Palo Alto Auto Repair

Fantastic service. Called for a smog check appointment. They took me immediately. Smogged my 1993 Nissan truck in 21 minutes. AND they matched a competitor's coupon!! AND they did NOT charge an "extra" $10.00 for a "pre-1995 vehicle." AWESOME. Can I give a 6th Star?

Thanks to the yelp reviews, I read that Palo Alto Shell accepts competitor coupons for Smog Tests! So I got mine done here for $29.99 plus the certificate fee - I walked in around lunchtime and it took about 20 minutes for them to complete the test. Everyone here is super friendly and efficient - definitely recommended!

Jake is awesome and super helpful when you need car servicing.

The owner of the shop contacted me. He apologized for the behavior of the people who work there. He has agreed to refund me the charges they took for cleaning the windshield fluid tube. I should also note that I didn't contact them after my experience, and this is the first time (as I have been told) the owner has come to know about the incident. The owner seems to be pretty nice, and it's good of him to refund me. However, still 3 starts because I had to go through all this trouble. BUT, now I will start going to this shop again, especially for oil change if they release their coupons again!

Ask for Jay, great customer service!

Today i idiotically managed to lock me keys inside my car, a few minutes before i had to leave for work. I anticipated calling a locksmith,waiting for who knows how long, paying 50 dollars for a simple 2 minute task and being late for work. I decided to try calling the nearest shell station and Kyle was at my house in less then ten minutes, used the proper tools to open the car without damaging it and was really friendly and professional. He even gave me a discount because i was so close to his shop! I really appreciated his promptness and quick and friendly service. I even managed to make it to work on time!

I had my smog test done here and it was a perfect experience - no waiting, done quickly, passed, and thanks to the first review I knew they took competitors' coupons. They even honored my coupon for a place in the city, yay! which saved me like $30. Inside by the cash register they have a brochure full of coupons without expiration dates, including one for $20 off the smog test. And they were very friendly, even early on a Monday morning.

My car battery died today on Stanford's Campus (and it's been raining practically non-stop for two days!)...so I was not thrilled. My bf jumped the car and I called the Shell station on El Camino to see if they could test the battery tonight. This was at 6:00. We got the car there at 6:15, aka 15 minutes before they were set to close at 6:30. They tested the battery, showed me and my boyfriend the results, and fixed it quickly. The gentlemen were professional and courteous; I appreciated how they took the time to explain what was wrong and what they were doing, even if it was only for a battery. With the Stanford discount the total was $120 for the battery and labor. I'm grateful for their help when I was in a bind! Thanks so much, Shell!

I have had two different vehicles (a toyota and a nissan) serviced here several times and have found the staff to be generally professional and courteous. They can usually perform the service in a timely manner and seem to be reasonably priced. They also do a good job of explaining what they've found during the service and your options in the case of repairs. Last time I was there, they even gave me a discount because I go there so often!

I needed to smog my new used car. So I go online to smogtips.com for coupons. At the first location I stopped at, there was a line. I waited and when my smog test began, they had trouble holding my idle. They said my car's electric throttle was too sensitive; which was true. They decided to give up and I took their coupon with me. I stopped at another Shell Station on El Camino, and it was too expensive ($68) and wouldn't offer me any discount. When I got to Palo Alto Shell, they said their smog was $67. I asked if he would accept a competitor's coupon and he said yes! So I was stoked but worried whether they could smog my car. They turned on all the electronics in my car to reduce the power/ sensitively to the throttle and I passed! They offer me a Discount Price, gave me advice and provided small talk, and most important, they SMOGGED my car! NO WAIT at 12:30PM during the work week. Awesome!