Redwood Car Care

Effective 12/​17/​2015. Appointments needed for oil change. Not the way to do business if you’re listed under quick lubes. Have two vehicles to be serviced. I won’t be back.

Redwood Car Care gave me good advice about smogging my 2003 Corvette after certain codes had been cleared and warned me that it would not pass, but I insisted. The staff of RCC was right. It failed. Later they did a retest after I had driven 300 miles to reset certain monitors, and they were kind enough to check the monitors BEFORE doing the second test. Only when the monitors were revealed as working did they proceed. The car then passed the smog and I was charged only $ 10 for the retest. That is what I call thoughtful service.
They also offer a multiple-​oil-​change special, and often they offer coupons on line.

I brought my 98 bimmer in to their on-​site oil change service and met Larry from redwood car care. He changed my oil and fixed some other random problem he’d spotted for free (a loose light bulb? I can’t remember).
So I come back again the next month to get new tires. He’s got some options for performance tires, I pick one, but later he calls because he’s found a better deal — and it’s way better than prices in seeing online. New better tires? I’m a happy man.
So finally I come in a third time, I’m sick as a dog, and my car is needing more serious fixes too — a big part of my car has fallen off. So he’s working around my schedule, keeping me up to date on the fixes, and finds a way around ordering a really expensive part. Larry is awesome. I will never take my car to anyone else.

It was that time of the year to get another smog check for my 350Z but DMV surprised me this time with the star certification requirement, so I stumbled upon Redwood Car Care after checking on CL. Their prices were reasonable, courteous/​friendly service, fast, and had a comfortable waiting lounge. Can’t ask for anything more! Make sure to call in and set an appointment and you should be done in 20 – 25 minutes. Overall, I was really impressed. I’ll definitely be coming here again. Thanks guys! Merry Xmas :)

Made same day appointment. They took me on time, and delivered my car faster than expected for a smog test.
Great price and service.

Simple and quick!
Made appointment for smog the day before, helped, paid, done. ~20 minutes total.
Love the efficiency.

Please don’t give these dishonest, rude, arrogant guys your business. There is something fishy about the positive reviews here — they don’t align at all with the horrible service we received or the many negative reviews for this place. Must be made-​up reviews by the owner/​staff. The guys are are extremely RUDE, ARROGANT, DISHONEST & EXPENSIVE.
Firstly, they charge $ 135+ simply to look at your car and give you a quote. On the phone, they conveniently left this charge out; only after I went there and was ready for them to look at my car did they mention the charge. That is DISHONEST & SCAMMY. So we did NOT PROCEED. No other mechanic I’ve ever been to does this. They all give a free quote in the hope that you will give them your business & to provide good customer service.
Secondly, the RUDE & ARROGANT part. Kris got annoyed simply because my husband got an important work-​phone call that he had to take — and gave my husband all kinds of rude facial expressions and attitude. And when my husband spoke with Kris on the phone, Kris gave him one set of quotes & info, and completely contradicted this when we went to the shop in person. DISHONEST. Also, the guy with an ugly dark beard (don’t know name, but looks Iranian maybe) was VERY RUDE & ARROGANT. He gave us attitude the entire time, acted all high and mighty (dude, you’re just a low-​life uneducated mechanic!); yelled at us for being 30 mins late even though we had phoned in to let them know; and gave us a lecture about not working for free (regarding the $ 135 diagnosis quote). This is the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I’ve ever received by any business EVER.
Kris and the beard-​guy should be fired. We’ll be taking our business elsewhere, and you should too.

Redwood Car Car is my work’s onsite car car and oil change vendor. These guys have always been very friendly and accommodating.
I have a large vehicle that requires 7 quarts (2 extra), so for a full-​synthetic blend, oil filter and disposal the cost is around $ 88 dollars. Doing the work myself is no longer an easy option, buying the oil & parts on Amazon/​Walmart is less expensive of course.
The quality of the work, convenience, fast turn around time, great customers service, and with no unnecessary up-​sells means have my business every 5k-​7k miles.

