Claremont Service Station

My tire pressure sensor warning light came on, and sure enough, a shiny metal object is sticking out of my front tire. Drove to the Claremont Valero, an estimate was $ 35 to plug the tire. Promised me it would be ready in 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, good news! The tire sustained only superficial damage, no plug was required. No charge. Furthermore they checked the rest of my tires and brought the pressure up to normal. Five stars for superior service!!! (Moreover my experience directly contradicted another Unilocaler’s previous negative experience …)

My brother had car issue on his visit to sf. Spent over $ 500 dollars at this place. His car still wasn’t working right and we had to tow it home to southern cali. When my step father took a look at the work that had been said to been done to my brothers car, he found they didn’t do half of the work they said they did. The sensor we had replace, was never replace. It was old and run down. Can’t believe individual like this still have a functioning business. I wish I could get our money back but the cars back in SD. Thanks for ripping off some kids.

Mike the owner is a great guy. My brother was having car trouble after driving up from SD. Being a young female who knows little about cars I’m always cautious around auto repair stores. After my experience with car troubles from hell, mike and his team were a great help. They went above and beyond to help some college kids. Thanks again!

now that Dan is gone, the tall guy with the European accent is, well, Highly Unsatisfactory. I needed a flat fixed, had a visible screw in it. He says no gas station will fix tires, it’s too much trouble!
I should go to a tire shop! I then asked if the station across the street would do it. He says no, no gas station will do it. I knew this is nonsense because almost all gas stations fix flats. I went to the other guy and they fixed it in less than 30 minutes.
And by the way, Mr. Valero, if you don’t know what your talking about, keep your yap shut.

The most horrible and deceiving service!
One of my tire had a nail and I stopped by for a simple tire repair. The mechanic looked at tire and quoted $ 25 for repair which took literally 1 minute to remove nail and plug the hole. He did NOT even have to remove my tire. I went to pay and the manager told me $ 35 and I said that’s incorrect. He shows me an invoice that charged $ 10 for «remove and install tire» which obviously didn’t happen. He even had the nerves to tell me that the mechanic «speaks my language» (since I’m Asian and the mechanic is Asian) so why did I misunderstood the repair fee. He refused to take off the charge.
Will not return even if they offer FREE service.

Very fair, honest, and clear help here! Have been taking my car here for a few years and have had a great experience. I never worry about overcharges, I definitely trust this station.
Thanks again for all the help!

My car started smelling like gas every time I started it. Started getting worse, so thought probably not the safest to keep driving… Brought it and Dan got it fixed in no time. Very satisfied with the no nonsense service.

I had a flat tire, and a neighbor recommended going to Dan to have it fixed. In the time it took to walk down to WP to get my Peet’s coffee, Dan was done. Quick and easy, no fussing around.

…This review is for superb service received at Claremont Service (now a Valero station) at 301 Claremont Blvd., San Francisco. When my Subaru was losing transmission fluid, a mechanic at another shop couldn’t find a leak, so I was delighted with a diagnosis & repair at Claremont (it was the vacuum control unit with a cracked diaphragm). On April 13, 2012, a friend brought his Pontiac Vibe in for motor oil and transmission fluid changes. I’ve been a car enthusiast and a do-​it-​yourselfer for 40 years, so I prepared a detailed Work Request to give to the Service Manager, Mike, for the mechanic, Dan to do.
…We are very happy with the work, and with the detailed conversations with Mike and with Dan, who is truly a Supermechanic. I always ask for the empty containers so I can read the labels and Dan double-​bagged them for me. The transmission takes 3 ¼ quarts and they charged for exactly 3 ¼ quarts, instead of charging for 4 quarts and keeping the left-​over to use in another car. They did a free safety check and called my friend about a headlight that was out, for his authorization to replace it. They recommended changing the multi-​function belt and its pulley, per a Technical Service Bulletin. The Owner’s Manual also recommended changing it when the car goes another 2,000 miles, so this is a good time to change it before it fails.
…They use Chevron Supreme motor oil, which is a superior oil (which I use in my own car) and Dan put in 5W-​30 instead of the standard 5W-​20 because it’s a high mileage car and there will be less oil consumption with the 5W-​30 oil.
…With Chevron Supreme oil and Valero gas in my Chevy Cobalt with 15,000 miles on it, I always get 38 — 42 MPG highway. And with my new Valero gas card, I am
getting 30 cents off per gallon for the first 3 billing cycles.
…Mike and Dan are very well-​spoken professionals who explained matters clearly and patiently. We are very happy with them as courteous professionals, and with their superb work and products, including their low priced Valero gas.

Aside from the fact that their service is excellent and fast, I recently discovered exactly how honest they are. I needed a new windshield wiper. When I picked up the car, the service writer took me to the car to show me a small crack in the windshield. I probably would have missed it otherwise. He told me that they accidentally cracked the windshield while putting on the new wiper blade. They asked me to bring it back the following day for them to fix it. I ended up having to go out of town for a couple of weeks. When I came back, I brought the car in and a few hours later it had a brand new windshield, at no cost to me. At any of several points along the way they could have weaseled out of responsibility, but they actively sought to see to it that my windshield was replaced. I am very impressed with their honesty and they now have a customer for life!

first off when your vehicle fails a smog inspection, the shop that conducted the smog, unless its a test and repair shop, cannot fix the car. EVERY smog failure requires a diagnostic, which is not free. IF a check engine light is on, and car fails for that and someonells you its an O2 sensor, that may not always be the case. there are other factors for that sensor failing. IF an oxygen sensor was thrown into the car with out proper diagnostics, and the car fails AGAIN, then the car gets 2 strikes against it, and the shop can get into trouble.
smog failures are a very tricky thing just to start throwing parts at it hoping it would pass. a good shop does it the correct way by diagnosing the problem and fixing it right the first time!!!

