Consumers beware! I needed a smog check at a star station and went to this garage first. Took them over an hour to check my vehicle before telling me they needed to replace a hose for the engine; otherwise the car "would not pass" the smog test. The part was going to cost an additional $200 in cost and labor, and delay the test a day. I promptly left and took my car to another star station in Clairemont Mesa. Not only did the car pass, but it took under 30 minutes to test and no need for the hose replacement. I'll never take my vehicle to get serviced here again. Don't let this business rip you off on unnecessary parts and labor, there are far more reputable smog star stations in San Diego. read more

Needed a smog to renew registration. Called through yelp if they take walk ins, and they do! Arrived 10mins after I called, & eric took care of my black lexus 450h. Was in and out 25mins later. Will return if I need repairs or smog! Thank you for making this transaction really quick and not trying to upcharge me anything. read more

my smog request was completed on time. service personnel were polite, helpful and professional. this smog station got me for life time smog requirements. Outstanding service. Five star!! read more

The smog service is great and they really know their business.

Wow, where do I start? SHADY SHADY SHADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We took our vehicle in last year to get some work done. Moose replaced some spark plugs and a sensor which took a very long time to do. Got it back and things were looking good. He told us to bring the vehicle back if the check engine light came back on. So recently the light came back on and we took it back. He said that too much time had passed for it to be the same problem. Fair enough. So he keeps the car to do some diagnostics to find out what the new problem is. I call him to see what the status is and they had barely begun checking it out, but he "guessed" that the problem had to do with the timing belt and that the work would most likely be more than $700. That was just the starting point. Things were sounding a little fishy at this point and I decided to go pick my vehicle up to take it to a friend who worked at a dealership. But, for a partial diagnostics check that took 2 days to accomplish I was charged $90. Lame, but I wanted my vehicle so I paid it. So I take it to my friend who hooked up a handheld computer underneath my steering wheel and 6 minutes later that little computer spits out what the problem is with our vehicle. What about Moose's 2 day partial diagnostics check?!?! It turns out that everything Moose had claimed was wrong with our vehicle was fabricated. My friend checked the car and replaced a simple part and only charged me $50! What an enormous difference! By the way, the part that Moose claimed to have replaced last year was never even worked on. It was a sensor that had tape around the wiring to make it look like it had been replaced. My friend pulled that tape off the wiring and there was no sign of any wire ever being cut. It was the original sensor. Can someone say fraud?!?!?! I wonder if Moose actually knew about all this or if it was his workers who just reported all this work to him. In any case, DON'T TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE SMOG STATION TO GET WORK DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm thinking of reporting this place. read more

I paid $40 to have my car tested, with the caveat that a pass would add extra charges for the smog certificate. My car failed. The manager told me a re-test would come with a $10 discount, meaning it would cost $30. My re-test somehow came out to $48, including the $10 discount. On top of that, they wanted to charge us a $2 fee for using a credit card, despite the fact that no signs were posted advising of the fee, and there was no disclosure on the work estimate given to us. I will never go back to this place again. Always be wary of smog stations that also do repair work!!! CAVEAT EMPTOR read more

The only place you should go for smog checks! Very friendly staff and incredible quick service. read more

This auto repair and smog station is the top of the line excellent! Every time one of our cars needs servicing, they remember us and treat us like family. The other day, I had to get my car smogged and it ended up getting some other work done, so instead of making me wait, they offered to drive me home. How nice! I highly recommend this place because of their family style service, their friendly attitudes and honesty. In the past, I have had some bigger work done here and it was done with a warranty. I used the warranty for a recent issue and no charge was put on me. I have never had a car repair center that I've trusted more than this one. If you post a review for this place, they will give you a free oil change. See? Great place. read more

I have been going to this location for over 20 years and only recently in the last few years have I began to have issues. 1st Issue: 2 years ago I took my 4Runner in to be smogged and the tech stated I was missing the catalytic converter and had a test pipe...it was a stock 4Runner with absolutely no modifications! I then was forced to go to a referee who stated all was good. I argued with the owner who says that he trusted his tech even though I explained to him that I was looking at the catalytic converter! 2nd Issue: Took the 4Runner back a few months ago (new business owner) to be smogged all was good until the tech told my fiance "the suspension is shot" and gave her a quote for nearly $700 to replace the shocks! I was furious because had the tech ACTUALLY looked he would have notice those were brand new shocks that I had installed just 6 months prior. 3rd/last Issue: My fiance takes the Mazda in to be smogged, passes, goes to pay, and the tech has given all of the paperwork to the previous customer who has since left and now she needs to wait for the previous customer to return with our paperwork who has had access to my personal information. I DO NOT recommend this place of business!!! Use at your own risk! read more

Fast and easy. Got my car smogged and had an oil change and was out of there within 40 minutes. Moose was nice and helpful.

