Monterey Motors

Greg recently fixed my side mirror. Instead of replacing the mirror, he did a clever repair with an adhesive (inside the mirror). The mirror works like new and he saved me a couple hundred dollars. Yes, some shops are cheaper, but Greg will help you prioritize your repairs. This really helps someone on a budget and saves money in the long run. I feel a lot safer since I started taking my car into his shop. I fix the most important things first.

I have gotten work done from him for more than 18 years always honest and friendly and get work done the time that he says at the price that he says

I took my car to Greg for a couple of years. He helped me in the beginning but it went downhill from there. Just this year he fired all of his good and longtime mechanics because he felt they made to much. During this time I had to take my car in for a head replacement. I felt confident since he always did good work in the past but was I surprised when I learned his old mechanics were gone and he had hired a new young man to replace them. I went ahead with the head job and THREE weeks later I received my car back.
I called Greg right away because the engine would make this very loud and rattling noise. He said it should be just fine and not to worry about it. My car continued to make this awful noise when I took back to him to get it smogged. He told me that he «couldn’t» help me pass the smog test and was quite curt about it. Needless to say I left.
I have since passed the smog test with the help of other mechanics in the area but they still are trying to get the timing for the engine correct. They state it was caused by the head job and it is costing me dearly to have taken my car to Monterey Motors
Monterey Motors is great for the easy cheap fixes but be AWARE if it’s something that takes a good mechanic to fix it. Pacific Motors can’t!!!

Awesome service. Much cheaper than taking it to a dealership. You quickly realize that the people who often give bad reviews are usually the people that beat the hell out of their vehicle, then can’t understand why it costs so much to fix their problem.
What’s great about this place is I quickly realized they weren’t just trying to make a buck. I felt I could trust them. Things I wanted to get done to the vehicle they would recommend against it, because it wasn’t needed yet for the vehicle. Rarely do you find this honesty in a shop. I will be back. –Stephen

These guys are trustworthy, skilled, and quick. My car wasn’t starting up consistently so I brought my car into the shop and Rick looked at it right away. He figured out issue (cracked drive belts) and replaced them same day. Fair prices. Monterey Motors will be my go-​to shop from now on!

Greg helped me investigate a used Subaru that I was considering buying, and he didn’t even charge me! Super nice, professional, and knowledgable guy. The next time I’m in the area I’ll definitely stop in for service.

We received above and beyond service from Greg and his team on several jobs they have performed for us.
First on our Cobalt which is part of a Chevy recall. Monterey Motors took it in and made me feel not only that the car is safe, but that they did everything they could to get all the details taken care of.
In addition to that experience, we took in an older car that was on the edge of being scrapped and the team in this instance helped us with sound advice on what best to do with the car. We have consistently received op notch service and respect from Monterey Motors. Wish all businesses ran with such integrity. 5 stars all the way. Thanks guys!

Very good people — competent, timely, and professional. Needed a serpentine belt replaced on an ’03 Toyota and got the car in and out with very little downtime and didn’t empty my wallet. Thanks, Greg!

Called AAA, my car wouldn’t start. Monterey Motors was dispatched, driver’s name was Rich. Very polite and professional, quickly (less than 10 minutes) determined that the door lock had been activated, locking out the starter. Unlocked the doors, car started immediately. The best part was Rich didn’t make me feel like the idiot I am for not noticing such a simple fix. Thanks Rich.

Took my mazda to them for a timing belt change, did a great job, no problems at all, and it was cheaper than the shop I used to go to! I do not know what the other reviewers are talking about, they give great deals and quality work. I am not going to anyone else for awhile. Completely satisfied

We’ve been taking our family cars to Greg and Joe for the past six years. I have always found them to be honest, reasonable with costs and I trust their work. After getting ripped off for years at the Toyota Dealership I won’t take my car anywhere else but Monterey Motors. I have never had a bad experience there.

I agree with other reviews that they are polite, but definitely shady.
It took them 3 days to tell me they may or may not be able to fix my car. For the work they needed to do, labor costs, etc it was extremely over priced especially since they didn’t even know if they could fix the problem. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but here’s what really made this experience the worst I’ve had at a mechanics.
1) I was charged $ 150 to be told they might or might not be able to fix it.
2) the loaner car we were given would not go over 40 mph, I live off HWY 1… It is a highway. Driving an unsafe car, that smells bad, that I had to pay for was some bull s***.
3) Greg called us into town to ‘discuss something about the car’. We drive into town and were told we could not use the loaner car because this would take over a week to POSSIBLY fix it. So we were forced to give up the car even though we lived in Big Sur and call every one for rides back home. The friend I had come with me was 4 hours late for work because we couldn’t get back to Big Sur quick enough.
I felt his actions were childish for not being upfront in the first place about the repairs or using a junk car as loaner, then stranding us in town.
If we would have let me know what was going on I could have arranged a ride back home, and also arranged to have the car towed away from there to go some place that wouldn’t nickel and dime me to death
I would not go here, I would not recommend going here. Maybe for something basic as changing your oil, but I’d hate to recommend them to a friend because of their passive aggressive behavior.
As for repairs go anywhere else but here.

