Wholesale Transmission Service Of Berkeley

Not sure how to rate. I spent $ 3000 in July on a new transmission for my Honda and after the initial 2 week inspection it seemed to be running well. Then in Sept I took it to lake Tahoe and on the way back the transmission broke down on the freeway, and I couldn’t drive faster than 10 mph, pretty scary. Had the car towed from Sacto to Berkeley to find out that Jack retired! A new shop (United Transmission in Albany) is honoring the warranty and they fixed the car for no charge, thanks! But now I am afraid to drive my car out of town and I am sorry I spent $ 3000.I suppose I should be happy it didn’t break down in Tahoe but after spending 3 grand I wish it hadn’t broken down at all.

Yep, to echo so many others… Jack is the absolute best. He gave me some options for what I thought was an expensive repair, and took the time to write out and explain everything to me. I especially recommend this place for ladies like me who have no clue about this kind of stuff! He’s extremely patient. I’m glad I went there to get a second opinion. My dealership told me I needed a new transmission, but that turned out NOT to be the case.

Jack and his team know transmissions and have a lot of integrity. When I had problems with my Acura MDX transmission I called around to different repair shops and all roads led back to Wholesale Transmissions. They rebuilt the transmission that was in the car, but had a number of challenges getting it right because of some rare issues. Unfortunately, the rebuilt transmission gave out after a few weeks. Without hesitation Jack said «we need to make this right» and purchased another transmission to put into the car. It now runs great and I’m very satisfied.

When the automatic transmission on my beloved Volvo 240 suddenly wouldn’t shift gears correctly, I assumed I would be out thousands for a transmission rebuild. I called around to get advice from different Volvo mechanics, and they suggested giving Jack a call at Wholesale Transmissions. I called to schedule an appointment, and Jack told me he would take a look at it the next day. I had it towed into the shop, and within a few hours I got a call. I was expecting the worst, however, I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that the problem was a worn kickdown cable (total $ 150.00)!
My car runs as good as new!
Thank you for being honest, doing quality work and for a quick turn around. From my experience, I would highly recommend them to anyone. I would definitely return for any future issues with my transmission.

Five stars only because they don’t offer six…
It’s like having your favorite brother in the transmission business, and I only wish Jack did general auto repairs! Today my transmission was behaving weirdly; first it wouldn’t get out of Park (look for the override switch, said Jack on the phone) and later it wouldn’t go into Reverse (bring it in right now and we’ll look at it). The problem: 5 quarts low in an 8-​quart transmission fluid reservoir. Immediate cause: 3 bolts missing on the bottom. Probably long-​term cause (observed by me; Jack didn’t say a word): owner laziness and inattention. Solution: Replace the bolts, fill it up, and refuse to take any payment at all for the rescue!
«Just say something nice on Unilocal,» said Jack when I tried to argue with him — so here I am. And I’da been here if he’d charged a hundred bucks plus the cost of the fluid and bolts!

Wholesale Transmission is great. Jack is extremely knowledgeable about what he does. He obviously has been doing this for a long time because he had every answer for any question I threw at him. It is nice to work directly with the owner of the business. I highly would recommend talking with Jack at Wholesale Transmission.

Jack is extremely likable, direct, and he performs a free diagnosis. However, he told me I needed an expensive transmission replacement. Luckily, I got other opinions because Jack’s diagnosis was an incorrect one. I discovered shortly thereafter upon taking my vehicle to the dealership that the sound my vehicle was making was due a much simpler unrelated problem in the driveshaft.
I want to like these guys, but I was almost out a ton of money for an unneeded repair.

Yes, you have to be ready for Jack. He likes to speak a lot about transmissions, and educate the customer, but I felt that he was honest and highly knowledgable. They did perform a free diagnosis, and did not try to sell me anything I didn’t need. In the end they determined that our Rav4 was ok, and did not need any tranny work. Yeah.

I think this is a bit of a scam. Jack advertises «free» diagnosis, but that’s not correct. First you sit and wait for half an hour. Then they look at your fluid level and hook your car computer to their computer. This takes about five minutes. Then listen to a twenty minute canned lecture by Jack on how complex transmissions are — but he won’t discuss an estimate until the end of the lecture. Then find out that it actually costs another $ 400 to get a firm estimate. I ended up spending over an hour to find out nothing I didn’t already know. Save your time and go to legitimate place.

Jack and his shop employees are very professional, they had competive prices, they rebuilt my transmission in the exact time quoted. I appreciated his knowledge and the fact that he didn’t try to sell me on extra serivces. They did a great job and I definitely would recommend his services.

Jack is a great guy. After dealing with AAMCO, they came from Berkeley to Concord and picked up my car for free. He explained everything the was wrong, how it might of happened and my options in great detail. He says he does not deal with rebuilt transmissions. They do all the rebuilding here. That way they know if it was their fault and not someone else’s. Of course you have to follow their directions for the 2 yr warranty. 2 weeks after and 6 mos validates. He also explains how often to change the fluid.
I will never go back to AAMCO and recommend this place. And no I didn’t get anything for saying this. This is a 12 yr old SUV and can’t buy any other vehicle so they were a god send for saving my car.