For those of you who like the bullet points:
Great service at a great price and the
absolute most honest car repair experience I have had in 40 years.
For those of you who like the story:
So I pulled the car out of the garage today for the morning grind, and much to my alarm, saw a warning light in the console. Not just any light though, this one showed a silhouette of my car… up in the air on a (hydraulic) lift! There were also a ‘brake’ warning light and an exclamation point (!). I drive this car a lot, and I know what my brakes feel like, but with the car-​on-​lift warning light, I was more than a little freaked out. I called BMW, who had recently replaced a tire pressure sensor, and they reviewed my computer output.
«Hmm, Car’s not due for brakes for another 6800 miles, but sometimes the inside pads go bad…» I winced and dollar signs passed before my eyes. I have Akebonos on there now, and love them (soooo clean!), but BMW said they only do their brakes (yuck). I thanked them, and turned to Unilocal.
Redwood Car Care said they’d have no problem doing the brake job for me today, and that they could get my Akebonos. YAY!
But that’s not the end of the story.
I dropped the car off with them around noon and they said they’d inspect and get back to me. A short while later, they called with the estimate. Mind you, at this point, I’m thinking I’m going to be out 2K for a full on bmw brake job…
The manager let me know that it was just a brake sensor that was out, and a clip, and that the brakes were fine. Charged me for the part only.
If that’s not the most honest mechanical experience e-​v-​e-​r, I don’t know what is.
I sure hope they like working on my car, because they just earned a customer for life.

Came to Redwood Car Care 30 minutes before they closed to get a Smog Check done to my 2003 silver surfer! The owner said, «normally we stop smog checks at 5, but ill help you!» That level of customer service is a shining example of why people give their business to this establishment! Money flows when you treat people right! Now, lets hope I pass

A local independent auto shop with Smog check service. Happened to be in the redwood city area and found this place that did the smog check for a little over $ 30 with Unilocal check in, but I hear they also have website coupon on their smog service.
Their customer service was awesome. They were really busy but tried to accommodate me without an appointment.
Though not set up as a smog in and out center, it wasn’t quite the blazing 10 – 20 minutes smog experience of other places, but 45 minutes ain’t too shabby.
Price was worth it — they’ve got a good magazine collection!

Call to make an appointment. Not drop by service.
Came at 9:02 am on a Wednesday and was helped in 10 minutes.
Was told it would take 15 minutes to be completed. Coffee and donuts accross the street.
14 minutes done stamped and on my way.
5 Unilocal stars.

I went there last month to get a smog check, and it was a very good experience. The smog was well-​priced ($ 30 for a smog check with a coupon that I got online). The gentleman at the front desk was well-​mannered and the whole process took about 15 minutes. The place was easy to find on El Camino, and the only drawback is there was very limited parking. The waiting area chairs were not extremely comfortable, and the bathroom was out of paper towels. I don’t care incredibly about things like this, so it didn’t detract from the experience too much. The whole service was swift enough that it didn’t matter too much anyway.

This review is for their SMOG check service. I was happy with the service and the price. It took almost an hour because of the model of our car but they had a nice waiting area. You do need to make an appointment in advance.

This place is a complete scam (and there’s something wrong with the reviews here).
I went in for a smog test, as I was in redwood city for the day. I tried to go see what was going on (which I’ve always been able to do at other shops), but was told they have a policy of no people near the garage. Then exactly five minutes later, the came back, said I’d failed as my dip sick was broken, and asked for full payment for the test. I had a full oil change and inspection done at my regular shop a few weeks back, and know from the pictures that my dip sick was fine! I was way too disgusted to argue.
I fail to see how the ratings here got so skewed. There’s something seriously wrong with this place, and I’d hazard a guess that some of the reviews are being manipulated.

Clean place, friendly folks and The price is right.
The main point is that they are honest. If they do not know how to do the job, they will tell you.
Other places they would BS you… I am going to come here to have my cars work on.

