Brake repair service near Northridge, CA

I am new to the area so I relied on Yelp and Google ratings to help me find Hank's Tire. It's an "old school" place - been in business since the 50's and it is second generation family owned - a gem of a find. They educated me, didn't pressure me and made me and my car much happier. Thank you guys!

You should know a few things about Pep Boys right off the bat. First, they charge about the same as many dealer mechanics. So, you should basically just take the car to the dealer or an upmarket independent who has more reason to care about your car. In addition, you will wait an awful lot for service with such a markup. Again, if one pays a premium, one expects a certain amount of service. The last thing you should know is that they seem to lack an enforced policy with regard to their work. If you walk in, you are just dealing with Mike, and if Mike does not feel like giving you a refund, that is that. My story is that I took my Buick in to have it checked out since I was going to drive it across country. They charged me $485 for a belt and two radiator hoses. This is somewhat of a premium price and I will discuss that is just a minute. I got my car and drove it for a few days (it was repaired on 6/5/2014). The radiator then blew out in Jackson Hole Wyoming (on 6/13/2014). This is pretty far from where I live and it really created a lot of problems for me. The fluid it leaked was green. It turns out that they put regular pro-line coolant and not Dex-Cool as the manufacturer recommends. This is documented in the receipt and I saw it with my own eyes. Did this cause my blow out? It’s hard to say, but if a surgeon leaves a surgical sponge in the patient and they get sepsis, it’s likely they will blame the surgeon. When I brought my receipts and material to Mike Zdralek the service manager, his opinion was that I needed to prove it was their fault. The funny thing was I was extremely polite and was trying not to point any fingers. Even a simple apology would have been nice. Now I’m out $485 for the repairs which had absolutely no effect in preventing what they were intended to do. I brought the car in to prevent a radiator blow out, and they did the job wrong and it blew out … in the middle of nowhere. The extra repair cost me $471 (plus $200 to have the part driven in from Idaho Falls). So I’m out over a thousand dollars now with nothing to show for it. The interesting thing to note is that a whole new radiator at a standard mechanic costs the same as two hoses and a belt from Pep Boys. This gives you an idea of the markup they charge on work. In the future, I will not bring any business to Pep Boys. I hope that the %20 margin they made was worth it. That’s the last they will see of me and the last dollar I will spend with their store.

General auto repair.

This is one place on where I will be a FOREVER Customer and Loyal at that. Today I had the wrose most horrible day dealing with a set of bad companies that deal with tires. I was out and about for almost 8 hours trying to get my tires replaced due to one of them having a Bad Factory tear on the inside of the tire. I got here at 6:45pm, right before they closed and this AMAZING WONDERFUL Gentleman asked me how I was doing and was super sweet to hear what happened. He said he was sorry for what happened and that he would be happy to help. Within minutes of getting there, the guys out in the garage did the alignment, changed out all 4 tires and also told me that I had 2 other problems with the Tire area and helped me in every way to get my car back on the road safe for me to drive. It took these gentlemen 40 min.s to get it all done right. They helped me with everything, got me a warranty on the tires and more. I couldn't have been anymore happier, they made my day better. Thank you guys for the help and can't wait to come back to get more service done on my car. Krystel Carrilo

I'm not the most technical person when it comes to auto knowledge but the work was done quickly and part was ready when I got there. What Amenities...?

Please remove this place from any shop in LA horrible niggle be stealing everyones cars lol !!!! CROOK ALERT

Freddie was a great help and very respectful. I had a flat and it was closing time and he got my tire fixed right in time super fast so I can get back on the road. A plus service. Richard Ryan

Sami is the best. When I got locked out of my Benz, he got it open, made new locks and keys and didn't charge the crazy prices my AutoClub membership would have. He knows cars. Glad I know Sami. -Liz Sherman Oaks