Good team here. Found the problem from my check engine light. Solved the problem in a day or two. Be aware however, they charge a "diagnostics fee". Many other shops will credit that with your final bill. This one does not. read more

Drive charged over $130 for a smog test for my 1990 Porsche. Never have I had to pay that much!! When the car was finally (after ten days) delivered, the odometer was no longer working. They did not admit that however, as I found it out a few days later. Twenty miles had been put on the car while it was in their shop. read more

This place is awesome! They create a great experience for their customers. Absolutely recommend them to everyone.

On a scale of 5, we rate DRIVE auto care a 10. outstanding customer service, responsiveness, with great, follow up! we had a last-minute 4 PM problem when we were left with a half-day remaining on our condo rental. After calling DRIVE auto care on Cedros, we were given a next day 8 AM appointment, and Miguel quickly diagnosed the problem and had us on the road by 10:30 AM. unfortunately, we had a repeat of the original problem on Saturday when the shop was closed owner, Mike quickly responded to our phone call and confirmed that we were safe to make the six hour trip across the desert - - - and if we could stay until Monday, he would do whatever was needed to permanently fix the problem stuff happens - - - Mike and his team handled our situation in a most "customer friendly "way. we highly recommend DrI've auto care on Cedros in Solana Beach read more

Love this place. They are professional & provide quality service fast. I've been a customer for over a decade & appreciate their efforts & that I can count on their dependability. read more

They did the smog job that 2 other shops were too afraid of... My Porsche Boxster was handled with care and smog to success. I will definitely use you services again! Thanks, Bryan read more

Easy-peasy. I dropped my car off--a 2002 Mercury Sable--with no appointment at around 8:30 on a Tuesday. They told me it would be about 20 minutes, so I went for a quick run down the Highway 101 into Cardiff (gorgeous!). I got back about 30 minutes later and everything was all ready to go! They also send the certificate to the DMV for you. DEFINITELY bring this coupon with you: http://www.smogtips.com/Solana-Beach-Smog-Check-Station-Test-Only-Center.cfm. Having $15 off makes it about $53, give or take, which matched up with all the other smog check places I looked into--otherwise it's kind of pricey. For comparison, someone recommended the Encinitas Smog Center to me, and I called them at the same time I called Smog Depot. It would have been $53.20 as well, but when there was a wait and the test itself would take about 40 minutes. No brainer! read more

Friendly and fast but $80 for smog check? I didn't know any better, and was shocked when they said the amount, and the guy behind the counter said Oh its because you have a "test-only" requirement, so I went ahead and got it done. Looking online now I realize I could have had it done for over half that price! Next time I'll do my research, but I won't come back here. Apparently (since I reviewed the wrong place - North Coast Alignment and they called me to tell me they are different businesses) there is some type of discount coupon online. read more

One of my favorite things is to go somewhere that I never been and have it live up to my expectations. I called Smog Depot after finding a coupon online. The guy on the phone quoted me a price said to come right down there was no wait. I arrived to a clean but small shop and pulled right in. The two people behind the counter were polite and efficient and wasted no time getting my information so they could start my service even though the phone was ringing off the hook and they were pretty busy. I have a 14-year old van that requires smog test every renewal. I'm always worried that it's not going to pass and cost me a billion dollars to fix. I guess it's just in my nature to worry because only one time in the seven years that I've owned it has it failed and that was because the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. Anywho, back to the point, I highly recommend this smoke shop if you're anywhere in the beach area. They were honest quick efficient and I have zero complaints. That is a bonus! read more

I don't know what I would do without Drive AutoCare and the wonderful people who work there!! I've been going to Drive for 4 years now and every experience shows me that they don't just care for cars but also the people who drive them. Paul and Annie are truly the best of the best, and when I've been in a crisis with the car, they have come through as if I was family, except that I'm not. I trust them 500% and recommend them to anyone who needs a wonderful, honest, local auto shop. They are best of the best. read more

I have a 2012 Hyundai Elantra. Smog test was not $44.95 (with $15 coupon) as Michael states in a comment below, cost is $53.20. I went to Lee Rollins Firestone in Miramar afterwards on the same day for an oil change and they quoted me $45 for the smog test. I messed up, bummer. The wait time, however, was only 30 min. read more

