Placentia Auto Repair

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| Buena Park Sat: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PMclosed for lunch 12 - 1

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Categories General Toyota Museum - The Last Tour

A while back we took the crew to the Toyota Museum in Torrance. I personally have been there a few times, but the guys had not. What made this visit bittersweet was the fact that Toyota is leaving SoCal for Dallas very soon. All that will remain of the huge campus will be a few offices that will oversee the West Coast distribution. Lots of history here, which parallels my father's storied career. Many of you know that dad started out as a technician South Bay Toyota after some friends put him in front of the boss at Toyota Headquarters. Dad's favorite was the 2000GT. It was the untouchable car that his generation aspired to. We took a picture of Jasper in front of a CHP themed Avalon. Some of you may know Jasper used to be a police cadet. Art's pictured in front of a NASCAR camry, no doubt one the first vehicles that Toyota competed with; kinda fitting considering Art's story of coming to and being accepted by America has some parallels to Toyota's & Dad's story ... read more

Our Car Car Care Class: Lipsticks and Dipsticks

We did a car care class last spring and we've been meaning to blog about it. Called it Lipsticks and Dipsticks, and as promised the local Mary Kay Lady stopped by and gave out sample sized lipstick. This was mainly geared towards women; of course they being the gender that bears the stereotype oblivious to car care. We had a group of roughly 20 and talked about basic car care and why we check the fluids often, what sort of noises are unusual from a vehicle, what sort of things a mechanic looks for when a vehicle comes in, etc. The important part is we all had fun. This being a Saturday morning we had breakfast type snacks and also coffee. The women seemed really enjoy it, and it seemed that they were less apprehensive to bring a car to a mechanic. Most importantly they all learned something. Quick thank you to the Placentia Chamber for helping to promote and organize, BG Petrospecs for the generous product raffle, Karean Wrightson, local realtor and friend for various nick-nacks f ... read more

Nicole has left the building!

Got so busy we forgot to announce Nicole's arrival last year in July, but she quickly picked up a following of great customers. She's done wonders in keeping our customers happy and uplifting the morale of the shop. Around February, earlier this year she announced she was pregnant, and as her belly got bigger staffers here often found themselves trying cheering her up; LOL. We wish Nicole and her husband Onnie a big congratulations, safe labor for both child and mother, and cross our fingers for her return to work. Threw her a small party on her last day. Balloons under shirt. Any notes of congratulations can be sent to the shop. We will forward them to her

Open House X L&D

We're doing it again! ...a "Lipsticks and Dipsticks" style event, but this time we are also doing it with an open house. All are welcome. This time because of the scale of what we're doing, the L&D will be a shortened/abbreviated version. The open house though will feature a Food Truck and Beer Vendor ...please don't drink too much. If you do we'll uber you home, or make sure someone sober will drive you home. Dos Chinos Food Truck will be serving up Pork Belly Tacos (my favorite) and other Latin/Asian fusion food, and beer will be provided by Stereo Brewing

Joshua Tree Road Trip!

Family and I went camping Joshua Tree this weekend. Took our trusty Toyota Tacoma 4-Door/Crew-cab. Cooked marshmallows, made s’mores, pitched a tent, and hung out around the camp fire. Also did some photography, hiked a few places, and thought to myself most, if not all of my customers, we provide this level of freedom. And since road trip season is upon us, here’s a few tips to go more confidently. Check your battery. Has the battery/starter sounded weak recently? Is the battery older than 3 years? Modern vehicles require some electricity to keep the computers alive. Pull every dipstick available. If your engine oil is dark brown and/or black, or low time to have it changed. If your transmission oil is not bright red or golden brown/green for CVT transmissions, have it serviced. Crack open that radiator cap, but please do it when the car is absolutely cold. Water/Coolant look murky? For Toyota it should be pink, Honda s ... read more

Lipsticks and Dipsticks

I’m not necessarily excluding men, it’s just that when it comes to car care, let’s be honest. The sex that is most often associated with being oblivious with cars is women. To that effect we are having a car care class called “Lipsticks and Dipsticks” and it’s happening 10-12:30 on March 25, Saturday. Please RSVP as space is limited. Still working on a vendor list for people to help us out, and food arrangements at this time. We will discuss how to talk about your car to a mechanic, checking your fluids, changing your tire on the side of the road, and much much more. Get ready to get dirty …well not too dirty! Empower your lady friends guys! …and make some friends from the community

The Dream Car

Here at Tokyo Automotive, we pride ourselves on getting you to your daughter's soccer game, getting you to work on time, and allowing you to have the freedom to go up to Mammoth for your ski vacation. But we also love sports cars. I myself tinker with tuner cars as a hobby; although lately with kids and work I rarely have time for that. I do however from time to time find myself at car meets. So every once in while we get a car in the shop that pulls at our heartstrings. One such example is this largely unmolested 1971 240Z and I might have let it go out the door and not done this blog hadn't it been for the great story that comes with it. Jeff, a eye doctor by trade, was an original owner of a similar 1971 240Z. Years later his teenage son, in an effort to avoid an animal in the middle of road, would swerve and get into a horrible wreck with it which split the car in two right down the back middle. The two teenagers walked away with only minor cuts and bruises. While the offi ... read more

Glenknoll Superhero

Tokyo Automotive prides itself in supporting the community. A little while back my daughter's school, Glenknoll Elementary, we sponsored, got our Logo on their T-Shirt, and a banner. But the most fun part of it was watching the kids run. It's a timed race. I think was 15 minutes and it's how many laps you can clock off in that span of time. Kiyone, my daughter, got 6 laps. It's great watching the kids do their best

Alyssa joined her dad today at work!

Sometimes it happens. Grandma and grandpa are busy, and the summer camp activity you just don't feel safe sending your kid to. So today became an impromptu bring your daughter to work day. Alyssa for the most part watched videos and played games on dad's phone, had a lunch date with Alan, and her Dad. We gave her a hot wheels die-cast car. Hey maybe she becomes inspired to become Tokyo Auto's first woman technician

Happy Memorial Day!

Respects to those who have fought to protect our freedoms and our condolences to those who never made it back. On a more personal note every Memorial day and Veterans day is an opportunity for us to celebrate our employee, Alex who is a veteran of the latest Iraq war; retired as sergeant. If you're ever at our shop please take a moment to say hi and thank him for his service. Just a reminder our Wishes for Warriors campaign ends

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