Brake Plus Smog Check Center

Liars and price gouging ripoffs Do NOT go here to get anything done on your car. I went in for a smog check and they tried to cheat me for an extra $ 25 dollars saying that Prius’s cost more which is a lie they are no more cost and time than any other car. So I went to another shop and they told me that was not true that the other guy was scamming me just to see if I was dumb enough to go for it. So unless you want to get spotty substandard work and lied to and taken advantage of I wouldn’t under any circumstances go to these rip off artists! Shame on them they suck! This seems to be a scam they have and I’m not the first to report it so watch out!
Rude, horrible customer service. Won’t be back again!
If you need an honest quick good price smog check go to 19^th Ave 76 station at 1401 19^th Ave in San Francisco it took 5 min with no hassle and no hidden fees with great customer service!

Came here for a smog test. I had a coupon. But they said the coupon didn’t apply to my car and that it would be extra.
Rude, horrible customer service. Won’t be back again.

Why would Mercedes will cost $ 10 more than the advertised price?! I think that’s just random. Total false advertising. End up going to another shop for a better price and better service.

Stanley treated very well. When I got there, I was told that there were two customers ahead of me and that it generally took 20 – 25 minutes to complete a smog check. I figured I had plenty of time on my hands, so I sauntered to the waiting area to use the restroom and proceeded to sit down to read one of the magazines lying on the table. To my pleasant surprise, the technician appeared at the doorway far ahead of schedule and asked that I bring the car, which was parked on the street near the shop. Long story short, I successfully passed the smog inspection, had my paperwork processed, and was sent on my way with minimum amount of time and hassle involved.

Horrible customer service. I was sculpted by the smog check guy for asking if he is back from lunch yet. I would not give my business to someone who disrespect his customers even though he charges less.

I had a great experience with Kevin who did my smog check faster than expected! Found a coupon online and gave them a call on Saturday afternoon. They were upfront about uncertainties in timing. I decided to drive there and see if a smog check could be done before it closed. Mission accomplished — and my 2000 Honda Accord passed! Thanks Kevin & Brake Plus Smog Check Center!!!

These guys are a total ripoff. The «tech» Kevin is a total scheister with a shitty attitude. If you have a coupon, he will fail you on the smog check, even if everything passes, because it did when I took it to another shop. This operation is totally unprofessional and their only aim is to rip people off.

If I can give this people zero*I will worst place ever I would never recommend to no one very bad attitude overcharge very shitty job very bad employee very weak managers whenever they told you didn’t make any sense. Never again

Yay! These guys are awesome! Showed up this afternoon without an appointment but with a printed coupon and my DMV form to get a smog check on my ’02 Audi A6 3.0 Quattro.
Kevin who handles all the smog inspections was smiling, charming, professional, and quick. When I asked about brake work, he referred me to Andrew, the manager (?) inside.
Andrew checked out my brakes front and back and actually gave me a better report than I’d gotten from my regular mechanic. Then, he gave me an informal verbal estimate and a detailed tutorial on German-​make cars’ brakes versus others.
When I asked about checking the air pressure on my tires, Kevin offered to handle that. He pointed out the green valve caps that indicated my tires were filled w/​nitrogen instead of just plain ol’ air. When I said I’d added air previously, he cautioned against that. Andrew also pointed out that the wear on the front tires indicated it was definitely time for a rotation and alignment. Ended up draining all the nitrogen-​air mixture and refilling the tires w/​good ol’ plain air. No charge for his time and work. Just a great big smile… just like the one I had as I drove away. I’ll be back in a couple weeks for the alignment and tire rotation.
I’m pretty picky about customer service. Maybe it’s because I came in with a smile and an expectation that I’d receive good service, but everyone with whom I engaged were super friendly and professional. I’m really happy I found them.
Plus! My smog check cost about ¹⁄₃ of what I’ve been paying at a garage on Clement Street the last few years where there’s never been a smile to be seen.

I called these clowns yesterday to make an appointment to get my car smogged — I was told that no appointment was necessary and I could just show up at 9am. I show up at 9 and the place is locked up with nobody around. I waited 15 minutes They wasted my time and I ended up going to a competitor down the street.

This used to be my favorite place to get a smog, been going here for a few years smogging multiple cars and recommending them to family and friends. There’s only one service bay and Kevin works alone so there’s usually a wait but he used to have a good attitude and was a pretty friendly reasonable person so I didn’t mind.
Recently I went in with my usual smile and friendly attitude and he nearly bit my head off. First he wanted to charge me double the advertised price, then he started lecturing me about how he wasn’t making enough money with everyone taking advantage of the craigslist and pennysaver coupons and how sixty bucks was perfectly reasonable for a standard vanilla smog. Keep in mind a standard smog these days isn’t even a tailpipe test, all they have to do is hookup the computer and see if there are any codes. The whole thing should take 5 minutes tops.
After waiting around 30 minutes for him to finish up the one car ahead of me, he went to work on my car and took another 20 minutes or so to do my smog. He was still fuming about something afterwards so I just paid my bill and got the hell out of there.
Look everyone has bad days and money problems but it’s not the customer’s fault if they want to take advantage of an advertised discount. The whole experience was so unprofessional and unpleasant I can’t recommend this place anymore.

