Auto repair service near Wewahitchka, FL

My grandfather’s tire came off on the highway!!!!!!!!!! They fixed it but should not have happened to begin with

"Gears Transmissions of 2615 Canal St, Panama City Fl. 32405" ruined my pristine 2006 Honda van and charged me $6400.00 cash up front for the destruction they caused! They prey on elderly people with the ability to pay. They do not take credit cards to avoid taxes and credit card company intervention. They "rebuilt" rebuilt the transmission twice and broke the motor mounts and heat shield on re installation. Gears did not know how to adjust shift lever, it takes several times moving the lever back and forth to get the key out of the ignition. My wife can not drive this unsafe van, We can't take the van out of town for fear of not making it back. I wrote them a letter demanding my money back. They have not responded. Their "Lifetime warranty" is a worthless piece of paper. It has been a year and a half for me nursing this "Pristine" van around in the local area. Gears Transmissions, for $6400 has made my pristine Honda van worthless. Maybe this will help someone else avoid being taken to "the cleaners" by Gears Transmissions. The 5 star review above by "Keith" might just might be Bo Bo, Keith Wayne, he works there!!

I have been taking my car service problems to Alford Tire Center for more than 26 years... this should tell you why I trust them. During this time, they have serviced Nissan, Mazda and GMC autos for me and I've never been disappointed. They do the work you ask for and don't try to upsell you. Highly Recommended. Al D. Panama City, FL

I have been doing business with Alford's for a number of years now and have always been extremely satisfied with the service I have received. They are all so very friendly, efficient, honest, and capable. Everyone from the service desk personnel, the mechanics, and the service techs, they are all so very patient in explaining exactly what is wrong, how to fix it, and then give a quote that is very reasonable. I know I have been fortunate to find a very rare commodity in Alford's....... an honest, reliable, efficient, place to have my car serviced and repaired. They always seem to go above and beyond what is called for and I appreciate them all the more for it. I highly recommend Alford's because once you try them, you will never need or want to take your vehicle anywhere else.

I have been taking my truck to Alford Tire Center for over 10 years due to their excellent automotive service and to this day I haven't hadto return my vehicle for repeat problems. Chris Turner was specially helpful by going out of his way to ensure my vehicle was properly and promptly repaired. I will gladly continue to do business with these fine automotive experts. Thanks Alford Tire Center BTW...their facility is always impeccable and as a former aviation specialist (QA/QA Testing) can certainly appreciate these professional maintenance details. Joe Belmont

Don was very knowledgeable and helpful and his rates were very reasonable.....he's been at it a long time and knows his stuff and he won't rip you off....i recommend you use him ....

Excellent service on the oil, filter and transmission service. Noticed a leak of fluid on my garage floor a couple of days after the service. Called and got a a response at my home with a replacement car and a clean up of the spot on the floor. It appears that the oil filter was defective and required replacement. While in the shop, they noticed part of the heat shield had torn away (I had driven through some some deep puddles at speed that cause the shield to be torn away). They recommended replacement, ordered the new (modified) heat shield and returned my car. Again, great service and the highest recommendation to all to use this shop for routine and special maintenance.

Crooked, overpriced service. The bottom line - Slow service: took A-1 Transmission 7 days before they even took my transmission apart - Expensive: charged $810 for a job that takes approximately 5-6 hours. Other shops quoted $350-$550 for an 8 hour job of similar scope (old transmission out, new transmission in). - Evident lack of expertise: A-1 Transmission’s solution to any problem is to buy a rebuild kit and swap parts, even if the rebuild kit is not required. The experience I rebuilt the transmission on my truck myself but was having an issue with one of the clutch packs. I called their shop, per a friend’s recommendation, and asked if they would mind taking a look at my issue. The shop happily sent over their "free" towing service, for which I was later charged $50. Jeff, the owner of A-1 Transmission, said that he would have one of his mechanics take the transmission apart to see if they could find the issue. For the next 7 days, I never received an update call. I called the shop every day, and every day, Jeff told me that they had not yet disassembled the transmission. On the 7th day, the owner told me that they had finally taken the transmission apart and it needed a full rebuild. He said that they would need to purchase a full rebuild kit and that the repairs would cost $2800. I knew this was unnecessary since I had just rebuilt the transmission and the clutches and steels had 0 miles on them (I later found that my problems were because I had put a reaction plate in the place of a pressure plate. The fix was very easy, took 5 minutes, and required no additional parts.). By this point, I was not comfortable with the shop's competence. I told the owner to stop all work, pack up the parts, and that I would pick the truck up and do the repairs myself. I asked Jeff to figure out how much I owed him for their work so that I could pay him before I picked up the truck. He told me that I owed $810 for the work and the "free" tow. Knowing that the amount of work his shop performed could not be more than 5-6 hours, I asked the owner how much time they had spent on my truck. He said that they did not keep track but that he estimated 10 hours: 6 hours to pull the transmission, 2 hours to take the transmission apart, and 2 hours to box up my parts. I know from experience (backed up by many internet sites) that it takes approximately 4 hours to pull a transmission, 30 minutes to an hour to disassemble a transmission, and less than 10 minutes to place a few items in a box. To confirm my suspicions that I was being grossly overcharged, I called a few shops in the area and asked how much they charge to remove a transmission and then install a new transmission. This is approximately an 8 hour job - 4 hours to take out the transmission, 4 hours to put in the new transmission. Panhandle Transmission quoted me $350 and Bill's Transmission quoted my $550. This means that A-1 was charging me 370% of the local rate. I brought this information to Jeff’s attention but he refused to drop the price. Since the truck is my daily driver, I had no choice but to pay the excessive $810. On the day that I scheduled to pick up my truck, I contacted the shop to make sure my vehicle would be ready when I arrived. Jeff assured me many times that the truck would be ready. Of course, when I showed up, my truck was still in the back and my parts had not been boxed up. I was made to wait an hour before one of the shop's employees was free and could retrieve my vehicle. In all, I was extremely dissatisfied with the quality of the service provided and the outrageously high prices. I will never take any of my vehicles back to A-1 Transmission and I strongly discourage others from making the same mistake.

