everyone not to trust someone in Koreatown but after reading the reviews here and talking to Mr. Lee, as well as the owners of recommended and popular shops, I had my car towed to his shop from the Pico Blvd./ Robertson area, with some trepidation because when you have to have a car towed in by AAA you’re stuck.
What really sold me was I also called for quotes from other shops in E. Hollywood and Koreatown and the other Asian owners all had only good words about Mr. Lee!
«Old school but very good work.»
The car had been towed to a shop I trusted which had done good work before but they were busy and it took them almost a week just to diagnose that it was the transmission!
By this time I’d rented a car for a week and it was frustrating but I wanted to get the job done right for the lowest possible cost as the usual $ 2500 cost was too much for my age of car though it has low mileage, and I’d already replaced so many things I want to keep it running.
We agreed he wouldn’t start the work until he confirmed it needed a rebuild and he could do it for the price quoted.
He kept me posted by phone, it took the amount of time promised (5 full days) and when I Ubered to pick it up, is the first time I met him — he had done the work himself is why he could charge so much less, didn’t farm out the work, and he showed me all the old parts, explained what he had done and he had even fixed a bad oil leak that 2 previous Westside shops had been unable to fix, including the arrogant owner Gregg @Westside Mercedes in Santa Monica near Wilshire & 9^th, they wanted to charge me hundreds for new seals when the problem had been a leaky hose connecting to the transmission line! They had the car up on a hoist and ran the engine super-​fast til the oil splashed and exclaimed about it, no attempt to find out what it really was, they just claimed it was the cam seals and $ 5000 worth of other repairs as well. Actually with a new fuel pump and radiator the car didn’t need anything.
They became very rude when I questioned that, gave me the «if you can’t afford to drive a Mercedes in Santa Monica you shouldn’t drive one or live here» attitude in so many words, wow! Plus they’d wanted to do a transmission flush for hundreds more instead of just changing out the fluid when from what I have learned, that can actually damage some older cars and Mr. Lee said I should just change the transmission fluid every year at this point.
It came with the standard one-​year or 12-​K mile warranty.
So it turned out that the money spent actually was offset by expenses I would’ve had and still not had a rebuilt transmission, I can’t say enough about the workmanship and honesty of Mr. Lee, he’s the kind of tradesman who’s in short supply in America these days, what a find!

I was was surprised with the conduct of the person who received my call. I was trying to get a quote for a transmission repair and clutch replacement on two separate occasions. First they gave me a quote for 500 labor on clutch replacement, after doing my research this price is pretty high, mitchel’s book of labor indicated that the work only should take 4 hours. That’s 125 dollars per hour guys. Also when i called for transmission work the guys just turned me down and hanged up on me. Why? Because we pulled the transmission down and when he found out about this he knows he wont be able to charge me more cause we already did the heavy work. Don’t go here. The owner doesn’t have a sense of integrity, he just want to rip you off.

Mr. Lee is the best!
I’m really glad I found this place!
I’m really Lucky to found this place!
I came in to ask about this super high pitched screeching noise coming from my car and he not only fixed it, he walked me through the mechanics of the problem and then some. He spent 30 minutes fixing my problem and 30minutes explaining to me how my car worked and how problems are caused while checking and fixing my check engine light problem for free. He also gave me a huge discount by giving me the dealer price for the replacement product which saved me around $ 100 Dollars.
Trust me, I’ve been to dealer-​run shops, brand name mechanics, etc. Their prices are triple or quadruple, other shops don’t care about your car and they will try to sell you stuff you don’t need.
Everything is pretty much perfect: Prices, outstanding quick service, and the one thing money can’t buy – honesty.
I Promise you Once you come here you wont go anywhere else!
Definitely found myself a lifetime mechanic!
Thank you Mr. Lee

The transmission on my 2007 Ford Explorer gave out, out of the blue it would no longer go in reverse. I called various shops and got estimates on the cost of rebuilding the transmission. Came on Unilocal and found two shops with the highest rating. Called Lee and he promptly answered the phone and gave me an estimate. Called the other shop a few times before someone answered. The cost to rebuild the transmission was over $ 1000 more than what Lee charged.
Took the truck to Lee on a Friday morning, although he opened at 8:00 am, he had no problem opening early when I arrived. He checked to see if it could be an electrical problem, once he verified that it was not and the transmission needed to be rebuilt, he gave me the price which was the same as the estimate over the phone.
Lee took the time to explain what type of transmission the truck had, and brought a notebook with information on the transmission.
4 days later, the truck was repaired. When I arrived to pick it up, Lee explained the problem and showed me the damaged parts of the transmission. Although some parts were still good, Lee still replaced them with new ones. He took me on a test drive and gave me some tips on what to do to make sure I wasn’t damaging the transmission.
I’m very satisfied with the work performed, the price, and the attentiveness of Lee. I recommend Excel Transmission 100%.

