New Year's Day with an overheated engine and Bret answered our call, met us at the shop, diagnosed the issue, and taught us how to fix it. Couldn't ask for more. Happy New Year's to Bret and this fine establishment. read more

part 2 of our review Bret had scheduled me to come back up from Orange County to pick up our truck after just a few days from ordering a new trans to completed installation and calibration picked up my 2018 Chevy Silverado today Bret was great. showed me old parts and completely explained what he'd done just returned home after 5 hour drive new trans shifts better than ever with no leaks or issues I'd highly recommend Bret Metcalf as your go to Transmission shop in Bishop CA A+++ read more

While on vacation, our truck experienced a strange shifting issue and was stuck on a boat ramp. They troubleshot with us via phone and saved the day - we are extremely appreciative! read more

Grandson driving our Yukon from Washington to California. Of course, the transmission goes out. Jim Allen group assessed the problem accurately. Great service, timely, the Yukon was finished in a few days. Jim Allen did all the technical required checks. Well done!! Our grandson was able to move from California back to Washington safely with the new transmission. read more

Had a car break down in Mammoth. No one there could look at for several weeks. Called Jim Allen and they said they could look at it. Had it towed from Mammoth there. Brett was able to look at it right away. He determined it needed a new engine. We decided the car was to old to fix. Had we gone ahead with the new engine, we would have had Jim Allen's do it. Would definitely recommend Jim Allen's Auto-Matics. read more

I'm currently traveling the entire country in a 1973 Dodge Dart sport. So when I wasn't even 2,000 miles from home and started to experience hard shifting (on a tranny I had rebuilt 20k miles ago) I was more than worried! First off, they answered the phone on their day off and got me in at 9am the next day, on top of that he walked me through what it could be and how old cars respond to elevation/heat/changes in environment all without that terrible feeling of someone making you feel like a dummy! The best part... this is not one of those shops that takes advantage... I was totally willing to accept I screwed over my tranny and could have been had by this business. Instead he said "let's take a look" and for under $300 I was out the door. He even lended his ear to a few other minor issues I was having that I could fix myself! I can't recommend this place more! These are the kinda people you wanna go have a beer with when it's all done! Thanks so much! Took my despair and turned it completely around. Let me add I am a female and I often hear we are treated poorly at shops. If you've had this experience somewhere.... Throw that out the window everyone is equal over there! No "mansplaining" just straight facts with a smile! Update: Their advice was great and for a $28 brake light switch and replacing a half burnt fuse I have my brake lights working again! Also love the confidence I was given to just go figure it out with a direction to go in! Especially mentioning I rarely go to shops and like figuring things out, maybe just not when it's 100 out read more

I thought I had a bad transmission. I called and talked with Jim Allen Automatics and discussed a rebuild or all new transmission. I was fearing a bill of a couple thousand dollars. Turns out it was a loose vacuum line. They're super honest and efficient. Absolutely recommend them and will definitely bring all my vehicles here from now on. read more

Shady at best!!! Buyer beware, absolutely the worst possible service imaginable. Took teuck in for transmissikn issue, Brett said it was 95% sure it was a governor switch(?). By the way this is all he does is transmissions! Well, next day he said it needed complete rebuild for $3200, but surprisingly he could do it in the same amount of time as replacing a switch (wow). I paid in full, got truck back only to have it break down 20 miles out of town! Had to get a tow back and lost half a day of work. No apaology from this hack, he just told me id be put in back of line of trucks. PAID IN FULL BY THE WAY. Its now been 2.5 months and he refuses to text back, no answer phones, no call back! Fukn crook is what ive determined, so im filing complaints where i can, and then im going to take him to court for dishonest amd piss poor business practices. Dont go here if u like your money and vehicle, you might not get either one back!!!! read more

Jim Allen's Auto-Matic helped us make the best of a bad situation while on cross country vacation almost 2,000 miles away. I'll start my story by saying that the transmission on my 2000 Ford Excursion went out at 9000 foot elevation 4 miles south of the Yosemite gates. When our rollback tow truck showed up we had no idea where to take it. Being in a tough spot 2,000 miles away from home expense was no object, but reliable service with a warranty, and quick service while on vacation, in a place you know noone, was very important. So we had the "Ground Force One" towed to a Ford dealership with comments on our urgency, all contact info, and clearance to fix whatever was broken. The dealership opened at 7 but when I called at 9:30 noone had even bothered to pull my truck to a service bay. After finding this out I began calling the FEW other shops in the area which all recommended JAAM. I then called JAAM where I spoke to Brett who was very courteous, very knowledgable, and had a sense of urgency. I called a tow truck AGAIN to move it and had it brought to Jim Allen's. When I got the vehicle there I was given all of the possibilities and estimated costs even when I told him to spare no expense in fixing this vehicle, which I will own till I die, he explained how some options would be overkill. A new transmission was needed, he called me with cost, gave me a timeline, got approval, and got it repaired. It came with a nationwide manufacturers warranty that I did not expect from an independent. He asked that we call him when we returned home which was my pleasure. I enjoyed satisfaction of a strong transmission as I drove right past where we had broken down near Yosemite, Knob Hill and Lombard Street in San Fran, and the turns and elevations of Pacific Coast Hwy, much less the 1day 5 hour drive home 6 days later. Highly Recommend their services! read more

