Skips Automotive Service

skip runs the best repair shop i have ever been to and with almost fifty
years of driving, i have been to a few shops. skip bailed me out of a jackpot
some months ago. i had a 64 ford falcon post that i had lost the timing on.
i didnt realize how stretched the cam chain was. i had been going to another shop, spent alot of money there but when i needed help the owner turned me down. thats when i found skip. some busy body in my neighborhood was crying to the pleasanton police that the car was not being moved. the police came to my home to inform me that i needed to either drive it and change spots or place the car in my driveway. i was up against it if you get my drift. as busy as skip is he worked on my falcon until he got it running well enough to move it. that got the busy body off my back. i will never forget what he did for me. since then i will only use skip for repairs. he is honest and fair. skip is like the beacon of light in a sea of human turmoil.
daniel ormonde

In my opinion one of the LAST honest automotive repair shops in Livermore. Skip runs his shop on the fundamentals of how a business should be run and the way you would expect a business to be run… Integrity, honesty and respect.
Skip took his time to listen to all my concerns I had with my vehicle and explained to me what should get done to the car Vs things that could wait. All the work was done quickly and efficiently. The final cost was exactly what was estimated.
When I came to pick up the car, Skip again took the time to explain to me in great detail what was done and what I could do in the future to extend the life of my vehicle.
He also stands behind his work and even told me that if I had any more questions or concerns to call him any time.
I can’t say enough good things about Skip and the work he does. Skip you got a new customer and I will continue to use your services in the future.

I was told by my mechanic that my car sounded fine. I knew it didn’t. I looked around on Unilocal and found Skip. I feel fortunate, if I had taken the other advice I would have had big problems with my car a couple weeks down the road. Skip took a lot of time to find the noise and fix it. I know the hours went over what was quoted but I was not charged any more than the original quote. I feel that Skip is not only a very good mechanic but he also runs a great business. I will definitely be going back for other repairs down the road, and would highly recommend the shop.

Sometimes a curse can turn into a blessing.
My 24 year old son had borrowed our family 2001 BMW station wagon to drive from the East Bay to Fresno to work in a community project. On the highway through Livermore the car started making horrific noises (curse #1). He immediately exited and asked at a tire dealership who they could recommend as a competent mechanic. He was referred across town to Skip’s Automotive Service (first blessing). He describes Skip’s demeanor as supportive, friendly and calming. Skip determined that the parking brake system had failed destroying the rotors, ABS sensors, and rear disc brakes (curse #2). Months earlier we had asked our local mechanic to investigate a strange noise from the rear brakes and were told everything checked out fine (curse #3).
Skip called our home, determined the approximate pricing based on parts needed and confirmed it would take about 5 days to get the parts and complete the repairs. He was professional, forthright and knowledgeable (second blessing).
In 5 days, we got the call that the car was completed. Skip’s billing was very close to the original estimate and our 14 year old car, one week later, is as quiet as the day it was purchased (final blessing).
Fifty miles from home is not a good place for your children to break down. I will always be grateful to Skip for his competence and sincere caring. I honestly feel I was treated as a long-​time customer and am grateful for such an honest and skilled mechanic.

Terrible, charged me 520 $ to change thermostat and add fluids. I understand it was 120 $ an hour but I completely DOUBT it took over 4 hours to complete. Worst of all my car started having overheating issues again, called skip to see what we could do. He said it would be more to get it completely fixed. AVOID AT ALL COST, unless you like half a** car jobs.

i have written this review twice, and im seriously confused as to why its not showing up???
skip is great. grea service great prices. i trust him completely and i would recommend him without reservation

I have a 66 Mustang that has been overheating, ever since I had aftermarket air conditioning installed in it. I decided to go in and speak with Skip based on all the great reviews I’ve seen on Unilocal and I have to say they are 100% correct. Skip deserves all the amazing reviews he has received. He check my engine while it was idling and then spoke with me for about an ½ hour, explaining every possible way to cool down my engine, please keep in mind that he and another mechanic were busy working on a vehicle when I came in. He even ask me to go for a ride and come back so he can recheck my engine after I drove my car around town. Once I came back, he checked my cars temperature; explained to me that the temperature was fine and that I may need a new temp sensor, he also recommend a fan shroud. That’s it! He even gave me a phone number for a Mustang shop that can help me look for a shroud. Skip may have not worked on my car today, but he most definitely earn my business in the future. Thank you Skip!!!

