Rheem Valley Automotive

I have taken two cars to Ravi over the past 6 months. My first experience was fantastic, he talked over what needed to be done and the car was ready by the end of day. I was big fan BUT:
— Took another one of my cars there 3 months later for a 100K service. I just said service but I was there at 8am, he took in the car and the mileage and he said he would do a full service. Come 5pm I had not heard a thing, I called Ravi and he said it was nearly ready… At 5:30 I just went over to see if it was ready. Well the good news is that it was ready. the bad news they had only done an oil change! WHAT. I asked Ravi. he had water issues and I can bring it back next week. But why didn’t you do it today. Ravi had excuse over excuse. he was having computer issues etc. etc. So net net what a complete waste of my time.
— Giving Ravi and team the benefit of the doubt I took my first car back for it’s service (this was the 2^nd time Ravi had seen this car). I asked for them to do an oil change, change wiper blades and rotate tires. All seemed OK, other that it took the whole day. not a big deal. but today I notice that my front tire is bald inside. WHAT didn’t they look, didn’t they rotate the tire? They are not responsible for the bald spot but surely when they do the rotation (if they even did it) they would tell me of an alignment issue…
I will not be back…

Can’t trust these guys.
I paid over $ 100 for an oil change and asked for their mechanic to look around and see if he finds something that needs to be taken care of.
After the oil change I was driving the car and suddenly heard some noise from the engine went to a different mechanic and he told me that my oil is bad and the mechanic filled it up with the wrong type of oil.
In general the mechanics attitude was not professional he didn’t even wanted to open the plastic hood of the engine I have a Volkswagen.

I have been taking my car here for a few years (and my parents take their cars here), so I am pretty shocked at what happened today.
I had my water pump replaced in January after overheating on my way home, and then had my expansion tank replaced in September when it had a crack and was leaking fluid. Both of these are cooling/​heating system repairs, and at no point in time was I told that my radiator needed replacing– even though at both times I received a receipt that said a «test of heating/​cooling system» was performed. Today I brought my car in after it had been leaking coolant AGAIN for weeks (I thought the leak was localized to the expansion tank and so would be fixed when that was replaced). I was told my radiator is totally rusted out and needs replacing. I asked why I had not been informed of this when the other repairs to the cooling system were made. I was also told it could be «expensive» to repair.
I have a friend who does auto repairs so I called back to ask that they not do any work on the car and reiterated that I was upset with them for not informing me of the radiator problem sooner. Ravi got very rude with me on the phone, acted like I was accusing him of breaking my car, told me its an old car (1999) and parts will obviously need replacing. When I asked about the «test of heating/​cooling system» he told me that that test is just to see if the system holds fluid pressure. I understand all of this; my concern is that if my radiator is «rusted out» how come no one told me this sooner? I was also not happy with how I was spoken to; part of customer service involves dealing with upset customers, and especially when its a LONG TERM REPEAT CUSTOMER, some empathy and tact would have helped. I am a working student and cannot afford to have these issues overlooked.
I will no longer bring my vehicles here, because now I don’t trust that (a) they are checking the presenting problem thoroughly, and (b) I know if I am dissatisfied with services I can expect a rude chewing out if I complain.

After reading all the positive reviews, I was pretty shocked at the service I received. I called and asked how much a tire alignment would be. He stated that it would be $ 150. Keep in mind, the average rate for an alignment is around 80 – 100 so this was 50% higher than almost any other shop in the area. When I asked him why it was so expensive he said because I have a truck «it’s harder to do». This probably was the most outrageous thing I have ever heard from anyone owning a garage. I have been working on cars my entire life and tire alignment is something best left to a automated machine hence why I wanted to take it in. Trucks have literally the most simple steering setup out of any vehicle sold today, i.e. the technology hasn’t changed much over the years. Had I asked him to do this on my Audi, which has a very complicated and complicated setup, I probably wouldn’t have balked, but just the way he said it would be hard instantly means he either didn’t want my business or he doesn’t know how to do a proper alignment.
Bottom line, I will never bring my vehicles here for any reason simply because I have a sneaking suspicion that just because he is cheaper than a dealership (ANY mechanic is), people feel that since his prices are better they are getting a good value for service. Look for another mechanics in the area.

Ravi reinserted my windshield wiper blade right away for me — free of charge — which enabled me to get to work on time this morning. Give him your business!

Customer for Life
Rheem Valley Automotive is the real deal. In an industry that is riddled with shady operators, Ravi is a breath of fresh air. Exceptional in every way. The prices are fair – probably half what you would pay at a dealership. He shows you all the parts he replaced carefully explaining the rationale of each, etc. Great job Ravi and keep up the good work!

