California Auto Repair & Smog

Absolutely amazing from the beginning! Very helpful and understanding. My car died on the side of the road and I had it towed here. Katie was at the front desk and was immediately helpful and understanding. When I didn’t have a ride home, she called someone in to take me home! They didn’t charge me for the inspection and she cut me a break on the repairs –a seizing alternator that destroyed my alternator belt they had just put in– by using the warranty the belt was under even though it wasn’t the part causing the issue. The whole experience was as good as it could be. Thanks guys!

I love these guys! I’ve been going to them since ⁸⁄₁₂ when I first moved here from the Bay Area where I’d been a customer of Big O Tires — C.A.R.S is comparable in price to most places but their customer service is out of this world! They will come p/​u my fcar — take care of her needs– and return her to me w/​o me ever having to change out of my P. J’s! Which they just did today — when I called to pay my bill they said NO CHARGE today as I apparently had met my quota of oil changes !! Who doesn’t want to hear that !! I would /​have highly reccomend these guys ! Kate & Jeremy are the best !! Thanks guys!

This place has attentive, fun loving staff for the most part, but like many places-​someone isn’t so honest there. I had fully settled on them as my go to car shop. I went in to have a simple oil change on my Subaru one day. The person who pulled my car into the garage snapped off my windshield wiper lever. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out what exactly could have happened. They told me I needed to replace the windshield wiper lever and car battery. I figured it was an upsale technique– (my battery three months later is still fine) and I had an incident where I had trapped my hand between the wheel and windshield lever months before, but it was still fine as far as I had ever known, it was raining on the day I brought my car in actually, and I was using the wipers. I travel quite a lot and was not available to come in until Thanksgiving break a few weeks later. When called –no one could help. I was quoted 600 dollars to replace something they broke. Looking back, I don’t know if they offered me homemade soup and rain X to back peddle for their screw up which I had not yet discovered, or if it was someone else who broke the part and did not fess up and the inside staff is trying their best. I won’t trust my car there again because going to a car shop should not become a liability.

After a terrible experience with another smog shop I was pleasantly surprised at the customer service provided by CARS. I had several emission monitors that we’re keeping me from being able to smog my truck. They worked with me on multiple occasions to make sure the monitors had run and my truck would pass emissions. All said and done I had to take my truck back to the dealer at no fault of CARS (error from re-​flash for correction of factory recall at the dealer). They wouldn’t let me pay them for the at least two hours of labor they spent on my truck. I will recommend them to everyone. Thanks for the great service.

The WORST can’t believe all the good reviews and I was taken for $ 400 and car still runs terrible. Need plugs, boots and distributers. Free inspection that had nothing to do with misfire. Recommended one plug, battery, oil change and air filter over all 8 plugs and distributers.
$ 400 later misfires as bad as when I took it in. They want to make it right for another $ 300 but take battery back. What a sham do not take your vehicles to this place.

Rockstar service. My car started flashing a tire pressure warning late in the evening. The next morning, my right rear tire was flat. P and I changed it out for the donut, and drove carefully through 9 mi of windy roads and 7 mi of freeway from our campsite.
To add to our nerve-​wracking drive over the hills, none of the nearby auto shops we called did tire repairs. CA Repair and Smog was the fifth and last auto shop we called. They were the ONLY auto shop within 20 miles of Lake Shasta that did tire patching.
We arrived, dropped off the key, filled out paperwork, and received a quote for $ 17.75 from Jason at the front desk. This included having them put the patched tire back on and return the donut to the trunk compartment. In addition to the flat repair, they did a full car inspection, checking everything from the wipers, mirrors, brake, coolant, battery, hoses, fluids, and tread.
We waited in their lobby, which offers coffee, magazines, and a clean bathroom. Within the hour, we were handed the key and an inspection report. A short wait considering we walked in that morning with no appointment.
It would have been nice to know what punctured the tire, but I was so ecstatic that:
1) the puncture wasn’t in the sidewall
2) the tire was salvageable
3) we’d be on the road again in no time flat
…that I forgot to ask. Oh well.
Friendly and knowledgeable staff, fair prices, easy parking, a pleasant wait area, and awesome mechanical work. They never tried to push any repairs or purchases on us, merely mentioning that my air filter was due for a replacement. I appreciate that.
One concern, though. It was strange how one employee was writing my name and address down on a piece of paper before Jason could help us enter our info on their computer. There were plenty of other people’s info also visible on papers all over their front counter. I appreciate it more when businesses take people’s personal info and either shred or store it appropriately.

