Unlimited Smog Center

Horrible Service!!! DO not go here. I had a coupon that was still valid according to the expiration date and the front desk/​tech would not take it. He kept telling me that was a printing error and would not honor the price. I ask him if he can make an exception and his reply was «Absolutely. Not.» What a jerk. He also said that he didn’t like to make exceptions for older cars because it would affect his Star rating… apparently customer service and referrals are not his main priority.

Let me just say, that myself and all the other 1 star reviews have the same exact complaint. This guy will tell you your car is BROKEN instead of simply refusing service to prevent his score being lowered. This cost another reviewer almost $ 1,000. BE AWARE this guy is a LIAR.
Extremely unhappy with the way Unlimited Smog Center handled my potential business today. I had just repaired my exhaust at the muffler shop down the road which was the last repair I needed to pass smog, so I stopped in here since it was right next door. The technician said he needed to «check my monitor» before he performed the smog. After he did that, he returned and told me my OBD-​II had no power, was broken, and would need repair before he could perform a smog. I told him this was impossible as I’ve been working with my mechanic all week to get it ready for smog, and watched him pull the codes at least 4 different times, and there was no way in hell I was going to believe it went bad overnight. I told him so much, and so he took his scanners to another gentleman’s car to «prove» to me they worked. Well, he ended up telling that guy his OBD-​II was broken as well. HUH, seems like kind of a coincidence, don’t you think?
Well, unfortunately for this guy, despite my being a woman I’ve had enough shitty cars to learn quite a bit about them throughout the years. What ACTUALLY was going on was that he did not WANT to smog my car, because the computer 1 «incomplete» test. Well, the state of California allows cars from my year to still pass smog with 1 incomplete, however, it will lower the rating of the smog shop who does it because it is called «passing with maximum allowed incomplete.» I know this, because my father works at a smog shop who couldn’t smog me because of it.
Well hey, I’m a fair gal, and if he were to tell me the truth «Hey, I really can’t afford to smog your car because it will lower the rating of my store,» I would have completely understood and simply walked away and tried another shop with a higher rating according to the state. But for no reason at all, this guy wants to tell me and some other unsuspecting guy that our OBD-​IIs are BROKEN and we need to have them REPAIRED. Keep in mind, this is of no benefit whatsoever to the smog shop, so there is literally NO REASON not to be honest and upfront.
Well needless to say, I got him to fess up to this before I left because I know enough to not let some misogynist grease monkey lie to my face and get away with it. It’s no problem, I took my car to Smog N’ Go over by Ikea, passed, went to the DMV and registered my car in 2 hours, no thanks to him.
I would highly advise steering clear of this dishonest smog tech.

Came in early Monday morning, and the owner was very nice. Took care of all the customers in a professional manner. Worked quickly. In and out in less than 20 minutes. I’ll definitely be back!

I recommend this shop. The owner was very respectful and so helpful with my car and it’s challenges. He told me what I needed to do before he could test it. I did what he said and it worked! he only took about 5 minutes to do the test and I passed. he was very personable and kind. I will go there and recommend others to go there too. Thank you again for all your help and courtesy!

Read all the «1» ratings! They all sound similar. Should be enough to make you go elsewhere. This guy has a mental problem. He’s an intimidating, rude, bully for NO reason! He will not take your car even it he knows it will pass because something about your car will lower his rating! No kidding! Read! Happened to me! The previous 5star rater must be a plant/​shill. I was a return customer, but I forgot my coupon. He made me drive 10 miles back to get it. When I returned I waited in line for my turn and when it came he told me one of my monitors was off. He said I would pass, but that he «did not want to lower his star rating» by passing me. I asked him to explain, but he really could not. I was polite. He was not. He had some prejudgement about me for whatever reason. He then looked me in the eye, face to face, as this is what he wanted to do, bully and belittle, and told me that he didn’t make me go back for the coupon. It was totally my decision. I suggested that I was a returning customer and that he could have waived the coupon or let me show it in the smartphone, but he then got in my face again and told me he makes $ 2500/​mo. and he «doesn’t give it away.» He repeated that for my benefit three times. I went to smog and go 15 minutes later and told them this story and they chuckled and said this guy was PLAIN WRONG to do this. They gave me a $ 10 coupon and passed me with no questions asked. Sometimes discount coupons aren’t worth the ink they are printed with. That is the case with Unlimited Smog Center, and by the way, it is no longer «unlimited». You are now only allowed a single return visit for free if there is a problem. Even that name is a lie.

