I'm so relieved to have found an auto shop I trust. I've been here twice and have left with my car running nicely and me totally satisfied. Unlike other repairshops where I've left feeling like they ripped me a new one. Both times Gateway knew I didn't have a lot of money to spend, so they took me through a list of things that needed to be done and things that could wait. As in "do this now, but this other thing can probably wait until next season." A couple years ago they gave my '99 Altima a once-over before driving down to NC, and the car ran perfectly the whole way down and back. I also notice lots of women coming in and out of here, which tells me they've probably also come to trust the place. read more

I've taken my car to Gateway many times over the last 2 years. I've had oil leaks fixed, tires and glass repaired, and thermostats replaced. Steve is very knowledgeable and always answers my questions. Very professional and easy to work with. I won't be taking my car anywhere else! read more

You need a reliable auto repair shop in the City? Well, you've found it now! Go see Steve... he's the best! He knows cars and what they need and at a price that's really reasonable. read more

I went in because my hood wouldn't close after a minor fender bender and he not only fixed my hood so that it would close properly, he changed my hub cabs..... for free!! It only took him a total of 15 minutes to asses the situation and fix both problems. This is the only place I will take my car in Chicago from now on. read more

Quick and easy! Came in for a battery check 30 mins before closing. Battery was dying so they quickly ordered my part and installed it that night even though they were closing. Will definitely go back! read more

Please, do not go here. It was the other positive reviews that drove me to this shop and had a horrible experience. I had asked for a cost upfront of any and all charges for work done on my car. They charged me a $90 fee that I did not approve. They asked for that fee still after I had initially agreed to have the work done. They would not give me my car back, turned from nice guy to jerk. One of the guys at the front even had the name "Shady" on his shirt. The cops were called and after a big headache they told me i need to pay in cash cause their credit card machine 'just broke." Even after arguing with them the whole time they would not accept the $87 cash (all the cash i had) on me. They made me fish through my car for the $3 difference, paid in change. Just keep this in mind.... everything is great until the second you MAY have an issue and they will hold your car hostage. read more

Thank you for using the Better Business Bureau's Online Complaint System. Filed on : May 24 2007 Filed by : jerome Filed against : gateway auto service 2057 W Division St chicago IL 60622 Complaint Description: i gave my car to Gateway Auto Service to look at a mechanical repair that i believed was due to a recent accident my car was involved in. My car already was fixed by our body shop through our initial claim and it's front end body was in perfect condition. After Gateway Auto Service unsuccessfully filed the complaint with the insurance (it lasted 3 weeks) i decided tuesday may 22d to pick up my car and to bring it to our dealer for further analysis and inspection. when i walked in to pick up my car, hours after calling Jim to tell him i was picking it up. i noticed that my entire front hood was scratched. (it is brand new). i made a little scene asking for Jim to come out of his office and take action on the damages that were obvious to my car. Right when Jim came out, he lost his temper, started screaming at me and asked me to follow him into his office. As soon as we were in his office, Jim grabbed boxes, his chair and anything he could find and started to throw everything around in an act of extreme violence. i was paralysed. i told him that i will be back soon and left his office in fear of my person. 15 minutes later, i came back, Jim was gone and my car wasn't ready to go as the mechanics took parts apart to inspect the car for the insurance claim. the mechanic told me to come back and that he will "buffer" the car to erase the scratches - the only damage that i noticed as i am not a specialist., i came back 35 minutes later, to pick up my car and they were finishing it. Jim came out of his office, he was calmer, and told me to bring the car to George's Auto Body Shop 2723 W Grand Ave Chicago, IL 60612 (773) 486-2131 (Brian) and that Gateway Auto Repair will take care of the repairs. I went the next morning to George's and Brian found out that the car was a lot more damaged than i previously noticed, inculding scratches on the chromes rims around the lights, and the front bumper was unattached and damaged on the right side - where Gateway Auto Service did some inspection. Brian and i decided to do an estimate and contact Jim at Gateway Auto Service for him to take care of the damages done to the car while the car was in his care during the last 3 weeks. Today, Friday 24th of May, Jim refused to take care of the repairs as said by phone to Brian at George's Body Shop. I then called my insurance company to explain them the situation (Allstate) and they recommended that i seek legal action against Jim and Gateway Auto Service I then called Gateway Auto Service many many times today until i could finally speak to Jim (the manager). He straight away started to scream on the phone, declining his responsability and claiming that i was a fraud and that i scratched my car on purpose. I am outraged by what happened with Gateway Auto Service and Jim and i am scared by his threats. Now my car is sitting at the George's body shop and the estimate of the repairs are around 600$ max. Your Desired Resolution: I need Gateway Auto Service to fully repair the damages they caused to my car. This case will be reviewed by a complaint specialist at the Better Business Bureau, and then forwarded to the business for their response. It is our policy to allow the business 30 working days to respond to your complaint. You will be notified when the business has responded. read more

