Sears Auto Center

I have had battery issues. I happen to be in the area, and I popped in. A man immediately
assisted me. Next thing… I was getting a new battery (pro-​rated). They worked off
of my previous sale… I didn’t have any paper work.
This is not a first. I find their mechanic’s helpful, friendly and quick.
This will always be my go to place for battery care.

i get my oil changed every year and my tires rotated never had a problem.

The Die Hard battery died pretty hard after only 20 mos. I should have known as they had some difficulty getting the battery to sit right in the compartment in the car.
Our trusted mechanic said the battery wouldn’t hold a charge… So off to Sears I go, they charged it fully and were going to test it in my car as they didn’t believe there was anything wrong. My car is a VW Westfalia so the battery compartment is under a seat which swivels. The supervisor Colby was trying to jam a unrelated lever… I told him to stop and he sharply told me to get someone else to work on our battery.
Rude, unprofessional and can’t carry on a conversation to effectively solve a customer request. What about my useless battery? I’m scrubbing it, I don’t have time for this.
Either Sears does not stand behind their products like they used to, or they hire ineffective supervisors/​management.

Marcelos I am not sure if that is how you spell his name but he was so helpful and patient. During the interaction he showed himself to be proffesional and curtious. I will definitely go back again.

Place is way understaffed but the guys who are there are pretty cool and do their best. Got a great deal on my tires by buying them online… made an appointment and dropped the car off… would never want to wait… looks like it could take a while.

You might think that at least they can be trusted with the simplest of tasks, but you would be mistaken.
We’ve had several bad experiences (improperly performed alignment, disinterested employees who clearly ignore customers, a messed up electrical system after they replaced a battery, etc, etc…) One day all the other tire stores were overbooked, but I had a last minute tire emergency. Surely they could be trusted with a very quick and simple task: removing a pair of wheels, balance, and remount them. Any flunky could handle this, right? It was before 11am, but they said they could get it done by 2pm if I left the car. I checked in and stayed in the waiting room. After 2pm I was told I was next up, but they still didn’t touch my car until 3:20. Shortly after this the worker came to me to say he had broken a lug nut. He looked lost and offered no solution, but I had a spare in my car (they don’t stock lug nuts?!) I climbed up to my car and handed it to him. Then I saw what he meant: he had sheared off a lug stud, leaving part of the stud inside the existing nut while remounting. I wasn’t worried since that can happen and these studs can be easily replaced (and it’s dangerous enough that most shops would never let a car leave in that condition.) Shortly afterwards I was told the job was done and I left. Once home I noticed something was wrong (that wasn’t their fault) and removed the wheel to inspect, discovering that the worker never replaced the stud he had sheared off! That’s not simple incompetence, it’s knowingly sending a customer’s car out of the shop more hazardous than it had arrived, and knowing that he could have easily fixed it in under two minutes. In a legitimate shop that would get an employee fired, but it fits so well with all my other experiences there.

This place takes for ever. It needs manager to oversea productivity. The guy that helped me was nice but someone needs to oversea this place.

Went to Sears today for new tires. We’re told they had them and left to wait for pick up call. Two hours later got the call that they did not have the tires after all. Waste of time. Had to go elsewhere but it was too late in the day to get service. Really?

These guys are always busy so you need to make an appointment on the weekends. Drop off the vehicle for your appointment time and you lol get it back quickly. They change oil for a fair price.
They’re just busy every weekend.

DO NOT GO HERE! I am not one to complain but this experience just really ticked me off.
I used to love his place when it was Jiffy Lube. Sears has completely ruined it. You can’t pull your car directly into the shop like you used to be able to so now it takes them way longer to get all the basic info they need because they have to walk out to your parked car in the lot.
I arrived 5 minutes early for my 1pm appointment. No sign anywhere telling you where to park or where to check in. I parked my car nearby and wandered into the shop area. One of the employees in the shop told me I needed to go into the sales floor to have someone check me in for my appointment. No salesperson in sight. Another man walked in to buy tires and tried to find someone to help. Finally, 15 minutes later there was a line of 4 of us and one customer was finally able to track down a salesperson to help.
Horrible service. Won’t be coming back, regardless of how well they tune my car. I would give negative stars if possible.

