Greg’s Automotive

The alternator went out in my ’08 Ford Ranger the day before Thanksgiving… I needed to have my truck by the next Monday so I was trying to find a repair shop that could do the work that Wednesday or over the weekend. Most shops were closed or didn’t have the capacity to take on any more work. Luckily Greg’s Automotive was completely available and they were able to receive the truck and have it up and running within about 3 hours. That was impressive and the reason they get 2 stars.
The reason I docked 3 stars was the final price. I ended up paying almost $ 480 to have the alternator replaced. I didn’t know it at the time, but that is ridiculous. When I had a chance to look over the bill, I was charged $ 230 for the same exact part that was priced from $ 94-​$ 110 at Autozone/O’reilly’s and Amazon.
So I called up Greg’s the following week to ask them why they would mark up a part 130%. I talked to Mark and he said that’s to cover the warranty and assured me that $ 480 is standard for an alternator replacement. Well, I called a few other shops and the prices they quoted were significantly lower… So I have a feeling Mark is yanking my chain.
They did good work… If only they were ethical, they could be a lot more successful. I guess that’s asking too much.

If I could give them zero stars I would. I needed a new radiator in my car and was referred here by AAA. At first the man was very VERY nice, explained everything to us and had no problem giving us time to discuss what we needed to and call back.
However my father also works on cars but lives far from me so I called him and verified what I was being told about my car was correct and also that he wasn’t ripping me off as far as pricing. Right away my dad told me to go somewhere else as he was able to look up the parts and such from his shop and see he was over charging me.
He told he his labor fees were 100 and something an hour and on the sheet he gave me as a price quote was double that. As soon as I questioned it he got a smirk on his face and stopped being the friendly man I first encountered. I had gone back out to talk to my mom and as I did that they removed my car from their shop and asked for their paper back. We told him we just needed a minute to talk. He was asking between 700 and 800 dollars to replace my radiator.
While I had stepped out I called another shop just a few miles down the road and was instantly quoted 450 dollars for the same work. Including replacing my thermostat which was running me another 100 dollars at this place. Obviously I went with the second place.
My mom and I went back inside to give him his paper back and let him know we would be going somewhere else and to thank him for his time.
His response was «Beautiful! Your car probably has a blown head gasket also but I can’t check that now.»
(My car doesn’t/didn’t)
I will say there was a younger man who was actually the guy who would have worked on my car who was very nice.
The old man however, was very rude and clearly greedy. Money hungry, and not afraid to rip you off.
DONT GIVE THEM YOUR BUSINESS.
****my response to gregs response.
YOU CAB TRY TO BE THE NICE GUY NOW BECAUSE YOU LOOK LIKE SHIT ON Unilocal BUT YHAT DOESN’T CHANGE HOW TOU TREATED US. IF YOU CANT KEEP A HAPOY FACE AN A GOOD ATTITUDE THEN HIRE SOMEONE TO WORK IN THE OFFICE. THE GUYS WHO ACTUALLY WORK ON THE CARS WERE NICE, YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WITH A SHITTY ATTITUDE AND MY BAD EXPERIENCE WAS 100% YOUR DOING.
Your mistake is thinking people don’t know what they are talking about. As I said my dad works in cars. While I was at tour shop I was on the phone with him while he was on his works system looking at the parts. Your just a rip off place with bad customer service. Don’t try to make up for is because you want other people to come to your bullshit shop.

had a motor mount replaced there this morning. They knew that we came from the mountains, so they got us right in (well, we did have an appt) We went to breakfast and when we came back, they were done. Hour tops. The front desk people are awesome, and Paul is great!
UPDATE: while they indeed do a good job, they chose to let Paul S the mechanic go. Paul was the very reason we chose to have our cars repaired at Gregs. We’ll take our business to the next place Paul works.

We’ve been going to this garage for 10 years and they are great. They are always polite and efficient. We have had 2 cars and a 4×4 truck serviced by them and they have always been honest and never recommend anything we don’t need. We are always treated with respect and Mark always greets us with a smile when we come in. I would recommend them to anyone who wants a trustworthy mechanic.

Back in 2010 I signed up with the BAR program to get a new cat for my Sentra from Gregs. Never used regular gas nor Am/​Pm type of gas. 2015 already need a new cat!!! Greg’s is no bueno!!! If they had negative stars –7 Fo Sho!!!

GO ELSEWHERE
I called initially, to inquire about an interstate battery warranty prorate swap.
I was told sure, we can do that go ahead and bring it in, leave it overnight with me and in a few days I will call you when my interstate representative checks it out.
Dropped this battery off at 2 PM, they called the next morning at 8:45 and told me to come on in and pick up my battery
I was happy thinking that it was being exchanged, as it was 59-​months-​old with an 85 month warranty.
When I arrived I was told that my battery was tested and it showed 551 CCA, although my battery is supposed to be rated at 710 CCA… And this was okay that should work fine… so I took it home popped my battery in and it did not start.
I called interstate customer service who put me in direct contact with their distributor, he told me he never went by there to test my battery!
I jump-​started the car with my wife’s car and drove over to the interstate battery retail center in La Mesa. My battery was tested with a bulb syringe type tester for the cells and fluid, and also electronically with a scanner gauge tool
GUESS WHAT?
DEAD AS A DOORNAIL!!!
The only reason I am giving this store two stars, is because the nice young man who carried my battery back out to my wife’s trunk was polite.
I will file a complaint with Interstate and hopefully interstate pulls their contract from this garage.

The service I received from Brian was top of the line. He was quick & professional. I’m making this new shop for sure!

very friendly and timely service. went in for a check in engine light and was called and told the estimate and what the problem was. about what i expected. my only gripe is that when i came in later in the week for a smog test, with an 8 AM appt, my car wasn’t seen for another hour! wtf is the appt for then? i went there because they came highly recommended. i’d probably still go back but wasn’t happy at all about the wait.

Sorry, but a $ 45.00 oil change (no air cleaner or other add-on’s), is $ 10.00 higher than the highest «no-​coupon» charge at the local Toyota dealership and that just won’t do. I want to support neighborhood business, I really do. But while I don’t expect them to give their services away, I do expect something in the reasonable range, and Greg’s just let me down.

Wow, how professional. You really proved me wrong… yeah right. I have since had a family friend (a retired mechanic with 40 years of experience) check out my car & he laughed; LAUGHED! He said there was no reason to up-​sell for the high-​end parts short of trying to «milk a naïve young woman» out of her money. He told me to avoid this person because «he would sell you the Moon» if you would accept it! And let me re-​state this: It was JUST for my front brakes!!! I went in to have a simple brake pad replacement on my front 2 brakes, & was repeatedly coerced into spending over $ 320 to fix 2 worn pads!?! Really?!?
And then he responds negatively instead of professionally? Do you really need to hear any more? I’ll tell ya WHO I’M GONNA CALL… ANYONE BUT YOU SIR!