Chilton Auto Body

I was referred here by nearby Marin Toyota where I had just bought my new Prius. I needed some minor body work done on the front bumper of my brand new car. I took it to Chilton in San Rafael and Buddy was super helpful. They even shared some of their Halloween candy with me! We made an appointment for a few days later. Although I showed up 30 minutes late for the appointment, he was still able to get the work done flawlessly the same day. The price was very fair. When I was running late to pick up the car before closing time at 5pm, I called and Danny (I think that was his name) offered to stay late until I could get there. That was really nice. Not only that, my partner’s car had some body damage on the side of his black car, with some really ugly scrape marks of green paint. Danny provided an instant estimate to fix that, and then pulled out a rag, put some liquid on it, and proceeded to remove all the ugly green paint. The car looks great now and the dents are hardly noticeable. Thanks, Danny!
The free WiFi in the waiting room was nice, too!

Chilton is the best auto body shop in the Bay! Dan and buddy both assisted my every need. Explained the situation assessed the damages and Daniel would frequently update me on the status.
The Marin go to body shop hands down!
CJB

I’ve needed body work done on my Mercedes twice this year. I was so pleased with the work and price the first time, I wouldn’t think of going anywhere else the second time, and am so pleased because the outcome was just as good! You’ll go here for the quality, but will keep coming back and refer friends because of the utmost professional, friendly and reliable service provided by Buddy in the office. He epitomizes great customer service in his genuine concern for your needs and respect for your time and budget. All businesses should serve their customers this way!

Unfortunately, this is my third time here (and I still insist Buddy put a voodoo curse on my car!)
Each time, I’ve been treated like a VIP; they’re very friendly and takes good care of your car. Last time I had my work done, when I picked up my car, they had it fully detailed inside and out and wax my car (not those cheap spray on wax, but one that you need elbow grease) to a smooth finish! They’re experts in matching paint color and their staff is always very friendly.

These guys Rock! I hit a deer with my honda and my insurance company recommended Chiton to get an estimate. They were super friendly and accommodating and I was out of there in less them 10 minutes with everything my insurance needed. I read some reviews and decided to let them do the work and I am glad it did. The car was done in a few days and they even hung around a few minutes after 5 so I could pick the car up when it was done. Great service, great work and great people!!!

I am a 53 year old guy from Mill Valley. I read but do not write reviews on Unilocal.This is an exception and, perhaps the start of something new.
I was at fault in a slight fender bender in January 2013 in my new Acura MDX. I was required to go to Chilton by SafeCo, my insurer. I feared for the worst.
Too make a long story short my faith in human nature has been reaffirmed by my experience at Chilton. There were so many ways they could have reaped a windfall on my car — but did not. I got out of there for $ 250 which included discounted labor and one part.
Furthermore, they turned around the car in less than 24 hours, they DROPPED ME OFF AT HOME, and they DELIVERED THE CAR to my office when it was done. It couldn’t get any better than that.
I worked with KEVIN G., the branch manager, who was 100% courteous and professional and simply won me over, not an easy task I can assure you.
I am so impressed I hope I get in another accident soon. (Only kidding.)

After getting clobbered on the freeway I fully expected my experience to go from bad to worse once I contacted my insurance Company (Farmer’s).
Not so. My experience with the body shop they recommended – Chilton’s – was an absolute pleasure.
I had initially requested another shop that I had had great experience with in the past, but that shop was no longer on Farmer’s «preferred» list. Skeptical, I checked out Unilocal and saw all of these glowing reviews.
They earn them all. My car was not only done when they said it would be, they handled getting my rental car returned, and detailed a couple of spots here and there on the car. It looked like brand new. One of the tires was ruined and they sold me a matching tire for the other side at their cost while insurance covered the damaged one.
What really earned this Unilocal was what happened this morning. I had noticed that the headlight on the damaged side stopped working (the work was done about 3 weeks ago). I figured it was a loose connection, but couldn’t get into the area where it would be fastened, so contacted them.
I couldn’t believe what they had to do to get to the problem. They had to remove the front bumper assembly, remove the headlight pod and disassemble it. They found a burned out bulb, not a loose connection.
They put in a new bulb, reassembled everything, and had me out of there in a half hour.
Since it was certainly no fault of their own I insisted on paying, but they waved me off with a smile and a «no charge.»
I would wholeheartedly recommend their services to anyone.
Thank you Ron & Ranielle!
Gregg Atwood

Getting into a car accident has always been one of my biggest fears. And this is so strange to say, but out of this unfortunate event I actually have a «wonderful» experience because of Ranielle at Chilton Auto Body. I brought my car in and Ranielle was super friendly, professional and helpful. He followed up right away and did everything he could to have my car back to me ASAP. I never, ever write reviews for Unilocal.Ever. But trust me, you want Ranielle at Chilton Auto Body. He’s an amazing person and provides excellent service!

