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 / Paint & refinishing

Paint & refinishing

Paint fades. A panel mixed to the factory code and sprayed edge to edge will not match a ten-year-old car, which is why blending exists.

A technician refinishing a car's front bumper with a sander in the bay
Prepared properly before any color goes on

Matched to the car, not the code

We match to your actual finish and blend into the adjacent panels so the repair disappears rather than announcing itself in daylight.

ColorMatched and blended
SubstratesSteel, alloy, plastic
Body shopOn site
Paint & refinishing
ColorMatched and blended
SubstratesSteel, alloy, plastic
Body shopOn site

Prepared properly, because that is where paint fails

Adhesion problems almost always trace to preparation. The panel is stripped, treated and primed for what it is — steel, aluminum or plastic all behave differently.

Cured and cut

Clear coated, cured, then polished so the texture matches the panels either side of it.

Matched to the panels either side

Color is matched to the panels next to the repair, not to a code alone, because paint on a car that has stood in the San Diego sun for ten years is no longer the color it left the factory. The blend is what makes a repair invisible.

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.