Never Ever Ever buy the warranty or go to this place
Had to go back because I purchased the «Useless» warranty and got stiffed. There is no warranty just smoke and mirrors. Never ever ever going back.

Sales associates were so rude

Ok since I did a walk I understand I need to wait to get 2 front tires replaced. They calculated and informed me waiting time would be 3 hrs. Well the 3 went to 5 hrs. You kidding me. This place has not changed. It’s either they have shortages of staff or their internal system needs a revamp. The guy marcell apologised but get your act together. 5hrs waiting time I might as well went in and changed my tyres.

Must improve communication, customer service, retail and waiting area or will go out of business. Pricing ok. Would give 2.5 stars to employees who were there for trying their best in difficult circumstances but sensed lack of corporate oversight and underinvestment. Seems stuck in a 1990s time-​warp!
Will be going elsewhere for Oil Changes from now on.
PS, What happened to this Not-​repeat customer: First person there and dropped off my car for oil change & brake inspection at 8am on my way to work, still not done by 5.45 pm! Given what others have posted feel lucky to have been last customer out of there by 6.20 pm in ok shape…

On Friday I called and inquired about an oil change. Friendly woman answered all my questions. I asked if I needed to make an appointment to come in on Sunday. She said no you don’t need an appointment just come in. So on Sunday I drove from my home in San Anselmo Sears automotive in San Rafael. I arrived at 330. An hour and a half before the close. I walked up to the counter and stated I would like an oil change. The gentleman behind the counter said that they could not do it today but he could make an appointment for me tomorrow. When I told him about the phone call he said we don’t make appointments on the weekend. We just have people come in. Well that’s what I did. But I left without getting an oil change. So if you feel like driving to Sears automotive to make an appointment for a following day oil change, that’s the place to go.

Worse place to get an oil change. It’s cheap but service was not helpful and oil leaked out of my car.

I was already pretty happy with the mechanic I recently found when I moved up here, but after a really great experience at Sears Auto Center in San Rafael, I think I will go here from now on. I had an unexpected car emergency the day before leaving for a trip (and with a ticket from San Jose I needed my car to get there since no shuttles go that distance). I was completely desperate and also have no knowledge of cars to even have any idea of how urgent or small my problem was. The only place I could think of that might be able to see me in the middle of the afternoon was Sears. Even though the store was busy that day, customer service specialist Ozer Ismail went out of his way to help me. He fixed my problem immediately. Fortunately, it was a quick fix, but I am so clearly unknowledgeable about cars that another mechanic could have completely taken me for a ride.
By the way, Sears doesn’t charge to diagnose a problem like many mechanics do. I can only say my experience was very different from other posters here. I’m not totally sure how representative the ratings on here are because my guess is that fewer people with positive experiences will take the time to post about a large chain that we assume everyone is already aware of.

My car died on the freeway near this Sears and they were the only place open on Saturday at 6 pm. They looked at it and couldn’t fix it. The next day I had it towed to a a Midas where it was diagnosed with a broken timing belt and fixed in a few hours. The incompetence is staggering. Don’t take your car here unless you hate yourself, your car, or both.

Awful. $ 200+ for a tune up– asked them to clean up around the engine (didn’t), find out what the rattling sound was when engine starts (couldn’t), and left a flashlight under the hood! Found it the next day at home. The manager said its happened several times before. Wow! Avoid!

!!!DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR HERE!!!
Getting quoted at $ 200, then when it is time to pay I get told it is now $ 300.
THESE GUYS ARE HORRIBLE!!!
When I walk in two of the guys are wrestling in the lobby WHILE THERE ARE CARS IN THE GARAGE TO BE WORKED ON!!! They bust a sheet of ceiling tile and completely wreck a computer and then laugh about it while they ignore the customers in line. Completely unprofessional.
I know the guy below me left FIVE stars but he must have gone first in the morning when the auto manager was not around.
I have never had a worst customer service experience in my life.
!!!DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR HERE!!!