This body shop was recommended by my insurance company, I never actually went to this location, I went to the Burlingame location, but the work was done at this location as they were busy.
I got a call from Ranielle confirming my car had arrived at their location and what the repaired entailed and they anticipated 3 days for repair. They called to update me mid repair to let me know how it was going and when the car would be ready. They then called me when the car was on the tow truck on its way back to Burlingame ready for my collection.
When I picked the car up it looked brand new, it was super shiny, the repair was superb, no sign of the accident at all and the car was really clean inside and out.
The repair came in $ 100 over the estimate, which I was happy with. I only had a deductible to pay as it was going through my insurance.
The actual repair only took 2 days, I would definitely use this location again if I was ever unfortunate enough to be in another accident.

Got rear ended and was steered to Chilton’s Autobody by the insurance company. So I am little suspicious. I check the place out meet Ranielle, the manager who explains my options and the procedure to have the car repaired. He walks around the car and we both note some scratches and dings on the doors. He says he will see if they can be rubbed out. Estimated time to repair is three days. I get a call back in two days the car is finished. I pull up to pick up my car and note that there is a car in the parking lot that looks like it is the same model as mine, but in much better condition. Look a little closer, it is my car. Besides providing excellent repairs to the rear bumper, the scratches on the doors have been buffed out and the car sparkles. Hope I never need auto body work in the future, but if I do, I know where to go.

I’m just gonna say it– the Chilton Auto Body in San Rafael is, hands down, the BEST body shop I’ve encountered in my 10 years of living and driving in the Bay Area. My insurance company initially recommended me to this place when my passenger mirror was vandalized and needed to be replaced. Of course, any car damage associated with vandalism is a huge misfortune and really sucks having to deal with. Ranielle, the shop manager, and the rest of the team made everything so easy and painless for me. I had explained to Ranielle the situation and how I rely on my car to get me to/​from work on a daily basis, so being without it for more than a couple days would be really difficult. He was extremely kindhearted and took immediate action to get my car in and out as fast as possible. I didn’t even have to leave my car overnight, he let me come in earlier than usual and replaced my mirror on the spot! They really went *above and beyond* to help me out.
I was so grateful and impressed with the customer service at this place that I’ve since returned for other repairs and to get new tires. I recently moved to South San Francisco and am still willing to drive an hour out of my way to San Rafael just so I can come back to this shop again. I know that my car is in good hands at this place, and I fully trust Ranielle and the team here to deliver the best results.

This is the second time I have used this service. They very reasonable on their pricing and the service is the best not to mention the quality of work they do!

Recently some dolt cracked into my Z3 in a parking lot, and took off. «No-​Note» Style. I was pretty irritated, but was pointed to Chilton Auto Body by my insurance company. Like anyone else, I was/​am very skeptical about «recommended» body shops, but I just didn’t want any hassles from the insurance company on the back end.
I went over to Chilton’s and met with Ranielle Garcia. This guy was nothing short of AWESOME. He was empathetic to my situation, understood how much I loved my car, and was respectful of my apprehensions. He walked me through the whole process, took detailed photos, and explained what the turn-​around-​time was going to look like.
They took care of everything in a very quick time frame (4 days total), did a great job with the paint and body work, took care of a couple little things just for the hell of it, and even posted photos of their progress every day for me on the website. THAT little bit made me happy, because I was able to actually see my car coming back together.
In every conversation we had, he never said, «No, we can’t do that.» or «Well, that’s up to your insurance company» or tried to run me around the barn with a bunch of shop talk. The price (even though it wasn’t my money) was reasonable, the body work, customer service, and confidence I had in their business was outstanding. I would absolutely recommend these guys to anyone, with any make of car.