Greg’s Japanese Auto

I’ve been taking my car to Greg’s since I learned to drive and my family has been going to this particular location for nearly 20 years. Their goal is that when you leave their shop that your car is safe and will continue being safe for a long time and yeah, sometimes that means work needs to be done. I know when they suggest when they suggests that something needs to be done or fixed it’s because they don’t want me stranded on the side of the road! The consideration and service I receive from Greg’s is as if I am family.

I went in expecting to pay a few hundred dollars to get a couple of lock cylinders replaced and Curtis offered a solution that cost only $ 30! Two locks on my 1995 Imprezza had stopped working and I had put off having any repairs for months until the third lock started to stick. When I took the car to Greg’s, the manager looked things over, then recommended I get a new key from the dealer. It never occurred to me that the key might be wearing out, but this proved to be the solution! I went in expecting to pay $ 300 and Greg’s could have profited from that. Instead, they gave me a solution that cost one tenth of that. That is conscientious service. I’ll be back.

Got an estimate for our car to be done. We asked them to check out one thing but came back a estimate of over $ 2600 for all kind of items that they said needed to be fixed. Well, not very many people have that kind of money so we had to wait to get some extra cash to do the job. My wife made an appointment to bring in the car to do the most important part which they said would be $ 600+. We got there and they said it’s $ 800 plus because an item on this long list needed to be done together but they didn’t group it together or mentioned it when quoting either. My wife questioned it asking why it wasn’t mentioned or group together and the counter guy (manager) said and I quote «I don’t have to take this pounding, this early in the morning» and to take our car and leave.
We were prepared to pay that $ 800 but apparently the manager has so much business that he can tell people to leave because he doesn’t to explain their own estimates.
End of the story goes is we took it to the dealership and they did need to do all that Gregs said they need to do quoted and it all was done for $ 200 cheaper than Gregs.

No offense to the commenter Michayla, but nothing in that review sounded like misconduct in the least. I, myself, am a mechanic, and know very well the business practices of shops and what a bad shop looks like. Greg’s did their job by doing the diagnostic work and giving the customer a quote for over $ 2,000. Is it a lot? Sure it is, but the car was towed, so expect extensive repairs as worst/​most likely scenario. Hooking a scanner up to a car and reading a code is not what you pay a shop to do when you pay them $ 100+/hour. They read codes, sure, but perform other performance tests on the car and figure out exactly what the problem is. If you want someone to read a code for FREE, take it to autozone and they’ll give you a laundry list of things to buy and replace, and even then, it could be something else entirely like faulty wiring or another oddball thing that seasoned wrench-​turners have the privilege of putting up with on a weekly basis. All in all, you paid 280 and have answers, you shouldn’t be angry at the shop because you: a) can’t afford to fix your car. b) can’t afford a different car. Sorry your car broke down, but the shop never took advantage of you.

The friendly ambience and professional knowledge of the guys there was awesome. A very straightforward no nonsense shop. A easy explanation of the quote as well as a non-​aggressive approach to business. They also were very flexible when I had to reschedule. Will definitely use them again.

I called Greg’s Japanese Auto in Federal Way when my car died. I was told it was probably my transmission that’s failed and that it was a recall. I was told to take it to the dealer even if it was over 60,000 miles. I did and the Acura dealer said «we fixed it when you had it serviced». I said «I guess not very good» quietly. He said, «leave it here and we’ll give you a car to drive». I drove a new Acura for 1 week and got the call, they fixed it at no charge! Japanese auto save me thousands of dollars. I can’t thank them enough!
Another time my husband had his car serviced at the same place in Federal Way. We picked it up the next day. Someone had backed into his car and wrecked his bumper. Japanese auto repaired it at no cost to us. They are a stand up company and we recommend them to everyone.

This is literally the worst place to bring your car. I would give them less than one star if I was able to. I brought my car in to get diagnosed. The guy on the phone was very nice and told me it would only cost me about $ 70 for them to check it out which is pretty standard. So I tow my car in and get a call the next day saying I have $ 2600 worth of work needed. They included a bunch of work that the car didn’t really need to run but «is a good idea to get fixed because you’ll probably need it done in the future». I’m assuming they think I know nothing about cars because I’m a woman and will just pay for whatever they suggest. Then I’m told it’s going to cost me $ 250 just for having it diagnosed because they spent 2 hours trying to start the car. If they had simply run the scanner (which takes 5 minutes, tops), they would have known the car wouldn’t start due to a faulty part. But instead they wasted 2 hours trying to start a car that is broken (I’m assuming so that they could charge me an arm and a leg). The car isn’t even worth $ 2600 so I decide to just suck it up and pay the $ 250 to get my car out of there. I go down to pay and they tell me it’s going to be $ 280. I asked them why it was $ 30 extra and the man goes, «Well it’s that price plus tax.» Why would you tell someone a price without tax? Do they give you your total at any other business without the tax? What the hell? So I wasted 30 minutes plus gas to drive down there and wasn’t even able to get my car. These guys are running a scam and will try to take you for all you’re worth. Do yourself a favor and never go here to get your car fixed.

Usually I would give these guys a good grade but on my last visit I brought in an out dated coupon which I honestly didn’t know was expired. The service was done and they said they couldn’t honor the coupon. In the process I was told there is a 30 $ one out in the mail and they were surprised that I didn’t have that one. They did the work and now I’m noticing an other issue the has to do with idling that I don’t recall being there before the service appointment I had and that was on a totally different system. Go figure. Maybe just in my mind because of sour feelings about the coupon issue but I will keep an eye on it.

I took my 1993 Eagle Summit AWD here to diagnose the random stalling issue. They found that the ignition switch was faulty but could not find the part. I still owed 100 for the diagnostic but I already knew the car didn’t work. So, I called napa auto parts and they told me to save myself some money and goto
and sure enough I found the part there for $ 29.99. I bought the part and used their address direct ship it. They installed it, and I paid 250 out the door. 2 days later the car died and I had to tow it home again. They weren’t really sympathetic to my plight and wanted to tow it back to them. If I got to find my own parts and the car still doesn’t work, I’ll be broke before they fix whats really wrong with it, (ECM and distributor) I bought the parts and fixed it myself. Although they did what they felt was necessary, I felt that solving my problem in a cost effective manner was not the priority of Gregs.