My Mazda's alternator stopped working while I was traveling in Chicago. I was able to call Gateway Auto and have my alternator replaced within a few hours. Steve called my local auto repair shop to get the part replaced under warranty. I was so happy to have this level of service and willingness to fit me in the schedule. This could have been a nightmare; instead it turned into a positive service experience. Two other Warranty servicers said it would take TWO days just to get me in. This was not good business. Steve, the mechanic, and Gateway Auto were my heros for my auto emergency!! read more

I bought a Groupon for a 20-point inspection here. After the inspection, they recommended I have my brake pads and some other things replaced, so I agreed and paid about $250. Since then the brakes have been squeaking so my wife took the car back in and they said the brake pads had been installed incorrectly and charged her another $250 to fix them. This place is a sham. NEVER go here. read more

I started going here because I got an Auto Care Special card, and they're not far from my workplace. I have had really great experience here in the past year. If you're only going for an oil change, know that they probably won't top off all your other fluids like they would at a quick oil-type place, but they also won't lose your brake fluid cap (like one of those unnamed places did). I've found them to be honest and kind. They never try to sell me anything I know I don't need, and they get the job done when promised. I don't know if they're the cheapest out there, but they'll try hard to find parts for you at the best price possible. There are Divvy bikes nearby so you can totally leave your car for the day and bike to work or wherever you need to go. read more

These guys are awesome! They have Speedy service, excellent customer service, and are all-around good guys that are running the place. They helped me out when I had a nail in my tire and when my license plate fell off my car and was very helpful. They also did a fast oil change at a fair price. No job is too small or too big for them. Keep up the good work! read more

great shop. they are honest, friendly and fixed my car with a .79¢ part and didn't tell me that i needed a lot of repairs that were unnecessary. we even had a candid conversation about how honesty is going to make me a repeat customer and they'll make more money in the long-term. i drive a honda and santos owns and races hondas, so i felt like my car was in great hands. everything was explained upfront and the car was even ready early. i'm taking my car there from now on. read more

All-around great experience. I trust these guys over bigger shops any day. I brought my car in late, they still made some oil changing magic happen. Great service, good prices, Dunkin donuts down the street with wifi. No contest, going to be giving Gateway plenty of business. read more

The guys here are great. Completely honest and trustworthy and reasonably priced. They'll show you what's wrong with your car so you can see it yourself, and they never try to push more than what you need. So happy that they're down the street from me. read more

This place saved me from the evil grasp of Fletcher VW! The Gateway did cost me HALF of the price of what the dealer quoted me! They even told me some work just plain didn't need to be done. AND they were a pleasure to work with. I will continue to take my car to this shop and will refer others as well. read more

I usually enjoy working on my own car. Which has proven to be difficult since i live in the city with no garage/parking spot. So I let these guys take care of it. They've been working on my cars for about 4 years now. read more

I have taken my car here several times and been very satisfied with their work and how they take the time to show and explain what is going on with the car & what needs to be done, and they are friendly and thoughtful and seem to be honest and make an extra effort to help customers. (this is from my own experience and watching them interact with others while I've been waiting there). I think maybe the $100/hr labor is a bit higher than some other local shops so if you need some very labor intensive work the cost can be up there. OTOH they do good work and they also added a check up a couple weeks after they put in new brake lines to make sure all was well, and when i came in with a minor problem they did not charge; and they let me order power mirrors online for them to install when i found them for less than they could get them. They also a while back referred me to where I could get something cheaper. read more

I live in the neighborhood and have been going to Gateway since 2003. These guys have always been perfectly honest and straight forward. Santos always takes the time to show you exactly what needs to be done and why. I have never had an issue when Santos is involved. The techs do the required work and don't ever tack on unnecessary repairs like some places will. My car never comes out of there dirty. I also saw some judgemental reviews. Just cause a guy has some tattoos and doesn't look right to you doesn't mean he is a bad guy. Get to know your local mechanic, he may be nicer than you think. read more

I had read some great reviews for this place so I called them and asked if when they could get my car in because the check engine light came on. Once I arrived they informed me it was 99.95 just to diagnose the code. I would have never bothered taking it over there and wasting my time. Any normal parts store will check the codes for free. I just think it is ridiculous to charge 100.00 just to see what the computer spits out, and to not tell people this on the phone. And yes I signed up for Yelp just to write this review. read more

