[Car Culture]

The Value of Honest Service

SUNSET GARAGE
1946 BACON ST.
OCEAN BEACH, SAN DIEGO, CA 92107

Review by Rob

Johnny recently bought Sunset Garage on Bacon Street in O.B. from Woody who had been my mechanic for a long time (10 years) and I’m very glad he did. Well, Woody was actually the shop owner/manager and he had different mechanics working for him, some good some not so good. But he recently retired and sold the shop to Johnny and Chandra. One of my vehicles, a 1993 GMC Safari mini Reviewervan, had a leaky transmission with noisey issues that got steadily worse until finally last month it wouldn’t shift into gear. I had asked different mechanics about it and everyone thought it needed a new transmission.

The quotes were from between $1500 to around $3000. Then I had Johnny look at it and he expertly diagnosed it as a flywheel bolt problem and like a magic wizard personally fixed it for under $400. I could not be happier. Oh, and my other work van, a 1995 Dodge 1500, was riding too low in back so he added a two-inch rear axel lift and helper leafs so the tow hitch doesn’t bump when towing. This also increased the van’s performance and overall handling, and it was all done for a fair price.

Some places will pass on a job if it’s a repair that takes a lot of training to get right, and the real crooked ones will “fix” things that didn’t need fixing because they want the billable hours. With so many shady shops out there it’s good to know of one where honesty and skill are still prevalent. I intend to return because I hope they remain in business.