Automasters

This is an interesting place. It was a bit intimidating with the pit bulls eyeing you but they were actually quite sweet. It looks kind of junky and is eccentric but Juan and one of the other managers treated me well and took care of my Honda and Smart car. They were able to get me in a lot quicker than the other shops and had quick turnaround as well. There was a minor issue with my wheel cover missing after repairs. They were very apologetic, ordered the cover immediately and followed up with me. Perhaps a bit disorganized but I like the home spun feel and quirkiness. Planning on bringing my car back here in the future

I’m sorry to hear about Glen passing, he couldn’t have been more than 50 years old. Update on my car; I ended up bringing it to B&G auto in Mill Valley, it took them a while but they eventually figured out that someone had poured Throttle Body cleaner into the throttle body on my car, had left it puddled, and then turned my car on. This caused the throttle body cleaner to ignite inside the throttle body, which destroyed it. The likelihood this was caused by anyone other than an Automaster’s employee is very, very small. Sorry Glen for having to throw your business under the bus, RIP man

Lou is the best! Him and his workers know what they’re doing and even squeezed me in to their schedule after seeing they were fully booked! My car is now purring like kitten thanks to them. I got it back the same day I dropped it off! They don’t sugar coat anything, they’re straight forward and they are extremely honest and fair on cost. I like that. I’ve been taking my car to Auto Masters for over 8 years now. I miss Glen and was always pleased with his work. These guys don’t fall short and also kick butt! I have no plans of changing my mechanic and I plan on continuing to send my friends and family here.

Glenn, lover of all things cars. Great sage of fiats and Alfas and many italian cars. All cars actually. Glenn loved his work, was a good person and a trustworthy mechanic. It’s really sad to have learned that he is now gone, I wrote a little something for him…
Here’s to you Glenn, Thank you for your help over the years my friend, a working man you were. I truly wish you a safe passage to the highway beyond, where all souls travel to in time. Our journey be it by foot or in car knows not of the destination after but let it be a comfort to know we shall all be travelers on that road, and with any luck will see you there when we arrive.

I am very sadden to hear about Glen’s passing. he was not only a very good mechanic but also very good friend. We had many conversations about a variety of subjects.
He will be dearly missed. May his memory be for a blessing.

I just learned of Glen’s passing. I am in shock. Such a wonderful guy and trusted mechanic. I will miss him terribly.

I have been going to Automasters for years. Always found their prices very fair and their work good, even if the place was always funky. Was shocked yesterday when I brought my car in only to find out Glen had died quite suddenly. But Lou was gracious and helpful. Fixed my battery cable and got the car running quickly. Did not even charge us, saying they should have caught it the last time we had the car serviced (which was apparently right in the middle of Glen’s medical crisis, but we hadn’t a clue back then.) I plan to continue going there unless they demonstrate they cannot keep up their previous level of service.

According to David R’s report below, the original mechanic here sadly passed away a few weeks ago. That may explain how terrible my experience was today, but it may not– I don’t know.
I never met Glen, so this is simply a review of the way the business is working now and the experience I had today, which was extremely terrible. I found Automasters on Unilocal and was stoked to see the great reviews so I called them on Wednesday to ask if they could replace the brakes and rotors on my truck. I spoke to Lou, who gave me a fair quote and told me I was lucky since he’s normally booked a week out but could get me in if I brought it at 9am on Friday and he would pencil me in if I promised to be there at 9 sharp. Not too early, or too late, but I had to be there at 9, so I promised I would. At 9am, there was no Lou to be found. At 9:15, a young man (no name) arrived to open the place, and clearly had no idea that we were supposed to be there, so I had to go over everything about what we needed done again, and get a new quote. He promised he would get to it that morning and call me when it was done, so I parked my truck on the street nearby left my keys. At 2:30, I hadn’t heard anything so I called, but nobody answered. I tried again a few minutes later with no success, so I biked all the way over there to check it out. The truck was still in the same spot on the street, which of course is a bad sign. I saw the young man from this morning working on a different car, and when I called out to him he clearly didn’t even recognize me from 6 hours ago, so I had to remind him which vehicle I belonged to. His face immediately told me he hadn’t remembered to work on my truck, and those suspicions were confirmed. I then met and spoke to Lou, who also didn’t remember talking to me on the phone. He said «oh, sure we’ll get those parts ordered now»…to which I replied «what!!!». Since he gave me an appointment slot two days ago, he should have ordered the parts then, or at the very VERY least ordered them this morning when I dropped it off. Honestly, they both seemed like space cadets, and Lou was only even a little bit apologetic when I reminded him that I was about to drop $ 700+ at his shop (four fully replaced brakes/​rotors/​etc. on a truck is not cheap), but nobody even seemed to care. Needless to say, I took my keys and truck and left, and still have dicey brakes that I will take elsewhere. Hopefully they can turn it around up there for other customers in the future.

For those of you who haven’t heard, Glen passed away a couple of weeks ago. Apparently a tragic victim of colon cancer. A competent mechanic, and great person gone too soon. I heard the shop is still open with Glen’s brother (an extremely skilled mechanic) in charge. Glen will be missed by the countless loyal customers who have been with him for so many years. R.I.P. Glen.

I love this place. I feel totally confident in the work they do here and have recommended a lot of my friends. I’ve literally never written a review on Unilocal before, but I felt compelled to do so after Glen replaced my radiator for half the price that everyone else was quoting me– AND he did it in ONE DAY! All the stars for this place!