Don't let the name fool you -- they do much more than smog here. My buddy Moose has worked here for a few years now and when my cars (a 1990 Miata and a 1994 Rodeo) started needing work, he convinced me to give them a try. Not only did I get my cars worked on and back in top mechanical condition, I saved a lot of money compared to quotes I received from other local shops in the area. I've had the brakes, starter, and clutch on my Miata done here, as well as a valve job, windows, and O2 sensor done on my Rodeo. They've been honest with me about work needed, and I have never been without either car more than 3 days. Moose, Rich, Rick and the other guys here will take care of you and not rip you off. read more

This place sucks!! My father-in-law had is car tested here. His car is an older car but he's always passed smog tests before. The only reason he went to this place was because he was in the neighborhood and he forgot his coupon for the usual place he goes to. So, he calls me up and asks him to pick him up because they're going to work on his car. I asked him what was wrong and they told him he didn't pass smog because his timing was off. Ok...I am no mechanic, but I am not dumb either! I know that your timing belt has NOTHING to do with you smog check! So, I thought this was fishy. I looked up this place on yelp and sure enough people got swindled. I decided to call my husband so that he could talk his dad into getting his car back. He did. An hour later I take him back. My father-in-law told me that he called the place to tell them not to work on his car and that he was just going to pick it up and have his mechanic work on it. The person on the phone (his name is GUY by the way). Sure enough, we pull up and his car is nowhere to be seen. He goes in to pick up his car and I waited in the car. I change my mind and go in only to find GUY trying to bs. My father-in-law asks why he's being charged for more when he told GUY over the phone not to work on his car, and then GUY says to him "but we were already working on your car." I was pissed at this point cause I know what this GUY is doing. I then asked him "Why didn't you tell him over the phone that you were working on his car instead of saying ok?" He didn't answer and then I asked the question again. He tells me that I have no business in this situation and I was livid!! I told him I have every right to speak to him concerning this situation. I asked him again why he didn't say anything over the phone and then all of a sudden he tells me there were three people in front of him. Then I said "how hard is it to say to the people, 'excuse me can you wait for a few minutes?', go look around the corner to see if they were working on his car?" Guy kept cutting me off and making excuses. I pointed my finger at him and he raises his voice and says "DON'T YOU POINT YOUR FINGER AT ME!" F-you you jerk!! I told him I can point all I wanted! My father-in-law gets his car back and takes it to another place. Guess what? He passed over there with flying colors and all he needed to do was tighten his gasket or gas lid. Something like that...but that sounds more legit than changing his timing belt! WTF?! I know...long story! But I am telling you!! This place is out to get your money!!! DO NOT PATRONIZE THIS BUSINESS!!! read more

These guys are rip offs. STAY AWAY! The owner who has a scared up face will do anything to make you pay for repairs that you do not need. He will intentionally loosen your gas cap or loosen your OBD connector so it will fail! Then they will charge you a 90 dollar diagnostic fee . . So it will pass. So then your smog check is close to $160 dollars! Con artist and rip offs! read more

I'm done with these guys. Kept coming back to get a test, but smog equipment was not working. Finally working and now the guy at the front wants to charge me a different price than quoted at my first attempt, and all the other times I've brought five different vehicles. I've sewn other review about inconsistent pricing. Seems like a common issue here. I'm gonna start trying VT Smog nearby. read more

Don't go here. These guys are a rip off and could care less about repeat business. After waiting an hour, they told me that my car failed because I just got a new battery. They said that a car must have about 100 miles on a new battery before you can get it smogged and they can collect the data. They could have told me this as soon as they hooked up the car but they made me wait an hour and pay $50. Of course they offered to have me come back after I've driven 100 miles and pay again to have my car smogged. No thanks jacka$$! read more

