Gearmaster

San Jose, United States

4.1

Closed now

20 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 408-971-7505
Website:
www.gearmaster.net
Address:
222 Keyes St Ste 108, San Jose, CA, 95112
Fairgrounds
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.3 mi1st & Keyes
0.8 miTamien
0.9 miVirginia
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Today

Today 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (San Jose) 22:28 Tuesday, 15 July 2025

Business hours

Monday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Since 1989, Gearmaster has been the transmission, differential, and transfer case specialist in the San Jose Bay Area. With over 50 years of combined training and an A+ rating on the BBB, Gearmaster can help you with all your automotive needs for all makes and models of vehicles.

Gearmaster offers a wide variety of transmission, differential and transfer case services as well as full-​service auto repair and maintenance. All jobs receive a free estimate and carry a 12,000 mile/​1 year warranty.

Our services include: transmissions, differentials, transfer cases (high/​low gear, gear driven, chain-​drive, independent/​married, ESOF, manual), powertrain specialist, drive axles, engines, drive shaft, brakes, all-​wheel drive, front-​wheel drive, rear-​wheel drive, C/​V axles, drivelines, wheel bearings, factory scheduled maintenance, oil change & lube, radiators, air conditioning, clutch repair, muffler and exhaust, batteries, shocks & struts, alternators, starters, check engine light and more.

History

Established in 1989.

Gearmaster has become one of San Jose’s highly reputable businesses. Over the years, Gearmaster has grown from a one-​man operation in a sub-​leased garage into a staff of five highly-​skilled automotive technicians, within a state-​of-​the-​art shop.

Gearmaster is dedicated to delivering superior, specialized services for your transmission and differential needs. This workmanship is backed by first-​rate, honest customer service.

Meet the Business Owner

Aldo D.

Business Owner

Aldo Davalos, owner of Gearmaster, has created a successful business based on hard work, honesty, and dedication to the profession. Aldo and his staff have over 50 years of combined experience in the automotive industry. Each of his staff members has a unique area of expertise, all of which come together as an efficient unit with the single goal of benefiting you, the customer. This diversity of specialization and industry knowledge allows speedy yet meticulous care for your vehicle.

The Gearmaster staff is always on top of the latest technology changes the industry has to offer, and you can be sure that they make use of the most advanced tools and equipment available to guarantee that your vehicle is handled with precise care. Backed by Gearmaster’s stellar reputation for honest and thorough customer service, Aldo and his staff will ensure that you and your vehicle are treated in the best possible way when you visit. It’s why so many businesses trust, rely and depend on Gearmaster.

