Happy Birthday Emissions

No one wants to do emissions testing. This place was excellent. I felt like it was a very professional environment. Everything happened quickly and I was on my way in a few minutes. This will be the place I come back to next year.

I’ve been going here for years. Quick and friendly service every time.

The gentleman who helped me was very professional, efficient, and polite. I had a nice conversation with him while he serviced my vehicle and he never skipped a beat. I was in and out in no time. I was even able to test his knowledge a little as I have a background as an auto mechanic and he proved by the conversation that he knows his stuff. For performing a service that is a necessary evil, and that offers only an indirect benefit to the customer, this place does an exceptional job. I highly recommend it. I don’t think I would have been upset even if my car had failed emissions testing!

Great service and a very friendly guy.

Quick, friendly, reasonable and great customer service. I recommend this emission testing center to all who live in the area.

Quick, clean, courteous, and reasonably priced: the 4 things you look for when dealing with automotive shops. Though this emission shop is not the closest one to my home, I will continue using this business exclusively for the foreseeable future.

This place is great, drive in, get fast and friendly service, drive out, doesn’t get any better. I won’t be going anywhere else, telling all my friends and family about this place.

Have been going to Happy Birthday Emissions for years and have taken all of our family cars. Located on the corner of Old Alabama and Nesbit, Alexander is a friendly dude with some foreign «Russian» or Belarus accent. Very polite and very efficient. You don’t need to exit your vehicle… at least we have not had to for the later models. Used to only take cash but now they take credit cards for convenience. The whole process is under 10 minutes if no one else is ahead of you in line. He always gives you a hearty thank you and wishes you a Happy Birthday… now that does make anyone feel special. :) Located right behind the Citgo gas station in the same shopping plaza as the Cuban restaurant Mojito’s and the Derby pub.

As a female, getting emissions testing done on your car can sometimes feel like wandering down a dark alley with potential creepers/​scary people waiting in the shadows and leering at you. So i read the previous Unilocal review for this place and decided to take the new car there.
Happy to say I agree with Mel G. completely! There was no crazy ex-​con in a hastily built shack! On the contrary, the owner was the one administering the test. He knew just from reading the VIN what year my car was, and predicted (accurately) the reason it would fail before he even put it on the dyno. He also informed me that the guy who had just sold me the car was actually responsible for giving me a valid emission certificate at time of sale. Apparently, in our lovely state of Ga, I can now hold the seller financially responsible for my fees and repair costs, and if he doesn’t want to pay them, then the state goes after him! (How did I not know this!!!)
So anyways, I get a free re-​test after I get the old girl fixed, and Mr. Owner gave me a ton of good tips to help her pass, as well. I appreciated his honesty, and I will be going back here for my other cars as well.

It’s that time of year again! You know what I’m talking about, right? You have to go pay some former prisoner who is already a few wanks short of an orgasm that works in a hastily thrown together shack twenty bucks to get your car’s emissions checked. In my house, we affectionately refer to this as the Annual BOHICA Fee to renew your tags. (By the way, BOHICA stands for «bend over, here it comes again!»)
I dread this every year because, one, I think it is a complete racket and two, I don’t like having to deal with the people that run these places because they are always pushing the «tip jar» in your face and saying, «I sure would appreciate a tip for my troubles if you could spare it.» Uh, you typed in a few keystrokes on a keyboard, scanned the bar code on my door jam to get the VIN (guess manual input was too difficult for you), and screwed my gas cap onto some mechanism to ensure proper pressure. That’s it! And you want a tip?! Puhleeze!
Well, given that I don’t live in Alpharetta (only work here), when I need to find something in the area I rely on my colleagues who actually can name all of the «ferrys» and «bridges» up here like they’re saying their ABCs. Today I found Happy Birthday Emissions and man was I in for a surprise!
It was a nice brick building that I later found out is owned by the same guy that does your inspection. The inside is clean and painted and well maintained. «Alexander» asked me to get out of my car and even had a small waiting room (primitive no doubt, but in the cold winter months could you really care?) that was heated so that I wouldn’t be cold.
Alexander told me that he’s been in business since January and built this building and owns the land underneath because he wanted to start a business and show some commitment to the area.
I was in/​out in less than 12 minutes and as I was leaving, he even wishes me a Happy Birthday (which isn’t until later this month, by the way)! You aren’t going to get that from your friendly ex-​con inspector, right?
Yeah, I know that Alpharetta isn’t considered «civilization» to most people out there and I wouldn’t argue. But if you either live in this area or are up here for work and you need to get your car inspected, stop by Happy Birthday Emissions and see for yourself how good this experience was!