Smog check pricing is $20 more than the surrounding area. $79.99 for a smog come on. Went ahead and left my truck there. I asked if there was a special the girl did yes. $15 off with some email coupon. Yeah. Bottom line call around it will save you a least $20. Btw the tall older lady behind the counter is unpleasant. Playing with a Doberman puppy. Lacking professional behavior and customer service. North county coastal people please reconsider this establishment. Then why was I charged $79.95......... please call me to process a price adjustment. read more

I was very pleased today with Smog Depot on N Cedros in Solana Beach. I had searched online for smog test centers, found this one on http://www.smogtips.com/ and got a $15 off coupon. I read 2 Yelp reviews from 2011 -- one 5-star and one 1-star. I was concerned about the price issue, so I called and verified the total cost (including the filing fees to DMV). The net cost to me was $55.20 and the work was done within about 20 minutes. Net-net, I was pleased. read more

Couldn't make room for a same-day smog check. It may be a good place for car repairs and maintenance but wasn't able to provide the service I needed. read more

Smog Depot has a small reception area staffed with one or two people. Don't expect to be greeted or acknowledged when walking in though. However, you should expect a lot of eye rolling and groaning by the supervisor/owner/manager(?) if you dare to ask scheduling questions. What did surprise me was that the same rude supervisor suddenly became friendly as he went into describing the technical details of the smog test results. Just keeping that guy in the back of the shop instead of customer facing would yield this place at least another star. Now as for the smog test itself, they ran a quick OBD test and failed me because their instruments reported a sensor failure. Of course that did not stop them from charging me the full amount. With those results I walk over to the excellent repair place next door and guess what? Their instruments say everything is fine with my sensors! Walking back to Smog Depot and they stick to their original claim. So I drive to a different smog check station where of course everything checks out and my vehicle passes right away. $50 wasted on rude manager and Smog Depot's equipment failure. Update: After posting the Yelp review I received a call from the owner, Mike, and he is going to refund the charge. read more

Just had my second smog check by these guys- I called them, scheduled, showed up on time and they got me finished in 20 min. Awesome job guys!! read more

While getting a Smog Check is not on my list of favorite things to do, this place made it easier to run my errands last week. It only took 20 minutes to get in and out, got my smog check done in just enough time to grab a coffee down the street at Cafe La Boca. The lady behind the counter was very helpful and courteous. read more

Unless you are utterly certain your car will pass and you can negotiate a lower price with Smog Depot Solana Beach I recommend you take your car elsewhere. My car barely failed smog here. I attribute this to it not having been driven for months and insufficient warm-up time. When I asked if these would be factors the manager assured they wouldn't be. When I asked for a pre-test the manager refused and glibly said the car would likely pass smog. Finally, when testing the vehicle the technician warmed up the car only briefly. The car might not have warmed up to the proper testing temperature. The same car passed ten days later after frequent freeway driving and a noticeably longer warm-up at a different smog test station. The pass was clear and by a significant margin too. The price I paid at Smog Depot Solana Beach was $20 more than the passing test ten days later at a different smog test station. I feel ripped off. read more

Needed a smog check for a Porsche Cayman which only a few smog test stations will do. they completed it in 30 minutes. read more

Sean is the man! Great service always consistent. Whether you need a smog check, alignment, or any other kind of work, this shop is trustworthy. read more

Been using the Smog shop and California Imports, both owned by Mike Gilmore and in Solana Beach since 2001, and find the service excellent and they don't try to sell unnecessary work.--knowledge clerk/servicee writer. Trust is an important issue, I am comfortable witth them. read more

Three cars smogged here in three weeks. Excellent, fast service. If you really want to drag it out you can grab a bite at Claire's while you are waiting! A+++++ to Smog Depot! read more

Place has horrible service. They state they work on high end cars the mechanic doesn't even wear gloves and gets his grimy hands all over my Alcantara steering wheel. The manager their doesn't even know what he's talking about, if your looking for a place that has values of honesty and integrity don't go to smog depot. read more

