Grease Monkey

Excellent customer service!!! After living in Seattle for 3 years, I’ve finally found a place I can rely on to take my car in for service. They don’t take appointments, you just pull up and they take your keys. All the stalls were filled, but we were the only car in line. We checked in at the office, told them what I wanted done and they said it would take 30 – 35 minutes and gave us the option of walking and getting something to eat, or waiting in the lobby. We walked to Malena’s Tacos which is AMAZING if you’ve never been. Anyway, every interaction we had with the attendants at Grease Monkey was awesome and I will be back! Also, as soon as I mentioned the Unilocal review they instantly took off $ 12. Awesome!

Came in late on a weekday morning and received great service from the woman working there. My husband and I walked around while we waited. When we got back they were still wrapping things up with my car. For me, customer service is HUGE, and this place had it down.

Best experience at any oil change garage yet. I left jiffy lube due to horrible and unprofessional service; Grease Monkey is the complete opposite! Every time I come here I get Fast, curious and convenient service. You will see the contrast if you read my jiffy lube review.

I was greeted by no line of cars and two very friendly grease monkey employees who helped me guide my car into the spot. Upon getting out of the car I was given the price of how much the oil change would cost, and told how long it would take. It all sounded great to me so I went into the waiting room where there was great beverage options.
I started doing some work on my computer and looked up about five minutes after I sat down. There were five employees vacuuming my car, washing the windows, and checking my tire pressure which put a huge smile on my face. The manager came in and told me everything they had done, told me the condition of my engine, and asked me if I wanted to change out my transmission fluid because it looked a little old. He told me how much it would be, I said go for it, and five minutes later he walked back in, told me that the car was done, the woman in the waiting area rang me up, told me I could get a free oil top off within the next 2 months, I paid, got my keys, and drove out of the garage twenty minutes later with a car with clean windows, pumped up tires, a vacuumed interior, and a very happy driver.
Please, don’t waste your time at other places and go here.

Friendly people. Great service. Oil changes are a little more expensive here in Seattle than they are in Phoenix. But it was a great experience and they let me know everything that could use some work in the future as well.

Wow, these guys were great. I was actually impressed. Great service, really friendly and their waiting room doesn’t look like someone’s basement closet from the 80s *cough* j-​lube *cough*

Good prices, never any wait, fast service = all you want in an oil change.
They often will have a coupon for you, if you ask nicely.

Friendly service and I never feel like they’re upselling me which is why I keep coming back. I’ve never had a bad experience here and I’ve been a longtime patron.

This place is awesome. I’m not really sure where all of the negative reviews are coming from. As a busy mom, I appreciate expedient service — and this is what they do. I’ve been taking our car here even before we had kids, and they’ve gotten to know me, my family, and most importantly, our car. They’re always extremely communicative about whatever issues I’m having with the car — or if they discover anything during the usual oil change. I’ve never felt like I’ve been «sold» anything (and as a salesperson myself — I know how it feels to be sold). In fact, Josh the manager (who is amazing), even goes through every line item and explains each thing and has shown me the dip sticks, filters, etc so I know they’re on the up and up. Today, he told me to go to another establishment for something else (I was asking him about the shocks since I’ve been hearing a squeak over bumps) but cautioned me on a few things so I’d be prepared and wouldn’t be «sold» something at this other place that I didn’t really need. I haven’t taken it in anywhere else, yet, but I feel more educated now — thanks to Josh.
Bottom line: I trust them. And that’s why I keep taking my car to them, even though we moved 25min away (not all that far, but there are lots of closer places). Also — whenever they notice the kids in the waiting room, they come out and change the TV channel from news to a kids program — even without my asking. I really appreciate that. Even though I brought stuff for the kiddos to do, it was a nice distraction for them. When the kids are happy and relaxed, the mom is happy and relaxed.
Try them out — really. Don’t believe the negative reviews. I’ve been happy here every single time. Once — 2 weeks after an oil change, I noticed one of our tires was really low. We stopped by here (right after they had closed) — but Josh was still there and he filled up the tire and checked it all over to make sure there was no leak — all for free! Seriously — these guys are the best.