I called Claremont Chevron because I need an O2 sensor replaced in my car, they’re recommended by AAA, and they seemed to have really great reviews on Unilocal.I told the guy who answered the phone what I needed and he asked me to repeat, not because he didn’t hear me (he was repeating what I’d said to himself on the other end…) but because he clearly didn’t understand what I was talking about. That should have been my first indication of what was to follow. So, I repeated that I needed an oxygen sensor replaced because one of them is (and always has been) failing, causing me to fail the smog test, which keeps me from registering my car in California. He rudely asked me how I knew what part it was that I need, and I told him that I’d had a smog test done earlier today at a check only station and that the attendant there had helpfully run additional tests on my car to confirm that it was indeed my O2 sensor that was failing and nothing else, even though that wasn’t his job at all. He then snottily asked me why the other attendant hadn’t replaced my O2 sensor, even though I’d already told him and had to reiterate my story. THEN, he told me that he can’t just take my word for it, and that he would have to run his own tests. They simply don’t replace a part because that’s what *I* say I need… you know… as the owner of the car… who has a copy of the diagnostics test with everything passing except for one O2 sensor…
So, I was already pissed and exhausted, this guy was shooting all sorts of attitude my way, but I needed to get this problem fixed. So, I asked him how much the test would be, understanding that, attitude or not, it IS logical that garages run their own tests… Except that after thinking a moment, he came up with an estimate of $ 108 for the test alone. Not even for parts or labor. Uh, thanks, guy, but I can and will take my business elsewhere.

Good, friendly service. I know cars pretty well, and everyone tries to charge you for more than you need but this place is pretty good about not doing too much of that.

I’d pass on ever going here for anything other than a gas fill up.
I went in for a smog check on a Saturday. Did not pass and was told a particular component of my car needed to be replaced to pass the smog test. I returned the following Monday for service. Upon returning the work I was told needed to be done was refuted by the owner. I was told that I needed a full evaluation on my car before work could begin even though that had been done 2 days prior. While trying to explain what the previous technician told me I was told that I was lying. As if I have nothing better to do than to go to random gas stations claiming that a technician told me I needed work done in a particular fashion. The owner ultimately refused my business, not that I had any interest in it after being told early on in our conversation that I was a liar.
Do yourself a favor and wait to get any service done here until the ownership changes. I’ve never been dealt with in such a crazy and rude fashion in my 30 years of car ownership.

The last business I’d expect myself to write about is a gas station. But I was really impressed with their no-​nonsense directness, an all too rare approach to answering questions in customer service these days.
I had complete flat. I was extremely upset. They fixed it on the spot for $ 20 and I didn’t have to wait. They could have easily lied and said my tires were bad and I’d have believed them if they did.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

March 2010 update: I still love Dan! He’s very straightforward. No extra surprise charges. He does the work that needs to be done to keep my cars sounding and running fine. He is an honest repair guy, which is something that makes my life a little less hectic and a little more manageable. And for that I’ll go to Dan forever.
We took two cars here yesterday for routine servicing — a Jetta and my 2006 Infiniti FX35. The mechanic Dan was great. He asked all the right questions about our cars. He knew what the manufacturer recommended servicing based on our cars’ mileage is, and he gave me a quote for both cars that I considered highly reasonable. This is the first time we have used this repair shop, other than a replaced battery on the Jetta a few weeks ago, and so far I’m impressed. I’m no car expert, but I’d say for the convenience of having these guys in the neighborhood and me not having to drive clear across town for the shop Unilocal givs the highest reviews to, I’m going to keep going to Dan at the Chevron station.

This is the «Posh» Chevron. Anywhere near West Portal and you are talking Mercedes Compressors, BMW (and I don’t mean BART, MUNI or Walking) I paid $ 3.539 for 7.791 Gallons of Benzina… $ 27.57. I have a friggin SUV.
The paper towels are always stocked. The windshield washing water and squeegee are always clean. The have a snack store.
I never use Gas Station Mechanics, I have AAA so I can call them to come change a tire. If I need some gas en route to Downtown or the Haight or Castro… I stop here.

My girlfriend went to get her tire replaced because a motherfucking homeless person was digging garbage out of our can and threw a fucking tuna can on the road — she drove over it because she had to maneuver around his shopping cart. Obviously, totally upset that now she has to spend all of this money on a shredded tire, near tears, she rolls her car down the street to this station.
Her: how much do you think this will be? :sniff:
Asshole attendant: I don’t know! What if I said 3 million dollar? I’m not going to know until I look at it!
Oh yeah — because a new tire for a basic 4-​door sedan is brain surgery.
And someone is getting a snail poison pizza for breakfast next time they go through my fucking garbage.