Ocean Avenue Service Station – Gina’s

I used to go here, but now they are closed. Since I had to find a new place to take my car, I decided to go somewhere closer to work. I now take my car to San Francisco Auto Repair Center on Florida Street. They are honest, explain what the car needs in plain english, and have a great warranty — 3 years/36,000 miles. Why did I ever go anywhere else.

This has been the neighborhood gas station since the Westwood Park neighborhood was built 100 years ago.
Unfortunately it’s gone steadily downhill in recent years. Apparently Gina lost her interest in providing service. One thing led to another and before you knew it, the business dried up.
I stopped going there after they put up that horrible prison-​like 20 foot fence. I felt like a rat walking into a trap.

Bad gas. My car ran noticeably poorly after filling my tank here.

I used to go to this location for gas all the time because it’s in my neighborhood, and the price of gasoline was reasonable. Now I only go when the garage portion is closed, because I don’t want to hear that fake-​ass Gina trying to make nice with me about my mother’s car, when my mother has reported that Gina treats her like shit. Also, not far in my memory are her condescending TV commercials of her station on 19^th Ave. where they supposedly didn’t gouge their customers, «Did you hear that, ladies?»
I take my cars to businesses that shoot straight, do good, quality work, and network with other good specialists. Same price across the board, no bullshit, no annoying perfume. «Did you hear that, Gina?»

Amazing service. They help you find the most affordable and safest solution. Look for Gina.

Gina is Amazing!!! I have had wonderful experiences both times that I took my car there. They are very flexible in terms of when to drop and pick up your car. Also, Gina is very easy to get a hold of and true to her word. I actually just made this Unilocal account so I could write a review for Gina. Thanks!

Gina is really rude and has alot of attitude. I dont recommend going there, which is a shame because my family has been going there for years. She really needs to know how to keep her costumers. She lost one today a will loose more in the future.

Gina is awesome! She’s sweet and dependable. Her prices are good. When she replaced my oxygen censor she recharged my battery for free.
I was never without a car as she let me use one of hers while she had mine. I felt really cared for as a single woman who doesn’t know much about cars living in the city.
When she changed my oil she really checked over my car to let me know what maintenance it would need in the future with no pressure to fix everything right away.
I highly recommend her!!!

I was worried about going here due to all the negative reviews, but my experience was great!
I was going to be in the area, so I wanted to get a Smog Check done to save on time. I called for an appointment and got one for that afternoon. I dropped off my car, paid, and picked it up after the smog check and everything went very smoothly. I called a few smog check places and their prices were all about the same. I only thought the oil change was a little high and didn’t get my oil changed here.
Thank you for such an easy experience!

little bit of parking. there is a fence surrounding it now. Really ODD Fence but its easy to assume why its there considering the SIZE.
Gina is REALLY NICE! Her brother is that guy who had lots of commercials. They used to run that place together… but this isn’t about HIS place anymore. THIS place is HERS.
Like I said, she’s Really Nice… the thing is, its much more expensive than i’d like to pay.
If you want Service and I mean GREAT treatment… then you should come here… especially if you want to be treated well.
Its just too expensive.

With the new fence this place looked like a prison.
Go to 76 down the street for gas service & get a free drink (coffee, soda or bottle of water) when fill up. The clerk even came out one time & handed me the bottle water, good customer service.

I needed to do a smog check close to my place for a smog check. (so there was no way I could miss the Giants game) I drive by Ocean Avenue Service Station frequently, and the smog test banner sign popped in my head.
I called this morning, and a cheerful man answered the phone. i asked if I could bring in my car for a smog check, if they had time this morning (before the game) and they said yes they open at 9! So I rushed over there. Another vehicle had beaten me there, so I was told the wait may be an hour and a half. I decided to take a walk around Ocean Avenue in the meantime then sit down read and make a few phone calls. When I called an before an hour and a half later, my car was already done.
I met Gina, she was very friendly as well, smiley and assisting her customers (she was assisting an elderly man) and was full of energy. Her staff is friendly and efficient.
Will come back again.

Update: Took my car here last month for a new smog test. Once again, the owner Gina was friendly and the shop’s service was fast. I brought my dog and walked him around the neighborhood for 45 minutes. Came back 15 minutes before the work was promised and it was already finished. Gina gave my dog a cookie and a nice smile.

Update: After posting this review, it is now one of the most expensive gas stations in the area. Coincidence?
02-​JUL-​2012, Regular gas is $ 3.63/gal if paying with cash.
Cheap gas, near gym, near restaurants, near freeways. Yay! I’m a fan.

Do not go here expecting them to give you the best price. It cost me $ 145 for a diagnostic. My car was overheating and I had a general idea of what was wrong with it. I needed a new radiator and fluids to be replenished.
The guys seemed pretty nice but when he was done checking the engine he called me back and tried charging me $ 750 for a new radiator and thermostat not included the fees for the diagnostic! WOW!
This was for my mothers car a 1998 Honda Civic sedan LX model. This replacement would cost half of the car’s value, HA! Nice try fellas. A new radiator = $ 70, thermostat $ 6, hoses = $ 12, Ocean Ave Service = SHARKS
The mechanic not only tried to rip me off but he also said there were other problems with it but this was just to start. LOL
Once I told him that the service and repairs cost more than the car, he got really upset and told me that I was paying for the service and quality. Sorry dude I don’t even know you and have never experienced your work.
Go to a mechanic you can trust. What I did I do? I towed my car (AAA) — FREE to my mechanic his cost was $ 250 with parts. Did he fix it? YES! WOOO HOOO!
Duckin’ n’ dodgin’ haters all day errrrday baby ;)

