CARSTAR Chilton Auto Body San Carlos

Tom Cheng

★☆☆☆☆

6 months ago

A Summary Chilton Auto of San Carlos repaired my vehicle but left me stranded on the freeway with an empty gas tank after putting 90 miles on my car, failed to repair door damage they promised to address, lost a grille emblem I specifically asked them to return, and dragged a 2-week repair into 5 weeks with poor communication and broken promises. This was the worst customer service experience I’ve ever had — avoid them at all costs. Detailed Review Chilton Auto has given me the worst experience I’ve ever had with any company. The entire process — from missed deadlines to careless vehicle handoff — was miserable. Here are the main issues: 1. Stranded on the freeway after pickup Chilton put nearly 90 miles on my vehicle during repairs and returned it to me with an empty gas tank. Within 2 miles, the car ran out of gas and I became stranded on the freeway, waiting nearly an hour for AAA roadside assistance. Returning a customer’s vehicle in a state that immediately strands them is irresponsible and absolutely unacceptable. 2. Endless delays and missed timelines Chilton initially estimated two weeks for the repair. Even after building in their own “conservative estimates,” they missed their timelines four to six times, stretching the job into five weeks. 3. Unaddressed door damage Before repairs, I notified Chilton that the front passenger door had been scraping the shifted bumper after the collision. They noted it and assured me it would be fixed. When I picked up the car, it was untouched. When I raised this again, they said that they’ll need the car for another week so that they can remove, sand, and repaint the entire door. After not having the car for 5 weeks, this is incredibly unappealing. 4. Missing grille emblem I left the original grille emblem inside the car and called multiple times to make sure it was returned to me, and I was assured that it’d be returned to me. When I picked up the car, it was gone. The part is worth $80–$120 on resale sites, and at this point I can’t help but wonder if some employee just took it. 5. Terrible communication Throughout, I had to constantly call for updates — and most of the time, the receptionist had no detailed information, and I had to be routed directly to my adjuster, Alex. There were many times where he wasn’t available or for one reason or another, I was promised a callback. Those callbacks came only about 25% of the time. Alex did do a great job reassuring that everything would be okay in the beginning but as weeks dragged on, I lost confidence in the accuracy of his updates. There were just some parts of his updates that didn’t fit together chronologically. One GOOD Thing If there’s anything that Chilton Auto San Carlos did deliver on, it’s that they did follow through with their promise of using as many OEM parts as possible. In my repair, I believe ~85% of the parts used were OEM. Thank you, Chilton, for this. Caution About All Chilton Autos Because Chilton Auto is a large chain in the Bay Area, there’s no guarantees that the shop you dropped your car off at would be the shop that ends up repairing your vehicle. Chilton Auto typically moves your car to a different shop to load balance their repair shops. This does theoretically result in faster service. However, it makes research and reviews difficult because you genuinely won’t know which Chilton your car ultimately ends up in. Conclusion This shop demonstrated a pattern of negligence, poor communication, and lack of accountability. They ignored documented customer notes, failed to deliver on promised timelines, and even managed to strand me immediately after pick-up by handing back a car with zero gas. They showed no empathy and no attention to detail. I strongly recommend avoiding this shop.

Jeffery Lewis

★★★★★

a year ago

CARSTAR Chilton Auto Body San Carlos is awesome. They did an absolute wonderful job on my RIVIAN R1T looked like it came right off the assembly line very pleased great communication very friendly staff highly recommend.

Jaeseok Heo

★☆☆☆☆

3 months ago

I agree with Tom and Vic. Terrible experience with my Tesla Y. Very far away from professional and responsible. Please take enough time to inspect your car when picking up it, and then don’t be surprised

Besufekad Yirgu

★★★★★

a year ago

Got my car done. Great customer service but take too long to get youe car done because of high demand.

Michael L.

★★★★★

10 months ago

Chilton Auto Body San Carlos is a very professional organization that worked directly with the insurance company so that I didn't have to worry about the process and payments. They returned my Tesla looking like new. Many special thanks to George for listening to an issue I discovered when picking up my car. He has a calm, friendly demeanor and great technical skills. George was willing to attempt to correct the issue and proceeded to personally fix it successfully to my delight.

