Palo Alto Auto Repair

Convenient location, right down the street ish from work. It's SUPER busy all the time. I mean SUPER busy. Especially at lunch time and rush hour. Expect to wait and people are kinda rude. Prices are higher than other gas stations in area, which sucks, but I guess because it's convenient I'm willing to pay the extra cash-o-la. The pumps are easy to use and it's usually pretty fast to get in and out once your in. People fly on the El Camino though, so be for-warned. Overall, an A-OK kind of gas station. Wish it wasn't so expensive and busy, but I guess I should expect it being that it's in Palo Alto. I'll continue to return because it's close by.

I've had two flat tires fixed here and both times the people were friendly but all-business. They get you in and get you out - no-nonsense style.

I came here for a smog check a couple weeks ago. The man who rang me up and gave me my paperwork was really nice and personable. They also have a $20 off coupon you print from their website, which makes the whole thing about $40, $50ish with tax. If you have the Stanford student coupon book, there's a $30 off coupon (which I found AFTER my smog check, doh.). The guy broke down the different numbers that are on the smog check report, which was helpful. And told me that my brakes were in good shape. caveat: I'm not actually sure what's a normal price for smog checks in the South Bay, I mostly came here because it was close to my apartment.

I got a great price and quality work with a wheel alignment for my VW. They were pleasant, honest and followed through. They let me know about things to watch out for that will eventually need to be replaced, but were very honest and were not trying to up-sell me. I trust them and will go back again.

Great service. Had some trouble with the car battery in my Acura, and the owner Kyle was incredibly helpful in fixing the problem. Highly recommended.

I wish there were NEGATIVE (!) ONE OR EVEN NEGATIVE FIVE. I'd gladly assign it to this dump. This gas station is a FRAUD. The gas pumps (at least pump #3 which i used) starts pumping air !!! and charging you even before you put the "pistol" into you gas tank. I encountered it with pump #3 and brought up with the attendent. At first he didn't believe me, but then talked to the "owner" and agreed to refund the FRAUD charge. Guess what - the charge is still on my credit card. COMPLETE DISRESPECT TO CUSTOMERS!!! Of course, I' won't drive back there to get less than a dollar they charged me literally NOTHING. Btw, the seals on the pumps look FAKE and there is no sign telling where to report a problem with a pump. I live in San Francisco and work in Palo Alto. In SF the seals are stickers on the edge of the pump insuring that tehy can't be tempered with. Stamps at this station look like paint-printed on the pump. I understand that Shell is a francise, but they need to look who they issue permits and what it does to their image. It's not worth to dispute with a credit card, but I'm definitely reporting to Shell and Palo Alto officials !!!

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!