John’s Tarzana Shell

Came here on a Sunday afternoon to get a brake light replaced. I needed a small bulb which cost $ 8 for two at Pep Boys. I know this because when I was quoted $ 28 I said to the gentleman no thank you way too much money. He said OK how about $ 25? I left there without a bulb and with a bad taste in my mouth.

i have mixed feelings about this place. Took almost an hour for an oil change and air in my tires. I almost felt like the owner was trying to up charge me to do other things, but he was polite. I did find his attire to be a little unprofessional, wearing sweat pants. I’ve taken my car here before to get a patch job on my tire that had a nail in it, and was happy with the gentleman who did the patch job. I do like that they are open 24 hours, but I don’t think I’ll come back for oil change.

Stopped by 2 weeks ago for an oil change. I was greeted by Angel as soon as I pulled up. They helped me with my oil change and also recommended new tires. Gave me a great price! They were prompt and quick! This place is family owned. Definitely going back for future car repairs.

Do not go here! These people are a bunch of scumbags. John seems like a nice guy at first but he creeped me out a bit. But this one other guy, he’s the real douche. He’s sorta chubby, his hair is cut short (almost bald but not really). Not a friendly guy. They will jip you like crazy. First, they will quote you a price, you put a deposit down because they say you have to to make sure you don’t order the part and say you don’t want their service. Then the next time you come back when they have the part, they’ll change what they quoted you at a higher price. If you do decide to go to this place, just be careful. They did the job ok, but spent 2 – 3 time more than what the job should’ve actually cost. I have a feeling that they purposely keep your car for over 2 hours to charge you labor costs for those hours, when the actual labor time for putting in the part takes less than an hour.
My bf asked if he could see where they order their parts from and the guy told him, «If you want to see where I order my parts from then I have to charge you more.» Seriously? Never ever stepping a foot near this auto shop.
Make sure to read all of the other Unilocal reviews! The reviews are pretty consistent except for all the people who gave 4 or 5 stars. You know why? Because they’re all easy fix ups like tire related patches or flat tires.

After my latest visit I found prices to be very high for simple services. Having my brakes fixed here was $ 40 more than other local competitors.

Drove up and was greeted with…“let’s get that tire patched” sure I had a low inflated tire but was not sold a new tire. Appreciated the quick and friendly service.

Picked up a damn screw in my tire. Called John’s at 9:30pm and they said come on down anytime. They not only plugged the hole, they check the patch in a dunk tank to make sure it was installed correctly then they checked the air pressure in the other three tires. Great service and you can’t get more convenient that 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Terrible service and a pushy boss… buyer beware.

I came here 6 days ago to get my brakes checked out. I was getting no pressure so I figured I had a leak. They checked it out and they said I needed a new master cylinder, at the least, but that it could be another issue. New one cost me $ 261 (seems a bit over priced in my opinion). I ended up paying $ 420 for their services (which included a $ 59 discount).
Then, 2 days ago, the same issue comes back. I go to Auto Zone and get myself some brake fluid and lo, and behold, I get brake pressure again. So now I know I have a leak somewhere, that it wasn’t the master cylinder. I come back, I tell them the issue. They have me waiting for about 20 min while my car sits there with the hood open & no one near it checking it out. They tell me the old cylinder was leaking and now I have another leak in a hose. That they’ve found it and will change it out for free. I don’t know if the leak was there before and they didn’t bother looking and just decided to change out the cylinder. Regardless, they changed the hose out and car seems fine. I’ll see in a few days.
If it’s 12am and you have a car emergency and its last resort, come here.

this is for smog test only…
Fair priced, friendly, open until 6pm on Sundays, quick with no issues.

To get a tire plugged $ 25. What a rip off. Normally cost at the most $ 10. Wouldn’t recommend going there.

On a Sunday about Noontime by kids and I were heading down the 101 only to encounter the all too familiar traffic at the 405 interchange. When I pressed my brakes I realized something had going seriously wrong when a loud grinding sound echoed and I immediately exited Sepulveda to look for a auto repair shop. I searched on google and… nothing. I called AAA and they directed me to John’s, I called and they told me to bring it right over. Upon arriving it was on a jack within 5 minutes and a mechanic worked for over an hour repairing the passenger side brakes. A bolt had fallen out of my caliper and was grinding against that alloy wheels leaving a deep gouge on the inside of the wheels. I literally drove 3 miles down Ventura Blvd going 20 MPH using my E-​brake to stop on my way there. They not only diagnosed the problem but repaired it FREE! At a time when I couldn’t find another shop they could have easily charged me top dollar $ 100, $ 200, $ 300 for replacing this bolt because I was stuck! I thank God for protecting my kids and myself on the freeway as well as taking me down the street to John’s. They earned my business today and I live 30 miles away in Ventura County!