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20 reviews of Gearmaster

No registration required
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Brought my Acura RSX Type-​S in for a clutch replacement. The owner Aldo definitely knows his stuff and will take care of you. It’s hard to find an honest mechanic nowadays that won’t try to sell you unnecessary BS, this is why you should come by this place. As soon as you walk in you will notice how clean the shop is. My car was done in a very reasonable amount of time and I never had a worry about getting ripped off or a bad job done because the owner communicates with you throughout the whole process. Overall it was a pleasant experience, and would definitely come back.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
This place is fantastic !!! I had a rear differential problem and he was able to diagnose the problem and repair/​replace same day. Fantastic service !!! dropped off our jeep at near closing and he was so polite about it. Even took us back to show us what the actual parts that he will work on looked like. Picked our jeep up the next day (after closing I might add) and he even insisted to have my husband go on a test drive before he left. we are very pleased and will only be going to here. Next up is our van
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
I am an owner of Mini cooper 2005 made.
My car had some troubles for these two years. Each time I took it to the dealer, and I was always charged expensive fee.
It had a trouble again last weekend and it seemed something wrong with transmission.
The dealer’s mechanic recommended to replace it, but the cost is $ 9000 ! No way!
I almost gave up to drive my car, but I took it to Gearmaster. Aldo is a very kind man, he checked it and tried several ways to fix it even searching information in the internet. Finally my car has been fixed without changing transmission. It was just computer problem, so the cost was only $ 200 for labor fee. I am very happy to be able to drive it again.
I highly recommend this shop !
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
I am not surprised that everyone wrote such shining reviews for Aldo. His customer service is upstanding, and he was genuinely interested in my car. He knows his stuff, and he freely answered any questions that I had. He showed me exactly what was going on, and overall I left feeling like my car was safe in good hands. I brought my car in 900 miles after he changed my transmission so he could make sure everything is still working as expected. I am the original owner of a 2001 Rav 4 with 170k miles on it, and I’m hoping I’ll get many more years out of it — maybe even reach 300k, because I love that thing; It gone through so much with me.
Anyway, Aldo and Gearmaster have been great, and it feels like I made a new friend. Thanks Richi Rich for the referral! Usually I have a hard time trusting car mechanics since I know so little about cars, but not with these guys.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Brought my girlfriends nissan altima due to it having transmission issues and aldo came out of his way to do everything to help me out since the dealership wanted 4k wich was way to much but Aldo helped me out and now the car is running better than ever. We are really happy with the service i highly recomened them and will be back for future services
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Let’s start off by stating that Aldo’s golden customer service and communication are without comparison! Ok, I see a few negative reviews here. I can assure you my fellow Unilocalers that this was not the case for me. About a month ago my daughters PT cruiser went out, her lifeline between work and social life. I had my mobile mechanic Ritchie Rich (highly recommended as well) look at it. Unfortunately he doesn’t service transmission issues. He pointed me to Gearmasters. From the start Aldo, the shop owner gave me a warm welcome and after looking into my daughters car he came back with some very scary diagnostics. The power control module went out as well as a few other things.
After almost a month in his shop, yes, a month (car was in bad shape) he tackled every issue it had. Explaining every detail along the way! He went to extremes to have the issues resolved as soon as possible. My daughter was at the point of hysterics from being chauffeured by mom and dad from point A to point Z!
Finally got the car back! It runs smoothly, it feels secure, and the best part? It didn’t break the bank! So fellow Unilocalers, with all respect to other shops, please give Aldo a visit the next time your vehicle has the hiccups! His shop takes on all makes and models! Be safe out there everyone!
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Aldo at gear masters replaced my tranny and front end on my diesel f350 and it’s been running great, I recommend them highly!
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
I had Gearmaster rebuild my transmission and transfer case in My Suburban they did a great job. they are really friendly and answered all my questions. Thanks for the great job on my truck.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Hey Unilocaler’s
I have used this shop for years. Iam a mobile mechanic been around for more then 10 years. Aldo has always showed me respect and great work. He has rebuilt rear