’02 Mazda needed a smog and it Passed. Came here for the last 3 yrs. GREAT service. Kevin is quick and if you got a coupon from Pennysaver it’s $ 41 Cash ONLY w/​cert! FYI it’s attached to the uhaul & oil change. Just go to the far right bay where they do the smog checks only. It’s separate from the two places above. Usually there are one or two cars waiting.

I found an their ad in a local newspaper advertising a smog check for ~$ 27. Thinking it was a great deal, my dad headed down to have my car smog checked. When he got there, they told him our 2001 Nissan Sentra needed a ‘star smog check’ or something to that degree instead, and would cost $ 31, not $ 27 as advertised.
My car’s ‘service engine soon’ light has been on for a few days now and I have been meaning to get it fixed. However, the auto shop did not mention this would be a problem before performing the smog check. Afterwards, they told my dad because the light was on, regardless of anything else, it was an automatic fail! Something they FAILED TO MENTION while they turned the car on and prepped it for the check. Additionally, the recheck fee is not waived UNLESS you have the repair done at their repair shop (a caveat not mentioned in their posting).
This place looks at money first before customer service. We ended up paying for the «smog check» but decided go elsewhere to get our car done. They don’t mind cheating people rather than earning a customer base. I won’t be coming back again. More importantly, I want to offer a word of caution to those considering using their service. Ask extensively before agreeing to any services.

Found a coupon online, best price in the area. Waited about 20min for the car in front of me, took 15min for mine. Young kid there was pretty helpful. Nice guy.

Fast friendly service from Kevin. Even explained to me that smog check, test and inspection are all the same the only difference as of two years ago is weather you need to have it done at a Star credited location which will state on your renewal. I believe most places charge for the certificate, older model cars, larger engines and retesting so be aware. This place is cash only. I found a coupon in the Advertiser! Prob saved $ 10. Wendy’s is a block away. Nice spot to have a Frosty while you wait! Yum!!!

Never go to this place for a SMOG check. The coupon states one price and they will charge you a different price when you get there. The SMOG tech Matt was so rude and disrespectful! The owner was no help at all. Never come here to get any work done on your car!!!

Omg called before getting here!!! And the man said they not checking anymore cars !!! Really ??? That is F *** !!!

Came here with my 2003 Toyota for a smog check only. Used the coupon, read all the instructions and pass with flying color. In and out of there without any issue.
1995 or older car: Nope
4 cyclinder: Yup
Heavy duty vehicle, truck or van: Nope
As simple as that, you can use their coupon. I know they don’t do re-​test for free like other stations when you fail the smog test but this place offers a low price. I know my car will likely pass so I took the chance.
California Smog check requires visual inspection and functional check and then also the emission test. So if you fail anywhere in the test, the smog test will not be pass.
As a regular driver who doesn’t know anything about cars, you can only make sure the engine light is not on and your fuel cap is okay before you come here. Otherwise don’t take the chance.
And yes, this place gets busy because a lot of customer comes here for smog test, brake fix and renting UHauls.
This place is awesome!

2÷28÷13
I notice that one of the owners, «Stanley F» has responded to many negative posts with what appears to be cut/​post responses. (See below). What Stan fails to explain is why Brakes Plus chooses to charge for retests when most other places do not. Maybe Stan should work on customer service as opposed to surfing the internet? I can’t wait to see his response. I found another place nearby that is much better:
My orig post & «Stan’s» response follows:
⁸⁄₂₀₁₂
**SMOG**
Be ware that if your car fails for any reason, this place will not retest for free while other places will. I learned this the hard way. Also, make yourself aware of things that you can do before the test to help pass:
…
I failed to notice that my «check engine» light bulb ($ 3) was burnt out. Though, I passed the emissions test, and there were no malfunction codes on my vehicles’ computer. I still failed. Now as I stated, many places offer a free retest. Brakes Plus does not. charge me $ 35 bucks for a $ 3 fix? I don’t think so.
Comment from stanley f. of Brake Plus Test Only Center 2÷2÷2013 note: customer fails smog check = very unhappy :(customer. tech is license to follow all smog laws, passing smog emissions does not mean you will pass, visual and functional test must also pass. Their are three separate test. emissions, visual and functional. It must pass all three to obtain a certificate. The smog check program was designed by the state of California to make sure motorists maintain their vehicle

Still $ 39-​cash out the door for a test-​only test with the certificate (regular smog tests are $ 27). Add $ 20 if you have a car older than 1996. They do expect a coupon from their ad in «The Advertiser», a weekly free newspaper that’s available all over town. I didn’t have the coupon but did say I saw the ad.
Testing was done in 25 minutes, with another car ahead of me. This was from showing up without an appointment…
Milestone: the first «Update My Review»…