Shell Holly Sdt

This is my second review for Holly Shell. I just turned over my 1997 Chevy Cavalier Z24 with over 220,000 miles to my son. David at Holly Shell has been the car’s chief mechanic after the warranty ran out and the car still runs great and passes smog. It logged over 210,000 miles on the original engine and over the 17 years I have owned the car, David and his helpers have replaced every high wear component in the car at least once including all engine control systems, AC and steering pumps, brakes, clutch, and at the 218,000 mile mark they installed a newer engine. I believe the car is capable of over 300,000 miles. The key to this reliability is regular maintenance by good mechanics and Holly Shell has proven they are capable of maintaining a car indefinitely for about half the cost of a dealership. I have a picture of the car which I hope will post on Unilocal,but if not I will leave one at Holly Shell as proof that they know how to keep cars running. Hopefully other customers with good experience will also step up and post reviews.

I have been going to this Shell Station for many years and they are friendly. I went there for a 4 wheel alignment on my Honda CRV and the mechanic was very knowledgeable and did a great job for a fair price!

What a dump. this place tried to scam me out of my hard earned money. wish I could give a negative star. I went in for a tire rotation and oil change. I called first to get an estimate and I gave my info make model car. On the phone they told me 50 $ plus disposal fee and tax. Then when I got there the older Asian woman service writer told me it would b 95 $.i explained that I was told 50 $ on the phone, that’s why I went there. she was barely able to speak English and told me to leave. I was there with my young son and she was very rude. i happily left and took my car to jiffy lube. jiffy lube charged me 70 $ which was fine with me cuz they didn’t say a lower price over the phone and try and charge me almost double when I showed up there. this shell station is plain bad business! I should of checked Unilocal before I went down there. stay away!

I love this place. I’ve brought all 3 of our vehicles here for Smog Checks. I call in advance and see what’s a good time for me to come in, and they usually have time that same day or the next. When I arrive, they greet me promptly and start service right away. I take a nice walk down Laurel, and its always right around 30 – 40 minutes when they call to let me know the car is ready. The price is right, the service is quick, and I’m on my way again — what more could one ask for?

STAY AWAY!
I wish I could give this place negative stars, I view what them as thieves. They are unethical and unprofessional. I went for a smog check for my 2005 Nissan van that has an intermittent problem with the «service engine soon» light. I have had this problem for over 5 years and have had it checked out multiple times, even the dealer could find nothing wrong.
Needless to say, my car failed the smog check. I understand you pay, pass or fail but the check engine light was ON when they started my car. Iit was ON when they drove it into the bay, the light was ON when they did the interior inspection prior to the test. They should have NEVER done the test.
When I asked why they the car failed I was told that if that light is on the vehicle will always fail. Ok, I didn’t know that since my car has always passed smog tests before. When I asked then why would you perform the test when you could clearly see that the light was on??? They had no answer, didn’t even try to rationalize what they did. The manager yelled at my husband! I find this VERY unethical. They knew the car would not pass the test but did the test anyway, then wanted to charge me an additional $ 90 for a diagnostic review. MAJOR RIPOFF.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, when I took my car to SmartCare on El Camino in San Carlos 2 days later (when my light went off) they reviewed the cars sensor readings, told me I had a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance of passing and ASKED for permission before performing the test. That is professionalism!
Go to SmartCare!

Awhile back my wife insisted that we start going here since her friends highly recommend them. We started taking our cars here for oil changes and they seamed fine and inexpensive.
Eventually I took my car in for a big tune up. The work seamed reasonable, but then I noticed a couple days later one of the fluids was low and no leaks. This made me a little suspicious. Later I needed break work and they supposedly replaced my breaks. I brought my car back a couple times because it just didn’t feel right. They test drove it, insisted everything was fine, and the breaks feel normal.
A couple months later my breaks seamed even worse. I went to another shop and they said I needed rear breaks and rotors… great!
I go to a third shop with great Unilocal reviews and they said I need rear breaks, rotors, and on further inspection they say the front breaks are cheap and wearing because the rotors are damaged.
Now I’m out a lot of money.
Stay away!

I have taken my car to this mechanic shop a few times for simple stuff just because of its close proximity to my work. For most part, I haven’t had any issues, although the customer service is simply horrible. Until yesterday, I probably would have given them 3 stars. However, yesterday I went there to get a tire fixed. They had always charged me $ 10, if paid in cash. When I pulled in, he tells me it will be $ 20. I reminded him that he had always charged $ 10. Up to this point, everything is fine after all it’s his business and his price. Then he turns to me and says, «take it or leave it». At that point, I DID leave and took my business elsewhere.
In this economy, customers have all the choice. I will never go there again and that IS my choice.

I needed a smog check but my service light was on (meaning I could not pass the smog check) but the mechanic still charged me the full amount of inspection!
He took the money, did not tell me I could not pass, then subsequently failed my smog check. He then said the could do a $ 100 «analysis» to figure out why my service light was on. I payed him to do the inspection. I came back 3 hours later and the mechanic (who already charged me the money) said he did not find anything concretely wrong with the car but he said he could do some more tests which would cost even more money!
I told him I am in college and I cannot afford to pay for all this. I thus left the station with about $ 180 less in my pocket and a failed inspection.
Later that day, I bought some cleaning liquid, which turned my service light of, and I took the smog test and passed it at the smog check place a few blocks down on El Camino.

Oil change for $ 32. Not sure if that’s cheap or overpriced. They are quick 10 – 15 minutes and I’m outta there. They never hassle me to get other maintenance I might not need for my car unlike other places. The mechanics are always friendly. They also do smog check here. The only thing about this place that I don’t like is that if you decide to get an oil change on a cold windy day… there’s no inside waiting area. Just a bench outside. So bundle up or you can go up the block and grab a cup of coffee at starbucks.

My car needed a smog check, I checked online and got a coupon for $ 27.95. $ 2.00 for transmission fee, another $ 8.95 for the electronic certificate, I got it done for less than $ 40.00. The staff is not overly friendly, but they got me in and out in less than 40 minutes, no complaint there. The price is fair and they are efficient. 4 ½ stars…