North Hollywood Auto Repair

I had a good experience here. I noticed that one of my tires was getting low, after putting in air. I knew I needed a rotation (it's been a while) so I called and made an appointment. Nova checked out my tires and showed me the problem, it was a nail. But then he showed me another problem happening with the other tire and the tread was broken. Since I knew my tires were old and cracking this could be a problem soon. I decided to take care of the two tires for now and he cut me a deal with the alignment. He was really courteous and told me some other things to keep an eye on since I'm reaching 100,000 miles, but no pressure, just informative.

I was on my way to a meeting in North Hollywood and driving down the 134 when my tire blew out. Long story short(er), AAA came very promptly and I was able to make it to my meeting. Towards the end of the meeting, I told my client that I needed to get a new tire, and he busted out his new iPhone and searched for a place nearby for me. He didn't use yelp, but United Alignment and Tire Center came up on top of this other user-review site. He was obviously very happy with his new phone, as he not only showed me the review, but directions to get there as well. 10 minutes later (and knowing more about the iPhone than I cared to know), I was on my way.United is very small, literally a two-car garage. They were working on another car when I got there, but they took care of me right away. I hadn't had lunch at that time, and while they were switching out my tire, I grabbed something at a Mexican fast-food restaurant down the street. He didn't tell me what kind of tire he was going to use, nor did he give me an estimate. I was having a bad day (not only because of the flat tire), and I didn't ask, wanting to just get the day over with. (There was a collision at the intersection, where a small car ran into a yacht that was being hauled. I felt lucky at other people's miseries.) When I came back 1/2 hour later, the car was already fixed. I asked him how much it was, and all I cared was that it was less than $100. At first, I thought he said $18 something, which I thought I misheard and that he must have said $80 something, which was within my range. I gladly handed over my credit card, and when I got the slip back, it WAS $18 something. When I saw the tire, I knew why. It was a used tire. Now, some of you might balk at this. But I drive a 1997 Toyota Corolla that's so beat up, and at that time, I was going to buy a new car soon, anyway, that used tire, as long as it works, was perfect for me. I considered myself lucky, in fact. Then as I was driving away, I started feeling insecure. I mean, was my car that beat-up that he just assumed a new tire would be wasted on me. Then I realized that one of two things happened. Either the store was so small that they didn't have my tire size on stock or he just wanted to get me on my way without making my car new-tire lop-sided. But $20 for a used tire, I thought, was very reasonable. (Since then, my regular mechanic had taken a look at it, and he thought the tire was fine.)So it was a good ending to a bad day, thanks to United and its fast and cheap service. I took off one star because I wished he had told me what he planned to do. Reading the other yelpers' reviews gave me a sense of his personality, and it made me feel more assured that he didn't give me a crappy deal.

I've been going to United Alignment since about 2000 if not earlier, and I cannot recommend them enough.The owner, Nova, is an exceptional person and a top notch mechanic. When was the last time a car mechanic said you didn't need an expensive repair done? Well, Nova is one of those rare mechanics who is truly honest and always gives a fair deal.He goes out of his way to help you out, even getting us a rental car on his dime once because the repair was taking longer than expected.I recently bought a new car and decided to take it to the dealership for the first maintenance. I was treated very poorly - waiting in line for a half hour before someone finally acknowledged me and told me I was in the wrong line and had to start waiting all over again. I left, called Nova, he got me in immediately, I had my car back within an hour, and paid half what the dealer wanted to charge.You really can't ask for more than that.Nova, I KISS YOU!!!