Do not go to this place!! The worst customer service I have experienced. They don't care about you or your car... they just want the money... I took my car in for a smog check and told Guy, the manager, that my check engine light was on, but I thought it just came on randomly when it was time for an oil change or something. With him knowing that, he ran the smog check which passed perfectly, but he had to fail my car because my check engine light was on!!!! I proceeded to explain to him that he knew it was on when he took my car, and if it wasn't going to pass then why would he have ran the test in the first place. He had some lame excuse as to the fact that he was required "By Law" to run a smog check no matter what, if that is what it was brought in for. We went back and forth about "The Law" which he could show no proof of. Then he told me my car was showing a P1130 code which is a manufacturer specific code. He then stated it would be around $300 to evaluate my car for repairs and that that money did not go towards any repairs it may need. I then asked him if it was a manufacturer specific code, how could he evaluate it? He stated he did not know what the code meant. So I then paid the fee for the smog check (which he overcharged me for) and left VERY unhappy. Once I got back to work it took me 30 seconds to pull up the P1130 code on the internet, only to find out it was a repair ONLY the manufacturer could do. All in all, The Smog Station just wants your money... they don't care about "The Law" your car, or you. Take my advice and stay away from this money pit.. read more

I've been here twice and I'll never return. With no understanding of my off-road vehicle accessories, they chose not to complete the routine smog test at no charge. That's fine. But what's not fine is they flagged my vehicle in the system thus precluding me from simply getting it smogged by a competent outfit, as opposed to simply cancelling the transaction. So now I have to report to the State of California so they can inspect the vehicle which will pass smog 100%, just like the last 4 times. These mother-f***ers caused me unnecessary trouble when all they had to do is simply abort the transaction. I'll never do business with them again and I would encourage others to pick your smog shops more wisely. read more

Not worth your time. I went in for a standard oil change and tire rotation with an appointment and waited over two hours. Then, as I was checking out asked if the tire rotation was completed, to which I was told that it was. When I received my car, I found that it was not. When I asked about it, they told me that they didn't rotate my tires because they wanted to keep the best tires in front (which is why I wanted to get my tires rotated in the first place). Finally they rotated my tires but I was not pleased with the lack of integrity. If there was a reason you didn't rotate my tires in the first place, say so, don't tell me they were and let me find out that they were not. Either way, I went in because I found a coupon for a cheap oil change (and the final cost was a good bit higher than what was advertised as well) but will not be returning for future work. read more

I went to that dirtbag, with the weird face, last year. The car I took runs perfect and has never failed smog. It somehow did and he charged me like $50 with no retest. I went to my regular mechanic down the way and he referred me to V&T Smog and it passed 10 minutes later with flying colors and no adjustments. How's that even possible? My mechanic says that people complain about him all of the time and he's a cheating loser. I bet he does work on over 1/2 the people he supposedly tries to smog! NO INTEGRITY whatsoever. He tests cars that he KNOWS will fail. Go to V&T Smog on Keaney Villa Rd.!!!!!!!!!!! read more

DO NOT TRUST THEM! I could not be more disgusted with this place. I never like to leave a bad review but the service my grandmother received on her car makes my skin crawl. She went in for a routine smog check and left finding out she needed to pay $600+ for some miscellaneous (seemingly bogus) repairs. When we picked up the, it was making a hideous rattling noise it had never made before as well as horribly shaking. When we turned around to bring it back, we were glared at for even bringing this to their attention. I always heard of this nightmarish kind of service but have never imagined seeing it happen first hand!!! The car still doesn't feel nearly as smooth as before after picking it up the second time and I would definitely consider contacting BBB after our experience! read more

BUYER BEWARE!!! This place is not only doing unethical business, but they are rude and over charged me. I took my car here for a smog check today, never have been to this place before, but I recently moved to this area and found a coupon in the pennysaver. It's a smog check, so I thought, how ok, simple enough, take it in, do the smog check and done, registration all taken care of.... was I wrong! My car has never failed a smog check, even with the check engine light on in the past, I've always passed smog. Except today! I take it in to this smog station and my car failed. It passed all of the emissions tests, but failed due to an onboard diagnostic test. After charging me $50 with a coupon, I start to ask why it failed and received such f-ing rudeness in return. I don't get it, me asking simple questions about failing, which I would think most customers do, get's this guy not only talking crap about my mechanic, but he's now telling me that I HAVE to have him do a diagnostic test for $120 just to even see why my car didn't pass. And then it would cost more to fix whatever it is. I asked him if I took the car to my mechanic to fix, and brought it back, if he did free re-testing or at least offered a discount since I already was charged the $50 for a smog check. The guy has the never to then say, why would you take it to your mechanic obviously he doesn't know what he's doing if your car didn't pass smog. When I tried asking more questions, the guy would interrupt me saying "I'm trying to explain it to you"... WTF, I'm not f-ing 5 years old, I can communicate like an adult! So after more arguing, I just pay the $50 to get the heck out of there. I drive straight to my mechanic, tell him what happened, show him the paperwork from the failed testing, and he tells me that my the paper shows the faulty code, and why would they need to do a diagnostic if the code tells them exactly what is wrong. The faulty code was due to some carbon build up somewhere. My mechanic cleans up the build up, I go straight to another smog check station, AND I PASSED!!! If I were an idiot, I would have stayed at this first smog station on Black Mtn Rd, and ended up spending hundreds of dollars all to pass a smog test. DO NOT GO TO THIS SMOG STATION - there is definitely some fishy business going on. How can my car fail at this station, them want to charge me hundreds of dollars, only to take it somewhere else and pass, on the same day! If I could, I would stand outside of the smog station and try to convince anyone going in to beware, they will take advantage of you! read more

