Bridgeway Service

Steve, Jeff and the whole gang at Bridgeway are friendly, knowledgeable and honest. Their prices are very fair. I have been going here for gas and service for 40 years. They are a pleasure to do business with.

Love this place! They fill up your tank or your tires with a smile.

Funny that I have never been to these guys, even though I live in the neighborhood. But the reason that I am giving it a great review is that all I ever hear about them is outstanding from at least 10 of my neighbors over the past 20 years. I do go there to get gas once in awhile, and they are a friendly bunch.

These guys are helpful, honest and straightforward.
Reliably honest and do NOT overcharge for services.
My car has been brought here on many occasions where there is a small fix at hand, or one that seems like a big fix (but in reality isn’t) and each time they have taken care of me with little or no charge — being extremely informative about what’s going on with my car, generous in their quick fixes and generally kind.
I will always bring business to them, and I will start getting my gas here just to support them (as I do know of a more distant cheaper gas place).
This is the reward to running an auto business with integrity — you want to do right by them, as they have done right by you. — Other businesses in this arena could stand to learn from Bridgeway.

I’m the typical female who knows nothing about cars, but I do know honesty and straight talk when I come across them. I’ve been a customer of Bridgeway since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Since the early 90s at least. Bridgeway’s name got stellar marks in a publication (Checkbook) that lists the cream of the crop services in the Bay Area, voted by Bay Area residents themselves. The longevity of the two cars I’ve had over the past 20 years can be directly attributed to the excellent, understated care provided by Steve and Jeff. The fact that Steve is there six days a week when he doesn’t have to be attests not only to his love of what he does, but also to his enjoyment of people. I wouldn’t go anywhere else. May the Bridgeway crew NEVER retire…

Wonderful service. They have taken good care of the neighborhood and the commuters for years. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Wouldn’t go anywhere else unless I have to. These guys are the greatest!

Someone on my neighborhood listserv have recommended them. I called them to set up an appointment with them and Jeff said just come on by to see what needs to be done. They immediately came out and looked at the one problem and cleared it within 10 minutes. I asked them if they had time to replace a lightbulb in my front headlight and they said yes so I drove home and brought in the second car which they worked on immediately. They spent about a half an hour between the two cars and the total cost was $ 28.98. $ 5.00 was their labor cost. I have a nephew who’s too far away to work on my cars, my long time mechanic retired and I was afraid I’d never find a replacement for them. I’ve found their replacements. I know that I can trust them to give me good advice about what work needs to be done on my car just like I could trust my nephew and my retired mechanic.
Anna Maria

It’s kind of hard to get them to take my money. I’ve brought my cars there for a couple of years now and on several occasions it ends with, «it was easy to fix, no charge». This is after getting it up on the rack and spending some time figuring out what was wrong. Really honest and fair people. And the work is always great. It’s a pleasure to do business with these guys because I really trust and like them.

I wish I could give this place zero stars. Absolute worst experience I’ve ever had with a car in 12+ years of ownership.
I was charged 300.00 for an oil change, battery, and wiper blades. I have a vw. This price alone demands questions be answered prior to service. They did not ask for approval before this outrageously overpriced service. They then charged 50 in labor to put in the battery. Then 75 for the oil change, plus more miscellaneous expenses. When I asked why it was so expensive, I was treated with patronizing rebuttals. I will NEVER go here again after this disgusting show of lack of professionalism and I highly suggest neither do you, fellow helpers, unless you want to throw good money away.

Only $ 10 bucks to change a tire!
These guys don’t rip you off.

Hard not to love these guys. We’ve gone to them on and off for years, through multiple cars and they have always been speedy and very fair and honest. Most recently our Jeep crapped out and they spent four days, and multiple solutions, including bringing in a specialist, trying to figure out the problem. Their best guess is not something we care to fix, but that is only because of their honesty. With all that time spent on the car, they refused to let me pay a dime and instead said: It’ll all work out in the end. Thanks Steve and crew!

Wonderful little gas and auto service shop here in the Elmwood of Berkeley. This shop is owned and run by the second generational owner. Wonderful people work here. All of the staff are friendly and honest guys. If you don’t know anything about cars, don’t worry because they won’t charge you for things that you don’t need fixed. They are a dying breed of car mechanics who love people and the Berkeley community. The staff will go above and beyond to help get you car back on the road ASAP! Great service and great knowledge of auto motive.

Bridgeway was incredibly professional, quick, and friendly. I dropped in today because my car was overheating yesterday and they immediately helped and fixed my problem, providing a clear explanation about what was going on with my car. These guys are excellent and I would recommend them to others.

I’d send my Mom here.
This is a message to all the people out there who don’t know much about cars and are cynically cautious of mechanics: go see Steve and Jeff at Bridgeway. Right at the corner of Claremont and Ashby, this place is the ONLY place to go. Super friendly, super honest. On more than one occassion they have quickly fixed this or that, smiled and said «no charge, get outta here». They do not rip you off, they know what they are doing and they are warm and friendly. If you spend more than five minutes there you will see the regulars come in for a fill up and a chat. It is Mayberry in Berkeley. Support these kinds of people!

I brought my car in for an estimate and told the repair would be $ 400. The next day the owner said it was $ 500 and when I asked what happened he said he forgot the alignment. The car needed a new wheelbearing which I just had done at another shop for $ 200.
Bridgeway also replaced a belt for $ 100 that did not need replaeing.
Good luck!

Great place — friendly service. I like patronizing a local, family owned business (they pump the gas for you, for cryin out loud!) I switched to them from Stauder on College (also a great place) because Brideway is cheaper and closer to my house. Haven’t had anything too complicated done — oil change, replace brakes, so can’t comment on anything but what I’ve had experience with. They did help me with a leaky air conditioning coolant anti-​freeze thingee without much hassle, i.e. we tried something, it didn’t work, i came back, they fixed it, added more air-​conditioning freon stuff without double charging me — i appreciated that. Felt taken care of and not ripped off. That’s all I ask for, really. Oh, and they give my dog the biggest biscuits in the world — she gets excited just driving by the place now!

The handle for my manual transmission became loose somehow (maybe when my stereo was put in), and Jeff took a look at it and fixed it within 20 minutes. No charge. Thanks guys!

As others have said, this is a family business, been around for years, and Steve, Jeff, and all the staff are easy to talk to, reliable, and trustworthy. I don’t know a lot about cars, but am never talked down to in any way and never pushed to do anything pricey. In fact, my entire family has been going to Steve for years and we all have good things to say.
And the gas might not be as cheap as the Arco, but it’s only going to cost a tiny bit more to support an independent business.

I heart Bridgeway Service and have been a customer for about 10 years now. Steve is a great guy, his «staff» (AKA family in many cases) are super sweet and I always feel like he’ll do his level best to fix my car without taking my life savings (something I have NEVER been able to say about a dealership!).
Yes they can be a tad forgetful on the details (callbacks and such), yes they are very much a family business and yes their service isn’t so snappy it’ll make your head spin — but I don’t necessarily want cold efficiency when it comes to my ride. I want a guy like Steve who’ll tell it to me straight and try to help me as inexpensively as possible.
It’s a small town neighborly place in a big city. Hard to find that sort of atmosphere these days…