The people there were the best!!! Everyone was so nice and helpful. We were traveling and our RV started overheating. We called around and they were the only one who was willing and understanding that we needed to get back on the road ASAP. They got us in and out that day! They even took us to the park so we didn’t have to wait at the parking lot. Pet friendly. They were knowledgable and quick. Thank you CARS!!!

Had some electrical problems and they quickly found them and fixed the issue! They offer a ride home and back to pick up your vehicle which was exactly what I needed… highly recommended place for almost all auto repairs…

While traveling up to Oregon from Santa Rosa my car overheated and broke down. It was towed to CARS and they replaced the radiator, water pump and a few other things… super friendly and courteous, kept me well informed about everything they were doing… although my trip was a few days longer, the repairs were done in a really reasonable amount of time… good customer service is rare these days but these guys really took care of me and my vehicle… would recommend anyone in that area, in need of car repairs to go there… thanks again!!!

Really happy with the service that I get here. My brakes needed work badly and they took care of em at a price that I could afford. I liked the fact that they did a whole inspection of my car and didn’t charge me additional for the inspection. I appreciated that extra attention to detail. I’ll be bringing my car back. Highly recommend.

Recently I was looking into purchasing a used car and I really had no clue as to what to ask or look for. Barb White, the owner of CARS, gave me some excellent advice. I spoke with her staff and they were equally courteous and informative. They gave me an excellent and very reaonable priced estimate for a thorough check-​up of the vehichle. I really apprecate the help and the service from CARS and highly recommend them.

Where to begin… took my project 4×4 down the hill to get a smog cert. well half way there, truck starts having problems. So the tow truck comes to get us and take the rig to c.a.r.s. We had expected decent service out of this shop, considering the amount of money they spend on advertising, you’d expect a good shop. Well no. After 3 hours and $ 350 of diagnosing, they conclude its a fuel pump problem… And then on top of that, they quoted me $ 500 for the pump that i could buy from the dealer for 320. I understand some people like to throw money away to make themselves feel better, not here. Total price quoted at cars.$ 1600​.So i called Angelo’s Auto, my usual shop, they quote me 950. So back on the tow truck goes my 4×4. Hauled it across town, with a re-​diagnosis and parts and labor, total 960. C.a.r.s wanted almost double! I will never ever ever take any rig back in here, and I plan on telling everyone i know. The reception area doesn’t do it for me.

last year my mustang (RIP) suddenly went hot. I got it towed over to CARS, and was told all the stuff that needed to be done with my car. not cheap, but as previous posters said, NOTHING about fixing a car is cheap. They worked with me to make payments cuz I was short on cash at the time. This was a real plus for me.
Victoria «Concierge» Curtiss was a rock star. she offered to give me a ride back to Red Bluff… AFTER HOURS. I said I would Love the company, but I couldn’t ask them to do that… How about a ride to Enterprise to rent the car? She said that was perfectly fine. So, in her lovely immaculately clean car, off we went.
The next day my car was ready, and Victoria came and got me from enterprise after I dropped my car off.
They also have a gift shop which has coffee and refreshments in case you don’t have any where else to go.
All in All, Barb (owner), Victoria, and the rest of their crew are all top notch people. If I ever move to Redding, or start working in Redding again, this will be my place of choice.

Another great job by Barb & the guys at CARS. The Suburban needed a water pump — OK after 95k miles. They jumped on it and I had it back same day. Great job.