DO NOT GO HERE! Not sure what happened here but the owner has taken a turn for the worse. This was my go to sniff shop but not anymore. I brought the usual coupon in to get my smog and the owner tells me he will not take it. I ask why and he tells me it doesn’t cover my vehicle. That would be fine but he said it very rudely. I decided to take my business elsewhere then he calls me an A-​hole for doing so. Unbelievably bad form. We all have bad days but like it or not you are in customer service and you suck it up.
FYI– other competitors will take his coupon and are grateful for the business.

absolutely the worst place to go if you are in search of good service and customer service!!!
business is bbb complaint worthy!!!

The place was packed although it was on Monday afternoon but I was satisfied with his speed on trying his best on working on 6 cars before mines! Waited a little over 1 hour. I’m happy!

This is the worst smog place I have ever been to. When I walked in it took only about 15 – 20 minutes for my car to be smog as there were other customers ahead of me which I wasn’t worried about since it was Saturday and I expected to wait a little. It only took about 10 minutes for my car to be smogged. The front desk guy came back and told me my car did not pass because it had been modified and needed the correct cool air intake. I had already replaced this part several years back and my car had passed smog several times since then. I told him that I had passed smog two times prior with that part. So I was going to replace it but was advised by the tech at O’Rielye not to do so because that was the correct part for my car. I then went bak to Unlimited smog and the technition-​owner was extremely rude. He acted as if I was inconveniencing him for him not properly smoging my car. When I was trying to speak with him in between smogs he
would tell me to step away from the counter like I was causing a scene. This man is very and should not be a business owner if he cannot speak to customers with respect. DO NOT GET YOUR CAR SMOGED HERE!!!

Really great place to get your car smog at. The service is great and the people are really helpful and nice been here about 2 times now. I would definitely recommend this place. It’s star certified also and they do have coupons on penny saver magazines, which comes in the mail. Fast, friendly, and cheap.

I walked into this place and waited at the counter for 10 minutes, no acknowledgment of any kind so after the ten minutes I walked out got in my car and went up the street… horrible place I will NEVER go back.

If you are looking for a low profile smog this is a place for lowered cars. I drove to about half a dozen until I found this place. The technician knew exactly what he was looking and what to look for when it came to LEGAL CARB parts, not only that he was teaching the new tech what to look for as well.
The new tech was very friendly and helpful. I would go back with my other cars when I need smog again.
A+

This is the ONLY smog place I go to when it’s time to get serviced. I’ve been coming to this place for years and the owner (Leland) has always been helpful, fast, and friendly with every visit I’ve made. A++++++++ service!!!

Great place to get my car smogged!
I had to take two tests here because my first test failed. I don’t like to drive very far and as a result my car doesn’t usually heat up enough to get cleaned out and every so often a hiccup of smoke will come out of my 1990 Chevy. I hoped that wouldn’t happen during the test, after all it hadn’t done it in weeks, but of course it did «hiccup» during the test and I failed for visible smoke. But since they do a free re-​test I didn’t really mind. So I took her on the freeway, which I never do, and drove her around for a couple days, heating her up and cleaning out the exhaust (I should do it more often). I went back and passed with flying colors. Thanks so much nice guy who performed the test! :)
I usually go to the smog place on El Camino, even though I live in Oak Park, in part because I like to go to places I’ve been before and also because it is cheap. But wow this place is even cheaper and I was in and out in 10 minutes. The cost with my coupon was 21 $ plus the 10 $ fee for the truck being over a 1996 and then the 8.25 $ for the cert plus the free re-​test. Good deal my friends.
The place is pretty small and looks like any other smog place. I do like the huge windows so you can see whats going on but I also appreciate that there was a little TV to distract me. I hate getting the car smogged, I always think the guy is going to come back to me and tell me I failed everything (school fear flash backs maybe?). But the guy was very nice, friendly, and professional.
I am taking my brothers car here today :).