Not only did they not fix my car, they overcharged me and made rude comments about my weight.....rude douches, stay away from them!!!!!

I got my smog check done for my upcoming registration renewal here Saturday 5/17. I got in at 8:46 AM , was told it would take 30 minutes, and there were only 2 other cars being worked on when I arrived, so it was pretty slow. The staff is friendly, but It took longer than the quoted time. They finished my car and drive it to the front, ready to go, at 9:31. All I had to do was pay and leave. I had to wait around for 12 minutes until I was able to pay, and I was told twice during that time I'd be helped in just a couple minutes. Once I got in my car to leave, it was 58 minutes from entrance to exit. They are about $5 more than most places. Smog check = $40, smog certificate = $8.25 (the certificate is the same price everywhere). They did do a good job, my smog check was registered with the DMV online within a day, my only gripe was the time it took on a slow morning. read more

Wow! Great service and really friendly people! They've taken care of me as if I were a family member, not a customer they're trying to make more money off of. A friend recommended Smog Station and I will recommend it to others! read more

If you are looking for personable service, quality workmanship and honest prices, look no further. So far this place has exceeded my expectations after years of dealing with underhanded mechanics. I have no issue with referring all of my friends and family here. Ask for "Moose", he is the man who assisted me on my last two visits. read more

Fast friendly service for a fair price. I have been coming here for over 10 years. Never had a problem.

The service was very personable and not too had of a wait considering I called in the day of o make an appointment. Waited about 1.5 hrs but, this was also at the end of the day. Everyone was very nice and friendly and gave honest suggestions and opinions in options for my oil change (bought brand new 2011 Honda accord) since needed advice what oil to use. I would go back again as they are very reasonable in price. read more

If you are checking yelp reviews on The Smog Station, you should know that there is a sign inside the establishment offering a free oil change to anyone who writes a favorable review. So perhaps we should take positive reviews of this business with a grain of salt... My recent experience: I took my car in for a smog check and was told that one of the belts was cracked and should be replaced before the car suddenly fails while in motion. Fair enough. I was quoted $129 for the job on top of the smog check. I agreed to the belt replacement as long as they could finish within the 30 minutes that was promised, since I had to pick up my kids from school. I was told that would be no problem. The procedure ended up taking 40 minutes because they didn't have the part in-store, by which point I was in such a hurry to leave that I didn't notice I was charged $15 more than was quoted, before tax. Yes, I probably should have paid more attention to the bill, but I don't consider this to be stellar service, and don't plan on returning. read more

I got my car smogged here this week and the services was outstanding. Moose in the front gave me clear directions on how to get to their shop and took me in right away. I had recently gone to another shop a couple days before who told me I had X,Y, & Z wrong with my car, but I thought I would get another opinion. Moose mentioned only one of the things that the other shop told me about and he did it for half the price they quoted me. I asked about the other issues and he told me they were absolutely fine and even double checked for me. Overall a great experience and will definitely be coming back here again. read more

First time ever writing a review on yelp over these guys. My Jeep overheated at the place and the guy was upset that coolant leaked on his floor.. at a mechanic shop! Non stop attitude about why I didn't top off my coolant before I brought it in. Go to a better reviewed smog shop, these guys will ruin your day. read more

I have been there a few times and each time they have done fantastic work. I keep going back. They know what they are talking about. I like how they give the answers to me straight they don't try to rip me off like everywhere else. I'm going to keep going to them, they have given me star service everytime read more

Chris Lam provided superior customer service! I was a walk in customer and was taken care of right away. He made sure I was entered into the system, advised on the current discounts and services available, provided me with an accurate wait time and service period and catered to me specific needs as if I were a loyal customer for years! I found a new place to call my mechanic 'home' Thank you Chris!! See you again soon - I will be referring friends and family! read more

