KarTek Automotive

This was written a few years ago but Mike begged me to take it down. I am reposting it because I have an update:
Years ago: I will NEVER return or recommend anyone! Hopefully this will save somebody. DO NOT trust that snake of a guy Mike! He is a total charmer and as nice as can be UNTIL your money is in his pocket! My husband and I bought not one but TWO cars from him. You would have thought he would have been grateful. He was amazing at first… always calling to check up on us and always had time for us, but BAM as soon as we had paid and signed for both cars, he turned on us. He would continually flake on us and neglected our calls. Why were we calling you may ask? Because he is a LIER!!! He told us my husbands car was as good as new and since we bought the piece of shit thing one year ago, we have put almost 6K worth of work into it! It is constantly breaking down and has so many problems. Good as new my ass! I wrote a negative review months and months ago when we first had a problem and Mike called me whining for him to take down my review and that he would take care of us… BULL SHIT! I felt bad so I took it down but after calling Firestone (who I trust way more) for the 5^th time in the past 4 months, I am so angry that I have to repost something only so that he doesn’t keep screwing people over. DON’T TRUST THIS MF! Have a nice day! :)
Update today: So my car died all of the sudden and I took it to Firestone (GREAT and HONEST) and luckily it was just a battery issue BUUUUUUUT when I went to pick up my care, they said «Um who put this battery in? It isn’t even the right one for this car, I am surprised you didn’t have additional issues… you are lucky»…STILL giving Mike and his business TWO thumbs down!!! Do not trust this guy (as he is a total crook)… unless you want to be lied to. Thanks for reading! :)

TLDR /​Bottom line: KarTek is fine for simple oil changes, but do not trust them with any other repairs.
We moved and decided to try out a new mechanic closer to us. Our friend had gotten his oil changed at KarTek twice and said that they did a good job. My husband noticed his car was leaking oil and brought his car to KarTek in for a diagnosis.
Raffi was the mechanic who assisted us. He told my husband that he could fix the leak and that the timing belt needed replacement, too. He gave us a loaner car while the repairs were getting done.
My husband was stuck at work, so I had to pick up the car. It was 4:00 and I hadn’t heard back about the car, so I checked in. The car would be ready for pickup at 6:00. Great, I’ll run some errands in the meantime. Then Raffi called me to ask if the check engine light was on when we brought the car in. It wasn’t. Then another call to give me a heads up: while fixing the timing belt, they broke another part. He quoted us $ 85 to replace the part that they broke. They didn’t have the part and stock, and it would take 2 days for the part to be shipped. I asked what the part did: it affected the check engine light. Eh, no biggie, we can get it fixed another time. If the car was drivable and safe, I wanted it back.
Every time I offered to pick up the car, I was met with resistance:
«But the car wouldn’t pass the smog test,» he added.
We aren’t due for a test until next year.
«If I could only talk to your husband, it’d be easier. I could make him understand.»
Sorry, but he’s at work.
«Your husband still has the loaner car.»
He took my car to work. I can bring back the loaner car today.
«We are going to close shop in 15 minutes.»
I’m less than a 10-​minute drive away.
I felt pressured to replace a part that they messed up and broke. It was their mistake, and they should cover the costs for their error. I didn’t feel comfortable going back to KarTek and wanted a second opinion.
We reached out to our old mechanic, Hrant, who referred us to a specialist.
— The part name that KarTek gave me didn’t exist, which means Raffi either made it up or was not familiar with its name (either scenario doesn’t bode well)
— 2 parts were broken when the timing belt was replaced, not 1
— Replacement for both parts was only $ 20 vs. the marked-​up $ 85 I was quoted from KarTek
— The engine blocks were rusted and about to go, which is something KarTek should have noticed while replacing the timing belt (the engine blocks are located near the timing belt)
In the end, we got our car serviced at Pasadena Automotive, and it runs beautifully now.

I highly recommend these guys! I live close by and pass it daily. I needed an oil change and remembered seeing their sign for an oil change and filter for only $ 19.95. Brought it in, there was a but of a wait so I left my car there and walked home. The gentleman was kind enough to call and make sure I wanted regular oil not synthetic and called me when it was done! I came back including the oil filter and oil disposal and taxes it was only $ 23.37! He didn’t try and pressure me to get any extra fluids or anything. The gentleman was very pleasant! I recommend this place and will definitely be returning to them for my regular oil changes!

Really great place! Easy in/​out. Friendly service, honest staff with good prices! Will be going here from now on for sure!

Two friends swear by Kartek and I brought my Jeep in today for an oil change. They checked her out and took care of the oil. They also found a strut was hanging off with no bolt and fixed it for me. Super fast. Really affordable. This is the ONLY place that will work on my Jeep from here on out. Everything that was recommended about this business and more! Customer for life!

Friendly, honest, great service. Owner is upfront and very professional. I’ve finally found a solid place to take my car for service!

Always friendly people unless it’s a bit too busy then they’re anxiousness shows. But who doesn’t right? I mainly come in for oil changes to my 2 vehicles and the times I’ve come in they have been friendly, relatively fast and helpful with questions. My real only problem with the place is that when I asked if they can check out my «check engine» light, they said it would cost $ 85 because it’s diagnostic. He did say that the cost would go towards the repair should I choose to fix. While this may be common practice in Los Angeles, I came from Albuquerque, NM where every time I went to any auto repair, private or large chain they would check it for free because it took less than 5 min. Charging more than $ 20 seems excessive and a rip off.