Gas Station:
Probably the cheapest gas in the area no doubt. Now if you don’t get «fine printed» by the service station, then maybe you’ll have some moolah for gas.
(Read below for description on «fine printing»)
Service Station:
Let me tell you what I appreciate, being straight forward with a customer. Sure it’s great to be cunning and making one feel that they’re getting the greatest deal, but giving someone the exact amount for a service/​product and knowing exactly what they paid for, it creates a better customer/​seller bond. So when you get the short cut instead, it’s like getting «fine printed.» Like you know, «side effects may be, nausea, headaches and a RIP OFF!»
So this is what happened, I showed up to get my wind-​shield wipers replaced on a rainy day, now they needed it bad, you know this when you turn on your wipers and it sounds like an evil cat clawing at your windshield. A ‘cunning’ mechanic persuades me to have them replaced:
Mechanic– «oh yeah, you better off replacing them now. I’m only going to charge you the price of item, not the labor ok.»
Me– «Sounds good.»
I turned away to answer a call for a minute, and before explaining anymore or giving me a quote he goes forth on working on my windshield wipers I get back and the job is complete. Off course I am content that my Chick-​mobile is now in full gear, and sure this ‘cunning’ gentleman must have given me the best deal on my windshield wipers. Then again they are just windshield wipers, can’t be that expensive. The mechanic then tells me to go inside the store and pay the clerk.
Clerk– «O-​M-​G, I didn’t know windshield wipers were so expensive. this must be a mistake, let me check. hmm, nope. So it’ll be $ 45.57»
Me– «Ouch, now that’s damage. Are these wipers made of giraffe lashes? That’s gonna hurt my pockets for a few minutes at least.»
Clerk– «Yeah. hmm» *Sad face*
Me– «You smell that?»
Clerk– «Smell what?»
Me– «That’s the burning hole in my pocket. Ouch!»
Not Cool.

As predicted my tire was low today. I took it to a tire shop (Cant remember the name, it was in San Bruno) who found the leak coming from the plug that Gina and company installed. They took it out and did it right with a patch.
All for FREE.
Thanks again for nothing Gina and Adel… you will go out of business keeping this up, last time I drove by your establishment you had 1 car on the lot… problems?

I had my car towed here when my car got stuck in reverse and the stick shift went limp.
I told Gina it was a bushing and I needed just the part, and was tricked into signing the sheet to authorize up to $ 145 for diagnosis.
All they did was take the counsel cover off (4 screws and velcro), and tell me they wanted $ 700 for a new cable/​bushing set even though the cable is fine, just need a new bushing. She wouldn’t replace just the bushing, and took the entire $ 145 for what was 5 minutes of work.
I had to find the broken bushing part myself, not even them.
All in all — she’s ripping people off. Doing 5 minutes of work, charging an entire diagnostics fee for it, and going along her way with a sh&t-eating grin.
AVOID THIS PLACE. Any mechanic who does 5 minutes of work and charges $ 145 and only gives the driver an option of $ 700 when I just bought the part online for $ 23 including shipping is ripping off people.
DO NOT GO HERE. Find a better place with a better reputation that treats people logically. I was had. Don’t have the same happen to you.

Where is the option for 0 stars?
This incident happened awhile back, but I remember like it was yesterday.
I had a 1996 Prelude that failed smog due to a broken o2 sensor underneath the passenger seat. I’m pretty savvy with cars, and this was a job I could definitely do on my own in less than half an hour. However, at the time, I qualified for a government bond for smog repairs based on my income bracket, and received a $ 500 grant for smog repairs.
I filled the form, brought my car to Ocean 76, informed them that all I needed was an oxygen sensor repair, and handed Gina the certificate for $ 500 in smog repairs, assuming the $ 500 was more than enough. BOY WAS I WRONG! I get a phone call a couple days later saying my car was ready, and as I get there, Gina hands me a bill for $ 50 bucks. I ask what this was for, and she informed me that the repairs cost more than the certificate given… REALLY???
Upon looking at the invoice, I noticed labor took 4.5 hours. This is a job I could easily do in half an hour in my own garage with a wrench, WD-​40, and a soldering kit.
I guess they gotta fund their commercials somehow.

I don’t know if this place used to be really awesome and maybe lost one of it’s best mechanics or something, but my experience was not good.
First off, I phoned and was told I could bring my car in for a routine oil change and brake inspection «any time». Hey, great! I was excited. I brought it in in the afternoon and was told that they only accept cars in the morning. Well, points off for their staff not knowing how the business works.
So I came back another morning and dropped off the car. They were really backed up and it was going to be a few hours. Boo, but I was still under the impression that this was a good service place and it would be worth the wait. And Gina was friendly and nice even though I was perturbed and jabbed that she should train her staff to know what was going on.
I came back after about 3 hours of wandering around the neighborhood, and was told that the mechanic checking my brakes could not remove some bolts and did not want to force it. They surmised that the dealership «over tightened» the bolts and that I should go back and get those responsible to loosen them free of charge.
But here’s the really bad part. Later on, I took the car to the dealership and said the thing about the over-​tightening (and was rather rude to the service rep about it, which I regret now). Well, it turns out that a special tool is required for servicing Ford brakes and the mechanic at Gina’s had completely RUINED the bolt covers on my rear brakes.
Now you might think this is just one mechanic’s ass covering versus another, but I saw the bolt covers. They were battered. Well, $ 350 later everything is in working order. They have since been serviced by a different non-​dealership mechanic with no problems.
Don’t go to Gina’s, especially if you have a Ford. SF Auto Care on 14^th is much better.