I’ve been taking all of our cars including my daughters to Skips for a few years now. He is highly trustworthy and always does a great job on our vehicles. I’ve even popped in without notice when my car battery died and he was able to order me a battery (he didn’t have mine in stock) and had it delivered and installed within about an hour!
Thanks Skip!

Having just purchased a classic car and getting a hole in the radiator after 2 hours driving her home on a Friday afternoon, I found Skip while in a panic on the side of the road searching for ‘classic car mechanic’. Skip treated me and my car right. If I ever need service around Livermore, I’ll look Skip up first.

Great service, helpful staff.
Skip helped me out when my fancy new Acura had a breakdown. He’s great about explaining the details, helping make sure things get fixed in the right way and helping me choose what’s the most cost effective path forward.

I chose Skip because all of the great reviews on Unilocal… I needed new front brakes and with my schedule I had to get it done quickly. He got me in within 20 minutes of calling him on the phone. Skip was very professional and kept me in the loop with what he was planning on doing.
His philosophy when it comes to estimating the price is «the worst case scenario». That way, there are no surprises when it comes time to pay the bill.
I will continue to do business with Skip.

Just an oil change and tire rotation for my new car. I was originally going to go to Livermore Ford since it was the car’s first change but was horrified by the parade of one star reviews that started with, «Be warned…» I was then going to go to a Jiffy kind of place but chickened out on that. I’ll admit that when I first called Skip’s, I thought it was more down by The Vine and Zepher Grill since I was waiting for the car. But I was desperate for the oil change so I kept the appointment I’d made a few hours earlier. It was more expensive than Jiffy but I felt good having real mechanics working on my car. They also rotated the tires and did a zillion point check of various components in the car. I got the service I wanted along with the peace of mind that it was being handled by professionals.

Called to get a rough estimate on doing a front end re-​build on my car and it was one of the WORST call I have ever made!!! Don’t know who answered the phone, but next time someone answers with a «ya», and not a business name, I’ll just hang up. I told that person that I had my own parts. He asked what brand/​make they are and I told him I didn’t know off hand, as they are not in front of me (turns out they are TRW & Moog), but I don’t buy crap parts. He Said he won’t install certain brands because they are junk parts. He thought it was a joke when I told him it don’t matter these days as most parts are either made in China, Mexico, Brazil or India. He started to give me an argument over who makes the best parts! Who the hell makes parts in America anymore?
He also informed me that the parts in my car are «crap» if they are needing replacements. I informed him the car is a ’97 Ford CV, with the original parts in it, he again told me they are crap parts! He thought it was funny as he laughed during most of our conversation!
I know Ford made some crappy cars in their time, but the Crown Victoria’s are solid cars, or hundreds of police depts’ & CHPs’, would not use them! Even the US Govt, uses these cars and have for years. The car has close to 300K on it, mostly highway miles, of course the front end parts will wear down. Now if the car is a POS, I would dump it, but it still looks new and runs great.
I strongly recommend that you take your car else where! If I could give this outfit MINUS 5 stars I would, but one star is all Unilocal lets you rate cracker jack places like these. After I had made the call, I asked a neighbor about these guys, they told me that had a bad «phone» experience with them too. Which makes sense as that guy had NO phone manners or any respect for ppl calling!
Seems that if they are that unprofessional & rude on the phone, they must be unprofessional in the shop! Steer clear of these guys! Skip, if that was YOU that answered the phone, you chased away a good paying customer, as a front end job like this will cost upwards of $ 1K, just for labor alone! Not to mention the repeat business on my other cars and trucks! Business trives on word of mouth advertising, they are sending out a bad advert with being rude and chasing ppl away.