ends transmissions and has gave me advise on cars and trucks when i have an issue. I trust his work and how honest he is. As a mechanic you know who you can trust. This is one shop I trust., No One is perfect. every car is different and has a different issue. Aldo goes out of his way to help. I put my rep as a mechanic on the line. check him out. If you have any doubt about my rep please check it under south bay mobile mechanic.
Richie Rich
Thanks Aldo
Place rating: 1
San Jose, CA
I was looking for a place to swap my differential with another one I had sitting around because the one I had on my car was going bad so I called and talked to Aldo. I told him my situation and he told me to bring it in so he can look at it. I asked him how much he would charge to swap it out n told me an outrageous price of $ 250! He said the shop hourly rate is 95/​hr and it would take 2 ½ hours or so to do because he would need to drop my whole rear suspension and so on. Little did he know I had swapped out my diff myself prior in under 1 hour and didn’t need to take anything off the rear suspension except for the rear sway bar. The only reason I was goin to a shop was because I didn’t have access to a car lift at the time and didn’t want to drive around with a bad differential. He even pretended to «look in the books» for how long it should take and proceeded to «quote» me a price. Long story short Aldo is not a trust worthy mechanic he’s more like a sketchy car sales man that u always have to second guess about when finalizing a deal
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Thank you for restoring my 59 Chevy Impala rear axle very great job looks like brand-​new and runs like new really appreciate you working with me on the price
Place rating: 3
Mountain View, CA
Had my 4L60E transmission fully rebuilt and ‘upgraded’ here two years ago for close enough to $ 2,500 (NOT including removal or installation) After 15,000 miles it’s needed another full rebuild.
Just looked at the parts removed and spoke to the tech at the shop doing the repairs. Input shaft end play was way too tight, FIVE stripped bolts on the pan, the 5 pinion planetary sets I paid for were never installed. Sun shell was damaged and bits of gear teeth everywhere. I can go on but ’nuff said I think…
Giving three stars as at least the 3 – 4 clutch was good and they did at least install the upgraded band and the «beast» sunshell. Seems the primary issue was input endplay too tight
Place rating: 1
San Jose, CA
IF YOU WANT YOUR CAR TO LAST MORE THAN A YEAR, DO NOT GO TO GEAR MASTERS!!! ALDO IS A TOTAL LIAR!!!
Feb 2010: I go to Gearmaster. My 2002 Honda Accord transmission was supposedly rebuilt $ 2200. I got a one year warranty. Results: car drove fine.
March 2011: My tranny starts messing up again! I take it back to Gear Masters. My Torque Converter is bad. I talk to several mechanics and they say the torque converter should always be replaced when a tranny is rebuilt! They HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! Aldo told me the torque converter is not apart of a rebuild. LIE!!! At this time, he has my tranny in pieces and wants to charge me $ 500 to replace the torque converter. I told him what I thought he should do and he honored the warranty.
March 2013: My torque converter is bad AGAIN!!! REALLY???
Shouldn’t rebuilding a tranny give it new life? It’s not like I drive Nascar with my sedan. I just take the kids to school and go to work. My car sits in s parking lot all day til I have to go home. Aldo took advantage of me. And now, I am here writing this review. And looking for a new car.
iF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR TRANSMISSION BREAKING DOWN AGAIN A YEAR LATER… DO NOT GO TO GEAR MASTERS!!!
The above update is from yesterday. It is not just the torque converter.
As of today, I was told that my transmission needs to be rebuilt AGAIN!!! A whole nother REBUILD!!! On a HONDA ACCORD!!! BS!!!
So Furious at the kind of service I got from Aldo at Gearmaster!!! The WORST service EVER!!!
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
My parents been going to Aldo the manager of Gear Masters for over 15 years. I always go there as well. They have great prices. I can always count on them to fully look through my car for extra problems. They have the best customer skills! I moved to Orange County and I make sure if I ever have any problems with my car I come to San Jose and have them look at it.
Place rating: 1
San Jose, CA
A big thank you to Gearmaster for you «expertise» in transmissions. They are so well trained that they didnt notice that my torque converter was the culperate and reason for my transmission to go out on my Envoy. So after 2,500 spent at Gearmaster, with a very limited warranty, of course the transmission has gone out again. This time it has blown out completey taking the entire casing with it. If they would have taken the time to inspect the transmission the first time, I would not be spending our rent money on such an easy catch for a transmission professional.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Having to incounter trouble with your transmission is no fun, neither is finding a place to repair it. So when my 2001 Acura finally starting acting up I was on a mission to get my monies worth and questions answered. After a little searching and getting quotes, I found this place and the experience and outcome was GREAT and definitely satisfying.
