Golden Gears Automotive, Inc

COULDN’T BE HAPPIER. I just moved from San Francisco to Rockville. Following a cross-​country drive, my Jeep JK was in need of a thorough servicing and, a Maryland State Inspection. Golden Gears Automotive immediately replied to my email request for an appointment. They were polite and friendly. They completed all work in 1 day. Their pricing was fair. My Jeep is driving great. I will absolutely have my wife’s car inspected and serviced here. Thanks for the great work, Golden Gears!

After being told at the dealer that my Jeep Wrangler — with only 30,000 miles on it — suddenly needed to have its radiator replaced, I decided it would be best to seek a second opinion, and looked for a local well-​reviewed repair shop to assist.
First, I found one of Golden Gears’ competitors, White Flint Auto Repair, through Unilocal.Despite their decent reviews, the guy I spoke to yesterday was shockingly arrogant. When I asked if they were open on Saturdays, the guy sneered «Do YOU work on Saturdays?» When I said «Yes, sometimes,» he fired back «Well, we don’t. Saturdays are a family day for us.» All fine, well, and good — but the miserable attitude we could all do without.
Vowing to never return to that repair shop, I got back on Unilocal; that led me to Golden Gears… and my experience could not have been more different — or any better. The gentleman I spoke to, Sam, actually acted like a gentleman, telling me he would look at it right away, but that it would be about ten minutes before he would be through with it. When he finished, he took the time to show me what he saw, and we stood underneath my Jeep as he explained why he thought that the dealer believed that it would be necessary to replace the radiator, when it actually would not be. He also gave me a timeline for when brake work would likely be necessary (within 1,000 miles or so), when it would likely be necessary to replace the tires (by the end of the summer, probably), and did all that without charging me a cent.
At this point, I assure you: this is the kind of guy I will trust with my Jeep: he’s principled, knowledgeable, and respectful. As long as I’m living in this area, this is my go-​to place for any/​all repair work on my Wrangler.

My family and I have been using Sam and his staff for car maintenance and repair for most of my life. They are prompt, communicative, trustworthy and knowledgeable. I trust them implicitly with my car. Plus, they are just genuinely friendly and caring people!

If your looking for an honest mechanic you can trust, come to Golden Gears and ask for Sam.

I moved years to the Washington DC area more than 4 years ago. I did a little searching, and found Golden Gears to be a well-​reviewed Volkswagen specialist.
Since then, I have taken my 2001 Passat there for nearly every maintenance and problem, from oil changes to exhaust manifold replacements. I would normally do much of this work myself, but as I do not have a garage, this is somewhat difficult.
Sam (or Sotirios), the owner and chief mechanic, treats my car as if it were his own. He discusses with me all the issues and potential fixes, lets me know progress reports on repairs, and answers any questions I have — including many unrelated to the job at hand. He is very patient and his prices are quite fair as well. He has consistently declined to charge me for time spent diagnosing a problem, and in some cases, does not charge me except for parts (for some smaller jobs, anyways). In one case where we were trying to find a replacement front axle, I know he spent considerable time trying to track the proper replacement part down, but due to the exotic origin of my car (Canada), was unable to do so. No charge, and he explained the problem well.
Sam’s wife handles the phones and scheduling, and she is always cheerful and prompt. I never have to wait more than three or four days for service, and can often get squeezed in in case of an emergency. In fact, the last time I saw Sam, I was about to embark on a 2000 mile trip with my newly-​acquired Cherokee. I was glad to find that his shop also specialized in Chrysler makes, and I stopped in when my door handle on the driver’s side quit working. Despite being the end of the day and very near closing time, Sam and I looked over and fixed the problem, talked a bunch about the vehicle itself, and generally geeked out a bit about the Cherokee’s history. Although he’s not a Jeeping enthusiast (to my knowledge), he gave feedback on many modifications I had done.
Golden Gears has always been very helpful and prompt, and I will continue to use their services for a long time.

