Vung Tau Auto Repair Muffler & Tire - Garden Grove, California

Jordan Y.

Van and Bao do great work. They're on it, and you'll get your car back in no time. Very reliable and friendly. They even show you your old parts. I always do my maintenance and stuff here. I bring both my cars here.

Jason N.

Real good honest reliable mechanic. Came for Head Gasket Leak for my 2011 Toyota Camry. They finished my car in about a week and everything runs smooth. No issue with the coolant level. 10/10

For Y. H.

Great service!! Van was very professional ,kind and courteous. I took my car in for a check engine light and van found the problem right away. Great work at a very fair price. I would strongly recommend this auto shop.

Sean

👍👏🛠 If you need honest, hard working, experts to take a look at your vehicle this is the place to go.

Many other mechanics will try to upsell you with work that doesn't need to be performed just to get some extra money from you, but Bao and Van will treat you like family and tell you what is essential now and what is likely to become a problem in the future. The openness and honesty they provide is well welcomed in this world.

I've sent friends here and they are treated the same. It's just how great these guys are following that golden rule of treating others on how they want to be treated. Way to go guys. 👏👏

Jason P.

I do not trust this place. I tried giving them the benefit of the doubt but they are full of lies and excuses. I went in for vibrations during acceleration and asked if it was my CV axle. They put my car up and and pointed out the axle was coming off the bearing and told me I would need a new half shaft, CV Axle, and bearing. I bought all new parts and except for the axle everything was OEM. The axle was purchased from a reputable shop specializing in my car.
It took weeks just to get the half shaft as it was back ordered from Japan. I gave the parts to Van and Bao and they said it'd be done in a few hours and they let me stick around. Everything seemed to go normal except the ball joint on my lower control arm looked busted. It was easy to move around and had zero stiffness to it. I actually had an oem replacement ready to go but they refused to install it and they assured me the ball joint was safe condition just a bit worn. When I kept asking to replace it since it's already so accessible he said they only replace the entire control arm and not individual parts because there's other bushings on the control arm. I also had the oem rear bushing available which is easily replaced (doesn't require press) and he finally said if I really wanted it replaced he would charge $240 for each ball joint to replace, on top of the CV axle install. This was ridiculous to charge so much because the parts are already exposed and accessible. And he was only charging 180 for the installation of both axles, the half shaft, and the support bearing. So I get it, he just didn't want to install the ball joint. So I asked again if the car is safe to drive and he assured me yes it is. At this point I had zero reason to not believe Van and Bao. I didn't know what a bad ball joint actually looked like and just trusted their answers.
After the CV install, Van test drove me car and came back saying I might hear a tiny popping noise and that's it probably my worn suspension on the driver side. There was no noise before. I thought that was weird because I just replaced the suspension a few years earlier with OEM parts.
I drove it off and didn't notice anything and car was driving great. The next day I noticed the popping and it was louder than I expected. But if it's just the suspension then it's not that big of a deal. Then the car started vibrating again under acceleration. I took my car into another shop asking if they can replace ball joints if it needs it. I dropped my car off and a hour later I get a call that when they were disconnecting the axle from the wheel hub, the axle just fell down because it was not secured into the half shaft and that the teeth are all worn now. It was only two weeks since I saw Van and Bao and I only drove the car a few miles every other day, no free way. I head to the new shop and they show me that the CV axle was not installed properly and that Vung Tau did not seat the axle correctly because the retaining ring was supposed to prevent movement. But since the retaining ring was not set properly to prevent movement, it was actually sitting on the teeth allowing it to slide in and out of the half shaft and wearing the teeth of both parts.
When I asked Van about this he said if I'm still having the same problem that probably there is an underlying issue. I asked if it could be the ball joint because it's making that popping sound and he immediately agreed saying yes that could be a good possibility. After realizing what he said he backtracked and blamed the aftermarket half shaft and clip. But they were OEM. Then he blamed the aftermarket axle saying it but it was not the axle that failed. And then I asked why he had me replace all those parts when it was clear it was just a bad bearing. And he told me it was so he could guarantee the installation. I asked why he he isn't guaranteeing his work now and he started blaming the parts again. Avoid this place.

Jeff P.

I love this place. The machenic guys are really good and experienced. The price is vey reasonable compared to other shops. The best thing is that they don't fool customer to fix more on your car. The customer service is excellent.

Khôi V.

Had my car done few weeks ago. There was a big hole in my air intake hose and nobody noticed it before coming here. Fixed it and car runs like new. Would come again.

Stephen M.

Fast and honest car repair! Guy did great work too