I was concerned about the behavior of my car’s transmission and came here for a diagnosis. They identified my problems, and topped off my transmission fluid, without charge. Jack gave me a thorough description of my vehicle’s ailments — which did not need his attention — and recommended what I needed for service. I wish he ran a regular service shop because it is so rare to get straight and expert advice on your car.

Jack helped us to diagnose an issue with our Jeep Grand Cherokee and his service and professionalism was outstanding. He did not charge for the diagnosis and provided great customer service.

2000 Audi A6 V8. A/​T: ZF 5HP-​19FLA
I think some people pick and choose on what kind of car they want to work on. And I’m ok with that. I do the same thing in my line of work.
I like Jack. Check out my car for free. Gave me a good price and advice. He said he is so busy that he couldn’t get to my car for 6 weeks.
He told how it was on my AT. Well maybe we will do business next time Jack. Anyway I decide to go with Jasper.
And pay a ¹⁄₃^rd more.

Jack and company are masters of their craft, not only did they get it done in the timeline that they had given me, but the transmission on my accord feels even smoother than it was when I first got it. Had my 2-​week check up and now coming up on the 6-​month check up and my car has not performed anything less than amazing.
Highly recommend this place to anyone needing a rebuild. The customer service provided was excellent and the quality of their work is worth every penny in my opinion.

All the good stuff you can read in the other reviews is true. Jack is a straight up man of his word. He’s been doing this work for 37 years and it shows through his expertise and knowledge. The work is well done and he also includes a free inspection before and a couple of free inspections after the work to make sure all is well. Yeah!

Jack at Wholesale Transmissions provided me with the most thorough info I have ever received from any auto mechanic or repair service, provided this both on the phone and in person — and at no charge!
In a phone call he quickly educated me as to why a computerized read out of my 2001 Volvo V70’s problems was needed, why a mechanic analyzing without such a read out could be mistaken, and explained how Wholesale Transmissions provides for free an analysis of a transmission problem with test drive and computer report. Takes about 45 minutes for them to check out the car.
Once I brought the car in for one of their morning appointments for problem review, Jack took so much time to educate me about transmissions in general, about my car, my car’s specific problems, and my options, I had to wonder how he could give such a thorough report to every customer he advises. And I had to wonder if ever got bored of delivering the same basic info that is in each customer’s conversation. However, I think he just enjoys being this thorough, very customer-​service-​oriented auto repair guy; he takes real pride and personal satisfaction in this process.
In the end, as I expected, my projected repair cost ($ 3,500 or more) along with other repairs needed made it not worth repairing my car. And I had told Jack this is what I expected and what I understood before coming in, but he still offered, almost insisted in advance that I come in and get the free analysis, just to be sure it was not some correctable problem with the electronic controls instead of the mechanical breakdown that was more likely the case. Impressive.

In July ’09 my partner’s father had our ’99 S80 towed to McKevitt Volvo when the transmission died prematurely at 118,000 miles. They charged a non-​refundable $ 200 (or was it $ 400?) just to hook it up to the computer & verify that the transmission needed to be replaced — which they would do for $ 5000. They refused to repair, rather than replace.
I called around & talked to Jack, at Wholesale Transmission, who was very helpful and friendly, offered a free diagnosis & wouldn’t give me a quote until the diagnosis was complete — but he did say a full rebuild would be $ 3500. Jack is obviously a perfectionist and is very good at what he does.
When I called McKevitt to arrange to have the car towed elsewhere the guy in the service department started bad-​mouthing Jack — saying they have had customers bring their cars to McKevitt to fix his botched work. I decided to try Jack anyway, and based on the fact that the transmission is working fine 21 months and 14,000 miles later, that he requires you to come back for checkups two weeks and 6 months after the repairs, and my perception of his integrity, I seriously doubt he’s ever turned someone away who had problems with a transmission he repaired.

I took my beloved Ford Mustang to Wholesale Transmission Service (WST) a little over a year ago. The crew there did awesome work on my transmission, it’s shifting really well now, even more than a year later, including hard stop-​and-​go driving conditions both in the city, on hills in San Francisco, and extensive highway driving.
I had been to many other places to have my transmission worked on, Wholesale did the best work, but far, compared to other transmission places. Wholesale Transmission was by far the most patient in explaining the inner working of the transmission and the repair process. They even had a diagram of my transmission, showing me what parts they were going to work on. I found them to be very straightforward, honest, and ethical in their work.
I definitely recommend Wholesale Transmission to my friends and hope you check them out too, if your transmission needs work.

No, no, and no.
First rebuild failed in the first 6 weeks, after it failed they rebuilt it under warranty.
That rebuild lasted less than a month. Oh, and it was my fault for not watching the fluid level. Even though I returned after two weeks to have them check it.
Third rebuild they added a transmission cooler, when I picked it up the radiator was leaking. Their fault? They refused to do anything and I paid $ 500 for a new radiator. This one was my fault because I pulled a trailer in overdrive (except I didn’t).
Hardly ever drive the truck still on third rebuild. It groans and doesn’t shift like the factory unit. Keeping my fingers crossed.