Vinh Phat Auto Repair & Muffler

I am a college student who lives close to the shop, and I am very satisfied with my experience. I wanted a small family run business, and Vinh was such a nice guy. He went above and beyond my expectations by charging me less than what it should be for a water pump belt, as well as putting oil and coolant in my car! I really appreciate it and I will definitely come back!

After leaving discouraged from one mechanic who told me he would unable to uninstall my trunk lift supports due to the riskiness, I found Vinh on Unilocal who was able to uninstall them and put in new supports that I had purchased from EBay. He was friendly and comforting telling me, «that’s my job.» He even showed me how I could do it myself the next time. After 40 min, he was done. $ 75 was kinda steep for me, but I was willing to pay because I did not have a working trunk for over 5 years. The place is like a big shed in an alleyway next door to 711. Not glamorous, but I would come here again.

I’m new to the area and come to Vinh based on the reviews. They were incredibly accurate. I thought I may have need to replace the catalytic converter, rather it was just a minor repair to the heat shield. He is an honest man with great customer service. I will come back for future repairs.

I like the simple, small, family run businesses. This fit my bill. I had a simple oil change, which I usually do it myself. Decided time-​wise to find someone to do this. The place near my home got great reviews but is on a busy corner so they are two cars deep most days.
Vinh is off the beaten track but still central. He is honest, hard-​working, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. A great find.
As a woman, I feel like a target at auto mechanics. However, not with Vinh. I watched the work and asked questions. Although he said that I shouldn’t work on my car and get dirty because I was a girl, he enthusiastically shared his knowledge and was patient with my wanting to understand things. He made it fun.
His place is not fancy at all. You are saving money by not paying for fancy rent and lots of staff. If you want something with no-​frills that is honest and reliable, this is a great find.
Vinh is what American business is all about.

I went to Vinh Phat to replace a radiator on my older car. Like the other reviewers say, it’s a surprise to pull up to Vinh’s little shop, but don’t let the size of this operation fool you. It’s big enough for Vinh to do the work. Before he replaced my radiator, he thoroughly cleaned the cooling system in the motor using a tool I’d never seen before that forces water thru using air pressure. He also said that the thermostat was too high a setting and replaced it with a lower one. Since then have been back to have the brakes gone over and now a third trip to check the charging and connections after a dead battery problem. Vinh does the work himself, no novice helpers here. Vinh says he’s been at this same location for 20 years. His little shop always has just what he needs to fix my car. I feel like other reviewers; I want to keep this secret weapon to myself! Vinh is a real pro!

FANTASTIC! Took our car in to have the muffler repaired, he was able to get it done in under an hour, did more than expected and didn’t charge a dime over his initial quote… our muffler has never sounded better!

Mr. Phat helped us when we were just starting out and didn’t have much money, (I think our first encounter with him was when he repaired our rusted-​out muffler with something like a tin can for what we could afford), so we later bought a «transportation» car from him — about a year ago. I wanted to wait a bit to write a review in case it was a lemon. The 1996 Geo Prizm, (don’t laff, it’s paid for) though not much to look at, has gotten me where I needed to go for over a year with only one problem due to it’s age (water-​pump replacment). Well, it finally broke down in a canyon, just after a rare storm last week and I towed it back to Mr. Phat telling him that I was satisfied with my experience, but it might finally be time for a new «back-​n-​forth» car. He diagnosed the dead car – (coil problem that only showed in the rain) — and did several other substantial repairs (including brake squeak, tune-​up and engine mount repair) all for the price of about two economy car payments. (Let him know your circumstances and he’ll work with you, in my experience.)
If my experience is any indication you can definitely trust him to sell you a used car from one of his clients, or to check one out for you – (we gave him a finder’s fee), and the aftercare has been magnificent. thanks, again Vihn! See you next year…

Awesome choice to stop here. Doesn’t look like much pulling up, but I was greated with a smile. I had done a little work on my truck the day before, he showed me what I missed and told me how to fix it. Didn’t ask for a penny after giving me a hand fixing it, I threw him $ 20 and told him how much I appreciated the help. Highly recommend checking him out if you need the work.

Vinh was the third mechanic to look at my car and called me the next morning to come over. He told me what was wrong, to go get the parts, and come back. Then he told me that he can either fix it himself for 500 or help me do the work and teach me for 200. I already know my way around 90% of this engine so this was a no-​brainer lol. After my car was in the shop for a month Vinh had me back on the road in less than 24 hours AND taught me a thing or two. I really believe he may be the best mechanic in San Diego!

I recently moved to San Diego from Boise Idaho area. My fifth day here, my BMW starting overheating and leaking large amounts of radiator fluid. I know no one and did not know where to go for good, but cheap repairs. I read reviews for Vinh Phat’s auto repair and saw it was close by. I drove the vehicle in and was greeted by Vinh. Vinh listened to my problems and actually heard that I needed it fixed, but did not have alot of cash. Vinh found out the radiator was broken and offered two options: Vinh could fix the o ring, replace the hoses, and weld the broken piece for a fraction of the cost, or replace the entire radiator. I went with the cheaper of the two and my car has been running great!!! Vinh had it done in 6 hours and called at every step of the process. So phenomenal to find a great honest mechanic!!! I would recommend Vinh to anyone!

Vinh saved my life! My car was damaged in an accident while I was in the hospital and I needed it to drive home from the hospital and Vinh was a life-​saver by doing the needed repairs and replacing the radiator so I could use my car again. He did all of this for me on short notice when he would have normally been closing shop for a three week vacation during the holidays! I just can’t say enough about how grateful I am that he was able to repair my only means of transportation. I’ll be returning to him for all my repair needs, next on the list are my brakes! Thank you so much Vinh!!!

