Clean Air Smog STAR Station

It was time to renew my registration so I drove to Clean Air Smog. I had my car smogged here in 2004. I then bought a second car and both cars were smogged by Clean Air. Finally they were smogging all three of my cars. Now I am down to one car again.

I parked behind a car that was double-parked on 11th St. waiting to pull in. I got out of my car and walked to the entrance to see how many cars were inside being tested. I was surprised to hear loud Spanish music being played. I looked inside and didn't see any of the guys who have been smogging my cars since 2004.

I guessed the original owners sold the business and new management took over. I walked back to my car and drove away.

I am sad that the business has changed hands. My cars always passed easily and the wait wasn't too long. Two of my cars were older and didn't have computers so the test took longer than newer cars with computers.

The original owners were nice and very pleasant guys. They gave a $20 discount to all returnees and to those who mentioned their ad. The price was always the same. I think I paid $65 each in 2022 for two cars.
i

Enrique was Great!
The service was professional
and fast.
Enrique honor the price quoted on yelp by James.
We have been coming to this facility
for years and will continue to smog our vehicles here.
Always satisfied.
Thank you

Terrible communication. Strange questions. Told me not to go near vehicle. Then proceeded to show me what was wrong with vehicle. Explained things as if I understood. Then after about 45 minutes, he told me car didn't pass because it doesn't shift.

I freaked out thinking the car wasn't driveable. I immediately called my personal mechanic to have him speak to provider. Then when they were finished, I asked my mechanic if I could drive my car. He reassured me there would be no problem driving.

Wasn't charged, thankfully. Drove the car out and it was absolutely fine, except now the engine light is on. It wasn't on when I drove in.

I made an appointment with my mechanic to have my car serviced, so I can pass the smog test. I realize now that I had left a positive review the last time I had my car smogged. Then, I saw the ownership had changed. Will definitely not go back.

It's sad--I went to this place for years for my smog check. As others have noted, the business was sold and service has declined significantly.

While I did eventually get the smog check (for $100!), a single individual was there doing everything (instead of the efficient team that I had seen in previous years). He reeked of alcohol (at 10am) and spent more time ranting to customers about various injustices in the world than doing the smog check.

It's too bad, but I will never go back here again.

EDIT: I agree that it only requires one person, but if it is done by one person it obviously takes much longer. The length of time it takes to complete the test is obviously a major factor in the quality of services.

The test passed; I never requested repairs.

I am not intimidated by legal threats. Truth is a complete defense to the tort of defamation, and I'd be willing to swear that I could smell alcohol on his breath from five feet away--it was extremely pungent, even in a garage with several engines running!

The owner was awesome. Free snacks on the house. They are open on Sunday until 2 pm that's convenient when you can get in and out and still enjoy your Sunday football.
Thank you Clean Smog team.

Guys are super fast and polite, very professional as well, I am so happy they are a couple of blocks away from me.

Came at opening so no line. Out within 20 minutes. $100. Snacks for the kids in the waiting area.

One star is a gift. Please don't frequent this business. I've been using this service for 15 years, but must now advise against it.

The person I encountered was beyond rude. When I called to find out if the shop was open and how late, the person answering apparently said it was open, (although the line and noise were bad and I could barely understand him). Then we were cut off.

I called back to politely say we'd been disconnected to which he replied, he'd actually hung up and "only one question." Seriously? Some people are jokers this way, so I figured I'd go ahead. Sometimes you just don't overthink this stuff.

Once there, the shop guy told me to roll down the windows and leave the car running (it ran for nearly 10 minutes inside the shop) while I filled out paperwork, which I did.

Again, I've been a long-term customer and although the website advises a discount Mon - Fri, it was Saturday. Still I've always asked for and cheerfully received the discount as a courtesy.

The "person" said it was Saturday. So I said I'd come back Tues. or find another shop. Instead of some words like, "sorry, new ownership, we can't do that discount for you," he simply curtly said "see you Tuesday" as if he couldn't wait to get rid of the single customer he had at the moment.

But he won't see me on Tuesday. I'll find somewhere where the techs are civilized. If you're thinking of using Clean Air Smog, I strongly urge you find find another shop. These people don't deserve your business or anyone's.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE, NEW (INCOMPETENT) MANAGEMENT

I've been coming here for 10 years with my 1995 OBD1 vehicle. Never had a problem. They're under new management now, or so I was told. Took him 45 minutes to "back out of" smoging my car.

First he tried to tell me my car is an obd2 (um, no, but if that's what you wanna do, sure, here's the plug). He has me pull my Car onto the dyno (at this point, honestly, I feel safer than letting him do it, but geez, I'm not even certain that's legal). Then he calls someone (who? Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and I get to stand there and wait while my car idles in an enclosed space with no one in the drivers seat. Then he wanders back and says "hey, I'm going to have to back out of this, but it's OK, it's not a you thing, I had to do the same thing to someone else earlier."

Um, ok. Why should I feel better that someone else got this low quality of service? Well, lack of service. 45 minutes (after he starts looking at my car, no one else in line) I'll never get back and sadly my trusty smog shop no longer exists.

Oh, and "new management" raised the prices $25-30. $85 for 2000+, $120 for 1995-1999, $150 for 1994 and earlier.

The one Star is for the honey roasted Planters peanuts I got free in the waiting room. I should have realized nothing is free.

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS - RACIST AND MISOGYNIST is correct (see previous review from another customer). Don't be fooled by the 5 star reviews - those were earned by the previous owners and management has since changed. This place has incredibly rude service and has gone seriously downhill. I've been coming here for the last 5 years for smog tests and have never had an issue. Even though this place is somewhat far from where I live, I would go out of my way to come here because the service was friendly and quick. All that has changed since this place is under new management.

The man "helping" me was a heavy set older man with gray/black hair and a blue cap. I told him I had a yelp coupon and he was visibly irritated and proceeded to lecture me for 5 mins, saying that I should have quietly put that on the form he gave me to fill out instead of verbally saying it to him. MY GOD his tone - speaking slowly like I wouldn't understand English with an extremely condescending tone. He said he could've lost hundreds of dollars had the waiting room been full of customers who weren't aware of the coupon and wanted the same deal. Mind you, there was nowhere on the form where you could state this and he did not provide such instructions when he told me to fill out the form. Also, the waiting room was completely empty. I was the only customer in the shop.

Here's the kicker: he proceeds to ask me where I work. I made the mistake of telling him I was recently laid off - no idea why I did this. This man had the balls to point at the form and say "if you had better attention to detail, maybe you wouldn't have been laid off!" WTF??? I should've just left at this point.

After this, he tells me that there are free snacks and drinks in the waiting room. But, I shouldn't eat or drink so much that I need to use the restroom bc I may get injured walking through the shop to get to the restroom in the back???

This was such a bizarre and infuriating experience. Save yourself the trouble and the worst customer experience you'll ever experience. There are so many places that do smog tests and have better prices. No need to provide business to a place with such absolutely abhorrent service.

To the owners of the shop: the man who was working the morning of Tuesday, April 9th is definitely not fit to be working a customer-facing job. Do better.