Gray’s Auto Service Texaco Station

Excellent customer service and superb repair!

This is by far the worst auto service shop I’ve ever had to deal with. Back on May 25^th of this year, my alternator to my car went out. I had the car towed to gray’s shop, they charged 561.00 dollars to replace the alternator. When I receive my car back with the new alternator, I had three faults displaying on my dashboard showing an engine soon light, traction control light and slip light. It took another mechanic from another shop to figure out that my new alternator is wrong voltage and is rated lower than what my car requires. Of course Chris the mechanic is trying to deny he didn’t put the wrong alternator, he also saw the faults on the car even after he replaced the alternator. I took the car back to them for warranty repair this morning and they are still in denial and are not making any effort to resolve this issue. I’m very upset at this point. I STRONGLY encourage everyone who reads this review not to bring your vehicle to Gray’s auto shop no matter what, even if they are closet shop to you. They lack customer service skills and the manage is com artist and does not manage his crew.

Brought my car here since it was close and I just needed an inspection and emissions test. They failed my emissions test due to a problem with my cooling system. While it was being repaired, they said another issue came up, while I am no car expert, I had no choice but to believe them. At one point, they called and asked if my car had ever overheated before… Nope, nIt was there for 5 days after I took it in for a regular inspection. I ended up paying over $ 800, and 3 months later, I find out that the issue was not fixed and I have to pay $ 500 to fix it elsewhere.

Very friendly and efficient staff! Thanks Phan.

I’ve lived in Arlington for over two decades. Took two different cars here for state inspections (4 visits) before I figured out that this ‘service’ station ALWAYS find something wrong so they can fail the car and (hopefully) make some coin getting paid to fix it.
I think the last straw was when they insisted on failing me because the after-​market add-​on halogen fog lamps on my car didn’t work.
I explained that I’d bought this car from a previous owner more than 6 years before, that the fog lamps had never functioned, and that the car had passed inspection (at other garages) 3 other times since I’d owned it.
The ‘service’ mechanic/​inspector then insisted that Virginia’s rule is that ‘all lights on a car must work’ — so he could either fail the car or charge me to fix the lights or to charge me to remove them.
I left, went to another nearby service (notice the LACK of quotes!) station the next day, and the car passed inspection without any problem. I really don’t see how this place remains in business.

I used to go here all the time and was very pleased, but in the last 2 years it seems to have gone downhill. Long waits for repairs and not delivered at time promised. Last year I had a very expensive repair on my 2003 Honda Odyssey air conditioning system, where they did a bunch of stuff that didn’t fix the problem, and finally fixed it for over $ 1000. This took a week without my car and lots of excuses. Now several months later the thermostat they replaced (which wasn’t the actual problem finally) doesn’t work right again. So now I am going to Reinhart’s across the street and so far have been pleased.

I’ve have had the worse experience ever. I took my car for a safety inspection. To begging the gentleman who checks the car was very rude and hostile, he gave me a hard time to start because my car already had a rejection ticket. I explained to him I have already taken cared of the Malfunctions previously projected. He failed me because I was missing a battery holder, I agreed to have this part serviced so I could move ahead and obtain my sticker. My car Remained standing in the front for almost an hour, once they began to work on my car the mechanic who was servicing my vehicle was also multitasking servicing additional customers who kept arriving. I stood right in front of my vehicle watching his work, It took him a total of 20 minutes to drill a hole and put together the new parts. They charged me for a full 1 hour of Labor 88 $ plus parts, Even thought the person servicing my car split his time among 2 other vehicles during this hour. I spent 2 hours in total only to find out at the end they could not provide me with the sticker because the person who originally inspected my car clocked out. The other person in charge offered to check my car but threatened me that he could find additional problems if he checks it him self and suggested to come in the morning to obtain the sticker from the primary who checked me earlier. I explained to him I have nothing to fear, I already have taken my time to fix my car, but he continue avoiding the situation so they could move along. My car was the last one in the shop. I’ve had a nightmare this day, A simple safety inspection check out turned out into a 2 hours complete waste of time for nothing and to only return the next day. I will never return here, and I will advice anyone to find other alternatives.

My car had a flat tire, and came in here after reading the Unilocal reviews. I don’t share the 2 others high opinions of this place.
One guy rung me up at 10 bucks, before the manager came over and changed the total to 22.50. 20 bucks for the flat (prices just changed… uh huh…) and 2.50 for a new valve stem. Whatever. They fixed the flat tire, but didn’t put my donut back on until I asked them to. The mechanic also told me initially that he wasn’t sure he could remount the donut. What? It’s a late 90’s Japanese car. I told him I’d wait til he figured it out.
I got my flat tire fixed fairly quickly (about 30 – 40 minutes), but I wouldn’t go back again. I was a bit annoyed at the «instant price change.»

Took my car in for my state inspection. It was quick even though there was a small line (not too bad for 2 days left of the month and being there 15 mins after it opened — M-​F 8am to 5pm, and open on Sat.? to 2pm). The bad news was that it failed.
Got an estimate on the work that needed to be done = $ 120.
That was reasonable to me (hate my car and thus really hate spending $ on it). Got a call though a few hours later though — the actual cost was going to be $ 500 since it was something more than originally thought. Since I hate my car, I said nope. That was too much money and I’d rather just get rid of my car then fix it. Then, I got a call after the business closed from the manager/​owner (?) that he agreed that it was way too much $ to spend on a car & that he had fixed it for much less. My car was ready for pick-​up.
It came up to about $ 180, with his cheaper fix, and I was okay with the price to have my car for another year (even if I do hate it — it gets me around).
When I picked it up, the owner/​manager said that it was fixed, but that next year I may actually have to do something more to it since the underlying problem may still exist, but now I had a year to not spend that money.
I just got a 12 month reprieve on finding a new car or deciding if I want to go car-​free…

I didn’t grow up here with a «family mechanic» so had to go with Trial and Error over the years, and often, it was an error.
The best, honest auto repair place I’ve found is Gray’s Auto on Lee Highway just past the on ramp for 66 West. It’s a Texaco station today, used to be Shell I believe, but the people are the same. Rocky is the guy I usually deal with and he’s always treated me fair. They post their hourly rate behind the register and it’s around $ 70, which is not bad compared to many of the dealers and other places.
I’ve let them work on my 1991 Miata and my 2001 BMW and I’m sure they have saved me money on both. One time, I had a flat tire, so used fix a flat and then drove it over there to replace the tire. I was adamant I wanted a new tire, but they talked me out of it and instead charged me $ 6 or $ 8 to plug the hole in my tire. I had never done this before, so was nervous about another flat, but am still driving on the tire 4 years later.