Accurate Owner Turned Childhood Car Cravings into Business

Ted Bascue owns Accurate Auto Repair, 25675 Taladro Circle. He said he learned to love mechanical work watching his father, a Marine mechanic at El Toro who would repair big trucks, Jeeps and "you name it."

"Some kids grow up with a silver spoon," he said. "I had a 9/16th-end wrench."

Growing up at Tustin High in the 1960s, Bascue was the one classmates asked to add some zip to their wheels.

He must have added some to his own, a 1955 Chevrolet with a 4-speed, 301 engine that he admits to using for "a little racing" down Grand Street in Santa Ana from Edinger to Warner.

When police caught on, the street races were moved out to Irvine's bean fields.

Eventually a business friend tipped Bascue to an opportunity running a Texaco service station, which he operated for 20 years in Tustin.

In the 1980s he moved that business to Mission Viejo on the corner of Los Alisos and Jeronimo.

"I was a garage that sold gas," he said. "(Texaco) was not real happy with that. They wanted a service station that maybe sold gas, but they preferred it sold something else. Service stations fell out of favor, they were all converted into C-stores. They figured out how to get us out of the garage business and sell milk, bread and whatever else they were licensed to sell."

Bascue decided it was time to become an independent business owner. He founded Accurate Auto Repair on Via Fabricante about 30 years ago and more recently moved the business about a block north.

Bascue relishes telling stories, like the time a snake was found lodged under the hood of a vehicle needing repair. Or the time he had to find a gentle way of informing a customer that their cat had found the wrong end of their car's fan belt.

The mechanic attributes his longevity and loyal customer support to a shared honesty between himself and his clients.

"I tell them I'm not the cheapest shop in town," he said. "If they want price, go to Pep Boys. But if they want it done right, done the first time, we'll do it.

"When we worked on cars back in the 60s, it was a handshake. Customers would come in, tell you they want something done, you give them an idea of what it would take. We did it all on trust. So I've always had this attitude that customers come out here and they have trust that I'm going to work on their job."

This is the first in an ongoing series of business spotlights in Mission Viejo. The businesses are chosen by Patch readers. If you would like your favorite small business spotlighted, email peter.schelden@patch.com.