Had a problem with torque converter and one of the solenoids for my Jetta.
My Oil change guy recommended this place, so I decided to check it out.
Other mechanics took a day or longer to find out what the problem was and quoted around $ 1,500 but Mr. Lee figured it out within minutes and quoted $ 800.
He showed me a big stack of work order forms of all the Volkswagen transmissions he had fixed and took out a box that was labled «Volkswagen» and showed me the actual parts that needed to be replaced. It was kind of vague when mechanics in other shops explained the problem but it was very easy to understand when Mr. Lee explained it. He was confident, super organized and friendly.
He got the car fixed in a day, test drove the car for 50 miles to make sure everything was all good. He even put in $ 20 gas out of his pocket for the test drive.
Honest guy who knows what he is doing.
Wouldn’t even bother with other places if I ever have another transmission issue.
Definitely recommend this place to everyone.

Mr Lee is awesome. Was also referred to him about a year ago after my rover would not go forward. I had just taken it to a rover shop 6 months earlier thinking it would be best. They fixed my transmission but never the root problem. Anyhow, I wanted my truck fixed and took a chance with Mr Lee. He did the job at a great price. Year later, still running nice. Just came in for service and Mr Lee did not fail. Fitted me in right away and had his big smile. Figured he deserved the review. Pizza place across, central american bakery and restaurant down the street in case you wait.

My 2003 Acura MDX needed a second transmission at 85k miles. Dealer quote was $ 4500 to $ 5k for another Acura remanufactured transmission like the one I already had that went bad without warning with only 56k miles on it. I called Mr. Lee at Excel Transmission based on another 5 star review. He is extemely knowledgeable and was familiar with the MDX transmission problems. I took the SUV to him. He was rebuilding a Lexus Suv transmission. Mr. Lee was very profesiioal, kind and pleasant… not to mention the most reasonable cost (less than half the dealer). My vehicle was ready in 3 days. Runs great. Mr. Lee advised me to change the transmission fluid once a year instead of recommeded every 50K miles. He said he does this for his wife’s 2004 Acura MDX which has not had transmission problems at 75k miles. I highly recommend Mr. Lee, Excel Transmission.

Just got the transmission rebuilt at this shop.
The car drives like new now and saved a lot of dollars compared to dealers and even compared to other local transmission shops.
I could tell the owner Mr. Lee was a hands-​on guy. Mr. Lee knows in and out of transmission. Unlike other bigger shops, the owner gets his hands dirty; rebuilds transmissions; and exactly follows the factory specs when tightening all bolts and screws. I am sure this makes a big difference down the road. In addition, what a good customer-​driven mindset Mr. Lee has! Mr. Lee explained in detail why transmissions fail and knew the commom root causes of my particular vehicle types (2003 Honda Odyssey Minivan with 147,000 miles). The shop was recommended by one of AAA towing truck drivers and he told me that he had been a happy customer with his car tranmission fixed at the place many years back. I also noticed that people who had a series of transmission issues from other shops end up coming to this shop. Mr. Lee not only rebuilt the transmission right but also added a dedicated transmission cooler. The reason being is that it will prevent transmission from reaching high temperature particularly for Honda Odyssey and can also help prevent other future problems such as radiator coolant and transmission oll getting mixed up. It was an extra cost for him but proceeed without charging any extra.
Now my minivan is back and I feel much safer after getting the well thought out care from this shop, I highly recommend this shop!

this place is great. i got my car fixed here all the time and he seems to know what is wrong with my car instantly.
he’s very honest and always had my car done on time. if he doesn’t finish the car on the exact date, then he lets me know ahead of time. i don’t have to call in and see how my cars doing.
i highly recommend everyone to go here to get your transmission checked! he has been fixing cars for over 30 years! higly reliable.