Portola Valley Garage, Inc
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About Us/Testimonials

On this page we'll talk about our company, the services we offer, and the people who work here.

Our History

Portola Valley Garage has been in the business servicing automobiles since 1948!! In 1952 Martin Ramies began working for Al & Lindy Lindstrom. In 1961 Martin took over the business & kept a high level of quality & integrity for his customers. Tom Ramies (Martin's son) would go to the garage almost every day after school just to be around cars & take apart old parts to see how they work. He performed his 1st valve job on a Renault when he was 9 years old! Tom began to work full time for his father in 1977, and later purchased the business from his father in October of 1996.



Tom still services two of Portola Valley Garage's customers cars from the 1950's.



Services

Our Service Department is critical to our success. We take pride in going the extra mile for our customers. Since we know that getting a repair can be frustrating, we try to work around your schedule and service your car quickly and correctly the first time.

Services At PVG

Staff

At PVG:

Tom Ramies

Tim Harris

Harold Koontz

James Koppenhaver

James Osborn

Johnny Liu

Contact Us:

New photo of staff coming soon.

Testimonials..........

Funniest sense of humor allowed in a car repair shop... Tom is the best diagnostics guy I have met. Can handle almost all makes of cars from the family Ford to the family Ferrarri (and does). I have sent many people to him who have failed to get help other places and he has helped them out. He has a strong team of mechanics (9) and each has a specialization and the training to back it up. From the first day I met him, he has always offered a 2 tier approach to fixing problems: when a $25 dollar part will fix the problem for a while, he'll tell you. And if I wanted to spend the $2,500 necessary to completely take care of the problem, I could. Tom has taken care of cars for my family for 16 years, always the best service and care. (Ford, BMW, Acura, Volvo, Audi, etc...) We trust him completely.

These guys are great. They might seem a little pricy at first, but another $5-10/ hour is worth it to get it done quiker and correct. I have had these guys working on my past 4 cars, and they have done a great job. They always let me know where I can cut corners and go with an aftermarket item, and where I really shouold go with the factory part. They will bend over backwards to find an option that works for me, even if it means calling a whole bunch of junkyards trying to find one custom piece for my car that was over $800 from the dealer. Great shop, and very nice. Tom makes you feel confident why you leave your car there, that it will come back good as new. I normally am afraid to leave my car with anyone, but not here.

June 03, 20065 wont take the car anywhere else!

By asyamanda - See asyamanda's reviews

 Amazing fast service, the guys who work there are excellent mechanics, they are also very honest and will give you good advice about your car.

 

November 27, 20055 The finest and most trustworthy garage

By ngiampa@sbcglobal.net - See ngiampa@sbcglobal.net's reviews

 I am a retired military maintenance test pilot, flight examiner, and Army Airborne Ranger (OORAH!) and I have been able to do most of my own auto repair for most of my life. Before I started taking my car to Portola Valley Garage, I had only worked with one other garage that I felt I could trust and do excellent work. That garage was run by a retired Army helicopter maintenance examiner. Unfortunately, that garage is in Virginia. Since I discovered the Portola Valley Garage, I have not had a repair done in 10 years that I thought I could have done better myself; call me particular, call me a perfectionist, my wife calls me a control freak! These guys are completely trustworthy, fair, and their work is the best. The Bay Area is extremely fortunate to have a shop of this quality. Tom Ramies, with his sidekick Tim :) are the only guys I trust to bring my car to.
Nick Giampa
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5 Great

By vpbxvii - See vpbxvii's reviews

 Honest and friendly.

fixed right the first time  Profile_stars_4

By Sam M.

Nice people and they do the work right the first time. They take the trouble to look up any recalls so that they can make the repair correctly. Fixed everything from alignment to a leaky steering problem. Work on diesel, american and foreign.

 
 
 
 
Jan. 16, 2008
 
"Fast, effective, trustworthy, honest, proactive and collaborative.  From rebuilding the 4runner to tuning the Pantera, I always rest assured that the task is in good hands.  Props to their approach that gets you what you need, even if it's less than what you thought.  Portola Valley Garage is part of my family now, for sure."
 
--Scott C.