Richmond Test Only Center

Local, easy, solid, fast smog check. I’ll be back.

in and out. got here at 9:30 AM on a thursday and no one else was there. it took probably 15 mins or less for the check (no dyno required for my car, apparently). it was $ 69.95 as others have stated, quick, easy and i was home before 10 AM. Alan was friendly and fast.

There are many times we have to have patience with a process and when it comes to our cars this is especially the case. I’ve never had a problem with a test only smog station. This particular one seems to be not able to handle 2002 BMW so this review is limited to just saying that they couldn’t figure out how to run the smog. The problem is that they actually told me that they could. I specifically called in advance to make sure they had availability to take my car at that time and run the smog check, which they did, and they asked what kind of car I had. I told them it was a BMW, a 2002 model, and they said that they knew how to do that. But they didn’t. What’s worse is that after 20 minutes of sitting in there waiting room, I finally asked them how much longer it would be and they said they didn’t know how to run a smog check on this particular vehicle, they were looking for the canister (I don’t even know what that is) and they were trying to figure it out online. After that I decided to leave and when I got to another smog station a couple miles away they said that this center had failed me without ever actually running a test. Apparently they can do that. I couldn’t understand the basis and I called the manager Alan and wasn’t very satisfied with his response. He was very antagonistic and didn’t want to work anything out or communicate.

Clean place & very quick with the smog check. The staff is also very kind and helpful in explaining any questions you may have. I’d highly recommend it!

Great work! Richmond Smog Service is close to home. I drove right in for a smog check at 10am on a Thursday. They open at 9:30 and have a place to sit and work. Or you can go onto Geary blvd and find almost anything. My wise dad comes here and recommends the good service. My well-​cared for 2006 Toyota Corolla passed! Get to know and support your local businesses and owners. Chances are they may be a neighbor. Thank you Alan Lei for your professional service!

Alan was quick to do a smog check. Total time was probably 20 minutes.
Price a bit higher than other places at $ 69.95 but no appointment necessary and I came in on a Saturday.

Excellent service, highly knoledgable and very very professional. Its great how they are open on Saturday and they are close to my home which is convenient. It seems like some of the people that reviewed this place gave a poor review bc their car didn’t pass the smog. Thats not the Smog station’s fault. They can’t pass u if u have engine issues they will be liable and risk loosing their accreditation which is bad for business. Added perk was that I have an issue that my check tire pressure light in that it never turns off even if my tires are fine, even the dealership can’t do it and the guy checked my tires for me and i didn’t ask him too he just felt like it i guess. I thought that was sweet that he checked all the tire pressures since i have no way of knowing if my tire is low or not since i cannot get the check tire light to turn off.

Less than zero. Called for an appointment, man said: «1^st come 1^st served». I asked how long it would take if I came right over and no-​one was ahead of me, and the man said 30 minutes. So I drive over there, and walk in and say «I’m here for the smog check» and he says «sorry, equipment is out of service, come back later». I think… NOT!

Ummmmm …
Mr. Dick… You failed the test.
Lady…How did I possibly fail?
Mr. Dick… Your check engine light was on. You can’t pass if your check engine light is on.
Lady…Ummm why didn’t you tell me to come back or turn off the check engine light off.
Mr. Dick… I don’t have too.
Lady…Sooo you took my money knowing that I would fail, and now want to charge me to take the test again?
Mr. Dick then just stood there looking at me.
Lady…Mr. Dick, you are an ASSHOLE.
True Story

Wow, that was fast and professional. Thanks to Henry for his 20min Smog Check and I only PAID $ 49.00. You have now a returning customer!

My second visit was last week in July 2013 and my first was 5 years ago when I first got my car.
Recent Trip
— Was going for a simple smog check/​test, which is a bit pricey at $ 69.
— I failed the test because my check engine light was on, but rather than inform me ahead of time that I would inevitably fail it with the light on, he went ahead and did it and then told me I failed.
— Alan, the main dude, is now offering for a $ 20 re-​check.
— In my mind, an honest man would have told me upfront to go get my car checked and fixed before coming for a smog. He clearly took advantage of the situation for a $ 70 check.
— Here’s how I know, when I went to get it checked and fixed, the mechanic told me and said he should’ve turned me away immediately.
Last Trip (5 years ago)
— Simple smog check/​test upon buying the same car I’ve been driving. Easy and fast and much cheaper at $ 30-​$ 40 range.
Sorry Richmond Smog Service, you don’t have my business anymore.

Smog certification for an old old old Honda, but still in mint-​crisp condition. RSS in the richmond district is fast and reliable. They are DMV/​State of California certified. In and out — 30 minutes. fistpump!

Extremely professional, high integrity, and excellent customer service.
This may be the only 5-​star review ever for a place that failed a customer’s smog test.
I went over here at around 2 PM to get my car smogged for DMV purposes. Very quick check in. The price on the wall said $ 69.95 for the full smog service. I mentioned I had seen a price only for $ 45 (which I had) — he said he could’t do that, but could do $ 60 all-​in. Fine with me. He told me there was a few cars in the queue, so I went and got lunch.
30 min later I came back — and my car had failed the smog test! There was nothing wrong with my car, but I had failed the «check engine» portion of the test. The owner asked me if I had recently had my car serviced. Yes, I had — just earlier that morning, in fact. He told me that after service, I needed to drive for 30 – 50 miles at higher speeds for the computer to «click over» and register as everything working normally. Because I had failed, he only charged me $ 50, and said I could come back anytime in the next 30 days to get retested, and he would just charge me the $ 10 difference.
I had a few hours, so I went out to the 280 and drove for about 50 miles. I then came back to Richmond Smog Service at about 5:20. The owner was clearly closing up, but I asked if we could just try this again so I could be all set for the DMV. The smog testing computer was off, but he fired everything back up just to run my test. 10 min later, I had a completed smog test in my hand. I paid him the $ 10 and was on my way.
This is an example of superior customer service, in my opinion. The owner absolutely had no obligation to retest my car for free, nor did he have to test my car late in the day on a Saturday before closing up.
I recommend Richmond Smog Service without any reservations for your next smog service. Probably worth checking out for your other auto service needs as well.

Fairly fast (½ hour), courteous service, but way, way too expensive at $ 79.95!