“The first vehicle I brought to S&J was an old Aerostar. It'd overheat; Csaba sniffed the antifreeze and diagnosed it in seconds: a clogged radiator. (My fault; I used outdated anti-freeze.) That was in 1998 when he had a shop in Altadena. I've brought him every car and van ever since. Csaba (pronounced cha-bah) is a hard to find, old-school mechanic -- solid, trustworthy, and he knows what he's doing. He's been polite (to me and my wife, and those I've referred) and patient through my never-ending dumb questions, all without rolling his eyes. He's come through on every of our Prius ans Subaru repairs and regular service -- brakes, oil changes, shocks, fan clutch, radiator flush (it's endless) -- as well keeping our ancient 24 year-old, hard-to-fix Dodge camper-van RV on the road. Fast forward to July 2023: While traveling to the Dakotas, the RV's water pump was replaced. On the drive home, there was anti-freeze on the ground. An out of state mechanic said maybe a head gasket, freeze plug, or worse, a cracked engine block. Back home, Csaba fixed it in a day with something simple -- a new hose. I've been coming back to Csaba all these years -- and keep going back -- because he knows how to diagnose a problem quickly, has been fair in his pricing (no shop fees!) and honest (he's straightforward and tells me what I don't need). It's almost as good as having a mechanic in the family.”
Transmission Repair
“The first vehicle I brought to S&J was an old Aerostar. It'd overheat; Csaba sniffed the antifreeze and diagnosed it in seconds: a clogged radiator. (My fault; I used outdated anti-freeze.) That was in 1998 when he had a shop in Altadena. I've brought him every car and van ever since. Csaba (pronounced cha-bah) is a hard to find, old-school mechanic -- solid, trustworthy, and he knows what he's doing. He's been polite (to me and my wife, and those I've referred) and patient through my never-ending dumb questions, all without rolling his eyes. He's come through on every of our Prius ans Subaru repairs and regular service -- brakes, oil changes, shocks, fan clutch, radiator flush (it's endless) -- as well keeping our ancient 24 year-old, hard-to-fix Dodge camper-van RV on the road. Fast forward to July 2023: While traveling to the Dakotas, the RV's water pump was replaced. On the drive home, there was anti-freeze on the ground. An out of state mechanic said maybe a head gasket, freeze plug, or worse, a cracked engine block. Back home, Csaba fixed it in a day with something simple -- a new hose. I've been coming back to Csaba all these years -- and keep going back -- because he knows how to diagnose a problem quickly, has been fair in his pricing (no shop fees!) and honest (he's straightforward and tells me what I don't need). It's almost as good as having a mechanic in the family.”