La Mesa Muffler & Brakes

This man is awesome. Hes always up for anything! Hes done a few things for my boyfriends cars so when a friend of mine asked who could do a muffler delete for a fair price i had to recommend him. Finally i took a used exhaust to him that the previous owner had cracked. He fixed it right up and got it on my car in less than an hour for a very reasonable price. He also let me check out what he was doing and to see under my car, which is another huge plus because i love learning car stuff.
This guy is just awesome. Will definitely keep recommending him and going back!

I own a 71 mustang, after installing headers I took it to la mesa muffler
To have the collectors attached, Rick installed them and within a week it blew out the gasket, returned and he installed a second set. Which blew out again, at which time he sold me aluminum gaskets. He assured me this was gonna solve the problem, a month and a half later the driver side blew out again.
I looked underneath and found a bolt on pass side just floating loose as well, I went back a third time. He opens the hood & proclaims it’s my manifold leaking, so I went to two different shops & they both pointed to the collector.
I go back to Rick a fourth time, since he is the only person that had worked on it.
I reminded him that he was the only person that had worked on it, and that he assured me the gaskets he installed wouldn’t leak again & he proceeds to starts verbally assaulting me, and raising his voice accusing me of questioning his integrity! I said, the only thing I’m questioning is wether he stands behind his work? To which he states, let’s have a look. But I’m not paying him a third time,
To fix what should have been done right the first time. He is a sorry mechanic,
& I wouldn’t let him fix a skateboard!
I’m sure when he gets it right, there’s no problems. But if you have an issue, he goes from jeckyl to Hyde in a hot second!
Avoid his shop is my advice, plenty of reputable muffler shops out there!

Rick is a competent guy for doing welding, grinding, cutting, and fitting of exhaust pipes and mufflers. He is, after all, a metal sculptor in his spare time. Great work, done quickly and cost-​effectively. After he fixed my damaged exhaust system, my car is now peppier and, as an added bonus, purrs quietly and authoritatively like a 1960s muscle car. Vroom, vroom.

Rick did a great job replacing my catalytic converter & both O2 sensors for a very reasonable price on my aging 98 4Runner that I want to keep going. In and out in less than 2 hours (including ordering parts & having them delivered). My near 20 year old SUV now purrs like a kitten! Recommended highly! Support the local independent owners!

At first, Rick was helpful. He took good care of our car but once it had a problem with the alternator it seemed he jumped on that and it became a recurring problem. He kept referring to my car (a 2007 Nissan Murano with 120k miles) as a «lemon». For real? Old? Yes. Lemon? No way. After the third «battery/​alternator failure» we took our vehicle elsewhere and have had great success. The car is still going strong and that was a year and a half ago. So much for a lemon.

The guy was great I called him on a Saturday mid morning and he had me out by the middle of the afternoon with brand new brakes on all four wheels clean– easy-​fast!

Have been here twice and both times Rick has fit me right in. He was able to piece together my custom exhaust setup and get the car sounding great!!! Straight forward, great work and timely

Rick helped me diagnose a strange noise coming from my engine bay that another shop thought was an exhaust leak. Turned out to be some plastic rubbing up against metal. He put my car on the rack while it was running and found the source almost immediately. I was relieved to find it wasn’t something worse. A bit of tightening up on the timing belt cover and the sound subsided.
More recently I noticed hot spots on my brake rotors. I called him up and he invited me down to resurface them. He had my car taken care of in almost no time! He made it look so easy!
While waiting I heard several vehicles drive by with worn out, squealing brakes that could have used his attention! Great service for great value!

I’ve been to this shop twice now and both times I’ve been helped out with everything I needed. The price is fair and the work the owner does is great stuff.
I’ll be back for all of my exhaust system needs!

I needed some metal poles cut for my DIY closet organizer and this gentlemen had no issue helping me. He cut them right away for a small fee. No questions asked even though it was an odd request.
Thanks buddy!

I went to this place to get some exhaust work done and I did not like it at all. The shop was ran by a single guy named Rick. Rick seemed to be uninterested into what I wanted and wasn’t very helpful. He also gave me an estimate over the phone but when I came in the price was bumped up. Would not recommend this place.