Update:
Went back in for the retest and failed again.
After the exam I went to another smog place and passed without incident.
So I stand by by my 1 star decision.

Was in and out within an hour, with four cars ahead of me. Props.

employee/​owner refused services that were entitled to me after purchasing services.
«30 day smog retake»
On 10÷17÷12 I took in my vehicle to get smog check at UNLIMITED SMOG. I paid $ 26.75 for the smog services, the owner/​employee ran the test on my truck and failed to pass the smog check due to two emission sensors not confirming. After failing the owner/​employee advised me in order to set the sensors, I had to drive around for a while in order to set the sensors, so I did. I filled up my tank which was $ 150 dollars, drove for about 200 miles and returned the same day for the smog check. Upon arrival instead of rechecking my vehicle on the smog machine he decided to use his ODB II code scanner to see if the sensors had set. He advised me that one of my sensors was not setting, after doing so he referred me to take my vehicle to the dealership to see why that sensor was not setting. I took it into the dealership and they advised me that there would be a $ 120 inspection fee, so I agreed on the inspection but was advised that I had to leave my vehicle over night. The next day the service rep at the dealership told me that I had to get my computer on my vehicle replaced in order to have my sensors set, so I agreed and ended up paying $ 720 dollars for the service and repair. The service rep at the dealership advised me that all the sensors had been set and that I was good to go. On ¹⁰⁄₂₅ I go back to get my free 30 day re-​smog check, I arrive early in the morning and I wait until he opens the shop, he assisted the customer ahead of me, after doing so he brings his ODB II code scanner once again to see if my sensors have set, we wait for about 2 minutes and tells me that one of my sensors still have not set. At this point of time I had advised him that the dealership had notified me that they had set my sensors and there should be no problem passing my truck. He refused to check my truck even though I was entitled to my free 30 day re-​smog. I asked why wouldn’t he? then he said that he knew it would pass but he didn’t want to due to the fact that he would get dinged for a point. Then I asked him that before I had taken my truck into the dealership would my truck have passed then. He replied yes. I became irate at this point of time and asked why wouldn’t he just tell me to get retested somewhere else where instead of me wasting my time and money taking it to the dealership. He replied «I must’ve forgot.» I asked him once again to run the smog check just to see if it would pass and he still refused due to this point that he kept talking about. I advised him that I had spent $ 870 dollars to fix my truck which there was nothing wrong with, and him knowing that my truck would’ve have passed but did not want to recheck my vehicle for him not to get dinged with this one point, was wrong of him to have put me through. The owner didn’t care that I had spent all of that money and didn’t empathize at all. He had a Oh well, I don’t care attitude, so I left. I was so mad at this point and had never felt so deceived with all this false information just for personal gain. Sadly I had to pay $ 48 dollars to get my vehicle smog checked somewhere elsewhere, where my truck did pass after all the lies, and money spent. In all I will never recommend anyone to get their smog check done at UNLIMITED SMOG.

I took two of my cars here to have them smogged and the owner/​operator doesn’t know what he is doing. He stated he has been doing this for 20 years, and with his lack of knowledge, he should quit now. He doesn’t know how to test your car if it has aftermarket parts on it. He told me he was going to fail one of my cars just on visual because it doesn’t have the right stickers, but if he was versed in the law he would have known there are NO MORE stickers! The manufactures now have a list of part for certain vehicles and the #‘s to go with each. The parts are not interchangeable, therefore only work on the designated vehicles…

This place is VERY very great for your smogging needs but it only does testing. There are no lifts and everything is done within 45 minutes. The way they test is on a roller in the floor, so they do not need to lift you car. I had hydraulics on my car, and it doesn’t go good with lifts. I found this place and it was great. No Problems. Nice garage for testing and well ventilated. Quick and Fast. Only things that I found were: they are small which means that they test one car at a time. The office is not really clean (does it matter?) yes.
Pros:
39+cert with PennySaver Coupon = CHEAP
No LIFTS =)
Organized garage that isn’t dirty like others.
Cons:
Slow if there’s a long line
Office is smudgy
Notes:
Look for a penny saver coupon.