Ravi and his crew are intelligent people who can diagnose the root cause of a difficult to locate problem, while simultaneously avoiding charging you an arm and a leg.
I drive out of my way just to come here. I have had many an experience with other mechanics who attempted to solve a problem, charged me $ 1000’s, and the problem was never resolved. For a couple hundred, Ravi figured it all out, and solved the problem permanently.
It is true that he can get so busy to forget to call you when your car is ready, so I generally give him a call towards the end of each work day to check progress.

I have been going to Ravi for years. Between various members of my family and me, we have brought a number of foreign and domestic cars to him for a variety of repairs. He does an excellent job and is very honest. He is also a pleasure to deal with.

Came here for a brake job because of the Unilocal ratings and convenient location near my home. They are professional and polite but more expensive than the Honda dealership

I have been taking my cars to Ravi since he started many years ago. Very professional, prompt, fair, and honest. I will continue to use him.

Possibly the best experience I have ever had with a mechanic. Rheem Valley Automotive does high quality work and is affordable. Ravi was kind and easy to work with. What a great experience. I’ll be taking my car here from now on.

So the reviews are spot on. Ravi is a straight shooter and a nice guy as well. Went in today for a wheel alignment that another shop couldn’t get done (said they had to order parts, more repairs) and he got it done for the advertised price no additional charges or parts. I also had him check out why my «check engine light» was on. I’ve used some other local shops in Orinda that used the Check Engine Light as an opportunity to take the car apart and look for excuses to replace parts and run up the hours to fix. Not the case with Ravi here at Rheen Valley Automotive. He said «we went over it and think you just had a loose gas cap…». No charge. Very nice — I will definitely be back.

Ravi at Rheem Valley Automotive came highly recommended to me by the PIC at my law firm. I was not disappointed; this place is honest, hardworking, and will places value on doing a good job rather than selling you everything under the sun.
My Nissan was acting real weird after I (accidentally!) ran it too low on oil. I took it to a quickie oil change place and told them what was wrong. They said they would put the «premium oil» in my car. What they did was use the same old type of oil with a «supplement.»
Ravi took a look under the hood and found messy oil spills, etc. etc. Ravi was so nice and honest, he actually wanted to clean it up and send me home for a 1K mile run to see how well the engine handled it. That’s it… he could have totally sold me new belts, new this, new that. I might have fallen for it, I was so worried about my car. But nope — we’re going to watch it and see what happens.
That’s good work… real good work.
Thanks, Ravi and the team at Rheem Valley Auto!

I am a member of the military and move every two years, so I always search the word of mouth reviews for a decent mechanic. I was not led wrong with Rheem Valley and Ravi! After getting new brake rotors and pads from every source and lastly the Walnut Creek Chrysler dealer (Steads) that lasted all of six-​months, I tried Ravi. His work is superb, not cheap, but I am convinced with everything being expensive in this area — he is a guarantee that you are getting what you are paying for and the car is repaired correctly. He is a great troubleshooter, explains what the issues are, and leads you down a path that makes sense.

Ravi is honest and to the point. I drive a 2002 Audi A6 and he does his best to get my car running well. Services at Rheem Valley Automotive are not necessarily cheap but he isn’t overpriced either. Ravi is fair and very knowledgable.

My husband and I both take our newer model Mercedes to Ravi and have always had great service. He takes us at a moments notice when we have a problem and usually can provide us with a loaner vehicle. We take our cars there for maintance on a regular basis and always feel like we have been taken care of in a timely fashion and most importantly we feel we have been taken care of HONESTLY. We would, and do recommend Rheem Valley Automotive to anyone who needs a good and honest mechanic. By the way, we live in Concord and the drive to Moraga for good car care is definately worth every mile we travel.

I think everyone is leery of auto repair places because you just never know if you are getting screwed. I had a bad expereince at another local repair and started going to Ravi at Rheem. He has been extremely honest to the point of telling me that the car was still under warranty and to take it back to the dealer. That cost him bucks but good will with me. He explains all options and does what he says he will do. I take both of my cars to him and have been very pleased with the work, his communication and his honesty.

Great place!

The BEST!!! Mike is always honest and does an excellent job. I was told I needed a full brake job… pads rooters, Turns out the brake pads were just fine… It is HUGE to have a mechanic you can trust.

This is the auto repair shop at the former 76 Station at Rheem and Moraga Road in Moraga. I stumbled upon this auto repair shop when a family car needed urgent care several years ago, and their shop was the closest. Since then, I’ve taken all our cars there. These guys are like the old neighborhood auto shop, where you could get to know the mechanics and trust them. Sonny, Mike and Wayne are three honest, hard-​working guys who will talk straight to you about your car and what it needs, and won’t charge you for anything you don’t need. My latest experience with them was when I took my car there after Firestone told my wife she needed new hub bearings on a 6 year old Toyota Camry she took in for a «free» wheel alignment. I decided to get a second opinion from Rheem Valley Auto Care and found the work wasn’t necessary, saving myself $ 900.