Lightfoot’s Garage

I will NEVER go anywhere else. Unlike one Reviewer I have never been treated with anything but respect and friendliness. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of of a tomboy & I don’t expected to be treated like a lady at a garage. He gives it to me straight and has even joked with me a bit when I brought it in for something I thought needed to be fixed — it didn’t.
The prices are fair, the information is explained and both my boyfriend and I were shown the problems on a vehicle we were interested in buying. He never tires of being asked mechanic What If & What Is questions when he has a few extra minutes.
Admittedly I don’t use them for oil changes because I see them as mechanics — people who fix things. Oil, for the most part is relatively easy. We could easily be taken for every single problem we inquire about. However, we have been told how much it is to be fixed but it wasn’t an absolute necessity. We were told that we could wait a few months for brakes to be changed. That the window doesn’t need to be fixed if we were ok with not rolling it down (cost $ 300 to be fixed or replaced on an older car no longer being made). I could say a lot of examples but the bottom line is that I have no doubts and all trust with Lightfoot’s Garage.

This mechanic and his son are truly awesome. I always feel they are honest, which is very hard to find in a mechanic. They always do a great job and are fairly priced. Highly recommend them!

I was referred to Lightfoot’s garage by a friend. I went there and at first felt that they were hones but after going there to have work done a second time I’ve found out that’s not the case. Josh is very rude to women and needs to learn some manners. I went there with my boyfriend as was speaking to Josh and he completely ignored me and only spoke to my boyfriend. Has a big problem with women. He told me that the valve cover gasket needed to be replaced so I told him to go ahead and do it. A couple of weeks later I started smelling oil again so I took it back and he told me the gasket wasn’t put in properly and that he would redo it, he did and it was fine for a while but the smell is back again. I took it to a mechanic in Fullerton (JMO) and without me telling him anything about my vehicle he listed that there is a leak with the valve cover gasket. This place is honest and quick, I highly recommend them. I will never go back to LIghtfoot’s Garage and not recommend it to anyone else. Josh really needs to learn some manner and be a polite business man.

Jim and Josh are truly honest mechanics and very reasonable. I’ve brought my car there for years and recommend them to family, friends and coworkers. Everyone that I know, who has gone there agrees. It is good to know your vehicle is being taken care of professionally and that they’ll make things right.

Jim (the owner) was absolutely awesome. He picked up the phone on a Sunday when he was closed, told me to come at 8 in the morning. He took care. of me when I arrived and come back
to get my car. I was expecting everything to be over a grand, but he fixed the problem and went above and beyond
burnt out brake lights and changed my oil as well. I was out the door for 200 $. I would highly recommend this spot. I know I have a reliable honest good mechanic in jim.

Very good place that is honest and treats you well but sometimes one of the mechanics can use an attitude adjustment. I only will go there for the bigger jobs. Got a runaround with a simple oil change so I had it done somewhere else. I don’t need to feel my business is not appreciated on whatever I have done. I will be dealing with the owner only from here on out.

This is the only place I will take my vehicles in the South Bay from now on. The last time I came in I had a seat problem and he had it fixed within minutes without charge. Before that we had brought in a different car and had repairs provided in a timely manner at a very competitive price. This is a no frills garage, just hard working and honest mechanics at affordable rates. Always appreciate when I find places like this that actually value people as more than dollar signs and care about repeat business.

Jim and the guys at Lightfoot are great.
From the prices to the service, this is the only place I will take my car (and the only place I will let my mom take her car).
Honest work at a great price = TREMENDOUS VALUE.
Can’t thank these guys enough for being honest and trustworthy. THANK YOU!

Jim Lightfoot and Josh always take care of me! They remember my name and are honest. How do I know this? Many people can be kind… but they have an honest reputation in the Southbay community. :) I come here for oil changes just so they can keep things running smoothe. They never sell me something I don’t need! They are great people doing great work!

Wow… Jim is AWESOME! I found this cool old garage walking down Narbonne. It looks like it was a gas station back in the 1960’s. There’s a bunch of cool old 60’s and 70’s cars parked out front. Jim is a super cool, friendly fatherly type that really knows what he’s talking about. I own several vintage cars and was having some issues with my 64′ Buick Special. Without seeing the car, he was able to pinpoint the problem. I had the car towed to his shop and he had it running awesome by the end of the day. The pricing was exceptionally fair and the workmanship was excellent. Jim and his mechanic Josh personally did the work on my car. Jim is one of the last old timers from the era of when guys owned Mobil stations, worked at Oldsmobile dealers and things were built with pride in the USA. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring him any classic car. This is the BEST my little Buick has EVER driven! Thanks Jim!

Great mechanics, great prices and excellent service!!!

