This is my 3rd visit back to get work that was long due. Called in the afternoon on Friday and Lim who is one of Raymond's workers did the work, stayed past 5pm for me and got my car out by 6:15pm or so. That included the time for the parts guy to deliver my parts. Has rear stabilizer bar bushings replaced due to excessive play and clunky noise. Past mechanics couldn't diagnose it properly until Lim did it in passing. So I'm impressed. Front stabilizer bar links seized and got those replaced too. This is for a 16 yr old car. Lim is a good guy. The old guy, says he's been doing mechanic work since 1986. If you're no stranger to car repair and maintenance, the price for parts and labour is right. read more

Gilman Auto - Rear sway bar bushing. Excessive play creating noises when going over speed bumps. Lim at Gilman diagnosed it. - Auto Repair Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

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Ups: Honest, fair, high-quality and economical repairs. All monetary-value goes to repairing your automobile. Downs: No frills waiting room and garage (read: dirty). No monetary-value goes into a fancy waiting room or coffee machine. Summary: If you wish to pay for honest, economical and high-quality automotive services Gilman Auto is for you. If you wish your hard earned cash to pay for gourmet coffee machines, a fancy waiting room and a premium garage (with potentially inferior service), go to a dealership. Full Review: Welcome to one of the best and respected local mechanic shop in Scarborough Ontario. Raymond Lee has over 30 years of experience in automotive repair, maintenance, performance modifications and customizations at fair prices. In fact at first sight you will be turned off by the humble industrial unit, crumbling tiled waiting room floor, and half-naked calendar girls hanging on the walls. As you peer through the door marked "customers cannot enter work area" you will be shocked by the mass of car parts stacked on shelves and the floor, the hanging florescent lights and the foreboding presence of mechanical chaos. If you have the stones to refrain from judging this book by its cover, you will not be disappointed. Gilman Auto has a large "fan-base" of intensely loyal customers throughout the Greater Toronto Area consisting of import enthusiasts, club racers and performance fanatics. The reason these folks and yours truly respect and admire Raymond is due to his honesty, high-quality work and the pride he and his staff put into their work. Not only does he provide quality service for a fair price, he stands by his work. Unlike the dealerships Raymond's bread and butter is repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations to friends and family. Additionally Raymond doesn't just fix cars, he also competitively road races (in a recreational capacity) his own race prepared Honda Prelude as evidenced by the numerous trophies displayed in-store. He knows his stuff, from common (but often expensive) maintenance to full out performance builds on both imports and domestics. Bottom line is that Gilman Auto offers high quality, open and honest automotive services at very fair prices. Keep an open mind and look past the facilities, you'll be glad you did. Oh and for the record no one knows what he says when he picks up the phone ... could be "Gilman" or "good afternoon" or "Mel Lastman". Don't ask, just tell him that Jerry from the Prelude Club sent you :) read more

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Came here over 6 times. Each experience was good, except my most recent experience. In the past Ray had the older Asian gentleman or the South Asian fellow work on my cars (I've brought 3 of my cars there for regular servicing), everything has always been done well without any damage to my cars during the servicing session. In late summer of 2017, my two rear tires were almost worn out on my race car (cost $94k new, was now 4 years old in mint condition) . So I purchased two new tires to have mounted and balanced on the 2 rear rims. Now I have 2 sets of rims. 1 winter set which isn't in perfect condition and 1 summer set which I purchased for about $2000 (forged alloy bbs wheels in mint condition). I went to his shop to install 2 rear summer times on those wheels. This time there was a younger Asian fellow, who seemed like an apprentice or a new graduate. He mounted and balanced the tires on my mint rims. When the job was done I immediately looked at my wheels. Both wheels has a 1.5 inch scratch along the edge, which probably occurred when the install used that long metal rod to lift the edge if the tire. My wheel should have been covered and protected when this was done. Gilman had gained my trust from previous jobs so I didn't take pictures to tell Ray to tell his guys to be careful with my wheels prior to the job or I didn't being the issue up with Ray because I didn't take pictures before hand and didn't want to come across as making stuff up. However, they left an ill feeling in my stomach and I was ranting about this to my car buddies on social media for about a couple of weeks I was so pissed off internally. My advice to the younger Asian worker, don't mess up people's wheels and be careful with your workmanship and don't wreck the reputation of Gilman Auto. In the future I won't bring any car worth more than $15k to this garage and I won't let them fix any thing where I feel can be damaged functional or cosmetically. Ray, you have been good in the past, but please reprimand your younger Asian worker by telling him that he cost me $240 if I want to make my wheels back to mint condition. I went to a wheel repair place and they told me this was the cost to fix the damaged which they classified as curb rash, but was actually caused by the younger Asian fellow who dismounted and mounted the tires on my mint rims. I feel for Ray for giving him this 1 star review and I held off doing so for a long time because I was conflicted as he was a straight up guy with me in the past , however he is still responsible for the staff that he hires and if he puts a new inexperienced guy to work on expensive cars or parts he should know better. The new trainee shouldn't be practicing on my mint rims unless he's sure he won't mess them up. Other than this incident 1 would give them 4/5 rating. I respect the older Asian worker, but don't like to hear him dropping f-bombs in Chinese while I'm sitting in the waiting area. read more

