Gilman Collision Repair

I bought my first car on my own it was a total mile stone for me. The 2013 Toyota Corolla LE in super white. I’d hunted this color, make and model down and finally found the perfect one. No more than 2 days after buying it someone scratched my baby up while parking. Sean at Gilman Auto Repair took great care of me and my car. It was nice to receive such great customer service after such a heart breaking experience.

Nice people and they do really good work.

Great work, good rates, friendly staff. Came here on a coworker’s recommendation after my regular spot had changed ownership and became decidedly sketchy.
Took them in to take care of a some minor dents from a recent sideswipe hit-​and-​run. They had a look at the damage I wanted fixed, briefly remarked on other little scratches and scuffs possibly related to the accident, but in no way pushed me to fix them. (Unlike the other place — it’s in my reviews somewhere). No hassles.

I highly recommend Craig and his crew. My experience with Craig was excellent. Some nitwit in a huge SUV backed into my 2 year old Prius c just as I was backing out. Yes, I cried as I love my car. Anyway, I brought it to Craig, he examined the damage and suggested a new bumper and he did a perfect job… my car looks beautiful again. When I picked it up it was washed, waxed and vacuumed… now is that SERVICE or what???
Thank you Craig for going far and beyond to make this customer happy!

Craig is so good at what he does. Not only did he do a detailed walk-​around to inspect the damage caused by a hit-​and-​run, but he does all the paper work with Insurance, keeps you informed of the progress, and delivered the finished work earlier than expected. The entire experience was stress-​free. From the moment you meet Craig, he exudes confidence in his staff’s ability to perform a stellar job on your car.
My 2011 BMW 535 M package never looked better. I dare anyone to tell the car has been through a $ 8000+ damage repair. The car color is one that appears black in some light and blue in other light and I was a little worried but in the end I was so pleased with the results. My door had to be removed and replaced with great attention to framing and all the electronic gadgets associated with the door.
I wouldn’t dream of using any other repair shop. It was a great experience. Thank you Craig and team!

This group of folks offers stellar service! And excellent work! I needed some significant cosmetic work on my BMW convertible and my car got returned to me in pristine «like new» shape.
These guys are perfectionists in their work and bend over backwards to answer your questions and provide service.
And how about how pristine clean the entire operation is? The pride and care reflected by the operation is carried through to the pride with which they take care of your car.
Excellent! And Craig the owner is one of the nicest guys on earth.

Came here for an insurance repair because they are a Progressive shop. I was nervous about getting steered towards an insurance shop.
Got my car back to day and the experience was totally great. The car was done in just a couple of business days, before they said it would be done. The work looks great. They gave me a ride home after dropping it off.
Solid stuff

They did a good job fixing my bumper so that it looked brand new. They were nice to work with and the price seemed fair.

Gilman Collision had been recommended to me by an acquaintance for the repairs needed on my car. I bought it in and within a few days received the estimate which was surprisingly quite a bit higher than one I had received from another repair shop for the same work. When I brought this to the attention of the estimator he said he’d confer with his supervisor and get back to me. To be fair, his supervisor called me shortly thereafter and offered me a reduction in the estimate. I don’t know if it would have matched the other estimate because we didn’t get that far but that wasn’t what I was after anyway… I just wanted them to know that their estimate was really high right out of the box in comparison for the same work done elsewhere.
I wound up taking my car for it’s repair to another place so I honestly don’t know if Gilman does good work or not but my car runs great and looks fine for less and that’s ok by me!

Great estimate help by Gary!
I stopped by to get an estimate for my rear end dent on my car and Gary helped me clean it up a little, too; and I got an option to do the repair or leave it alone for now since it’s a tiny dent than I initially thought. Very honest and nice guy!

Was rear-​ended and Progressive insurance recommended Gilman Collision. This is a shop they work directly with, although I was definitely welcomed to choose a different shop if I wanted to.
The guys at the shop were great in keeping me updated by phone. Everyone’s super friendly and helpful.
Two weeks and over $ 4000 later, I was all set. Gilman Collision and Progressive worked seamlessly together and I didn’t have to pay a single dollar.

Unfortunately, I had to bring my car 3 times there (Craig, I am waiting for my VIP card ;-). On the good side, GCR made it each time a good experience
I came there first because of the Unilocal reviews and I came back because the reviews were right.
— First of all, the repairs had always been done correctly, I never had to come back or complain because something had been badly done.
— Craig, Sam and Gary are very nice and friendly. I really appreciate that they took time to answer my questions.
— The shop is immaculate. I really think you need a clean environment to do a clean job. I also think it tells a lot about the management.
— I had to make some repairs out of my pocket, Sam and Craig were able to give me an estimate that met my budget requirement without compromising the quality of the repairs.
— Repairs were usually made in a timely manner.
I cannot expect more from GCR except maybe better communication (email /​text /​phone call) when they are behind the schedule.

This place f***ed up my bumper job so bad it’s embarrassing. When walking up to my car the faults were obvious.
The paint color didn’t seem to match.
There was orange peal speckled everywhere.
The paint job was poorly done and chipping at the edges.
The bumper was mounted poorly and rippled along the bolt line.
The underlining was excessively damaged from repeated refits.
There was excess paint build up which kept the reflectors from being seated properly.
Paint was globbed up around the corners and creases.
There were blemishes and it had already been scratched by a tool!
The owner, Craig, tried to pass off the faults as trivial and send me on my way. I finally got furious and started demanding to know if he thought another body shop would agree with his cavalier assessment. After some aggressive-​defensiveness, the guy finally refunded the entire job. Honestly, he got off easy. Fixing the mistakes ended up costing me a small fortune. The next place I went to couldn’t believe this place’s work was that of a professional.
This was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had with any business, not just automotive repair. If you value your car and your money, avoid this place like one avoids the plague.
P. S. Considering how much Craig emphasized his «reputation» when refunding my money, I wouldn’t doubt if several of these other «5 star» reviews were by him and his techs. I also noticed he’s a «Yelp sponsor,» if that makes a difference. Just be careful what you believe. If the reviews seem too good to be true, they probably aren’t true.