I give this place 5 stars because plain and simple, that’s what it deserves. Rick is an all around stand up guy. So far, he has replaced both catalytic converters and replaced a missing starter bolt on my old 1991 300ZX, a full brake job on my 2008 Kia Optima, a full brake job on my fiances 1995 Pathfinder, and done all of these jobs at a fraction of the price I would’ve paid anywhere else. After dropping my cars off, I head to work and he calls me within the hour, before starting the job, with an exact estimate on parts and labor with tax included. Honest, reliable, friendly service at a more than reasonable price that I would recommend to anyone. If he has the time and availability, I will in fact be taking my 2011 Jeep Compass to him for yet another brake job on Tuesday.

Despite the negative reviews, I gotta give Rick and the shop a 5 star review. I was referred by the Pep Boys on El Cajon Blvd to see Rick about fixing an exhaust leak in my ’97 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I called to see if I could get an appointment and he told me to just head on over whenever it was convenient for me.
Upon arrival, I was immediately greeted outside by Rick and handed him the keys to drive the jeep up onto the lift to check the undercarriage. He immediately spotted the issue and answered (in detail) all of my questions about possible solutions. He then gave me a sweet deal upfront for what parts and labor would cost. We agreed, and he immediately went to work. About 30 minutes later everything was done!
The place looks a little run down, but like the old saying goes, «don’t judge a book by its cover.» I received great service at an awesome price. I highly recommend Rick and the shop.

I got ripped off the first time by him, paid more for the work then the dealer would have charged, like a jerk I went back and was quoted 400 for work on my motorhome and when I picked it up he charged me 533.00. I just now read the reviews on Unilocal,this is what he does, be careful

If I can give a 0 star, I will. Seem like a nice, loyalty, and humorous guy when first met. Look can be deceiving.. He will take advantage of you and especially female when he can. Jack up the price of labor of $ 200 buck just to installed it in, and I bought all the parts myself. His less then 20 minute of work, was more then me working hard the whole day. I do not recommend this place. I let my brother called him the next day to ask for labor price, quote was $ 80. Totally not an honest man, do not go there people. I will also report it to BBB.

So i need my catalytic converters changed and they were the first ones i called due to the fact that google had good reviews on them. Once i Called who ever answered the phone was beyong rude. «are you seriously calling around asking for prices?» those were the exact words followed by hanging up on me. In my opinion its pretty normal to call around to ask for pricing .Im in the automotive business my self and i can assure you with that type of attitude it will get you no where. Advice for the guys who answer the phone be more polite on the phone.

Recently stopped in for a brake pad change on my car. Was unsure with limited Unilocal reviews of how the service would be but it was great! Very friendly, quick, and efficient. Price was a little high but competitive with other shops. Hopefully I won’t need to, but any future vehicle repairs and I will be back!

I recently had problems with my vintage 1987 Cadillac Coupe Deville. Rick was extremely professional, patient, and quite cost effective in repairing the car. I believe I have found a new quite capable and honest mechanic for my vehicles. I recommend Rick and his work highly and without hesitation.

I was told TWICE by Rick that to put in a catalytic converter in my 1999 Honda would cost me $ 385 OUT THE DOOR — OUT THE DOOR — -TWICE! Bill was $ 418.68 with $ 33.68 tax. When I brought up his OUT THE DOOR quote to Rick he ignored it. I am unemployed and $ 33 is $ 33 and lying to a customer is lying to a customer so I can’t recommend this company.

I figured out that my driver side catalytic converter was bad. I being a genius and wanting to save a buck decided to order and install the new cat myself. Well, long story short my «direct fit» converter ($ 384 from Oreilly’s) was shipped to my house and I tried to install it. The installation didn’t work out so well and I had a «now what?» moment. So I looked up and drove to la mesa muffler and asked the owner to check it out. How about $ 40 bucks along with the old converter to install the cat? Deal. He ended up having to do some cutting and welding to get it properly installed. Now I have no rattles and was very happy with the service I received.
I must say I was very leery since it looked as though this guy had no business. I also thought that might be for the better for me since he needs some business. Well it turned out to be a good deal for me!