The owner Aldo is a very nice, down to earth, knowledgable mechanic and had a way of explaining things that I could understand. Not once did I feel like it was getting got or sold, he offered to take a look at my car for free. The other thing I liked was that there was constant comunication between the us.
When my car was ready they even picked me up from my work and took me to my baby (my Car). My car drove like a champ again! I would most certainly recommend anyone looking for a trust worthy shop to go here, you wont be disappointed.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
I’m not sure why my original post was sent to the «filtered» list but I would like to update a recent visit to Gearmaster. Since my initial visit went so well – I made the prudent decision to take my moms truck there. Unfortunately we bought her her truck used and it had a couple of issues. Aldo and his team quickly identified and made the necessary repairs within ONE full business day. I’d say that was a FAST TURNAROUND! Your turnaround might not be as fast but be rest assured that they won’t make you PAY FOR THINGS that are NOT NEEDED!
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Saying Gearmaster is a master of gears is an understatement. These guys are the gear kings.
I’m a car junkie and I know my car inside and out. I don’t let anyone touch my car unless I sense that they know what they are doing and that I can trust them. I drive a high performance Mitsubishi Evo IX that was having some grinding issues at high RPMs between gears. The car was stolen and joyrode by someone who didn’t know what they were doing. This resulted in my transmission being damaged but still driveable. The car saw multiple repair shops that could not figure out what the damage was nor how to fix it. All the gear’s seemed fine, but the problem persisted.
Luckily, I found Gearmaster. They are a clean shop full of people who know what they are doing.
Upon pulling out the transmission, Aldo invited me over to the shop to go over the parts and what he determined to be the issue. I saw and inspected every part of the transmission and was highly impressed with Aldo’s ability to find and itemize the few bits of wear and damage that were most likely the cause of the issue. After this, he told me what needs to be replace and gave me a quote that was extremely fair. A week later I was back in the drivers seat and all I have to say is…“WOW!!”. Not only is the grinding issue finally fixed, but the car is shifting smoother than ever. When I bought the car brand new in 2006, it didn’t even shift as smoothly as it does now.
Thank you Gearmaster!
P. S. Aldo, hope you don’t mind that I snagged a few of your business cards. I’ll be handing them out.
Place rating: 1
Darwin, CA
I’m a car guy so take this review from someone who knows cars and knows the industry…
Stay away from Gearmaster and the owner, Aldo. Although they might seem knowledgeable with transmission issues, they will use every possible opportunity to milk your wallet dry. This is the last place I would recommend getting transmission work done.
I took my car to this shop after the manual transmission shredded a few gears on the freeway. They charged me an outrageous amount to put a «new» transmission in the car only to find out they simply rebuilt an old used unit from a wrecking yard and just installed it as «new» (they never said rebuild/​rebuilt). Cost was twice what I would have paid for a rebuilt unit at other shops. In addition, they were very hesitant in correcting some of their own mistakes that cropped up later and I had to literally argue with them to honor their «warranty.»
On top of all this, they left my car out in the rain with the windows cracked or trunk cracked open — whatever it was left a raunchy mildew/​mold odor that has yet to dissipate years later.
This experience left me feeling extremely ripped off and tempted to call the BBB. I’d never go back to this shop again.
Place rating: 5
San Pedro, CA
I recently did a search for a transmission shop and Gearmaster was the first shop that came up and with the best reviews.
I was recently told by another mechanic that I needed a transmission so I called Gearmaster and spoke with Dave, he told me to bring my truck by and that they would take a look for free and let me know if I needed a transmission.
The first thing I noticed was how clean and well put together this shop is. Not only are they courteous they are extremely professional while still letting you know that you are important.
I met Aldo the owner of the shop and he is a breath of fresh air in an industry where I have had some recent bad dealings.
I found out that the previous mechanic was wrong and have my parts on order and it worked out to be a mere fraction of what I thought I would have to spend!
I would highly recommend this shop not only because they are professional but they are honest and do their work with integrity and that by far is an amazing thing nowadays!
Okay, I felt that I needed to update this;
Since having the original work done I noticed a couple more issues and I am currently having more done and just want to say that not only is the shop patient with you but they really do their job. I have never been to a mechanic that was so proactive. This shop does not have you replace things you do not need they address the serious problems first. I am so very thankful that I found this shop on Unilocal and took a chance in going there.
Honestly, there doesn’t seem to be anything that this shop can’t do or help you with. They are a wealth of information and knowledge! Thank you Aldo & Dave!!!