Apex Automotive Inc. — Local services in Anderson

I have been a customer all the way back to when they used to be called "Economy" 8+ years. They are very good with my '01 civic and '04 CRV.

Things they have done for me: head gasket/timing belt job, head swap, valve adjustment, fuel pump, rear main seal, 2x quick-struts, 2 clutches, balljoints, tie rods, bushings, motor mounts, transmission (rebuilt by another), and more.

Shane, the manager for the past few years at least, is a good guy and wants to get you on the road. He'll never over-sell work or parts. He is happy to answer questions, so be sure to ask what options you have and what his opinion is. People in WA state wanted $2500+ for a 2004 CRV clutch. They charged me $1244. I paid $200 in gas, I still saved $1000 with the trip. They were sensitive to my tight schedule and understand people need to get to work.

I would go to them for any daily driver, and stick with the performance auto mechanics for your expensive or custom vehicles. Don't pay double or triple for 5% extra attention to detail for a daily driver when it is not necessary. Examples of minor things: 1. A wire clip dangling (I clipped it in place, easy fix, this was 8 years ago, it didn't affect anything and the wire wasn't going to get caught or touch anything moving or hot). 2. After battery disconnected I entered the code to unlock the radio myself, 3. after battery disconnected I did the idle relearn procedure myself (you start the car and sit there with no accessories on for 10 minutes). Very minor common issues that can be fixed with a google search, common knowledge, or a service manual, and don't detract from the fact that I saved $1000 on a clutch job.

If you get any takeaway from this review: You will save so much money compared to the next guy with Apex. You should always have basic knowledge of your car such as what will happen if you disconnect the battery. I am sure if I didn't know what I was doing and called to ask about the minor issues, Shane would have immediately told me what I needed to do. They have great customer service. In response to some negative comments I've read, If you call them asking them to replace something and you are confident that is the issue, they will do it and trust your judgement and save themselves a diagnosis procedure. That's because they treat customers like adults and the service write-up will reflect this with money saved. An example would be, you ask for a new starter, because a car won't start sometimes or all the time. It could be the ignition, starter relay, starter itself, battery, alternator, some fuse, a ground or parasitic battery drain issue, there's a bunch of things. If you say "i want you to replace the starter I am so smart and know that is the issue", they will do minimal diagnosis to save you money. if they notice the battery is bad or wiring is faulty, they will tell you, but from the surface level a good and bad starter look the same and it takes book time to determine if it is good or not since there could be a million things. By the time they are in there, it would be best to just replace it regardless of whether it is good or not. But if you are clear that you are not sure what the issue is and want them to diagnose, that is what they will do also (and they don't charge for basic diagnoses). Bottom line, there is a big difference between you diagnosing and telling them to replace a part for you, vs asking them to diagnose. So just be clear to them what you need help with and your level of confidence. If you act cocky to the ski rental salesman, your skis bindings might be set higher than your skill level..

Bad reviewing customers either are over-confident pricks asking for a particular job then getting mad because THEY were wrong, or their...

Anderson, CA is lucky to have this jewel of a shop run by competent professionals who enjoy what they do (my thanks to the parts desk at O' Reilly for recommending Economy). If I had one word to describe my experience with Economy it would be "diagnostics". Exactly what I expect from a shop, but so rare these days. Lack of definitive diagnostics is my big frustration with the shops and dealerships I've worked with up in Seattle where I live. I pulled into Anderson on my way from LA to Seattle at 6pm on a Saturday night with a misfire during acceleration and a check engine light. Of course, all the shops had just closed for the weekend. Luckily O'Reilly was still open and recommended Economy. Needless to say, with the family in limbo at the Motel 6, I was stressed and nervous when I rolled into the shop at 10am Sunday morning. James, the owner, greeted me professionally and courteously. After I gave a brief explanation of my predicament, he had the code pulled and an action plan in place within 5 minutes. I appreciate his "Let's go have a look" attitude as opposed to the doom and gloom I get from most other shops and dealerships. James explained his suspicions tempered with the right amount of caution to set expectations, but I appreciated his candor. He was realistic about the probability, but had confidence in his assessment. However, rather than jumping to conclusions and immediately pulling parts (as I usually get from other shops), James had is guys check the major systems to be sure they were working properly, then worked his way back to the coil pack, as he suspected. Once the parts were replaced, they gave it a road test and got me on my way. The whole thing took less than 90 minutes. I can't describe the relief and piece of mind, not just for the repair, but for the diagnostic proof, as I loaded up the family for the 10 hour drive up to Seattle....

I wish there was a zero star because they don’t even deserve a one. Took our truck there which was running great, just had a small leak in radiator which we wanted fixed before it got too hot. They “fixed” it and on the way home, the trucks check engine light came on and began to misfire and over heat. Took the truck back to them, they “fixed” it again. Got back home and there was a puddle of coolant under the truck. We Called them and took truck back a third time, then they called and were rude saying it was our fault and now the water pump is out. In which they wanted to charge us more money. We Tried to discuss what happened from beginning to end, and the owner kept saying it’s an old car and that’s why these things happened. However the truck had no problems driving until we took it there. The owner is a con artist, they say the have the cheapest price, but it seemed like in the long run they created more problems to get more money. They were trying to charge us double for parts, when we called the part store they were half the price the owner was trying to charge. He tried saying the bad reviews online were all lies, as if every car the send back is perfect and they have never had one problem. The owner said it’s not his fault we don’t have the money to fix it, we do have the money but after the first two times the sent the truck back worse why would we give them more money. Don’t do business here, they don’t know how to handle customers or issues when a problem arises, they will just blame you. He’s probably going to say this post isn’t valid because my name isn’t in their database like he did on multiple other reviews, however it was under my boyfriends name, I’m leaving the review because I was appalled at how he ha for the...