Vinh is simply the best. I have been taking my vehicle (and my friends’ vehicles) to him for 5 years now and he’s not only an outstanding mechanic, he’s a square dealer who never sells you something that you don’t need. Among the excellent work that he has done for both me and my friends are: Clutch replace, brakes, AC, motor mounts, transmission/​torque converter, and the list goes on. He keeps the broken or worn-​out parts for you to see and explains exactly what work was done. He guarantees and stands behind all of his work. Since the lucky day that a friend of mine introduced me to Vinh I have not allowed anyone else to work on my vehicles. Thank you Vinh!!!

Vinh is an honest and hardworking mechanic. He was able to fix our auto when others couldn’t. Highly recommended!

BEST auto shop in San Diego.
I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma. It was idling very rough and had a difficult time starting at times. I took my truck to Vinh on a Saturday at 2pm for an oil change and for him to fix the idle issue. Even though he was extremely busy, with customers popping up every 20 minutes, he looked at my truck for a few minutes and told me it was my idle control unit. He said go buy the part at the Toyota dealer down the road and bring it back to him, he’d fix it while I wait.
He’s very honest about how much parts should cost, and he is usually against parts from Napa or the like — he will encourage you to buy quality OEM parts, even if you buy them online and not through him.
I bought the part, brought it back to him, and within 1.5 hours he had it all buttoned up. He replaced the idle control unit, did an oil change with full synthetic oil, and told me the life of my brakes & suspension, including answering a bunch of random questions of mine. ALL while dealing with a handful of other happy customers, often taking a few minutes to look at their cars and give advice or schedule visits.
He charged me a very fair price for his labor and for the oil change, WAY less than the dealer would have. Not to mention I was able to sit there and watch him work — he’s got nothing to hide. Plus, it took a fraction of the time a dealer would take, and he happily joked with me and told me straight-​up answers about my truck’s condition.
Basically, Vinh has almost 30 years of auto mechanic experience, he doesn’t need to work but he LOVES working on cars. So he’s in his shop, solo, 7 days per week. He’s very helpful, very honest, and very fair.
If you’re tired of crappy mechanics, take your car to Vinh. You won’t be sorry.
Thanks Vinh! I’ll see ya in 3000 miles :)

I was having a transmission fluid leak and took the day off of work to get my car taken care of. I called Vinh on a Friday morning after talking to multiple shops in San Diego that could not take me in immediately. Vinh was happy to take me in and I showed up 20 minutes later.
As I pulled up, Vinh was finishing with another customer. I only caught the end of their conversation, but the gist of it was that Vinh was refusing to accept any money. I am not sure what he did for the customer, but free is good, right?
Vinh found my leak and described to me what needed to be done. He quoted a 2 – 3 hour job, so I decided to just walk down the street to get a bowl of phở. I made it back in 2 hours and my truck was ready to go. His pricing was extremely fair and his work was very clean. He sprayed some white paint around my transmission pan so that any future leaks could be quickly found. Excellent service.
Vinh mentioned he specializes in transmissions and can do pretty much all services.

My wife heard a noise in her car and was very worried so. I opened Unilocal and found Vinh. So glad I did! Fixed problem in minutes and put her mind at ease… priceless.

My family has been taking all of our vehicles to Vinh for years. He is honest, knowledgeable and friendly. If he can fix a problem he will quote you a price up front and if he can’t help you he will tell you and recommend another option. His prices aren’t bargain basement cheap but they are reasonable and service is prompt. He has come through for us time and time again be it simple mainteneance or head scratching troubleshooting.
Don’t let the no frills shop and «hidden» location fool you. This man is a straight shooter and a hard working mechanic.

It’s so hard to find an honest auto mechanic but Vinh is exactly that. We’ve had a crook for a mechanic for years and were finally fed up with it when our car overheated 4 months after having a radiator and thermostat replaced by our old mechanic. Luckily, it broke down about a mile from Vinh’s place and we were fortunate enough to stumble across this Unilocal review site.
Ultimately Vinh is just a good, honest and hard working guy who you can tell just wants to do the right thing. When we showed up I wanted to just drop the car off but Vinh immediately said just wait a few and he’d get a good overview of the car and let us know how much to fix it. Within 10 minutes he thought he knew the problem, he told us up front that he wasn’t positive but he was pretty sure and quoted us a price. My wife and I went on a couple hour walk, came back and the car was still being worked on, about a half hour later the car was complete and it is running like a champ. He charged us a completely reasonable price and we talked for 20 minutes about random things at the end, the entire time he laughed and just was happy.
I’d recommend this guy to anyone, any day, and I’m not exactly the easiest to please.

Very honest auto mechanic. Would not hesitate Repairing my car again.
STEVE H.

honestly. im just like Opinionated J., I was about to leave this place out from my review list. coz i really don’t wanna share him with any other people.
he knows a lot about cars, trustworthy, no joke. no bs, simple, easy, VERY NICE.
whoever u are, i know there are b1tch3s and j3rks out there, please DO NOT take advantage of this guy. no matter how messed up u are, leave this guy alone.
i know nothing about cars, he just told me everything i need to know and what is what. what to do so i dont spend the whole fortune at 1x. very nice mechanic.
honest, reliable, etc. great. and he’s just 2 blocks away. God sent.