Jim Allen's Auto-Matics - Read the rear window. Me needed help! - Auto Repair Near Me - Bishop, California

See all

Took my older Chevy in for a leak on my TH400 transmission. Truck sat there for a few weeks with no call. I called them a number of times. Finally they claimed they couldn't find leak but went ahead and replaced gasket and filter anyway. $300 and almost a month later I got it back. The leak continued. Not fixed! I called and left a message with no return call. A couple months later fluid started pouring out while driving around town. Fortunately I was close to home. I ordered a pan and gasket and when I went to replace it myself I found 3 pan bolts only finger tight. When people hear about my experience here they all nod their head and say they've heard similar and worse. I wish I knew ahead of time. read more

Brett and Dave and the guys at Jim-Allens are genuine folks and totally know their stuff with transmissions. On our way to Burning Man in our 1972 Dodge Cabana motorhome, we had some transmission issues. They gave us honest advice and helped us get back on the road without a whole immediate rebuild read more

Jim Allen's Auto-Matics - Brett and Dave and the guys at Jim-Allens are genuine folks and totally know their stuff with transmissions. - Auto Repair Near Me - Bishop, California

I can't say enough on how much Brett helped us. We were traveling through Bishop towing our Jeep when our trucks rear axel broke. Brett tried every way possible to get us on the road fast but in the end we had to order a new axel from Detroit which took a few days. When the part came in he had it fixed perfectly within an hour. We made it to our destination with no problems and the truck ran great! Thank you Brett! Best Mechanic and knows his stuff! read more

Dave Metcalf saved our summer RV vacation trip.... Our transmission died 2 miles north of Bishop (250 miles away from home) and put us ahead of existing work at his shop to make sure we were able to get to the annual Burningman Festival 400 miles away in Gerlack Nevada. He was professional, and funny....extremely knowledgeable about all mechanics, more than helpful and was extremely fair with the price that he charged. Hopefully your transmission doesn't need repair but if it does and you are close to Bishop, his shop is the only place to go..... He's also a Hot Air Balloon Commercial Pilot for hire... read more

We were helped by Jerrod! Very nice and knowledgable guy. He spent like 30 minutes detecting the problem and changing the transmission fluid. We were charged only $60. Our whole transmission needs to be replaced, but we need to do that at home. Thank you Jerrod! read more

Trans went out in Bridgeport. Was able to get it to Jim Allen's. He stayed late on a Saturday so I could get a rental car. These guys are great. They communicated with me on progress several times and finished the job early and on budget. Nice to find an honest shop that really knows what they are doing. read more

What we hoped would be an easy fix proved to be otherwise. Our radiator blew when driving to the Ancient Bristlecone forest. AAA helped us get our truck to Bret @ Jim Allen who said he could get us fixed by 1 the next day. Well, it was ready at 3, but at least we had the repair done. Then the next day, on our second attempt at the Bristlecone forest, the radiator blew AGAIN. Grrr. Nursing the truck back to Bishop showed the replacement was defective. Bret took the time to remove the failed replacement, replace it again (with a better quality radiator and with all the necessary coolant) and had us once again on our way. Here's the best part: On our way out of town the following morning, Bret pulled into the gas station where we were filling up to check on us. He wanted to be sure the new replacement was doing its job. We made it home (uphill all the way to Tahoe) and didn't have any more problems. Thanks again to Bret for taking the time and making sure the job was done right. read more

Jim Allen sold the business to some guy named Dave years ago. When the differential on our Jeep started whining, Dave turned out to be the only game in town for a repair and we didn't feel safe trying to get it back to civilization where a real mechanic could look at it. Dave quoted $600 for replacing the seals and bearings, and let us know it would more if the ring and pinion gears were bad. When my wife picked up the car the bill was over $900 and included only new seals and bearings. Worse, Dave told her that the brakes were shot and that the Jeep was unsafe to drive. He wanted another $600 for new pads and turned rotors. I ordered new pads and rotors on line and did the work in the motel parking lot myself for less than half that. I also found that only one of the eight pads was worn to the bottom of the wear groove, and even that one had several thousand safe miles left on it. The rotors were only lightly worn and didn't need turning at all. Could have gotten away with a hundred buck set of pads, but I'm not complaining about $300 for all new rotors and pads when Dave would have charged twice that. If the differential repair is any indication, it would have been another $900 bill. If you're stuck in Bishop and have no other choice, Dave's an OK mechanic but there are "issues" with his prices. Judging from the $450 range differential repair quotes I got when we returned to the Los Angeles area, he has no problem taking advantage of stranded tourists. read more