Took my car to get a wheel alignment done, I didn’t get a chance to catch the gentleman’s name who assisted me but I think he’s the owner. He was very friendly and polite and told me that they would take care of my car. I wait about 35 mins, which isn’t too long and my car was done. The best part was that it was $ 49.99 for a 4 wheel alignment. Service with a smile and prices that are very competitive, I live about a block from here and every time I pass by they’re always busy, so they have to be doing something right. Will definitely come back if I ever get any more car trouble.

Great facility and great customer service! Toby in the front was professional, courteous and made me feel at home. Quick. Inexpensive. The place to go.

These guys always take great care of us. Got there 30 minutes before they closed this past Saturday for an oil change and to see why the check engine light was on. They took us in right away, changed the oil/​filter, took care of the check engine trouble, and we were on our way by the time they closed. The prices are always right and we will continue to always bring our cars here to get serviced!

The guys here are great $ 54 for an oil change on a turbo! All synthetic. I have brought my friend here in the past and they have always been up front and honest. One time she was worried about her brakes. they checked it for free and said they are fine. Very nice guys. Air conditioned office.

Registering my car with CA and needed a Smog Check Test. Called to confirm the price and went in an hour later, and wasn’t there longer than 20 minutes. Very friendly, fast and efficient. He even extended his contact for a ‘quicker DMV’ experience as I have to process loads of paperwork to become registered. Overall great experience, I would definitely recommend.

I’ve been coming here for about 4 years now and I have no complaints. They always do great work, and Mike is super nice and always takes care of my car.

I first discovered KarTek because I live near it. One day I needed an oil change and didn’t feel like driving to my regular mechanic of 10 yrs. From that moment KarTek became my new place for oil changes. Then I needed some work done and my mechanic was stalling so I Unilocaled KarTek and the reviews took me back there. Now they are my new mechanics for both of my cars and they even do body work, unfortunately, I found out because I was in a fender bender but KarTek fixed my car and it looks brand new again!
I couldn’t be happier with them for their great service and with Unilocal for the reviews I read that made me decide to go there. Thank you!

Went in for an oil change. I was asking one of the mechanics the difference between regular and synthetic oil and one of the mechanics thought it would be cool to throw a homophobic comment at me.
It’s totally unacceptable to be treated this way, especially when paying for service. I will never return here again, and I encourage you to go someplace that will welcome people from all walks of life.

This is great and affordable auto shop. Changed oil and rotated tires on all three of my cars for a fraction of the dealership prices. Quick and efficient guys. And the review below with allegations that oil was not changed is such a bs. The lady should post bad review to whoever lied to her that filter was changed and oil was not! Well back ti Kartek: their prices are very good on most of the basic maintenance needs. Recommended!

I took my Jeep here for the first time yesterday for a smog check, oil change, and tire rotation. The people were very friendly and welcoming. They were a little backed up and said it was going to be 3 hours for an oil change. Most people might see this as a problem, but for me it says that they are obviously getting a lot of business because they are doing something right. They called me within the 3 hours they quoted, told me it was ready and that was it! When I went to pick up my Jeep they didn’t try to upsell me on s#!t I knew was already wrong with my piece of poo car. Good work, Guys! (and girls if there are any working there) I will definitely be back.

A couple of months ago my A/​C went out. Not that big of a deal normally, but living in LA where we’ve only really had one cold day since last April — it’s kind of essential. I took it to another car place closer to work and was told that my compressor was broken and would need to be replaced. Estimated cost? Upwards of $ 500 without labor.
Ummm…no thanks.
Fast forward to last week and the horrendous heat wave that hit. Windows down cooling just wasn’t cutting it anymore so I found KarTek through Unilocal.I can’t even tell you how brilliant that turned out to be but I’ll try.
I took my car in early Saturday morning and within 10 mins they had it up on the rack checking it out. And check it out they did. The looked at all the wires, hoses, connections, doodads and so on. Come to find out it was a shot relay switch that was the culprit. After adding in an oil change I left spending less than $ 200.
The staff was super friendly. You can tell each and every one of them takes pride in their work. I will definitely be returning here.

Mike (and the other mechanics) are professional and friendly! We dropped off my husband’s car because it was randomly failing to start. The guys at Kartek were able to correctly diagnose the problem in a day and we haven’t had an issue since!
Will definitely be returning for any car issues in the future.

I feel bad about writing this review. But I have to share my experience. I went to KarTek for an oil change based on all the good reviews here on Unilocal.The experience had was great. The people there are super friendly and helpful and even the customers are great. The customers were returning customers and were even talking about awesome the service was without prompting from anyone.
Then I went to get an oil change in San Diego. I couldn’t take it back to KarTek and based on the sticker they put in my car, I decided I should just take it to a spot in San Diego. That’s when I learned that they never changed the oil in my car. They just changed the filter.
Maybe it was just an random thing. Because based on what everyone else says here and what people said to me at the shop… it doesn’t sound like what these guys do…