Meet Our Team

Kenneth Cigainero, Owner

• I was born in Agana Guam at a military hospital. I was raised from the age of 2 in San Diego, near San Diego State. I moved to San Diego when my father got stationed here for the Navy around 1957. I only left San Diego to live in Glendale, AZ while attending Arizona Automotive Institute. I have been married for 42 years and I have one daughter who is 39 years old. My hobbies are playing baseball (not softball), gold prospecting, and backyard farming. When I vacation I like to see National Parks, old cities, historical places, hike, and camp. I became a mechanic because I picked up the skill easily by watching and helping my father. My father is my role model. He was a kind and honest man. I have been doing this for about 50 years. My shop has just celebrated being open for 25 years. I have worked various jobs in my lifetime. I have been a hospital dishwasher and kitchen worker, various types of auto repair, construction, and house painting. I also worked in high end jewelry and watch design, repair, sales, and estate buying. My education includes attending Arizona Automotive Institute in Phoenix, AZ , GM training school in Burbank, CA and 50 years on the job and 25 years owning Ken's Auto Center. My favorite aspect of the job is helping people solve their car problems. Best advice I would give customers about their vehicles is to find a shop that you like and trust and take your vehicle there.

Cindi Larson, Service Advisor

• My name is Cindi Larson. I was born and raised in San Jose, CA, however I have lived in 5 different states due to my ex husband being in the military for over 20 years. I have lived in Pensacola, FL twice, Oklahoma City, OK, Lubbock, TX, Fort Worth, Texas, Odenton, MD and Kailua, HI. I originally moved to San Diego for my ex husband's job when he retired from the Navy. I have two daughters who are 18 and 23 years old. I am in a relationship with the General Manager, Todd. We have been together for 6 years. My hobbies are camping and reading. Places I have vacationed to are London, Sydney, Bali, and a few of the Hawaiian Islands while I lived there, but my favorite vacations have been adventure driving with Todd and camping as we go. I originally became a Service Advisor because after being a stay at home mom for over 20 years and with my girls growing up it was time for me to go back to work. Todd recently became General Manager at Ken's Auto Center and he thought we would make a good team. I love being a Service Advisor. I really enjoy helping customers and some of those customers are like family when they come in. Before having kids I worked in retail while going to college. I finished college with a B.A. in psychology. I have definitely spent more time in customer service. While my kids were in school I was very active in their schools. I was PTA president and treasurer for a couple of years. My favorite part of my job is talking and helping out people. If there is one best advice I would tell customers about their vehicles is do not skip oil changes or other maintenance scheduled work. I have seen small problems become huge from not tackling the problems early.

Ryan Aiken, Technician

• My name is Ryan Aiken. I was born and raised in San Diego, CA. I have lived in San Diego my whole life. I have one son and a girlfriend. My hobbies are playing guitar, creating art and fixing up toys. Interesting fact about me is that redheads are about 1-2% of the population. My role models are Alan Watts, Joe Rogan, and Jerry Springer. For vacation I like to go somewhere tropical. I have been to Hawaii and Mexico. If I went again I might never come back. I decided to become a Technician at a young age. I really loved muscle cars and I wanted to learn how to work on them so I could fix up mine. I have been a Technician for 19 years. I have worked for BMW, Hyundai, and several other garages and performance shops. In 19 years of experience I am knowledgeable on auto electrical, A/C, engine performance diagnostics and various other auto repairs. My favorite aspect of my job is giving the service writers a hard time. Best advice I would give customers about their vehicles is to change your vehicle's oil.

Jose Hernandez, Technician

• My name is Jose Carlos Hernandez. At the shop everyone calls me Kitty. My other nickname is Kiri because I have one eye that is lighter than the other. I was born and raised in Tijuana, Baja California. I lived in Tijuana until I was 14 when I moved to San Diego for school. I have lived in San Diego for 13 years now. I am married with no kids. I love to play soccer on the weekends. Other hobbies I enjoy are video games once in a while. An interesting fact about me is that I used to play in high level sports. My parents are my role models. I like to rest and travel. I have vacation in a couple of different states and places in Mexico like Cancun, Cabos, and Simolou. I really enjoyed them all. I became a Technician because I was looking for an opportunity where I could grow and found it at Ken's. I have been a technician for just over 2 years. Before this I worked in construction; roofing, framing, concrete, and plumbing. I love this job because it is very challenging. It's like life, depending on how you look at it, things can be done in different ways. Best advice I would give to our customers about their vehicles is to check your fluids once a week and keep up with the maintenance schedule.

Mikhail (Mike) Aleksandrov, Technician

• My name is Mikhail (Mike) Aleksandrov. I was born and raised in Russia. I lived in Thailand - Phuket Island for 4 years. I came to San Diego because I like the warm climate. I chose CA instead of Florida because San Diego combines the atmosphere of a big city and a lazy, unhurried town. I have been married for 5 years. My hobbies are remodeling, hiking, cycling, electric unicycle, spearfishing, freediving, diving, snowboarding and a new hobby... construction. An interesting fact about me is that I can repair trolley buses. I have a certification for this. My wife and I love road trips (another reason we chose CA). We have vacationed to many National Parks that are only 6 hours away. We often do these trips on the weekends. We have visited a lot of the National Parks in CA. We have also visited neighboring states such as AZ, UT, NV, WA, ID, WY, MT, SD, MI, WI, IL, OH, PA, NY, VT, MA, and HI. I decided to become a Technician because I grew up in a poor family and since childhood I loved to take everything apart, see how everything works from the inside and try to fix it, over the years I began to do better and better. I began to enjoy my work. When people come to me with a problem and I successfully solve it, I am happy about it every time. I have been working as a mechanic since 2009. It has been about 15 years. During this time I have studied and learned a lot. I've worked as an auto electrician; repairing starters and alternators, AC, engine overhaul and also rewiring for emergency disconnecting of anti-theft systems. I have also installed car audio systems, professional soundproofing, and insulating interior. Other jobs I have held where I work as an auto electrician, installing and repairing outboards and engines on speed boats. I have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Other certifications I hold are various certifications through O'Reilly's ongoing classes they offer and I also have an ASE certificate for EV and Hybrid vehicles. One of my favorite aspects of my job is problem solving. The best advice I would give customers about their vehicle is 1) Follow the maintenance schedule, 2) Tire Care, 3) Check fluids, 4) monitor warning lights, 5) Brake maintenance, 6) Battery care, and 7) Drive smoothly to reduce wear and tear on the engine and transmission.