Alex Vukic

★☆☆☆☆

2 years ago

***UPDATE*** I wrote this review before seeing all of the exact same type of situation. I can’t believe how much they lied to my face and if you notice the majority of good reviews are Tesla, I knew they were scheming when I couldn’t get a response from GEICO or the shop. this honestly disgusts me and if you are fooled my the slimy management that treat you like you don’t know anything I am sorry. I knew my right and when I started challenging management they didn’t know how to respond. If you have GEICO, absolutely DO NOT take your car here and if you currently have a car sitting in their back lot, educate yourself on what rights you are entitled to. I couldn’t believe how scammed I was and how slimy the managers are. GEICO and chilton have a partnership. When I first brought my 2014 328 BMW to Chilton I was unaware of this but heard Chilton does a good job, which might be the case for only certain situations that benefit them. Two days after I had my car brought in , I was asked to sign a waiver to allow Chilton to tear down the car to look at the necessary repairs, which no other shop has ever asked of me. After 3-4 weeks of texting GEICO and calling Chilton k would get a response maybe once a week. Then when I finally hear from them it’s to tell me they deemed the car totaled and to get my personal items and sign power of attorney over to GEICO. When I got to the shop, my car hadn’t even been touched or moved from the day I left. They never took it apart per the waiver I signed. They totaled my car based on the picture you see. I asked the manager for a copy of the repair estimate, his response “I don’t have it, I sent it to GEICO “ I think everyone can see the stupidity behind that statement. Then he starts to go on about how if I took it elsewhere it would’ve costed 3 times as much. GEICO didn’t even send a rep out to look at it. After I finally got a copy of the repair estimate I looked at the parts Chilton was ordering, which were not OEM AND not eve. The same parts that were on my car (eg my car and certain sensors on the front bumper, they ordered a bumper with out those parts and charged 3 z the amount of what i found them for online. After going line item by line item they completely screwed me snd Geico chose the 3 lowest market valued cars they could find. Chilton also included a damaged part not from the accident it was brought in for which would have easily made the repairs less the the 70% number they come up with to total cars. It’s a slimy disgusting scam, do not take your car here unless you have a Tesla in which case you already made a poor choice….that picture is how they decided to total my car

Alexandra Dupont

★★★★★

6 months ago

Absolutely amazing auto body. They took care of my Rivian and record time. Carolyn at the front desk is an absolute dream! Please give her a raise!

Girish Shetty

★★★★★

a year ago

Very professionally managed and organized. They communicate well about the estimate, update and any changes in the schedule. And also they take care of interacting with the insurance (if you are going through insurance) and the rental car about drop off or the pickup. Overall, I have had a good experience getting my car fixed here

Shrikant Latkar

★★☆☆☆

a year ago

They did good work on my car, but very poor communications and it took almost 3 months to get the work done. They never called to give an update (even when they said they would), had to repeatedly call them to know where things stand. The front desk support also was not much to rave about either. Customer empathy seems to be missing across the board.

vic singh thind

★☆☆☆☆

2 years ago

They messed up with my tesla model x streering and they then they blamed it was as is when they get it first pic is after I picked up the car after they repair and second pic is before they get the car for repair

Ravindra Sunku

★★★★☆

a year ago

Very good customer service and friendly staff. The workmanship is very good. My 2013 Tesla Model S was in the shop for over 4 weeks waiting for parts from Tesla. Unfortunately Tesla was terrible in providing ETA of the parts especially older models. It’s no fault of Chilton Auto. I was stuck without the car for a long time

Boris Dus

★★★★☆

a year ago

I got my Tesla Y fixed in a week, which is great. I've been waiting for parts from Tesla for a 5 weeks that is not the shop's fault, however initially I got an estimate of just 2 weeks. Then I was asked to sign a paper that in case GEICO might not cover my repair with official parts, I would have to pay for it out of pocket and I was told about it after 5 weeks waiting for the parts. It was due the shop is Tesla authorized organization and can't use not OEM parts. This was also strange. They might share this information prior I paid the deposit and had to wait until parts arrived for a month with this shop. Overall I'm pretty happy with the service and the repair, but I wish the communication about the steps and overall process were more clear and estimates were more realistic.

Charles Adams

★★★★★

a year ago

I had a very good experience at CARSTAR Chilton Auto Body in San Carlos. It was easy getting the process started. Then, I got regular updates on the status of ordered parts and repair progress. I strongly endorse this company for its service and repair expertise. Charles Adams

Jeff Leung

★★★★★

a year ago

Appropriately set expectations on when the repair would be done, and even finished early. Did the negotiation with my insurance company (which I thought would be tricky because GEICO doesn't support Tesla OEM parts), and the repair looks great and came within the expected budget with no surprises. Staff was courteous and went out of their way to answer my questions. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Jacob Boydston

★★★★★

a year ago

Excellent experience here, from a very thorough inspection to helping me through a unique situation in repairing my vehicle before an out of state move. I didn't have any paint and body work done, but many parts on the rear end of my R1S needed replacing after being rear ended. Looks like new and happy to have it back.

Sanjeev Verma

★★★★★

a year ago

Shoutout to George who goes above and beyond 🙌 Overall they did a great job on our Tesla Model Y full suspension and steering rebuild. Communication is easiest when you call them on the phone. when we first picked it up, we thought the steering was weird. they took the car back for 1 day, replaced the steering all over again and did a realignment to get the car back to perfect pre-accident condition. very happy 👌

Alexie Patel

★★★★★

a year ago

I recently had my Dodge Hellcat repaired by Jacob Saba after it sustained damage from a hit-and-run incident. From start to finish, Jacob's communication and professionalism were outstanding. He kept me informed throughout the entire repair process, explaining what needed to be done and why. Jacob's expertise and attention to detail were evident in the quality of the repair work. My Hellcat looks as good as new, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Jacob Saba's exceptional service and dedication to his craft have earned my trust and future business. I highly recommend him to anyone in need of car repairs or further repairs as he got my work done in a timely manner and offered a reasonable price.