Gretchen’s Automotive

I have found them to be friendly, honest, and fair. I recently had a hard to diagnose issue with my Silverado. The problem was only evident on dead cold starts in the mornings. A lot of shops would have shot gunned common problems without an actual solid diagnosis. They recommended a throttle body service because readings from the live scan were out of range. A new MAF sensor was next. It was also reading out of range when the engine was cold. These two issues helped a lot but the truck was still running rough on cold start. Finally, they discovered evidence of small amounts of coolant leaking from the head into the number 1 and number 3 cylinder. GM has a known issue with some of the aluminum heads. A possible fix is using the GM coolant additive. Admittedly, I was skeptical… But 3 weeks later the truck runs and starts great. They did have my truck for several days. Todd and the crew helped out with alternate forms of transportation. I was never stranded. I have used this shop several times. I do not know if a loaner is offered to everybody or just regulars??? Warning: You will pay a little more here. I really think it is worth it. Sure, I could have done the work on my my own and ordered the MAF online, but I don’t have a live scan tool or experience to know where to start. I come here when I don’t have the tools or the time to do it myself.

These are competent, honest, and service orientated folks. In business for years with a very well earned great reputation.

Flat tire in long beach and my phone brought me to the nearest auto shop. Huge mistake coming here. Three hour wait for a simple tire replacement, coupled with expensive prices. Would not recommend to anyone.

Got my oil changed and the guy installed my blinker light I bought very thankful quick professional work

Paid these guys over $ 700 for a coil, plugs, wires, and a valve cover gasket.
We went to Vegas and the car started smoking like a chuck wagon BBQ! Under the hood was a hot oily mess.
The dealer in Vegas found that Gretchen’s had broken off one of the valve cover bolts and just gave the car back to us with their fingers crossed.
We had to stay in Vegas two additional nights waiting for parts.
When we returned to Gretchen’s, Todd told us the dealer had lied to us and no bolt had broke off… Hey Todd, where did all this oil come from??? Duh!!! Take some responsibility dude!
Todd did pay the dealer bill, but it was like pulling teeth, as was the hotel bill, which he said he never pays over $ 75 so that’s what he gave us… and never once did he apologize for the GROSS Negligence and for all the time and money I lost due to his incompetence.
Can you give no stars?

I find this family run automotive shop friendly, fair, and honest. I had a similar repair made two years ago at an AAA approved automotive shop for a service engine light. That shop, on Willow and Clark charged $ 120 more!
The issue was a co2 sensor. Apparently there are 4 of these on a Mitsubishi Endeavor. When the first one went out I brought car to AAA approved place and was charged $ 95 just for them to get the sensor code!
This did not happen at Gretchens! Repair was made in less than two hours after I brought the car to them. They had to wait for engine to cool. All in all, this was my second encounter with Gretchen’s. As long as I own a car, they will be my trusted mechanics.

I went in to see if they could fix my problem. They told me they couldn’t, patched (figuratively that is) me up real quick, and told me where I might. No charge. This bought me time and got me on the road again.

We have brought our 2004 Hyundai to Gretchen’s for a few years and always have good service at a good price point.

Love tthis place they always do amazing work on my cars. I have been coming here for almost 15 years and I would never take my car anywere else. Thanks to Todd the owner and all his employees for being awesome.

Just took my Lexus IS250 to get an oil change. Helpful employees, Fast service, Excellent work! Also this place is affordable especially for a car like mine. Will definitely come back!

Brought my Jeep in here for a small transmission leak and to have a kick down cable installed. They said it would be $ 75 to look at it (most places will look for free but not theses guys, in retrospect that should have been a sign). A few hours later I get a call telling me to come pick up the Jeep. When I arrived they said they didn’t have the expertise to install the kick down cable but they repaired a loose cooling line. Mind you I gave them the proper kick down cable, it screws into transmission and connects to carb. I noticed there was some transmission fluid under the Jeep and they assured me they fixed it. I drove about 8 miles to a new transmission shop only to find out I had zero fluid in the tranny and the transmission was now burnt up. I needed a total rebuild…
The new shop told me the cable was installed improperly and a cooling line wasn’t attached leading to massive fluid loss.
I had been driving with the small leak with no issues and had been checking the fluid regularly, no issues for months, until bringing it here for a few hours.
I paid these guys $ 75 to basically sabotage my Jeep, ruin my 700 R4 tranny costing me nearly $ 2000. It’s too bad these guys are close to where I live but are completely incompetent. I wouldn’t allow them to touch any of my cars, even if they paid me.

Came in without an appt for a dying battery. They got me in and out in just a few minutes and sent me on my way with some pretty flowers. I’d go back again!

I’ve taken my 2006 Volvo S40 here twice now. The service here is excellent, the level of professionalism, their price point, and they are fast. I have friends that recommended Gretchen’s to me a couple years back when I first moved to Long Beach and I’m so glad they did. I highly recommend.

Service done by the time I requested. Great customer relations! While I was at work, they delivered my car to my house with a bottle of wine inside!

Don’t come here, their prices are ridiculous. I wanted a tune up done on my vehicle and he quoted me $ 500, everywhere else quoted me under $ 300. The sad part is the person I spoke to seemed as if my business was not worth his time and quoted me this enormous price. That’s very poor business. Just be careful, call around and realize this is not the only automotive repair shop in long Beach.

Nice at first but it wears out quick. I started to compare quotes and literally they were 50% higher at times. Ridiculous convenience! I hope someone will catch on to there scam!

My Dad is a regular here, so when I woke up this morning with a very low tire, my Dad called Gretchen’s and asked them to take care of me. I took my car there & couldn’t be happier with the service! They removed nails that were lodged in my tire, patched it up & filled it with air… Free of charge and in under 15 minutes. Today didn’t start out so great but I owe thanks to Gretchen’s for turning it around!

«That is no way to run a business.» I told them. They spent a few hours on diagnosis and clearing my computer and only charged me for the Lube/​Oil Charge. By clearing the computer, the trucks now runs fine. That’s what I would have paid for!!! I really appreciate and trust their service!

Had an issue with my husbands car not starting. I called Gretchens, they arranged to send a tow truck to my house to pick up the car. Called me a couple hours later with their findings. Said they wanted to keep it overnight just to make sure their work totally resolved the problem. The next morning they called, said everything was good. $ 55 later the car was fixed AND washed. Every service comes with a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers. They also offer shuttle service.

Stay away from Gretchen’s. Don’t let the flowers, wine or Gretchen’s gifts or the car wash after the service fool you. I was fooled for a while. There nice at first, but after a while the flowers, the wine and car wash stop coming and the worst part the service also is shady. Plus once you have been there a couple times they stop listening, and cop an attitude.
My last tune up, they informed me to come back for a battery and cable connections to the battery. I asked them, should I be concern and come back the following Monday? The mechanic stated no, next week or the following would be ok. At that time, I left and felt comfortable with their feedback; after all they are the experts.
My tune up was on a Saturday and on Tuesday leaving work, my truck will not start up. I picked up my hood and noticed all the cables to battery and my battery were in real bad shape. I called AAA, so I can get assistance. AAA arrives, the technician looks at the battery and cables and states this is real bad, I can clean it and see if we can start it, but once you leave you can’t stop till you get to your destination, because it might not start up again. Bottom line glad that AAA could help out, they changed my battery and cables and I was on my way safe.
Zette