Thao Auto Repair Auto repair & auto body · San Diego
Service desk(619) 640-4606 Book a slot
Bring this in Oil change $45 · full synthetic $60

Bring this in

Oil change

Conventional$45up to 5 qt
Full synthetic$60up to 5 qt

Plus sales tax and any disposal fee, itemized on your invoice. Not an out-the-door price.

  • New filter, every time
  • Multi-point inspection on the lift
  • Tire pressures set, tread measured
  • Fluids topped to the correct spec
Expires 12.31.26 Thao’s Auto Repair
(619) 640-4606 Call

Expires December 31, 2026. One vehicle per visit. Most cars and light trucks.

Quarts beyond five, diesel engines, and European engines that require a specific manufacturer approval are priced separately — the extra cost may be substantial. We tell you before we start, never after. Some engines must have full synthetic; if yours is one we will say so rather than put the wrong oil in it.

You get a written estimate and you authorize it before any work is done. If the job changes, you get a revised figure to approve.

Home / Services / Diagnostics

Diagnostics

A stored code names a circuit, not a broken part. Paying to have parts swapped until the light goes out is the most expensive way to fix a car.

Two technicians reading live data from a scan tool and a laptop over an open engine bay
Codes read, then the circuit tested

What a code actually tells us

A P0301 does not mean “replace the coil”. It means the computer saw cylinder 1 misfire. The cause could be the coil, the plug, an injector, a vacuum leak, low compression or the wiring to any of them. Our job is to find which, and prove it, before you pay for a part.

CodesRead and verified
CircuitTested, not guessed
EstimateBefore any work
Diagnostics
CodesRead and verified
CircuitTested, not guessed
EstimateBefore any work

How we prove it

We reproduce the fault, then test the circuit with the car running — live data, resistance and voltage against the manufacturer figure, and a substitution test where one is valid. If swapping a coil to another cylinder moves the misfire with it, that is proof rather than opinion.

What you get

The codes as they were stored, the readings we took, the figure they should have been, and a plain sentence explaining what failed. If we cannot find it, we tell you that too — and you are not charged for a repair that did not fix anything.

A code is a starting point, not an answer

A scan tool reports which circuit complained. It does not tell you which part failed, and paying to have parts swapped until the light goes out is the most expensive way to fix a car. We reproduce the fault, test the circuit, and confirm the part before it reaches your estimate. If the fault is intermittent we say so rather than guess, and we tell you what it would take to catch it.

Thao Auto Repair is on El Cajon Blvd in North Park, San Diego, and has been family run for over forty years — started by Le’s father and run by Le ever since. Most of the cars that come through are from the neighborhoods around the shop: North Park, University Heights, Normal Heights, South Park, Hillcrest and City Heights. All makes, domestic, Asian and European. Repair, auto body and a full machine shop are on the one site, which is why a job needing two of the three never leaves the building.

Book a slot

Tell us the symptom. We will tell you the next opening.

The chat narrows the symptom down with you so the call is short and the desk knows what to pull before you arrive. It will not diagnose your car in a chat window, and it does not book for you — the last step is a phone call, to a person.

Call (619) 640-4606

Where we are

3400 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Mon–Fri · 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM

Get directions

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Other services

Everything else we do.