Staff is super friendly, no gimmicks, don't try to make you do unnecessary work. Had some work done to find a issue with my evap system and they were more than helpful at a very competitive price compared to other shops for the same service! Great to deal with and I let all my friends know to visit smog depot! read more

I happened to be in the Solana Beach area for work, needed a smog check, and found this place via a quick google maps search. Super nice guy behind the desk, and I was in and out in 15 minutes! Fastest smog check I've ever had done. Thanks! read more

We went to a smog place in Del Mar that couldn't do the car smog and recommended us to a place on Encinitas he said they are trustworthy. Instead of driving all the way there I checked on my phone for a closer place and found Smog Depot in Solana Beach. I called and was told he would match the price of $53.75 with his coupon deal , same that Encinitas charges. He claims he told us in detail that a 1995 car may require another charge which neither one of us recalled but he says he says the same thing on all his calls. He did not say it would require it nor tell us the charge would be $73.00 total I was somewhat alarmed when he wrote the order up as already charging the extra charge before he gave order to technician. I questioned him on it and he says he always writes the order up that way and if the car does not require it, they will deduct it off the order. I would think if the technician sees the order and it looks like customer agrees to the charge he is going to do the work that is on the order. I watched and the car passed within the normal time when I get my car done ,within 15 minutes but the $20. charge was applied. I called the Encinitas shop and they said the charge would still be the same of $53.75 for 1995 car with Coupon. I also called 2 other places and they quoted me $60.00 with coupon price for the older 1995 car. So we ended up paying about $73. which was supposed to include a $15. coupon discount. So we were charged up to $20. more by going somewhere closer at the last minute. I don't think the order should be given to the technician with the extra work , I think if there was a problem and the car truly needs the extra work the tech would come into the office and say the car didn't pass and would require that extra work and then have it added to the order. Shawn was a nice guy but I don't agree with the way he works. I called him up to ask about that and he seemed to be a little defensive. We are women who really would like to find a good Auto place we can feel we trust and would be able to bring our cars too but unfortunately, we know for smog test , we will take our cars elsewhere and if we have a bad experience for a simple smog test, we can't trust more major work being done there either. I see now by looking at the reviews , we were not the only ones who had this extra charge. read more

I definitely won't be going back here, even though I've gone to Smog Depot for several years with good results. Now there is new ownership/management and it's not the same. They said they couldn't do the smog check because the "check engine" light indicated it needed an oxygen sensor, and wiring to the other oxygen sensor. It was about $850, then needed to drive it a while before smog check. After 30 miles "check engine" light comes on again, so they told me the other oxygen sensor was bad......another $850. So then I had to drive it again.......another 50 miles the "check engine" light comes on again. This time they said they needed another hour or so of labor to determine the problem. I picked up my car, took it to the garage which I've used for work in the past. They told me that everything Smog Depot had said was nonsense, it was a leak in a hose plus a valve. Fixed it for $150. read more

Made an appointment, took car in on time and performed the smog check in 15 minutes. Doesn't get any better! Thanks Smog Depot on Cedros.

You would think just going to get smogged would not warrant a YELP. NOT TRUE! Sean and the guys at Smog Depot seriously helped me out with my car (which was determined to NOT be smogged). We got it done and they totally went out of their way for me. And you know smogging is not how they make their $$ so I would use them for alignment services or go to their brother shop, California Imports for other work as well. Also totally amazing service and great people at Cal Import, especially Mike. Thanks guys!! read more

I went to Smog depot for a smog test. Very nice, but charged way too much. The intial charge is 59.95 then they add on a 10.25 transmission fee charge. Then they add on a 20.00 extra charge if your car is older than 95. After I did some research, I found this is a required test from the DMV for older cars but they are not required to charge. I asked why I had never been charged in the past and he said I should have been, the state requires it. I had a 15.00 off coupon and it still cost me 75.20. They shouldn't gouge their customers if they would like return business. They also charge 39.95 for a retest. Most places do not. read more

called and set appointment. when I got there they put me right in and I was out in 20 minutes, they even fixed a vacuum hose leak to make my truck pass, I would recommend Smog Depot to my mother, and I don't send her to just any place. 5 stars and more read more