Fast, cheap smog check on my 2004 vehicle. New procedure means that they just visually inspect and plug into to computer.
Came back to get my headlight housings restored. I dinged a star because I had to ask them to tape off body areas so that they damage the paint job. They were happy to do it (but I had to ask).
Talk to Matt he owns the place seems to really care about his customers.

As was stated in lliott N. review, the cheap smog test seems to be a come on, watch out.
It appears as if they are tricky tacky on the test looking for very minute issues to fail smog test.
Took my car for smog, it passed the machine test, but one hose was cracked so it failed visual.
Was told replace and come back.
READ THE SMALL PRINT VERY CAREFULLY!
If they do the repairs, resmog is free, but there was no offer from them to do so.
My take was given the prior reviews, they probably couldn’t justify charging a $ 100 bucks for for a 2 minute repair.
So I go to dealer and get hose, 2 minute job and it’s fixed.
Come back and am charged for full smog test again.
Was told read small print.
These guys are the typical scam artist mechanics you see in movies.
It was recommended I replace my windshield wipers blades because they were worn.
The blades were about 2 months old.
To top it off, I think I forgot to get my money back from the first checkout employee and paid twice because I got in argument with manager.
These guys cannot be trusted!

Estimated time to finish smog test 20 minutes. Actual time of smog test 50 minutes! I had an appointment too!
I got there 5 minutes before my appointment and had to wait a few minutes for someone to say hello. After giving them the information they needed, including going to the car myself to get the milage, my car sat there for 15 minutes before they got to it.
This place dose smog tests for cheap because they will try to fail you over anything and everything so they can sell you repairs…
Don’t go here for smog tests!!!
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Update: They told me to come back the next day to get a minor repair. When I came back they didn’t have time to service my car and I had to come back 5 hours later.
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Update: Came back during lunch break for my appointment and had to wait 10 minutes before anyone was able to check me in. Repair will take 45 minutes to 1 hour. I sat in the waiting area and I’m constantly hearing bad news and stories from the staff members to customers about their cars. Since I have nothing else to do, I’ll take notes to share.
News to people:
Person 1: (waiting for 10 minutes) Your oil change is complete but you need to change your coolent, power steering fluid, break fluid, and air filter.
Person 2: Your car failed the smog test. You need a repair.
Person 3: Sorry we can’t honor that oil change coupon even though you’ve been coming here for 5 years. (Update: oil change took about 30 minutes.)
Person 4: Your car failed the smog test because your check engine light is on. (She had to wait for the whole test to finish and was charged full price)
Person 5: (waiting for 15 minutes) sorry your car is still not ready. Please wait a few more minutes. We’re checking your transmission.
Person 6: Your car is all set. (Wow good news! You’re lucky lady!)
Person 7: We have the paperwork we need. The smog test will take 20 to 25 minutes. (I hope they are right this time) (update: your car passed (took 20 minutes))
Person 8: you’re all set. (She had a nice Mustang)
Person 9: Smog test will take 20 to 25 minutes.
Person 10: your car did not pass the smog test. You need a repair. (Lady:why?) Your check engine light is not on but there is a code that says it should be on. You need a repair to get rid of this code that is in your car.
Person 11: (came in. Waited 10 minutes and no one helped him. He left.)
Me: (waited 1 hour 20 minutes) you’re all set. You pass.
2 days and $ 65 later, I finally pass my smog test.
Don’t go here for a «cheap» smog test unless you want to fail, have to come back for a repair, and pay more money to pass.

Can I give this place 10 stars? The best service and smog check I’ve ever received, and not to mention THE BEST PRICE EVER. I called and googled a few local spots and they were charging $ 48 to $ 75 for a smog check with DMV automated certificate. Redwood Car Care only charged $ 29 with their online coupon ($ 39 without it), WOW.
I came in 3 min late (accident on 101S) and even though they had a long line the GM Peter Olsen and the technician Nick Mortensen took care of me and got me in and out in 20mins, even though I should have waited longer due to me being late. The service was excellent and they even printed a hard copy of the passed smog check in case the DMV had any random errors.
Absolutely recommended to everyone, even those who live further away. Save money, stress and time. Great work guys!