These guys are great! My car died and although I am a pretty good mechanic myself, I could not find the problem. Greg spent over and hour, twice, with me trying to diagnose the problem as I live over 25 miles away and the closest Audi dealer is worthless. After we had tried everything I had it towed over to Greg. Within a few hours he called to tell me Bill had it running and was checking out everything. Since it was already over there and I had over 90K miles on the timing belt I had them replace that and the water pump. The car runs better than ever. I think it had something to do with the tune. They have all the latest equipment including a new computer that found out why I kept getting a CEL telling me that one of my cylinders was intermittant. (Loose wire, hard to find if you don’t have the right equipment.) My car has over 245K miles on it and a supercharger that I installed. It runs better than ever and Greg called a couple of days later to ask if it was still okay. They will get all my business on my Audi from now on. George Worthy Gonzales, CA
By the way they are cheaper than the Audi stealer. Oh, did I say stealer?
Another by the way. I do NOT give five stars for an average job. It has to beyound the call of duty.

I really want to like this place since the owners are so nice, BUT I have had sub quality work on the car ever since I started going there last year. The most egregious error was the mangling of a simple oil change. Within 48 hours of driving it out of the shop, the oil light came on and since I was en route to SF I had no choice but to keep going. I stopped into a Jiffy Lube and they said the car was low on oil. There was no leak; the MRY Motors guy just forgot to add enough oil. My confidence level in MRY Motors dipped ever since.
The latest debacle occured in Dec 2012 when I went in for a timing belt change which was estimated at $ 2k. I was advised that the axle and power steering pump needed replacing. Fine, I said. $ 5k later I left thinking that was the end of it.
But no. Within 2 days of driving it out of the shop, I couldn’t make a sharp left turn without severe noise and vibration. Last week I took it back in and discovered they installed a defective axle. They replaced it free of charge which was the least they could do.
Last night, I discovered a crunching noise where the axle meets the left front tire. I will be bringing the car back in AGAIN tomorrow. I explained to the owner that I’m wasting so much of my precious time taking the car in for repairs that should be done right in the first place.
I feel like I’m being ripped off and point blankly asked the owner if his mechanics were deliberately sabbotaging my car in order to «fix» more items.
Proceed with caution with this shop. I’m one step away from reporting them to the Better Business Bureau if they can’t get to the bottom of this latest issue.

They pride themselves on honesty, but love charging up the wazoo. Transmission flush nearly $ 360. Huge ripoff compared to what other shops charge for the same service. Oh and they want to charge you a $ 228 inspection fee if you’re a new customer. Never mind just going in for the oil change only. Lots of other shops do a complimentary 36 point inspection as part of the service, but not here. And the kicker… I saw them writing up service on a brand new car with only 30,000 miles. They wanted to change the plugs. It’s basic knowledge that plugs are rated for 90,000 miles but you change them at 60,000 to avoid rusting in place. You should have seen the look on the poor customer’s face! But yeah… nice guys, but I wouldn’t bring my car here.

After living on the peninsula for 3 years and bouncing from auto repair place to auto repair place I’ve finally found «the one».
I tried it on the recommendation of some of my coworkers that have been going there FOREVER. They said the owner, Greg, is the kindest, most honest repair guy you could find. Now I totally agree with them.
When I called to make my first appointment, it was almost like making an appointment with a therapist! He wanted to hear about my car, what my goals were, and talked about working out a budget friendly plan to get my car back in shape.
When it turned out there were some complications with the repairs he was doing and realized he’d totally underestimated the cost, he apologized profusely, and then asked if it would be okay to charge me for another hour or two of labor because it’d ended up taking way more hours than he original though. Asked me, seriously!
I’d also originally said to do an oil change because I was near needing one, but he pointed out that if it wasn’t actually due yet, I might as well save some money and do it later. Awesome.
When I went to pick up my car, he took the time to explain everything they did and everything that he was recommending for the future. He even let me see the busted pieces that had caused them so much trouble.
Great place.