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 / Electrical & batteries

Electrical & batteries

A battery that keeps going flat is usually not a bad battery. It is something that never went to sleep when you locked the car.

Two technicians reading live data from a scan tool and a laptop over an open engine bay
A circuit is measured, not guessed at

Battery, alternator or draw

Three different repairs that all present as “it will not start”. A load test on the battery, an output test on the charging system and a draw test with the car asleep tell them apart in under an hour.

BatteryLoad tested
Draw testAvailable
DiagnosisBefore replacement
Electrical & batteries
BatteryLoad tested
Draw testAvailable
DiagnosisBefore replacement

Parasitic draws

Measured in milliamps with the modules asleep, then narrowed circuit by circuit. It takes patience, and it is the only way to find it without replacing parts hopefully.

Starting circuits

Voltage drop across the cables and connections, because a clean-looking terminal can still be the fault. We check the cheap causes before the expensive ones.

The circuit is measured, not guessed at

Electrical faults are where parts get thrown at a car. A battery that tests fine can still be flattened overnight by a parasitic draw, and the only way to find it is to measure. We draw test, load test, and trace the circuit rather than replacing the obvious thing twice.

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.