Henderson Automotive

My girlfriend recently got a quote from the shop she has been going to for years. She is going on a trip and to be safe wanted to have some work done to her car. The shop quoted her a price of over $ 700. When she told our friends about the quote they told her it sounded high and she should try the shop they go, Henderson Auto. To make a long story short, they did all the work that was quoted plus some additional fixes for $ 500. Not only was the work done well it was done quickly and everyone was very friendly and professional.
We will be taking both of our cars here. My friends and I feel Henderson Auto is the best Auto Shop you can find.

I so love going to a place that I truely Trust. My car now drives great WooHoo !!!

I have been taking my cars to Greg for about 10 years.
He does a good job and he is HONEST.
He does not try to sell repairs that you don’t need.
I highly recommend Greg to anyone who needs an honest, reliable mechanic.

I don’t need a mechanic often as I only put 5K miles or less on my car, but when I do I will not take it anywhere else but to Greg. He has saved me a couple times from over spending to repair a car that was not worth another dime. He could have let me put his kids through college with my repairs to my Volvo, but he was honest enough to tell me not to spend the money and dump the car. That hurt, but was great advice, and how many mechanics would be that honest. This was a 2001 Volvo and looked like it had plenty of use left at 170K miles, but when digging deeper, it just wasn’t worth any more costly repairs. He also gave me good advice to stay away from Volvos… I thank Greg once again!

It is so rare in today’s world to find an automotive mechanic with 100% integrity! I have sampled quite a few different shops in Santa Cruz over nearly 3 decades and I have never experienced one as good as Henderson’s. Greg Henderson, also known as «Hindu», was very professional in our dealings. In attempting to find out why my Toyota truck was not getting good mileage, he spent a great deal of his time. When it was determined that the possible solutions would be pricey and may not deliver a significant improvement, he suggested that it probably wasn’t worth the cost to do further work. Almost any other shop, in trying to generate revenue, would never have the honesty to say what he did. I will continue to bring my truck and car to Henderson’s, and I will strongly recommend his services to my friends.

Great place. Kind of hard to find, but Greg and crew were very honest, helpful and professional. Will definitely go back.

VERY honest, doesn’t do unnecessary work — really helped us out on several of our cars. My daughter and son-​in-​law live in Santa Cruz, and normally my husband would work on their cars, but distance makes that impossible. So finding such a great mechanic and repair shop to work with has been a blessing. I would strongly recommend Hendersen for your auto repairs.

I first took my 1993 325i to Aptos Garage (great shop as well) for a smog check, where it sadly failed. They told me to try taking my Bimmer to Henderson Automotive in Live Oak.
Called up Henderson and they said «Bring it on over».
Bit of a hole in the wall — last in the row of auto repair shops on 17^th. Greg Henderson, the proprietor and mechanic was friendly and eager to take down details of my problem (s) and vehicle history. He was crystal clear on what he planned to do, and promised to call as soon as he determined what was going on. I left feeling very upbeat (justifiably).
About 90 minutes after I left my car there, Greg called me to tell me that he’d smogged the vehicle successfully, solved a nagging performance problem AND an intermittent signal light issue. He only charged me for the smog check and ¾ hr of labor for the other work (he cleaned and fixed a part instead of a costly replacement).
I highly recommend Henderson. Good work, fair price, friendly and honest proprietor. Happy Birthday, Greg!

Greg is great. He does good work, and won’t do anything unnecessary or overcharge you. He’s helped us out when things were potentially expensive– finding used parts and figuring out ways to cut costs. He tells you exactly what is going on with your car (or shows you) and is overall an honest guy that you can trust.
He’s been great with all the friends I’ve referred as well. Wouldn’t go anywhere else in Santa Cruz.

As the owner of an aging Volkswagen Passat, I’m understandably apprehensive when it comes to car maintenance shops. It’s not that I expect it to run perfectly forever without doing proper maintenance, but it seems that most shops JUMP at the chance to replace EVERY part that is even just a teensy bit worn, regardless of how much life might be left in said part. They make a lot of $$$ for their shop this way, but I leave feeling like I got swindled. Don’t even get me started on the VW Dealers in the Bay Area. Yikes.
Anyways…because my car is somewhat elderly (10 years old), things are starting to, well… fail :(I took my good ol’ Passat to Greg at Henderson Automotive for new brakes, to try out his shop. In addition to the brakes, he offered to have a look around and gave me a basic overview of what is good about the car, what’s going to need work in the future, and what’s going to need work sooner than later. I appreciated his honesty, had him replace my brakes (which he did in a couple of hours) and was on my way. I was very happy with the work and the price, and I will definitely be back for my car’s remaining maintenance needs!
SUMMARY: (if you’re too lazy to read that long review, which I totally understand): Take your car here for maintenance. This is a shop that cares about what they do, they’re honest, and they don’t try to make $$$ off of you with unnecessary/​excessive repairs. Quality work done efficiently for a fair price. I like it!