After going to a few shops around Scarborough to get quotes on a minor repair, and searching for more online, I decided to drop by Gilman Auto based on the Yelp reviews. I'm glad I did. It was my first time at Gilman Auto, and Raymond was professional, very helpful and straightforward. Compared to the other shops whose mechanics expressed replacing several parts, Raymond was honest about what can be done and that replacing parts are not the only option. After retrieving my car, the transaction was straightforward, and was true to the given quote. They did a great job and everything Raymond explained prior to the procedure was the case (i.e., Ray was true to his word). As long as Raymond is still there, I will most likely be coming back in the future for other automotive repair needs. read more

Can't ask for a more honest mechanic. Not the fanciest and prettiest place, but you're just there to get your car fixed. I know cars quite a bit and I have yet to see him remotely charge someone more than he needs to, of all the years I've lingered around his shop. Not a place for you to take your Ferrari there. No Bentleys too please. read more

Ray and the crew are a delight to work with, I was so impressed with his honesty, speed of work, and price. I have had four jobs done on my prelude and each time the work was excellent. I cannot recommend their work and service highly enough do not hesitate! read more

Ray and his team are amazing! Here are three words I would use to describe my experience: Honest, Fair, Excellent. As other reviewers have described - the place is not "easy on the eyes" but it's worth it! While I waited for my car I thoroughly enjoyed the parade of characters (customers & friends) who come and go. :) read more

Gilman Auto - Auto Repair Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

Just got a new car and had some concerns, squeaking rear tire, O2 sensor issues. Came first thing in the morning and literally everyone in the shop was looking for issues with my car, no issues were found but I was given some good advice. Was not charged for anything, they even topped up my coolant reservoir. If I have any issues with my car in the future I will be coming here. read more

No frills knowledgeable mechanic care. I've taken my 2002 Subaru Forester to Raymond twice so far. He has just enough sense of humour and friendliness, good diagostician, reasonable charges, doesn't advise getting more done than is needed, and fixes little things for free. What more could one want in a mechanic? read more

Raymond is truly honest. I brought my car for a brake pad inspection, which I thought needs replacement, but he simply explained the cause of squeaking sound and how to deal with it. He saved me some $$$ there. I promised him a lunch when I return. :-) read more

Raymond is delightful and has a great sense of humour! The place is certainly not glamourous however they get the job done with fair and honest pricing! They are fast and efficient and they certainly know their Honda's! Expect to pay around 25 to 30% less than the dealer would charge you as their labour rate is less! Raymond's recommendations have actually saved me money although he did talk me into synthetic oil which I noticed a big difference is my engine's performance! read more

Ray is the best mechanic I have ever been to in the Greater Toronto Area. He is straightforward, honest and simply a good guy. I have taken countless cars to him and referred him to my friends and family as well. Why do I trust Ray? Ill tell you. Once upon a time, I owned a 2008 Toyota Sienna which suddenly stopped accelerating while in drive. I towed the car to Ray's shop at night, dropped the keys through his mail slot and called him in the morning. I couldnt get time off from work so I called him from my office and asked him what the problem was. He looked at the engine and found out that there was a crack in my lower engine block and it would take $700 + 1 week to fix. I obviously trusted him so I left the van with him. A week later he calls me and says the van is ready to be picked up. I came with 700 and he turns around and says just pay $300. I am shocked. Turns out he found a liquid mixture which if you pour into the engine will turn into a foam and block the crack. Easy repair. However I would have never known. As far as I was concerned, he had to take apart the motor and replace the part. He could have easily lied to me and taken the $700. This is the honesty that makes me keep going back. Ray, if youre reading this..I am the guy with the black 2 door accord, the blue sienna, the TL and friends with the owner of the white TSX that had the serious transmission problem. read more

I took my car there was extremely disappointed. Their attitude was very cavalier .They showed no interest in getting my business.