Woohoo, a mechanic who is actually truly knowledgeable and honest-​almost miraculous. I would send anyone to Glenn and his crew in a heartbeat. His integrity is bar none and his prices are always fair; simply put it’s auto repair nirvana. My mom actually sent me here nearly ten years ago after my old car had been pronounced dead elsewhere, Glenn not only resurrected my car/​whip but she ran about another four years without any significant problems. Talk about satisfied, considering the value of retaining a car that’s paid off the cost was way beyond worth every penny. Subsequent to that experience I’ve sent at least a dozen family members and friends and the only complaint came from the one person who thinks the world owes them something and who couldn’t get it done themselves if their life depended on it. Meanwhile everyone else, including myself, has driven away with grins and gratitude. Oh, and as if that weren’t enough, I’ve never had to wait long to get my service or to have my car returned because he’s always reasonable about time estimates and general customer service. Stop reading and call to schedule already-​no regrets, really.

Thank you Glen, and the Automasters staff for your overall service of my car, and making my feel safe on the road again. The prices are fair, and the advice is priceless. Again, thank you for paying attention to detail, and safety. You ROCK!!!

These guys are awesome… They had my car in and out and got me a place to smog with a discount same day! I’m bringing my car back for more services after the new year! They’re truly as great as everyone says.

Aitomasters does excellent work at competitive proces. They wer my next door neighbors for thirteen eyars, and they got me out of some real pinches. I made them my regualr mechanics when they correctly diagnosed, and solved, that had been hms-​handled by other, «reputable» mechanics in the Berkeley/​Oakland area. They treat every customer’s car with equal respect, wehtehr it is late-​model or an old beater, and I find that they are flexible and will work with customers as individuals. Is there a bit of «personality» here? sure. read some of the reviews for a taste of it. But I trust these fellows imp[licitly and consider them good friends in the auto repair world. I am about to call them again for a job on my alternator.

I’ve been bringing my cars to Glen for years. He even goes over any car I’m thinking of buying so I know what kind of trouble I’m buying. Once, I couldn’t get a car in to him before I had to buy it and it was a troublesome beast.
When he’s busy, don’t waste his time. I appreciate that he is so busy, it means he has a successful business and won’t disappear before I need him again. I don’t mind the look of the place; it’s a shop, fercryingoutloud.
I love that he will help me prioritize my repairs so I’m not strapped if I don’t have to be. This last time, he told me I probably had 3 months before I’d absolutely have to do the brakes. Yup, right on schedule. And occasionally, he’ll fix something because he notices it needs to be done, and then doesn’t charge me. What a terrific guy! On top of that, he’s honest. I really need to bake him some cookies…

I had a great experience with this auto shop today and the manager (owner?) Glenn. I was in Oakland when my car started smoking. I looked up this place and pulled in. Despite being very busy at the time, Glenn graciously took a quick look at my car and explained all kinds of things, including the likely diagnosis. He was courteous, concerned, very nice, and thorough in making sure I understood what he was saying. Even though I didn’t end up having my car serviced there — because he correctly diganosed the issue and that I would be able to drive home without issue — he helped me with what I needed when I badly needed it. And I can tell it’s a great operation with knowledgeable and trustworthy folks. I am quite grateful and would recommend talking with these guys if you have car work. to be done.

I took my Civic to the Honda Dealership for a recall service, and at the end they told me my timing belt was severely cracked and about to break (with only 72,000 miles on the car). They strongly urged me to take advantage of their $ 650 timing belt «special».
So, I worried about that for weeks, and when I noticed a power steering fluid leak, I found Glen and Automasters, and took the car in. Glen told me that my power steering problem was the cheapest of all possible related problems, and fixed it at very reasonable cost… labor plus an $ 11 hose. He also checked the timing belt and even though I’d told him I planned to have him fix that based on the dire warning from the dealership, he called me up and said it was fine.
I met Glen on two different days, and on one day you could tell he was busy and stressed, and maybe he was a bit brusque the first time, but that just reminds me of all my east coast relatives and doesn’t bother me at all, and when we actually talked about the car, he was personable and warm. I’m just assuming he doesn’t have a lot of time to coddle high maintenance or easily offended customers… follow his instructions, don’t get offended if he stops answering his phone on a busy day or is a bit short, and you’re gonna find yourself a super honest, efficient mechanic with some gruff charm.
If you want a tidy showroom with free cookies, a fake friendly service manager and unnecessary $ 600 recommendations, then by all means go the dealer. I’m going back to Glen.

I’ve been taking my van to Glen for a couple of years. The service has been good, for the most part. Yet recently it’s been horrible!!! A few months ago there was a leak of PS fluid. He looked at it said 3 hoses needed replacing. He also said I needed a new radiator. So I decided to get the radiator and hold off on the hoses for a month. The following month a belt came off. He said the PS pump was loose and needed to be replaced… OK another 350. Gave him the car for a week. When I took my car home 2 days later PS fluid still leaking. He never replaced the hoses with the PS pump!!! Duh.
I’m going somewhere where attention to detail is important.

Honest, fair and as good as they come. I swear by their work.
Don’t drop off your car unless you are ready to pay that day. No «free-​storage-​while-​you-​travel» stuff here… The turn around time is beyond warp speed.
I’ve referred probably 6 or so other loyal customers there. No complaints.

Bottom line– Glenn is a great mechanic and is a very honest, good guy. I have a very old truck (1963) which means stuff breaks– a lot. It also means Glenn has seen my truck a few times in the last several months, since I started bringing the truck to him.
My last repair was a clutch issue. Glenn found that is was only a broken cotter pin and replaced it, called and told me «no charge.» Who does that? He could have bullshitted me and handed me a big bill. But he didn’t. He didn’t even charge me for the cost of the pin and the time it took to diagnose and fix the problem.
I couldn’t recommend him more highly, even though I know it will make him even more busy than he already is and I will have to wait longer the next time my old truck breaks down.