(Background: My car's a bit of a tough case--it's got more than 100,000 miles on it and is one of the few Honda/Acura's that has experienced multiple recalls. After taking it to two Yelp-reputable independent repair shops and my original dealer, I received diagnoses that were both contradicting and expensive.)
Initially, I stopped by just to get a quick estimate, but was won over by the comprehensive diagnosis and detailed explanation provided by the service technicians. Their recommended services (based upon the year, mileage and condition of my car) reflected about 80% of the recommendations made by the Acura dealer and independent repair shops. I then ask about a few services that were recommended by the others, but not on their list, and they walked me through a detailed explanation of why I didn't need them. They walked me through the value of factory vs after-market parts and the actual driving risk of a squeaky steering wheel (none). Bottom line: the folks at Chia-In were both competent professionals and exceedingly honest salesmen.
I've since driven about 15,000 miles following that initial service and experienced no problems related to the repair (or the unperformed repairs recommended by other repair shops). During that visit, I replaced my car's timing belt and water pump, and asked for a detailed inspection of my steering gaskets, suspension and radiator (which were all deemed to be faulty by one or more of the other repair shops). The final bill was less than half of what one of the non-dealers quoted me and less than a quarter of what the dealer quoted, and I saved another thousand or two from holding-off on the other unnecessary repairs.
I'm very happy with my experience at Chia-In and look forward to using them for future car maintenance issues.
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