I came in for a oil change and they were amazing! I will be back I was in and out in 20 min. Amanda is amazing! Go here you will be happy!

I came in for an oil change and took surprisingly about 25 minutes. Service was friendly and I appreciate how I was treated with my visit. Everyone seems to know what there talking about with all my questions. Will be coming here for my car needs from now on.

I’ve been here a few times. I will never be back.
Before a big holiday road trip, I stopped in for an oil change and to get a lightbulb replaced. As I left, after enduring awkward come ons and witnessing the same treatment of a fellow female customer, I noticed my light had not been fixed. They told me to «just drive a little and it will be fine.»
It was not fine. I came back a week later, with the same light still out, and politely asked for it to be replaced — for real this time.
The manager thought it made sense to argue with me about how they did replace it, but the light right next to it went out … at the exact moment I drove away the first time. Really?
I told the manager about the harassing treatment his female customers get from the guys on duty the first time, and he literally said, «oh. okay.» and clearly could not have cared less.
So, I was overcharged and put in a dangerous position by having to drive around sans brake and signal light, then charged another 7 bucks for the actual fix. And, this place things women deserve to be made to feel uncomfortable by staff.
Never going back, and you shouldn’t head there or any other location either. They obviously don’t care about their customers one bit.

Owner Shawn messaged me the next day after posting a completely honest review about my service and experience. When I did not respond that same day (who’s in the habit of checking Unilocal messages daily??) he posted an emotionally charged, degrading response publicly below my review attacking my emotional maturity and integrity. He also posted private information about my vehicle that I did not give permission for him to disclose.

It’s always hard to say whether or not an auto-​repair place is «good» or not. For my experience at this Grease Monkey it came down to trust. We went in for a standard oil change and left with $ 180 of repair. The additional repairs that we agreed to were diagnosed by the staff as necessary due to our car’s car fax report, that they were smart enough to walk us through. Considering the fact that we have over 110k miles on our car and don’t regularly take it in for checkups, that was not a bad deal.
The only thing that I did not expect was that they, unprovoked and on two occasions during my wait, assured me that the service I had agreed to was necessary and provided to me at a price cheaper than jiffy lube. At the time, this reassurance only made me trust them less as they must have felt the need to address my disgruntled face, a result of the extra $ 130 that I didn’t know I would be spending that day.
Ultimately, I decided to trust the staff because there were no obvious red flags, they answered all of my questions thoroughly and patiently, and their apparent reasons for recommending the extra repairs were based on an objective report of our car’s repair history.

Forgot to re install my oil cap. Engine bay and surrounding insulation now covered in oil. A quick clean up was done but insulation was still dripping with oil and all torn up now.

Keith that works here is awesome! Fixed my car on a Sunday night when they were about to close and did it quickly and efficiently. We are from out of town and the next day was a holiday so I’m so thankful he helped us out of a jam.

If you are loking for great service, this is the place to go! I locked myself out of my car across the street on a hot day. Two guys worked together to help me and it only took about 10 – 15 mins. Thanks, guys! And thanks to the receptionist who quickly called a manager to help. You’re my heros for the day!

I’m not sure why their are bad reviews on here. My experience went really smooth. As soon as I arrived Josh the manager came out to greet me and get the details for my car. I asked for an oil change and a tune up since my car recently hit 100,000 miles. I was expecting a long wait since this isn’t always quick at the Jeep dealership where I used to take my car. It was actually a very fast process. They addressed my concerns about the gunk gathering on my battery and cleaned it for me. A bonus was that they vacuumed out my car and cleaned my windows.
I would say that the service here is just what I’d prefer from my oil change place: reasonable pricing, nice friendly technicians, and a willingness to address my concerns. This might be my new go-​to place considering its really hard to find anyone who you can trust to work on your car these days.