Left a 1985 F-250 at this garage for a complete engine rebuild as part of a rehab project. I purchased all the parts myself. One month short of 4 years later I finally got the truck back. I had been put off and put off and put off again and again and again. I was patient because I thought I was getting a good job. Upon taking the truck out for its first test ride I noted the oil pressure dropping and fluctuating. I stopped the truck and let it run at idle for about 20 minutes as I monitored the situation. After this time there was about 1/2 quart of oil under the engine. I tool it back to Brunos Garage and he stated that he had left an incorrect adapter on the Oil pressure sensor engine mount and that it should be good to go. I again took the truck and drove about 10 miles at which time I pulled over to check the situation again. Again there was oil dropping off the bottom of the engine at a rate of a few table spoons every 5 minutes. Taking the truck to another garage I was informed that both valve covers were leaking and the rear main seal was bad. This job is estimated to cost me $2500 - $3000. Bruno seems like a good mechanic for normal, routine uncomplicated repairs, Fuel pump, tune ups, water pumps, etc but be aware that, at least in my case I paid him $4250 and spent about another $2000 on engine parts and after 4 years I'm left with a crappy engine. I deeply regret leaving this job at this garage. Update 24 Feb 15 The new mechanic, who I took the truck to identify where the oil leaks were coming from, did find where they were coming from. The rear main seal was installed poorly and one valve cover was completely missing a gasket. In addition they found a few bolts on the engine not tightened down and just thumb tightened up to the metal ( I had noted a clunking noise while driving it). They also reported that the exhaust system, which was fabricated and installed by Brunos Garage, was poorly welded and had several leaks around the co-joined sections where bends were made. Another job over $2000 to identify and fix the oil leaks due to poor work at Brunos Garage After this work I took the truck to GEARS for a rebuild of the front end 4x4, Dana 44 axil. They also found a few more loose bolts and also commented on the poorly fabricated exhaust system and noted the exhaust leaks. When they lift the truck the rear axil drops somewhat. It turned out that when the rear leaf spring dropped that it contacted the fabricated/installed exhaust and broke the support welds holding the exhaust up. So this exhaust was poorly fabricated and poorly installed, and is now just dangling. It will have to be modified otherwise every time the truck is lifted the rear axil weight will rest on the exhaust and break its strap holding it up. I keep waiting to find more things wrong. I spent $4250 at Brunos Garage and waited almost 4 years and ended up with an amateurish job. Again Bruno appears to be good at the smaller, common and less complex jobs. For anything advanced or complex I would suggest looking elsewhere.

I came to gears on Friday, February 13 to get my RV transmission fluid changed. I called ahead of time and they told me to bring it in. Upon arriving at gears I was left to sit at the counter for over 30 minutes before I was told they couldn't get it in today. I then made an appointment to return on Monday at 11 AM. I was assured that they would clear out their garage to make room for my 33 foot RV and be ready for me when I got there. Upon returning on Monday I observe the garage was full of other vehicles. The counter guy approached me and told me he couldn't get me in for another 20 minutes or so. I then ask him why he wasn't ready for me, he knew I was coming. His reply was it'll only be a few more minutes. I then went out to my RV for a little while when the counterman knocked on the door and told me he couldn't get me until later this afternoon. I feel my time was wasted by coming here not to mention gas for my RV it only gets 5 miles to the gallon.I would not recommend anyone go to this place unless you want to run around.