Carl & Dan’s Chevron

I called this station and SPECIFICALLY ASKED if they could smog my 96 Honda Civic and they said they could so I brought it here. They guy said it would take an hour so I walked 10 blocks back to my house. 20 minutes later the guy called me and told me to come pick up my car; he didn’t tell me whether or not it passed. So I walked back down and the guy told me he couldn’t even run the smog test and didn’t offer an explanation why. This is all after they had told me to come back another day when I tried to bring it in a week ago.
Don’t even try to get your car smogged here; not even sure why there is a smog station to begin with. Luckily my house is so close otherwise I would’ve lost my mind.

I called at 5:40 on a Wednesday evening to inquire about their smog check price.
The one-​star conversation:
«Dan’s, how can I help you?»
«Hi, how much is a smog check?»
«The shop is closed.»
«Oh, I’m not looking to come in today. I’m just checking prices. Can you tell me how much you charge?»
«We’re not open anymore. We’re open tomorrow from 8am-​5pm. Call back tomorrow.»
After I was silent for a few seconds, not really knowing how to respond, he says «Hello? Call back tomorrow.»
«Thank you.»
I hung up, not wanting to put myself through anymore of this back-​and-​forth.
I understand I called outside of standard business hours. I don’t understand why– if you’re choosing to answer the phone– you can’t answer a simple pricing question. Grr!
Needless to say, I won’t be throwing $ 50 at them to smog check my car.

Very honest guys, thorough with service. Would always trust them.

I went there because the engine of my car was making a weird noise, and I was a bit worried about it. They were very unfriendly, and said they did not have time to listen to the noise now. And I could drop the car for 2 hours.
When I came back, they told me it was the transmission as the switch of gears was not working well. But I’ll have to go somewhere else to change it.
They asked for 98 $! Really? For a 5 minutes ride around the block? Just don’t go there…

Very bad. Refused to let me use the smog station tire inflator for my motorcycle when the public one was not working well. Bikers, boycott this smog and gas station please. They didn’t care about my safety: I have only 2 wheels so air is important! If I have a small air issue, unlike a car, it could have DIRE consequences!
Not only that but the older asian mechanic was VERY RUDE about it. Nasty place, nasty attitude, nasty rating.

Had my Smog Certification done here. Took 30 mins. No appointment. $ 68 for everything. Plus, I appreciated that the results were electronically submitted for me to the DMV :) Also, convenient if you live in Outer Richmond.

WARNING… STAY AWAY. This place seems to think a check engine light is a licence to steal. Charged me 150.00 for diagnosics and told me they wanted to charge me 450.00 more for two sensors to start with and «this might not even be the problem». Amazingly enough it wasn’t. All I needed was a new gas cap for 10.00.

I’ve been here a couple times, and both times they recommended the least expensive option.
One time I told them how much money I had, and they told me the best option. Other mechanics have always quoted the highest price possible, so I really trust these guys.

Tried to charge $ 141 for a diagnostic when I needed an alternater. AAA diagnotic is $ 99.00.
Labor is $ 10 more per hour than many comparable stations. In short, you will be charged the max they think they can get away with.
Mechanic becomes verbally abusive when questioned.
Owner does not return phone calls.
But the worst part. I took my car out of that shop and brought it to my regular mechanic, who told me I didn’t need an alternator but I needed a new battery. So.yeah. My feeling is they tried to take advantage.

I went to them for a few years when I had a regular car, and was happy with the service. More than once they saved me money by recommending the less expensive option.
For example, I’d gone to another shop for a quick oil change, and this other shop said I needed new brakes immediately. Surprised, I said I’d think about it and went to Carl & Dan’s.
Dan checked it out and said, «You don’t need new brakes right now. You can drive for a while and be fine.»
Did the other shop try to cheat me? Maybe. But it was good to get a second opinion. I’d tried to save a few bucks going to a cheap engine oil change place, but after that incident, I just stayed with Carl & Dan’s, even though their oil change cost more.
I just wanted a place I could trust. If I still had a regular car, I’d have stayed with them.
Are they perfect? No. But then again, no auto shop I’ve gone to ever was. But all in all, it’s one of the most honest places I’ve gone to, and to me, that’s número uno.

Let me say right away that my experience with them WOULD have rated 5 stars because they repaired my tire right away for only $ 25 and the mechanic who did the job was very nice and helpful. However, once the car was done the second mechanic was extremely rude to me. I wouldn’t go back based on the possibility that he might be the one with whom I’d have to deal.