Allen's Auto-Matics - Bishop, California

Bryan C.

I never thought I would say this about any mechanic and/or shop. Brett, the mechanic was extremely honest, extremely professional, provided me with a sense of confidence. He allowed me to be updated on every step , he also was extremely helpful, kind and considerate. I’ve never experienced this kind of customer service, service excellency, and integrity at a mechanic shop. If he has the space and or the availability, I will bring back all my vehicles to this professional mechanic shop.

Kent P.

I wanted to thank Brett so much. I was on a 11-12k Overlanding journey across the US and after cresting Silver Canyon I lost all forward gears in my 4 runner. I had to get a toe off the mountain on. Sunday but Brett was so kind to take a look early Monday to see what might have happened. He fit me in with the other customers he had responsibility taking care of and by early afternoon he had diagnosed that it was the throttle linkage cable that had been knocked out of position below the gear shift. What a relief not something major. I so appreciated his few updates he gave along the way as he was diagnosing and his ability in about a four hour period to get me back on the road again. The Toyota dealer across the street wasn’t going to be able to see me until the end of the week. Thanks so much Brett!!!!

Max S.

I was passing through Bishop on my way to the mountains, and I somehow managed to damage and puncture my transmission fluid pan. Bret managed to fix my car in just under two days, even after the replacement pan didn't fit quite right and he ended up having to tig weld the existing pan to get me back on the road. As someone who was just passing through I was very grateful to have my car fixed quickly and for a reasonable price. Thanks again Bret!

Wynne B.

It's an old, well-worn shop, but genius often hides behind grease. Years ago, Jim-Allen's Autos replaced the transmission on my late husband's Ford Explorer. The job was fine--no complaints. About 20,000 miles later, a girlfriend and I were driving the Ford on the Wheeler Pass Road in the Spring Mountains when the entire transmission blew, fluid everywhere, stopped dead in the middle of the dirt road. Luckily for us, some kids came along in a pickup and gave us a ride down to the only pay phone (no cell service), outside the High Desert Prison to call her husband to come tow us off the dirt road to the paved road. I put it in neutral and coasted sixteen miles to the prison parking lot where AAA picked it up. Left the car in Las Vegas to have the transmission replaced. I wrote the incident off to the vehicle's age and it being a Ford. Well, in 2018, took my 2005 Jeep to Jim Allen's as it was shifting hard in 4-low and they are the transmission specialists of Bishop. It was computer diagnosed as a "solenoid pack." They also said the transmission had never been serviced though my records showed otherwise. Got a verbal of $700, nothing in writing...it's a small town where you want to believe that a person's word is good. Final bill was $930. Know that in Bishop, most shops do not provide a written estimate, only the final bill, which is the only thing you'll ever sign. As long as Jim's fixed the issue, all was good. Noticing that there were no part numbers on the invoice, I asked "Junior" if he could give me the part number for the solenoid for my records. He didn't have the number, the old part or the packaging that the new part came in. After a few calls and some weeks later, he provided a part number over the phone: D72420A. Finally located the part via a dealer and web search. By happenstance, the transmission went out 18,000 miles later, and I was stranded along the highway. No worries. I called reliable Jim Allen's Auto-Matics who had always been there for us and asked if I could bring it in, that the transmission might very well need replacing. He said he'd get back to me...never heard from him again. Had it towed to another shop that replaced the old with a new warrantied transmission. So, a year later, was talking with another local gal in town who had the same experience at Jim's with the missing part numbers on her final invoice. She took a girlfriend with her on several occasions to get the part number, but never got it. We concluded that there are many reasons why a shop won't include a part number, some perhaps nefarious and some just overlooked. The mark-up on the aftermarket solenoid pack that cost between $185-285 retail was more than doubled, not just a 40% or 50% markup. I also think that the complexities of modern electronic transmissions might exceed their capabilities.

kelly R.

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!

Michael S.

We were in Bishop to visit with relatives. Drove up to Sabrina for the afternoon and stopped at the climbing course in Buttermilk. Got back to town and was backing out of the driveway when one of the axle shafts broke. The tow truck operator told me that Jim Allen worked on differentials. I dropped my vehicle off the next morning. The manager told me that it would cost $200 to fix but he needed to order a new axle. It took him three weeks to tell me that he was not able to get the right axle. I spent 1/2 hour on the phone and had an axle in Bishop the next day, Apparently he ordered four axles but when they came in he said they did not fit. Finally I got him to tell me what the problem was. He was ordering the wrong axles. He had the axle shaft in front of him but he did not know how to count the splines. The axles he ordered were 32 spline but the differential uses a 30 spline axle. This guy could not count the number of splines and wasted three weeks trying to get a 32 spline to fit into a 30 spline diff. Seems simple enough but he wanted me to pay him $500 because it took him three weeks to finish the job. Please read the review about the transmission that this same guy worked on. The third review is something he made up. Bishop is a small town. Not sure how long he will be in business but the folks traveling through the area seem to be his victims.

Matthew L.

Top notch! We had some transmission issues in our RV and limped into Bishop, stopping at every shop in town. The dude at Jim Allen was the only one to have the slightest idea what was going on. He diagnosed the problem over the phone and first thing in the morning he fixed us up and we were back on the road an hour later. We'd be living in Bishop if it weren't for this mechanic! Awesome shop.

Ryan K.

Did not get my car repaired here, as they do not specialize with Toyota Hybrids. However, in the midst of my vehicle crisis, Brett provided incredible customer service pointing me in the right direction to get my car repaired. He provided multiple bits of advice and was supportive of my situation.

Is this really even a review?... not really, but I would recommend this shop purely on my one phone call with Brett.