It's nice to have a piece of mind when you have your car repaired that you are not going to get ripped off and have parts replaced that you don't need. These guys are very honest and do great work. Always do the best work and required work that is needed. Highly recommend. read more

Brought my car in for a routine oil change because I had heard that they are pretty quick and efficient and don't charge as much as other places. Before, during, and after my service, I had to deal with several mechanics and/or managers who were all rude and condescending. After picking up my car, within 30 minutes of driving it, my tps sensor light came on so I called them and brought it back to get my tires filled since that meant the pressure was low. They came back after test driving it (WHAT?) and said there was nothing wrong. So I asked them to reset the light and the man at the front (40 something year old vietnamese man) kept telling me he couldn't and tried to say it wasn't an engine error on their part, it was a MECHANICAL ERROR so it wasn't their fault and it was mine and the manufacturer's somehow.. when that car is LESS THAN A YEAR OLD and I have NEVER had problems with it up until I brought it to them for a simple oil change. Plus, one of the guys at the front kept advertising his mom's nail shop just because I had my nails painted. He didn't just tell me to go there when I first dropped my car off.. he proceeded to talk about it for 5 minutes, and then again when I picked my car up! I thought this was a car repair shop, not a salon. That's what I get for pinching pennies. NEVER AGAIN!!!! read more

Took my truck in for a smog check. It passed everything but was told my K&N cold air intake system was not legal on my truck so it didn't pass. Given print out from state showing it wasn't legal. I was told to fix my truck and they would charge me again for another smog check. I went home and found a newer executive order that show my truck was exempt. Went back and showed them, but they refused to re-smog my truck and pass it. This place smog checked it two years ago with the same cold air intake system on it and they passed it without any problems. Took it to another smog check place, showed them the executive order and it passed with no problems. These guys are clueless about customer relations and I think tried to pull one over on me because I am female. I will never go back and advised people to not trust this place. read more

Save your money and time. My wife took our SUV in to get Smogged and surprised it didn't pass, nothing mechanical but the visual inspection Didn't pass. I had an aftermarket air intake installed and because it have no identification number he couldn't verify it belonged to the vehicle. His mechanic didn't take the time to pop the hood before the start of testing . This has happened to me before, but the other smog place I took it too , warned me that it would not pass without the stock air intake and didn't charge me for that information. These guys are ripoffs $50 & wanted more to retest. I asked the manager why his mechanic didn't open the hood before testing , as any good mechanics would. His excuse was that they have to follow the step-by-step procedure by the state of California, that's BS. Every good mechanics going to pop the hood first thing . This is the type of scenario of auto repair place trying to take advantage of a woman. Then the man with a heavy accent started playing dumb , and said that it was out of his hands and would not acknowledge my point , that if the mechanic would have warned my wife before hand , I could have changed the intake back to stock and the vehicle would have passed. But of course he would lose out on the extra $$ he wanted to make on the failed smog . He also offered wife that for another $80 he could put it back to stock and it would pass. Long story short I took it to a American owned auto service shop and it passed with no problem 35 dollars later thank you. read more

Avoid. Brought my '95 for a smog check at 4pm. Was told I had to be there by 3:30 in order to get a "new" low-pressure fuel test (what?) that would cost an extra $10 more than usual pricing, etc. Went to VT Smog where I usually go and was done and gone in 15-20 minutes for same $50 as usual. Shared my experience with roommate who'd suggested trying Smog Station and she changed her tune to: oh, yes, I got a bad feeling about this place and went somewhere else. read more

I have been taking my car to THE SMOG STATION over 20 years and would not consider taking it anywhere else for smog services! Moose is friendly and I feel I am being delt fairly with, even being a female. I recommend them to all my State Farm customers! read more

HORRIBLE! Long story short. They take forever to do anything. There's no communication from then in the process and I'm almost positive they just want your money. They 'fixed' why the check engine light was on but oh darn, couldn't get the light to go off. Tried to get me go bring it back in tomorrow and then when my husband showed up not happy and told him we aren't coming back, he tried giving us a free oil change to get us back to continue to fix the problem they couldn't fix yet. Never going there again. read more

this shop is great! very quick and friendly service. chris was amazing, i recommend to ask for chris when you go in. he is very polite, friendly and professional!! he will definitely take care of you and your car!.. thankyou chris!! read more