APA Automotive Center Inc

If you are looking for a phenomenal local auto repair… look no further! APA Automotive Center is an amazing local family auto repair shop. They do great work and they are fast. Ask for Gus. He is straightforward, polite, respectful and knows his cars. I have referred tons of friends and family to APA. You won’t be disappointed!

Like so many other reviews i need to write, a long overdue Unilocal review… I started coming to Gus about 5 years ago, after calling AAA (again) to tow my diesel truck. I had been having all kinds of crazy ghost problems and the beast kept breaking down. The tow truck driver said he had my same exact model truck (05′ Chevy Silverado 2500 4×4 Diesel) and knew a good mechanic nearby that worked on his truck and he towed me to APA automotive. Then I started bringing my Prius and my husband’s Audi A5 to Gus. It seems he works on anything. After years of moving from one mechanic to another, it’s nice to have finally found a good mechanic I can trust, and one that works on all my vehicles… I’ve found his work to be clean and pricing fair. He has always taken the time to explain (slowly mind you as i haven’t a mind for the mechanics of automobiles) what need be done now and what maybe can wait. Once I called him from the road, upset and frustrated as my truck had stopped running not a week after it being fixed… I came to find that I had simply run out of gas… how embarrassing is that? But Gus was totally chill and even drove me out a couple gallons of gas. If that aint service i’m not sure what is.

Gus and Greg are EXCELLENT mechanics, they know their cars, especially Europeans. They take their time, but always get the job done. Gus the owner is super nice and always willing to go Extra Miles!!! He treats his customers as family members and I always feel welcome at his shop. I’ve noticed that a used car lot opened up right next to APA. I am not sure if those cars belong to Gus, but selection looked pretty good, very cool website

Been taking one car there for several years. Dealer before that since the car was new. Gus is completely honest. He would never last as a service manager at many dealerships. I trust him completely with my 6-​year-​old Chevy. Thanks for everything, Gus!

First, I want to make clear that I am not judging A.P.A. Automotive off of my opinion just factual events and information from my experiences there… The owner Gus was always friendly and I was referred to him from a family friend. Although from the time I brought my car to him, it seemed to just fall apart. It could have been a time issue and I purchased my car used but I made an honest effort to maintain my car with oil changes and tire rotations as routinely possible. And I drove it easy.
One time after spending nearly 600 to fix something on my car I got home after a day and noticed that there was something weird when I was driving. I opened the hood and noticed right away that the air intake was detached where you can insert a filter, so non-​filtered air was passing into my engine. It pissed me off because if I am spending my money to professionally get work done on my car then I expect to have my car pieced back together properly.
Additionally, another minor event involved one of his employees forgetting to replace my hub cap after taking my tire off to work on my break pads. I noticed once I drove 30 miles home and had to return the next day to retrieve my hubcap. Poor customer service???
Finally, I went into the shop to get my car checked after it seemed to be running unusually. The next day I call over 6 times trying to reach Gus, when finally I am told that it may be a cylinder problem and he’d have to take apart my engine. Less than 2 years before he had done work on my cylinder and head gasket and was unable give me some sort of a deal. Multiple times he changed his quota on what the service would cost. He told me he had performed a drip down test to test whether I had proper pressure in my cylinders. He explained that the test came back positive for low pressure therefore he would have to take apart the engine to see if it was a valve or piston. After getting a second opinion through a family friend, I was able to perform a drip down test with my family friend and found that none of my cylinders were leaking and that I had proper compression in my engine? My family friend showed me how to tell if it was a piston or valve by listening through my air intake, oil reservoir, or exhaust pipe. He then had showed me how work done at A.P.A was done improperly… My family friend did all this for me free of charge. I was lied to.
I put a ton of money into my car at A.P.A., and honestly got nothing out of it. I am bummed out and wanted to warn anyone that was looking for an honest mechanic with the customers best interests in mind. This is where I will give my opinion: How do you expect your car to be maintenance and repair in an orderly fashion when they cannot even maintain a orderly place of work. It is a complete mess inside and out. I can’t imagine the kind of work being down on the cars going in and out of that shop.

It’s been 6 years since the last time I was in here, and I’ve always been happy with their service. Again, I wasn’t disappointed. This place is always busy so they must have a lot of satisfied customers like myself. I had a SMOG CHECK and OIL CHANGE done and they were able to work on my car right away. The place is small and tight so when you first arrive it’s hard to figure out where to park.
PROS:
–Gus the owner is helpful and is able to get you out rather quickly for simple jobs like a Smog Check.
–WIfi and TV while waiting
–They wil position your car conveniently when they are finished so you don’t have to back up unto traffic
–Inexpensive
CONS:
–workers don’t help you at all when you first arrive, no greeting or offer of assistance, basically you have to hunt for the owner
–the difference when Gus (the owner) is there and when he is not is like night and day. I went in when the owner was not there and the mechanic basically told me to go away. I guess he wasn’t able to communicate effectively that they were busy (:
I gave them the 5 stars because I got the service I wanted, in a timely manner with no drama.

I just had these guys do a smog check; and that’s not a big deal. Yes, parking is tight. The owner took care of me right away. I was in a nd out in less than 20 minutes. No complaints. I am considering returning for real mechanical work when needed, because it is so close to home. At that time, I may have a different review, but for now, I can only say I got great service, at a reasonable price; and the owner seemed like a stand up guy.

A friend has been taking her car there, and she swears that it is just the car, but it is now in that shop every week, which always makes me suspicious, because let’s face it, mechanics have a reputation in general to not be trusted. But my boyfriend has always used this place, too, and said I was being paranoid. So despite her many urgent phone calls to drive her to same mechanic who had just «fixed» her car, I figured he was right.
Well, his mom had something go wrong with her car, and I had the exact same problem once, so I told her it was the fuel pump, a very very common problem that most cars have at some point. Which she told Gus, who said she was wrong and it was something else. But, hey, guess what? He made the repair, it did not work, and suddenly… it was the fuel pump. And he still charged her for his mistake, despite the fact that she had known the problem and he had dismissed her in the first place.
Honestly, I don’t know the truth of the situation, and I am not saying he is sleazy, but I know that I won’t be taking my car there.

Okay… the other reviewers were either related, girlfriends, or maybe young enough for the guy, to get respect…
What a joke, what a rude ass that guy was… I «thought» I had an appointment, as they told me to get there at noon… then, I get there, and was treated as if he was doing me a favor by speaking to me, telling me to wait, and then ignoring me… followed by, the arrogant jerk would not tell me where to park, then would not help me, then told me to move my car!
I moved it all right— right out of their screwed up parking lot…
I am a 55 year old female who has kept her appearance and weight in check, yet I could have been a crackhead who smelled like dog poop, the way I was treated. What the hell — is it because I don’t have my boobs hanging out, or had the audacity to get older???
what the f***…I am so incredibly pissed, and left there in tears. I hope Karma runs that jackass over… what an arrogant, rude assh***…
It’s worth the drive back to Ken’s Auto Repair in Thousand Oaks, just to get treated how a customer SHOULD be treated!

I’ve been going to Gus for over 11 years. Trustworthy and honest. I cant give him 4 stars only because the shop is often soooo busy that you have to leave your car the whole day. But that just goes to show that he has a lot of repeat customers that will only go to him for their repairs.