As a woman, it is difficult to find a good mechanic who will provide you with a correct diagnosis and quote you a decent fee. I had called Skips Automotive to replace my front bulbs on my Hyundai Sonata. I called in the morning and indicated to him that I would be there later in the day. When I arrived later that afternoon, Skip had already purchased the bulb for me and installed it right away. It was a inexpensive fix in general.
He also gave me a good recommendation of a place to get my tires done, as well.
Skip is an old-​school type mechanics place, but I do think a customer gets prompt and competent service.

I’m giving Skip 4 stars rather than a 5 stars because I have only been there once for a one-​hour item, but if all his service is this good, he gets 5 stars. For the one item I needed, Skip may have saved me alot of money.
First, it should be noted when I spoke to Skip, he was highly professional and very service oriented. He clearly knows cars, but more importantly, is willing to spend time with his customers.
I took a used car in that I was thinking about buying. The car was in very good condition to the eye of a layman. I paid Skip to do an inspection. His trained ear picked up a noise in the differential which I did not hear. His investigation showed that I was going to need to replace the rear differential which would cost $ 1000. He also noted a few other problems that would have cost a bit over $ 500.
Since I was putting all my cash into the car, I decided that I didn’t want to put in another $ 1500 and passed on the car. More than money, Skip saved me a bunch of trouble and heartache.

Honest auto repair shop.
Brought my 2003 Corolla to Skips to take a look at the AC system couple days ago because the AC wasn’t cold at all. They took the time to check the AC system and found that the problem is a tiny electronic relay device or plug-​like thing (see the pic I uploaded) wasn’t working and replaced it and now the AC works perfectly. That tiny plug wasn’t expensive. He charged me 1.5 hr of labor.
Will definitely recommend other people to go to Skips. Skips and his techs are wonderful. They get down to the real problem instead of trying to replacing this and that to try to fix the problem. That’s a real good diagnostic skill.
BTW, Skips replaced the belts and tensioner (Corolla has an updated tensioner that would fix the annoying squeaking noise from under the hood) on my Corolla last year.

I’m disappointed in the price tag after reading the good reviews for Skip’s. To verify the price I checked on
and asked to get 3 local quotes for the same repair. Even the dealership came in $ 200 less than Skip’s final bill. Unfortunately, I was already into Skip for $ 200 for diagnosing the problem, so no possible way to win by taking the car somewhere else.
Hopefully the aftermarket parts are good quality and the repair will last, but I’m not happy with the cost.

I’ll start by saying that I was very skeptical having to look for a mechanic. I’ve been burned before and didn’t want that to happen again. I have a classic car and was looking for someone who knew what they were doing. I began searching on Unilocal.Skip’s Automotive had great reviews which is why I decided to give them a shot. I’ll admit despite great reviews I was STILL skeptical. After talking with Skip I convinced he knew alot about classic cars and loved working on them. He was straight forward with no BS. If I sum it up I’d say he was honest with me, reliable and did great quality work on my car. I was very pleased. I felt the need to post this review because I know it can be hard to find a mechanic you can trust and wanted to share my experience. Thanks Skip!
Richard

*****Worthy of 10 Stars*****
Took my ‘new to me’ GMC to Skip because it was eating coolant. He was absolutely WONDERFUL to work with. Luckily we had a warranty and Skip spent LOTS of time working with the warranty company as well as us. We ended up needing a new engine and Skip found one with even less miles than the engine the warranty company was going to give us. Absolutely QUALITY service and work! We are so happy to have found such a wonderful mechanic and will be bringing our car to him from now on! Once the warranty company approved the engine replacement he had the new engine in and installed in about a week! Efficient, honest, and looking out for the customer is what Skip’s Automotive is all about.

The 5-​star reviews of Skips prompted me to give them a try. I am so glad I did! They were friendly, honest, and reasonably priced.
If you have car trouble, I highly reccomend Skips!