Brought my Lexus IS350 here to have the brake pads replaced. Mr Lightfoot was very straightforward and got my pads and rotors replaced within hours. He told me the rear brakes looked fine and did not need to be replaced anytime soon.
I will be seeing him for my future automotive needs.

We have been bringing our cars to Lightfoot’s for over 7 years, the family of the friend who recommended them for over 20. They are honest and efficient with no-​frills (if you need a coffee machine & magazines, try the dealership) but will keep your vehicle tip-​top until it’s no longer viable to do so. Then they will tell you straight up when to let go.
To folks who complained about a (missing) wiper being replaced w/​o pre-​approval… are you kidding me? It’s a wiper, not a transmission. Would that more mechanics pay that much attention to detail!
Lightfoot’s is awesome and they will treat you honestly. If you live in the South Bay you can not do better.

I have a 528i BMW and they replaced the thermostat and water pump. I thought they were honest and treated me well but now, I go to South Bay Independent BMW to do my repairs now, as the water pump seized and the thermostat was not installed correctly.
The water pump seized because it was an inferior & counterfeit part and in turn, caused more damage to other parts of the engine = $ 900 later. Before that, the engine ran hot at idle, so when I took it to SB Independent, they said the thermostat was not installed correctly and thus, the problem.

Josh replaced the radiator on my Jeep and even stayed after his normal work hours to finish so I didn’t have to pay for a rental car. Pricing was very reasonable too. I would not hesitate to take my car back for servicing.

I have a 1999 SL2 Saturn with over 200,000 miles on it and it’s needed a lot of love in the past couple of years, which can be very expensive at the dealership. I had some major stuff come up with the air conditioning and some pieces parts and a friend recommended LIghtfoot’s, knowing I was going to be in the L.A. area (I live in San Francisco). Love this place. The price was at least a third cheaper than the quote from the dealership and this included some other work they did at the time that wasn’t included in the original quote.
Another time I was driving down to L.A. and my car kept dying and the power revving down. I made it to Lightfoot’s and it turned out the battery cables were loose. The mechanic didn’t make me feel like an idiot, didn’t charge me a dime. My friend takes his Saturn there too and has had the same stellar service. I’ve since found a corresponding kick-​ass mechanic in San Francisco (Habelt’s), but would not hesitate to go back to Lightfoot’s if I need a mechanic while visiting L.A. or thereabouts. Totally worth the drive!

I gave this shop one star because i have to rate it to give it a review. I can sum up my experience with one word…
SCHEISTER!
Claimed he could fix ANY CAR (2001 jaguar) had my car for THREE DAYS his kid locked my keys in the car and instead of calling me for a spare the kid totally dismantled my trunk and left boot prints all over my white leather upholstery while he climbed through the trunk to get to the keys in the front of the car. Couldn’t fix the problem which he could have told me on Day 1 instead of inconveniencing me for three days without my car. Then he charged me $ 150 for nothing but trashing my car!

I didn’t like Josh’s attitude towards me. He was speaking down to me and being very rude. But as soon as my husband got there, his attitude changed. He might be a chauvinist.
He said at minimum I would be charged $ 90 for a diagnostic. My instinct told me to leave. They might be great mechanics but his attitude didn’t give me the chance to find out.
I went back to Unilocal and found Hiro Auto Service inTorrance. They were so polite and told me they wont charge for the diagnostic. My car is there right now, so I don’t know how it will all turn out. But my initial impression is great so far. They have great Unilocal reviews. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

You’ve heard of the phrase, «don’t judge a book by its cover»…well that goes for this shop. Looking from the outside, it looks like a garage from hell. However, in this garage you’ll find the most competent, honest, hard working mechanics there are in SoCal… trust me I’ve lived everywhere in SoCal and NorCal for that matter. Josh is an awesome Mechanic… he worked on my audi’s transmission that the dealership would have charged me triple. Of-​course, Mr. Lightfoot himself is the most reasonable and honest guy. He always provide professional and honest assessments and tells you exactly how much life you have on a part. Consider yourself lucky for finding this mechanic. I live too far now to come here, but everytime I’m in Lomita, I would go out of my way to say hello. They all make you feel like a friend.

I had my car serviced there a while back for a tune up and front brake pads with rotors resurfaced.
The tune up was a success and my gas mileage improved. However, the brake job was a failure (in both literal and figurative senses). Just a few months after the brake service was performed the rotors were bad again and then because the brake fluid cap wasn’t properly tightened I lost most of the braking power when coming down a steep hill.
My problem is not with the sloppy work, everyone has an off day every now and then. My issue was with how it was handled when I brought the situation to the shop owner’s attention. While I was offered to have the labor for the service waived on the next appointment, I could have done without the attitude, lack of apology and his implying that this was somehow my fault.