Golden Gears is great. My family goes here and Sam and his team always do a great job. They aren’t out to gouge you for all you’ve got – last time I went was when my car making a funny noise when I made turns. It was raining that day and they couldn’t hear the noise. But they gave it a complimentary lookover, and fixed my tailpipe, which they said could’ve been the problem. They said to bring it in again when it wasn’t raining, and they didn’t charge me a dime. That’s how they operate – trustworthy and sincere (and the tail pipe turned out to be the noise!). I go here whenever my car has a problem.

Got a MD inspection here and this place got it done, on time and with a courteous smile! Dropped off at night and picked it up the next day. Good communication on what the status was. hard to find in mechanics these days.

This was a referral from a friend who has 4 kids and 4 cars. This is a family run business, and is the cleanest, most well organized business I have ever been in, period. I run a retail business, so I understand. Sam (the owner) is a brilliant diagnostician, and amazing mechanic. His prices are extremely fair, and all the work is first rate. He even buffed out scratches when my teenager hit another car. I will not take my car anywhere else for any service. I’ve been going there for 3 years, and each visit is as good as the last.

Very good mechanics, trustworthy, reasonably priced and sincere. The mechanic told me everything that I needed to know and was thinking very hard to solve my problem without trying to make more money out of my case. Long story short, the catalyst converter wasn’t working properly so he said that I could get a new one but that would be very expensive and not worth it (since my car is really old), so instead of trying to convince me to buy a new one he just cleaned it for me for free (since I had already fixed other parts of the car)
In General, he has thought a lot about every issue i’ve ever had and tried to find the best and most affordable solution for me.

Be sure to check out the filtered reviews… I’m not sure why they’re filtered, but they tell the same story that Anita P. and I tell: Golden Gears is the best. Sam and his crew are talented, straight-​forward, excellent communicators and wonderful to work with. His care over the past 8 or 9 years is the reason that my 17-​year-​old Accord is still running beautifully.
I tried one weekend several years ago to get a simple oil change at a Rockville Pike Honda dealership (one that I knew had a crap reputation, but I thought: how bad could an oil change get?), and by Monday I was having my car towed to Golden Gears. The short version of the story is that they talked me into replacing the battery while I was waiting for the car. Knowing I needed the car over the weekend, I gave them the go-​ahead, and they apparently installed the battery improperly and blew out the entire electrical system! Although the dealership should have, by rights, fixed it, I wasn’t about to trust them with it after they’d botched one of the simplest repairs on the books. Sam undid the damage and I vowed never to let any other mechanic touch it ever again! :)
But Golden Gears stands on its own merit. I’m dreading buying a new car because it’ll probably mean warranty service from a dealer. Maybe I’ll go for a pre-​owned car that can be cared for by Sam and Golden Gears well into the future.

I have to concur with the previous reviewer. I had a very bad experience with my Toyota dealer (who charged me 1k for work done under warranty and had to pay me back when Toyota yelled at them) and subsequently found GG through
. Have been going to to them for almost 2 years now; Sam is fantastic and his work is superb. He is courteous and honest and the only reason I hesitate to recommend him is because it is hard to get appointments early as it is. Too many great recommendations means he is going to get extra busy. I guess a small price to pay, since great mechanics like him should be allowed to flourish…

Sam is great and takes pride in his business. He is very honest and upfront about your vehicle, but does not push services. He guarantees his work and talks to the customer. There are very few honest automobile repair shops it seems. He provides outstanding value at fair prices. He does not just fix what is broken he goes to the root of it and will answer any questions you have.

We’ve been taking our cars to Golden Gears for years and couldn’t ask for a better mechanic. Sam is very knowledgeable, friendly, and most of all fair when assessing a situation with the car. I value the fact that he is honest in saying that a repair needs to be done immediately vs some time in the future. All repairs have been done in a timely fashion and handled thoroughly. Golden Gears is most deserving of five stars!