Master Auto Center Orange County

Write a Review949-770-5556

OPEN NOW - Closes at 6:00pm

I took my car over fot a smog check this afternoon. The service was quick, the people were
Very Polite and curteous as well as being professional. I would definitely recommend this company.

I went to get shocks and an alignment for my minivan. They forgot to tighten one of my shocks. The bolt holding it in wad only hand tight so I had to go back. How do you do an alignment like this?

I went to this shop to get an estimate on my auto repair for a tune up & spoke with the shop owner named Karmim.He is disrespectful and beligerent when it comes to his customer services advice to his customers.
I took my car in @ 8 am on a Saturday & told him I needed it back by 2 pm.He called me @130 pm & said the car would not be done until Monday as he had to order parts & I told him I had not even given my ok to do the work yet, I wanted an estimate of repairs first.Karmim tells me it is going to be $1165.00 approx. for the tune up, I said thats to much for a tune up & I did not want the work to be done & I would pick my car up & take it to get repaired elsewhere.
I was told by Karmim there was a $45.00 check out fee & said ok I will pay you that & would pick my car up on Monday after work.
Monday I go to get my car about 645pm & to pay his $45.00 check out fee & I am told he only takes cash when people bring their car in for service & don't have the repairs done he advised them about. I tried to give him my debit card & he refuse to take it saying he only takes cash. I told him I don't carry cash & very rudely he said "that's why they make ATM machines & there is one across the street"! I told him I had just made a bank deposit & there was enough money to cover his repair fee & he said " I don't believe you", excuse me ...a repair shop is calling a customer a Liar??
Again I told him to run the debit card & he would see it will work & he will get his money. Karmim the owner says..." Show me your deposit slip to prove you made a deposit because I still don't believe you"...I said " you got to be joking with me?"...Karmim said if I don't see a deposit slip I will charge you a late fee for picking up your car so late. I showed him my deposit slip covering my bank balance, he ran the card,got his money,I left. Went to another place within 5 miles of his shop and got the same tune up done for half of what he wanted to charge me.I will NEVER go back to his shop.

So I am back home visiting family when I am informed that my little 1994 Toyota needs to be smogged and registered. So I do what any normal person would do while spending time on vacation with his family would do. I take it to get smogged so that next time I am in the area my truck is registered, smogged,etc. Enter Master Auto Care. I hesistantly agree to pay the 55 dollars or whatever they charge and wait what may have been under an hour(not bad really). So the results are in and I get the "well there is some good news and some bad news" spiel. So I brace myself for the worst and get" your truck passed all the smog portion of the test but failed the EVAP* portion of the test." * For those not in the know, the EVAP test of the CA smog test consists of the technician pressurizing the gas tank with Nitrogen and then seeing how much pressure drops within a certain amount of time. If it drops beyond the allotted amount then you get FAILED for the whole smog test. It's basically to see if your fuel system leaks fuel vapors and/or fuel.



I explain my situation about me not living in the area anymore and that I should have one of my family members bring it back to be "troubleshooted". So I leave disappointed and half a benjamin lighter. Next day, (also 12 hours before my flight back to Florida) I bite the bullet and just decide to take it to another shop right down the street (somewhere on Bake Pkwy if you are wondering) and just ask to have another Smog check done without revealing the previous days results. So he says leave me the keys and an hour later I get a phone call saying my truck is ready and PASSED the entire smog test. Now I know the car repair industry already has shady characters in the mix, but I highly doubt that one would readily pass a vehicle that failed the previous day unless they were compensated for it. So I call my little friend over at Master Auto Care and he states that maybe the equipment gave a false fail and blah blah blah and refunding my money was simply out of the question. Well sir, It was only 55 of my dollars, how much will it be from everyone else's? It's your choice to use these guys, but be prepared to be fleeced if you're not knowledgeable of what they're actually doing.



P.S. Being a mechanical engineer, I am always weary of people telling me something is wrong mechanically without a concise description of what exactly COULD be the problem as opposed to them NOT KNOWING anything at all what the problem could be.

Do not trust this place. I went there with a coupon for a smog check only to be told that if they don't get to make repairs the coupon is not valid. Funny that this would not be in the add. I did research(like i should have done in the first place) and found that others have shared the same experience and worse. I would NEVER go to a mechanic that was not trustworthy!

Karim is the best mechanic I have ever used and certainly the most trustworthy one I have ever met. I have worked on my own cars since i was a teenager until I recently bought a Mercedes. I have no idea how to work on my new car so i searched for a mechanic and luckily found Karim. I have been going back to him for 2 years now and have nothing but praise for him. Very honest!