I called about 22 smog locations in Boulder City and Henderson to check out rates and assess friendliness of folks. (An investment of about 8 minutes). It appeared all but one was open today (President's Day, which is a holiday for banks/post office) and about 14 had Yelp or Google reviews that I deemed high enough to consider patronizing. I opted for Smog Vets based on price, convenience/drive time, and the friendliness of the brief phone chat. Over the phone, I found Smog Vets had the cheapest rate amongst everyone if paying by cash, and the price ($1 more) if paying by credit card tied the rate of about 5 locations. They also offer a discount to Vets, and a discount for those who are willing to share their experience on Yelp. (I already planned to write a review of the experience though).
Justin was working with another customer inside the shop when I arrived, but communicated he would be with me in a couple minutes and deftly multi-tasked offering that person some paperwork to fill out while he helped me. The entire smog experience was probably the absolute fastest I have had (and I have had some incredibly fast smogs before)- about 5 minutes with his hooking up the machine to the car, pressing the pedal, checking the readout and printing the form in literally just a few minutes. Justin was quite friendly and absolutely a business I would enjoy supporting in the future. (I called my mom as I ran my next errand and told her and dad they had to go to Justin for their smogs next time!).
A smog is one of those yearly rituals in Clark County - and I can't say I love early things that I feel like are just things to check off my to-do list. I can say that a business like Justin's in one I would like an excuse to visit more than once a year, though. Check him out- I think you'll feel the same! He's located conveniently in the same little plaza with Chilly Jilly'z/the Patio - but I have to imagine that even on crazy busy days, Justin is so fast that you probably don't have time to grab food while you wait... but you can grab food before or after and just keep your car parked in the same parking lot.
You have to love the convenience of a small town sometimes... and the kindness of local townspeople. Thanks for your help this morning, Justin! I'll see 'ya next year! read more