Capital Foreign Auto

Super excellent honest, kind, very reasonable & helpful, knowledgeable, experienced & organized shop in business for almost 30 years & counting due to their exceptional business & work ethics!
You can tell Charles & Henry love cars & what they do. Along with big boss Mr. Chen, these guys will see you through everything to make sure your ride is tip top.
Very quick & professional with genuinely personable customer service plus no nonsense turnaround as well!
Awesome shop, will be back for all my German cars & would definitely highly recommend!
Thank you for the exceptional work! =)
I have peace of mind leaving by baby with them & that is hard for me to feel after being ripped off by Rusnak Pasadena (they are rude, stuck up, dishonest, do poor work & rip you off!!) & other private highly rated (on Unilocal) mechanics in the past…*cough cough* Euro Spec in L.A. (Audi /​VW /​Porsche specialists).
Trustworthy & superb mechanics are definitely very rare & hard to come by these days…

I love, this place Hector is very kind and will help as much as he can Henry is also very nice and knowledgeable. I have brought many family members and friends to this mechanic shop. Am glad to recommend to other people. Its always a problem with dishonest mechanic but they are honest. I really do love this place.

Henry, the owner, is very attentive and detail oriented.
We’ve been coming here for maintenance since 1995 based on a friend’s recommendation. Every single car that we’ve own have been serviced by Capital Foreign Auto.
Generally you’ll see the European cars resting on the lift in the shop and in the lot. But he does service on Japanese cars as well.
The price is fair for its level of attention they take to care for the cars.

great work done on my 2001 CLK. a/​c. all fluid changes,
great work done on my 1991 Honda civic even
clutch, suspension, brake master cylinder, etc, .
cheaper somewhere else does not mean job is completely done.

Henry is an honest guy and tells you the best solution for a reasonable price. A value in maintaining your Benz or other German makes. Much cheaper than dealers would charge and is usually finished by the time he promises them to be done.

2 Stars because he’s a nice guy.
Also 2 stars because they overcharge. His diagnosis was transmission, took my mercedes to two other places, one was the dealer, for second opinion turns out transmission is fine it is some kind of pump that needs to be replaced. His estimate ~7,000 other place ~3,000. Fixing the A/​C at capital imports $ 350 to $ 400 other place $ 80.

My family has been going to Henry’s shop for 20+ years. I used to be the black sheep in the family and took my bimmer to whereever and whoever happened to be nearby at the moment. But after selling/​giving away my beloved 5 speed go kart, i started driving mercedes and decided to give Capital a try.
They’ve always got the job done right and the fees are what you would expect for the services rendered.
The key is, the job is done right the first time. So there isn’t the usual complaint about how the work is subpar or the mechanic failed to do this or that.
That part I liked very much.
It also helps that Henry is friendly and attentive. Listens to you and figures out what needs to be done fast. I usually got a call back in 1~2 hours from him letting me know what was wrong and what needs to be done.
My last visit there was for an a/​c issue that 2 local garages and 1 mechanic friend failed to figure out. He fixed it in a day and the a/​c has been running strong and cold ever since.
Service: a/​c troubleshoot, freon recharge, klima switch replacement. $ 590
if you’re in the san gabriel area and you have a benz, he’s your go to guy!

We had a little misunderstanding but Henry was kind and understanding to resolve any issues in our favor. I would recommend them as a reliable source to get your car looked at. Their price was much better than the dealer. The place looks clean and organized.
They get four stars because of the mistake we had to go back to correct but overall everything was fine.
As of the guy that complains in his review for being late 5 minutes, I would say this is silly. You can’t make no one wait for you … be responsible for your own actions, not a cry baby.
Cheers!

WOW… it’s actually my first time giving out only one star. If I had a choice, I would give negative stars. Hector — the guy I personally dealt with last Friday is the worse mechanic I’ve ever had to deal with. Based on other people reviews here, he might be knowledgeable about cars (I don’t know), but I can assure you that he knows nothing about «customer service». (Not even basic customer service!!!)
Before I complain about their service, please «DO NOT» think I am one of those people who gives out bad review easily. I respect other people’s business, and I know how much damage it could cause for the business.
I took my car there last Friday (9÷20÷10). I was supposed to get it back on the same day. We both agreed that the car was ready to pick up. It was Friday, most of us work on Friday! Hector told me they close at 5:30. So I left work early and tried to get there on time. I got there at 5:35, the shop was CLOSED!!! What the Fxxkkkk!!!
He knew I was going to pick up my car that day! After doing a $ 1,000 dollar business with them, he didn’t even think about to wait for me for 5mins on a busy Friday night in LA. Not even one single courtesy phone call from him before they were closed. My apartment keys were attached to my car keys like most of us. I didn’t want to go into details how much trouble I went through that night without my car and apartment keys, you guys figure it out!!!
I ended up picking up my car next day on Sat morning. I asked him «Why didn’t you give me a call before you closed?» He simply replied me «Well, I told you on the phone that we closed at 5:30!» OMG, he did not even bother to apologize after all! He acted like he was the customer not me!!!
Please Please Please! «Do Not» take your car there for any type of service. Run away from them!!!
– Bad Pricing
– Bad Attitude
– Bad Customer service
– Inconsiderate
– Arrogant

i really don’t take giving 1 or 2 stars lightly, so i’ll say that my 2 for capital foreign auto is nothing more than my venting over their pricing, which subsequently led to ‘non-​service’.
let me preface by saying i’ve changed auto fluids and helped friends work on cars that require getting dirty, sweaty, and smelly. guys do that or they work on less dirty stuff like interiors, stereos etc. point is, i’m not afraid to work on a car if i have the time/​tools.
after having my check engine light come on and learning that its due to a bad mass airflow sensor, i call around sgv to shop around for a reliable mechanic to see how much it costs to replace. i’ve found the exact oem part online for around $ 250, but i don’t have the diagnostic equipment to reset it once i install it nor would i know what else to look for if that didn’t solve the problem for some reason.
don’t know who it was i spoke to at cap foreign when i called to inquire about an airflow sensor for mb, but i was quoted over 6 bigones, not including labor. i increduously stated that the part costs less than half online and said it in a way as to ask why they charged so much (it would’ve taken 15min to unclip, remove, replace, reclip.) his response? ‘we only use the part we have or none at all.’ he said it to me in a way as if to say they’re not interested in how much their customers spend. that’s the impression i got.
needless to say i won’t be bringing my car in for airflow sensors or oil changes, or anything that requires a part for that matter.

I was a bit intimidated because I thought this place only takes german cars, but my mom, dad, uncle, and aunt all own japanese cars and bring it here. They’ve been telling me to come here ever since I’ve moved to LA.
FInally, after a bad experience with another mechanic, I came here. I like Henry. My Dad knew him when he was younger and told me stories about how Henry could listen to a car and instantly know what was wrong. He is a serious mechanic that knows his stuff.
$ 600 for timing belt/​water pump/​other belts replacement.

Henry is the owner and he is one of the best independent mechanics for BMW and Mercedes. This is evident by the all Chinese people bringing their BMW and Mercedes to him. His lot is always full of cars. Hector is the other guy who is also very knowledgeable. I’ve been coming to Henry for years. They are honest and their prices are competitive. I’ve not had any problems with their work over the years.