Check out Buslab on Blake Street just west of Shattuck.
http://www.thebuslab.com/index.htm

They are honest, hard working, and know everything about Vanagons and
Westy's.  They are a little pricey (like everything in the the Bay
Area) but are still a great value considering all the free advice
they will give you as their customer.

...and they appreciate the Westy lifestyle (they actually go camping
like we do in their vans) unlike some mechanics that only fix cars.

-Paul

>i recently relocated to oakland and as my van is in dire need of
>servicing, i am looking for a new garage.  previously, i had taken
>my westy to stephan's autohaus in sacramento, and i absolutely love
>stephan and his garage, but i figure that is an awful long drive
>from the bay area and it seems like there _should_ be a garage that
>good around somewhere.
>
>i looked on the list of repair shops on vanagon.com and found a few
>in berkely... generally i try to avoid anything associated with that
>town, but i could put aside my prejudice and trust a berkeley
>mechanic if you guys have had good experiences there...
>specifically, has anyone used autometrics or griffin motorwerks?
>
>are there any other places around the east bay that aren't on the
>list that i should be considering?  i'm willing to drive a bit to
>get to the right mechanic.
>
>thanks.
>
>Ben.