John’s Tarzana Shell is now an Arco Station. They also do car detailing. I brought my pristine 2001 Orient Red Carrera in for a $ 99 «Grand Detail» only to leave with a dent in my hood. Yes a dent that I’m positive wasn’t there when I brought the car in. Of course they denied doing the damage and sent me on my way. Cost me over a hundred to have the dent only partially removed. Can’t speak to what kind of mechanics they are, but as detailers they are careless and in my opinion, dishonest. When I asked for the owner’s name, some older man said «Sean» When I asked for a last name he screamed, «God is his last name, you don’t need to know that» He was so enraged I left and never went back. I ate the cost of the dent repair and learned my lesson.

Came here to get my water pump fixed … TWICE.
The first time, I had a coolant leak, and they fixed the water pump. I ended up paying around $ 700.
One month later, my coolant starts leaking again. When I go in to see them for another fix, they tell me it’s leaking because the previous repairmen used faulty parts for the water pump. When I told them that they were in fact the ones who fixed it previously, the owner John changed his story and said that the coolant leak was because of another issue. Again, another $ 700 or so down the drain.
Three months later (and living in Irvine), guess what? I have another coolant leak! This time, I go to an actual dealer for repairs, which I should have done in the first place. I told them that I had my water pump replaced twice in just as many months. They told me that there was a coolant link because John’s Tarzana Shell had used aftermarket, shoddy replacement parts. Go figure!
I would not recommend this place to anyone. I went to them because they were right around the corner from my house, were open 24/​7, and I was desperate. Lesson learned.

I was on a break from a 8-​hour long Real Estate Law class and I desperately needed an oil change. I found this place by accident and was so pleasantly surprised. Heather was the nice lady that helped me and she was so nice and accommodating. She understood that money is tight for me and was able to give me a discount to make things easier for me. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I will definitely come back and I will recommend them to other people.

Had my car towed in a couple of times, once in the daytime, once at night, without any worries. They called, told me the problem, I OK’d the work, and it was done! Nothing more, nothing less than a excellent job. Very friendly people, and John is lots of fun to talk to. Caring and honest (words I don’t usually use describing an auto repair shop).
Being a woman, I’ve been burned by some shops!

Came here because my break lights wouldn’t turn off after breaking pretty hard on the freeway. Before coming I did some research and it turns out that the culprit is a damaged break light switch near the front of the car.
I came on a Saturday around 4 PM. They helped me right away and told me that they too thought it was a break light switch and they can order one for me. Gave me a price of $ 137. With an approx of $ 60 for the part and $ 60 for labor (.6 hours of labor). I agreed, paid the bill, and my car was ready in about 3 hours.
The service was great, and I paid what I expected.
HOWEVER — that part does not cost $ 60! And labor for switching it out is surely not .6 hours. Waaaaay too overpriced. Will not be returning even if they are a block away from my home.

Came here for the AAA 30-​point check since my brake has been making some squeaky noise and it hasnt been too long since i had the 25k check up at Longo and they didnt hear it.
John was a super nice guy and chatted with me about Nescafe after i came back from lunch and had to wait just several minutes more until my car is ready to go.
I appreciate that they didnt try to do any extra service without my consent and charge me for any extraneous stuff. they told me that my car was running fine and how much wear and tear each component had and how much longer they could last until replacing them.
Will be back if my car ever get in trouble ob Ventura. Hopefully never though haha.
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1 star — «will be telling everyone to stay away» bad
2 stars — it’s okay, i won’t return
3 stars — it’s okay, i’ll come back
4 stars — it’s pretty good, i’ll come by again!
5 stars — it’s really good, my go-​to places!

Honest (which is sooooooo rare these days!) and warm people. In business since 1975 (I asked) with the original owner.
I’m so sick and tired of places that try to sell me new engines because I am a woman and don’t know much about cars. The car computer shut down. John sent me to the dealer and didn’t charge me anything.

This place is a rare gem in los angeles. 24×7 operations. Now I can go get the car oil change done or drain my coolant or whatever done at an time convenient to a busy guy like me.
The other night I had a slow leak /​flat and at 9pm there was no option for getting it fixed. Then I remembered driving past this 24 hr shell, so I babied the car for 8 miles to the shop and had the guy fix it in less than 20 minutes. Sure it cost me 25 bucks but you know what at that odd hour even if they charged 1.5 times the regular price, its still cheaper and useful. My normal place charged me 20 the last time I had a flat during the day time. So in retrospect 25 isnt bad.
I’d be going here more often… great job guys!!!