This «grease monkey» location deserves 4 negative stars. The reason? Don’t get me started… 1) This location OVER charged me on a simple oil change, 2) Management doesn’t respond, 3) im still trying to get my money back, and 4) they did a F– job on my car.
My Total bill came out to $ 207.45 for a simple oil change. There is no way in heck that a simple oil change should be that much. I went into the ballard location on February 1^st, and I simply asked about how much would it cost to flush my rear differential. The attendant told me to go wait inside while he takes a look at my truck. As I was walking into the building, he mentioned to me that I needed new windshield wipers, I told him NO I can install them myself. 45 minutes later, and tells me all the stuff he is doing to my truck. I dont have time to argue with this guy as I am already late for work. I pay and leave. I look back on my receipt and see the following charges 1) 4wd Service 43.99 (wtf? I didnt sign up for 4wd service) 2) Super HM 5W OIL $ 25.00 + extra 2.50 oil (ok im ok with this amount since its an oil change) 3) Transfer case $ 49.99 (WTF?! I did not ask for them to change this fluid out, I simply asked how much would it cost…) 4) Premium gearbox fluid $ 30 ($ 79.99 for my rear differential fluid to be flushed?! you gotta be kidding me…) 5) Wiper blades 2 for 38 (wtf?! You can get these at costco for 7.99…). Ok, Maybe I should have argued this amount during the time of payment, but I was super short on time.
I then called the store to complain, the store manager said he couldnt do anything for me, and I simple asked for who can help me. He passed my information on to Mark… and he called me back later that day. «MARK» said he would go ahead and reimburse everything except for an oil change. It took 2 months to get this situation resolved, but, it got fixed and Shawn, the owner of Grease Monkey worked his hardest to fix the situation.

Don’t let the old negative Unilocal reviews dissuade you from coming here. They’ve either tired from the negative feedback or they replaced their staff because I had no problem getting in and out and on with life.
This is one of two places that is open on Sunday if you are in a fix in the area to get your oil changed (the other being Jiffy Lube but they tend to have an hour long wait). I called ahead and told the nice phone chick that I had a Unilocal check in deal, and the make and model of my car. She checked the manufacturers recommendations for the type of oil (synthetic, which is true for our vehicle, so its good to know that they are able to confirm and check options) and we came right in. This place also has synthetic blend oil that is about 20 bucks cheaper than synthetic but you should probably make sure that it is factory recommended for your vehicle.
Also, boyfriend decided the last time that he got an oil change that synthetic oil = 10,000 miles so you can bet it has been a long while since he attended to his poor engine. After I mocked his reasoning for about 10 minutes the desk lady took pity on him and explained why that isnt true: when you buy your automobile from the dealership, they usually fill it with high grade factory synthetic oil that is more expensive than your run of the mill oil change station oil and therefore can last much longer, which is why when you get a new car you can go longer without an oil change at first. But once you stick in that common oil shop oil in there, you’re pretty much clamped down to maintaining your car every 3 – 5 months or 3 – 5,000 miles.
I’m from Detroit so I think im used to a certain standard of oil changing: usually you never have to get out of your car, the guys show you your own dipstick before and after and they show you how dirty your filters are. This is so you don’t get ripped off. Since this doesn’t seem to be the practice on the west coast, I recommend asking to see all of these things every time you get an oil change, because you never know. The one guy did try to up sell us on air filters, which were replaced only a few months ago so I knew that he was trying to get some more dollars through the door there. But hey its a business, and I get it. Just cover your own ass when you go through places like these and ask to see the filters and dipstick before you purchase anything further.
Other than that we were out in less than 30 minutes, and everyone was very nice. No morons under the hood, and no hidden coverages that popped up when we went to pay. Extra star for being open on a Sunday with no wait.