Los Alamitos sits at the north-west corner of Orange County, against the Los Angeles County line. Orange Coast Auto Body / RV is at 10810 Talbert Avenue in Fountain Valley, which is a real distance from there, and that distance is the thing most worth thinking about before anything is arranged.

It matters for two reasons. A tow costs more the further it goes, and an insurer with a shop of its own to suggest will usually suggest a closer one.

Coming from the county line

Give any tow driver the full street address, 10810 Talbert Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708, and have it read back. Do not give a shop name alone. Beach Collision, at 18042 Gothard Street in Huntington Beach, has the same operator and a similar-sounding brief, and a name typed into a dispatch system can land at either one.

If your insurer suggests somewhere else

Where the work is done is worth settling explicitly rather than by default. Ask your insurer to confirm, in writing, that the choice of shop is yours, and ask what changes if you use a shop that is not on their list. Usually the honest answer is: the estimate still gets written, the claim still gets paid, and the conversation takes slightly longer.

Ask the same question the other way round too. If a shop is being recommended to you, ask who is recommending it and what the relationship is. That is a fair question and a straight answer is easy to give.

Whether the distance is worth it

Sometimes it is not, and saying so is more use to you than pretending otherwise. For a bumper scuff on a daily driver, distance is a real cost and there is no reason to drive past somewhere competent.

Where distance matters less is on work that not every shop takes on: structural repair, a finish that has to be matched across several panels, or a camper van, trailer or smaller motorhome, where the question is whether a shop can physically take the vehicle at all. Call and describe what you have, and you will get a useful answer either way.

Planning a shop visit

  • Repair destination: 10810 Talbert Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
  • Read the full street address to any tow driver, not a shop name
  • Ask your insurer to confirm in writing that the shop is your choice
  • Ask about towing coverage before the truck is booked, not after

Visiting Orange Coast

Is there an Orange Coast branch in Los Alamitos?

No. The Orange Coast facility is in Fountain Valley, at 10810 Talbert Avenue. This page gives Los Alamitos drivers the route and the things worth settling first. It does not represent a Los Alamitos location.

My insurer wants me to use one of their shops. Do I have to?

Ask your insurer to put the answer in writing, and ask what changes if you use a shop that is not on their list. That is the question, and it is a reasonable one to ask before anything is agreed.

Is it worth towing that far?

Not always, and you should ask rather than assume. Call and describe the vehicle and the damage. If the honest answer is that distance is costing you more than it gains, that is the answer you will get.