Powell’s HydraMatic

Professional mechanics. The first time I’ve had a repair shop tell me not to get an expensive service.

Brought in my ’91 Jeep to get the transmission fluid changed, they did a wonderful job. They are very friendly, honest, reliable, and affordable.

I brought my 2011 Mustang in for a very bad transmission problem. A new tranny would have been about $ 5,000 or so — plus labor, but Sam fixed me up perfectly with his expert repair. The estimate was $ 650, but I was ultimately charged thirty dollars LESS. The car drives great now.
Wow. Go to Powell for the job done right the first time and at a very fair price (and avoid at all costs going to any gouging dealership repair shop).

These guys are honest, friendly, and are good at communicating the status of a repair.

3 days after dropping my car off I still hadn’t received a call regarding an analysis or estimate of my car’s mechanical problem. When I phoned, they said they hadn’t looked at it yet. Meanwhile, I’ve been without a car for 3 days and they could have just said they were too busy, etc… I won’t be returning.

My clutch burned out on me 36 hours before I was supposed to leave on a major road trip. Powell Hydramatic was amazing. They arranged the towing of my car to the garage (and ended up throwing that in for free), got me a great rate on a rental car for the day the car was in the shop, and was able to get all the work done within 24 hrs. Five stars!

In summary: The best garage I have come across in the Bay.
The good: I do most of my own maintenance on my car, but there’s only so much I can do having only taken Auto I in high school. Therefore, for bigger jobs such as CV axle replacements, clutch replacements, etc, this is where I take my car.
I drive a modified 1993 Corolla and I’m very picky about who I allow to touch it, as most garages don’t listen or care about customer concerns. They do. But not only do they listen and care, but they’re actually HONEST! I’ve never been to such an honest garage in my life. If something doesn’t need to be done, they’ll tell you, straight up. If they notice another problem while working on the car, they’ll let you know of it, and how urgent the problem is.
I’ve also noticed that the quality of their parts suppliers are top notch. I went through 2 Kragen driveshafts within about 5000 miles and even though I had a replacement warranty on it, the third time I tossed it and let them throw in a brand new axle. Viola, no more problems, no more downtime, and no more paying for labour to fix it over and over. Not to mention, their prices are actually quite similar to what Kragen charges!
As other reviews have noted as well, they are a family business, and don’t treat you like you’re just some idiot who doesn’t know anything. I’ve had experiences at other garages where it seems that the mechanics talk down to me, as if I didn’t know anything on the subject, but I never get that feeling here. There’s a very warm feeling here, and when I call to make an appointment I’m never rushed off the phone as if I’m a nuisance, which again I have gotten the feeling from when calling other places for quotes.
The bad: They don’t do everything, yet. They’re supposedly looking for another mechanic to help out though so they can do more diagnostics and other tune-​up jobs such as timing belt changes. I hope they can make that happen!
Overall, I highly recommend Powell Hydramatic.

Ok Unilocalers, if you need tranny work done, Go Here!
They are the nicest, local been there 30 years Maria and 46 years for the owner. Now in truth I have not gotten the full repair yet, but let me tell you no one and I mean no one has been so nice and truthful as Maria has been, My story starts with getting brand new cv boots put on a block away and while we all thought that was the issue, turns out its the tranny. Thank
every deity out there the car stalled in front of Powell’s. Maria was so sweet when I walked in and tried to find someone to look at it right away, they were full up and it was the end of the day, she called me the next day told me two fair options, I asked her what I owe her up to this point as I had signed a form agreeing to $ 160 in diagnostic work, she said I owed her nothing. We decided to tow the car to our house till we get our tax returns to pay for the rebuilt tranny, which they do that work all in house. Maria again super nice hung out with me while I waited for the tow. She also told me some great options for making payments, I have never heard of a garage willing to work with the customer like that. She Rocks. I will be back to give my little car it’s heart transplant as soon as possible. Thanks again Maria!

Great family business run by Maria, Sam and their son. They do great work on all types of transmissions and even do work for other shops that send them their tough jobs.
Forget about Aamco, check out Powell’s Hydra-​Matic.