My friend referred me to this mechanic so I brought my car in. The mechanic was very nice, and looked at my car right away and he finished work by the end of the day. A day later, the problem was back, so I brought the car in and paid for him to fix it again. A few days later, problem was back again. I was going out of town, so I thought I'd give him a chance to look at it for a bit longer. He called me to tell me that there was a part he had figured out I needed, so I told him he could order that (about 200-300 I think). When I got back from being out of town, he had done a lot of extra work that I had not asked him to do, and was unnecessary. He had also ordered a bunch of other parts which he said would be necessary for the repairs to hold up. I was very confused, and needed my car, so I paid half and said I would bring the car back when the parts arrived. After driving the car around, it seemed fine, and the more I thought about it the less I felt that the repairs he was charging me for were necessary. I was very disappointed that I had sunk many more hundreds of dollars into the car for him to try and fail to fix the problem over and over and then do unnecessary repairs for me. I would definitely not recommend this place, unless you get a written quote for exactly what they are going to do and make sure they don't charge you over the top like they did to me. read more

My name is Jim and I am the Manager of whom Jerome has written about. I am very disappointed at him for writing this and would like to have my say. First Jerome has been a customer here for the 3 years I have been working here at Gateway. In regard to this statement that Jerome has made, he has left out a few crucial details. First the recent accident he mentioned was 4 months ago. Secondly, as far the unsuccessful claim that he mentioned in his statement. He forgets to say that when he left the car, he left no claim number, just a name of an adjuster that was on vacation. When we called the adjuster and found he was on vacation, it gave us the name of a second who was out of the office. When they finally called us back, the claim was so old they had to call their office for the number. While all of this was going on, we drove the car in at night and out during the day. The adjuster declined the claim because of the time frame from the initial and didn't believe it was caused from the accident. He also forgot to mention that when he walked up to the office where my tech went to greet him, he walked right past him and went straight to the car and started to swear and cuss at my tech about his hood. Which I am not sure how from his angle and how slight the scratch marks were, he knew to look for them. When I went to talk to Jerome, I asked him to come inside the office because he started to yell and swear at me. In fairness to both of us, it was a hot day. Now, in regard to his statement of me throwing anything I could get my hands on. This is my version of how it happened. When I came into the office with Jerome, I moved a catalog from my seat and tossed it on to the counter. The catalog fell and so did the box that I tossed into on to. When they both fell I tossed both of them on to the floor, no where near Jerome and certainly at him. While this was going on my tech was attempting by hand to remove the scratches with buffing compound. There were 2 scratches left that Jerome and I both looked at and I told him if he wanted to take it to the body shop we deal with I would pay to have them removed. I did this just to be nice because he was a customer of ours. When the body shop called they said there was $500 worth of damage, including loose bolts on the fender. It was at this time that I declined to pay for this. I did so because I still believe the damage that he seen from 30 yards away as he was approaching into the sun was not caused by us. And by the way we never charged him for any of the work on the car. So, I hope you put the 2 stories together and check with our other customers to see we do all we can to take care of all your car needs in a professional and courteous manner. Thank you for reading this. read more

This is the 2nd time I have gone to Gateway and each time has been great. I have an older camry that I rarely drive and the check engine light was on and I was having some exhaust issues. I worked with Steve who was great. He was so nice and professional and explained everything to me. Gateway did the diagnostics and told me what was wrong with the check engine light and asked me if they should go ahead and fix it. They did and it works perfectly now. They also looked at the exhaust and said that since they weren't a muffler shop that they would have to replace everything and would run me $900. Steve was great about this and said that I should go to a muffler place (Mufflers 4 Less on Milwaukee) as they specialize in that sort of thing and can do it for much less. I really appreciated Steve's honesty and his recommendation. I took it to Mufflers 4 Less and paid $120 for the fix as they were able to do some welding and I didn't have to pay for a $900 repair. Gateway Auto is the best and I would always make them my first choice when doing any sort of repair. read more

do not go here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this place makes business deals, then doesnt follow thru, nine weeks with my antique car, i found the parts as to their request, paid over $400 for parts they did not put in or return parts completely til i placed several phonecalls. they say whatever to get your car , then i had to find the battery, painless wiring kit among other parts, i have to contact them for updates and its always an excuse, i contacted them several times during their "working on it" time. in the end i had to have it towed again from there to another place in the end, then drive a few times there to get parts they should have returned when i called to check that all was together two times, and yet they still fail. what way is that to run a business, thats why i am here letting you all know to besafe and away from any of this businesses locations, 840 w. washington, or any of the others in chicago. do not go to any of this businesses locations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this place deserves no stars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more