Marinwood Smog Check

I have been taking my car and my wife’s to Alex for the past 4 years. Also took my daughter’s car now that she is driving too. The location is very clean and organized. Alex is meticulous, consistent and has great attention to detail. He offers a $ 20 coupon discount, just ask for it when he explains the cost for the test. You pay after the test. It feels good to support a local business that carres!

Had my car smog checked here yesterday after some other station said my car failed because the ignition timing was off.
The tech at the other station tried to chisel and extra $ 100 out of me for repairs and another smog test, but the tech at Marinwood tested my car and it passed with no problems.
The tech at Marinwood showed me the most current manual and there it was in black and white. For the year of my car, an ignition timing test was not required to pass a Smog Check.
This station has a technician you can trust.

I have known Alex for a long time. I had an auto repair business for 19 in Terra Linda and now that I no longer have a shop or a smog license /​station i bring my smogs to Alex. He always communicates well and does his best to get the tests done quickly.
As for the person that questioned his skill because his car failed miserably with Alex and passed somewhere else the next day. That happens, cars do stupid stuff like that. I used to specialize in repairing all sorts weird of computer and smog problems when no one else could. I could write a huge list of all the weird things cars would do. You could test a system one minute and it was fine and ten minutes later the car might not run and before you could get a tester on it could be working again.
My experience with Alex is he is an very good and knowledgeable technician and he is exceptional human being and I would not say that about many people. I can not imagine him ever doing anything to intentionally cause a vehicle to fail a test or cause a vehicle to fail due to lack of automotive skills.
I always appreciate Alex’s skill as a technician and a business owner.
Thanks Alex,
Chuck C.

Did not communicate clearly which created big problems for me. In the end I took my business elsewhere.

Had to get a car checked today and he was great. Quick, efficient and tok care of everything.
he was very upfront, honest and clear.
Not sure how this compared in price to other places, but they were clear and very upfront about everything and took care of everything efficiently.
Even though there were people before me they still acknowledged me, helped me be prepared to be as quick of an experience as possible.

Excellent service, fast, and no hidden fees. Many smog stations offer better prices but neglect to include the cost of the certificate, and so appear to be cheaper. Marinwood Smog included the certificate in my total price. I went to another smog check station which advertised a price of $ 39.95 but when I got there, I was informed that my larger car (a Toyota 4Runner) would cost more and that the certificate wasn’t included — giving a total closer to $ 70. I walked out, came to Marinwood, and am very happy I did. One piece of advice — do NOT take your car in cold. The pistons are not warmed up and a bit of oil can sneak by until the engine expands with heat. This can be the difference between passing and failing. I’ll continue to support these guys.

After my car didn’t pass at another test location, my mechanic suggested Marinwood Smog. Since we weren’t sure why my car hadn’t passed, we tried the least expensive fixes first and decided to have it retested. I had initially gone to Marin Smog, but when the car failed, they didn’t offer a free restest. I decided to not give them anymore of my money since my mechanic seemed surprised a retest wasn’t offered. My mechanic had a $ 20 off coupon for Marinwood, so I decided to give it a shot.
I showed up on a Saturday and there was no wait. The place was SPOTLESS! It was right across from the Marinwood Market and adjacent to the gas station there on the corner. There was a little seating area inside.
I was greeted kindly and the tech reviewed the paper work from my initial smog. He agreed to honor the coupon and promised a free retest if it failed again. They are also a Star Station — which my DMV paperwork required.
It passed! My easy fixes of an oil change and a 20-​minute pre-​test freeway drive paid off.
I also got the coupon back so I could use it again or pass it on. My results were e-​filed with the DMV and I was off. The whole thing took about 10 minutes and I paid $ 51 total with coupon.

Great and quick service. Alex stayed past closing time to smog my car and was very nice. I am definitely taking my car to be smog checked here from now on.

this guy was nice and quick but I should have paid attention before signing the estimate — the smog was $ 65 just for the test and another $ 6 for the paperwork ($ 71)! I assumed most smog places charged about the same amount but YIKES!