I went here to repair my vehicle after reading Unilocal reviews… Perhaps my experience is isolated but be forewarned. I got a quote from Sam which seemed competitive. For due diligence, I got two other quotes from two other highly Unilocal rated body shops in the area. I decided to use Gilman because of their high Unilocal reviews. I paid a significant deposit, left, would bring back my vehicle after the parts arrived, and thought everything was ok.
Turns out that Sam ordered a part which was NOT the right part. When I got home and looked at the other two quotes I received, I saw that the part number was different than the one from the Gilman quote. Confused, I called the manufacturer and verified in fact that Sam (he blames the computer) picked in fact ordered the wrong part. As a result, the total price they quoted me was a couple hundred dollars lower than other shops. When I called to inform him of his mistake, he of course did not believe me. I tried to explain, and he told me that I was «making this too complicated.» (verbatim) What??? A couple hundred dollars is a big deal to me.
So he finally agrees to call the dealership who verifies what I said. DUUUUUH. Too bad he is not a good listener. I ask what would have happened if I had come back later and found it was the wrong part, would I have had to pay the difference, and he says yes. I tell him that it feels like a bait and switch, which of course he denies. I ask if they will honor their original estimate due to their mistake, which of course he won’t.
Frustrated and caught with his own mistake (he still would not admit that he made a mistake, and blamed the computer), he cuts me off and says, «I’ve already spent 16 minutes now on the phone with you and we are not on the same page.» (Also verbatim). Wow. You think I enjoyed those 16 minutes Sam? Horrible customer service. I couldn’t believe he was that rude to me.
Instead of insulting your customer, here’s a novel idea: admit you screwed up, honor your original estimate, and give me a discount for the hassle. Instead I will be taking my business elsewhere.
Update: the manager Craig called me the next morning, listened, apologized, refunded my deposit to me, and offered me some $ to defray the cost of my repair with another shop. If not for this, it would have been a 1 star review.

Found Gilman on Unilocal to get my front bumper cover repaired. I spoke with Craig over the phone and he set me up with an estimate appointment quickly and easily. The estimate I recieved was on the lower end of places around Berkeley and Plesanaton (where I work) which I was pleased to here. I mentioned to Craig my car would need a qucik turn around since I use it to commute everyday to work and had a friend coming to visit from the east coast over the weekend. He helped make the process simply and painless. Turned the car in on a wednesday morning and picked it up looking good as new on thursday evening (even had a quick wash to it). Service was excellent and exactly what promised and the price was the exact same as the estimate, maybe even a few cents cheaper.
Craig is an Audi enthusiast himself and gave me some tips of performance places to check out around the area (very helpful since I am new to the area!). Def an added bonus to getting the car repaired. It is very nice to see a shop treat my car like their own.
Highly recommend! I will be back (just hopefully on better terms)

I had recently been involved on a «hit and run» situation and for the second time, I brought my car to Gilman Collision Repair.
All I can say is, Craig knows the true meaning of customer care. Not only is my car treated with top notch service but received a follow up to ensure my experience was positive and appreciated my business.
Like other customers posted, if you need a reliable and trust worthy Collision Repair serives. I highly recommend GCR.

This is now my 2^nd time bringing a car into Gilman Collision Repair and I think they are top notch. They work quickly, answer questions you may have, staff is really friendly and more importantly the workmanship is very good.
Look, I never want to be involved in anymore accidents, but GCR is the first place I’m going to call next time if I need body work.
Shout out to Craig and the rest of his staff!

Excellent service! Quick, easy, and clear.
Rear-​ended twice in the last year, and both times I brought my vehicle (s) to Gilman Collision. I had such good experience the first time, I made sure my insurance allowed me to go back the second time around. Rear-​ended on Monday, brought into the shop Tuesday, and back on the road on Thursday… even better, they cleaned my entire car: interior and exterior. I drove away in my vehicle happy, feeling like the first day I bought that baby.

Gilman Collision Repair will do a superb job in repairing the damage to your vehicle. Simple as that. But wait, there’s more — they’ll also repair the negative expectations and stereotypes that you may have about the collision business.
Courteous, fair, responsible, skilled, honest — these are the words that come to mind to describe how they operate.
It starts with the owner, Craig, who makes it clear throughout the process — he is planning to make you a loyal customer.
I guess it’s obvious… His plan worked on me!

My truck was broken into a couple years ago, not by the usual break-​the-​window route, but by popping my driver side lock into the door. My insurance company sent me to one of their «approved» body shops, which quoted me a price of my deductible + $ 100. They seemed slick and slimy and I said no thanks, seeing as the lock still worked fine, I just couldn’t use my key in that door.
This week I finally got a chance to look into other options, and this was the first place i tried, based on the Unilocal reviews. Craig gave me a very reasonable estimate, plus the Unilocal discount. I brought my truck back the next day and they completed the work in a few hours. They even washed it! Everyone I interacted with was polite and friendly.
I hope I never need their services again, but they’re the only place I’ll go if I do, and I’d recommend them to anyone.