The Savior of Free Time

The smog test: just one of the many hassles that come with owning a car, right up there with the 405 at rush hour, and pretty much anything else involving the DMV.
Which is exactly why you should be thanking the powers that be for Arthur Pashayan at Walnut Test Only Station, the soon-to-be savior of your free time.
Pashayan, a longtime Pasadena resident who has been doing smog tests on Walnut Street since 1998, and owned the business since 2000, promises that when you come in for a smog check, you can walk out in just 10-15 minutes.

“They don’t have to call. Just stop by. I’ll take care of it right away,” says Pashayan. “No problems.”
“First of all, just drive the car on the freeway. Warm it up a little bit. Then bring it back. I’ll do my best to warm it up, and make sure the car is warm enough. That’s the only thing I can do. That is my job,” he says. “Basically, whatever is takes for me to take care of it, I’ll do it. After that, there’s nothing else.”

If your car passes, results are electronically sent the DMV, so there’s no hassle with late fees or postage. If your car fails, Pashayan offers a free retest within 30 days, after you’ve had the chance to get your car fixed.

Not only is getting a smog test at Walnut Test Station easy, its cheap, too, because even in spite of rising equipment costs Pashayan has never changed his prices.
“Since the day I opened, it’s always the same,” he says. “It’s always been the same price, and everybody’s upped the prices. So I try to take care of being as honest as possible.”

Regular smog’s will run you $45, plus the certificate for a total of $53. Pashayan says he doesn’t even charge the transaction fee, but rather eats the costs himself. For older cars that have more difficulty meeting the state’s regulations, he charges an extra $12.

“I just recently bought a $5,000 piece of equipment, but still I’m not charging as much as the other people,” he says. “Usually they charge $20 extra.”

It’s a safe bet that Pashayan’s hassle free service and low prices are the reason, he says, that 95 percent of his business comes from repeat customers. Not to mention, the reason Pashayan ropes in big-name clients like AT&T and Rusnak, the luxury car dealership, who entrusts Pashayan with their Porsches and Bentleys.

I have a customer that comes from Fresno just for a smart check,” Pashayan says. “He doesn’t trust his car to anybody. I have customers who bring their expensive cars. They don’t want anybody to touch their $150,000 cars.”

The best part is that Pashayan runs his operation solo, so you always know the type of service you’ll be getting is the best.

So next time your bewildered by the mess of auto repair and maintenance shops on Walnut Street, you’ll know where to go. Walnut Test Only Station is located at 1323 East Walnut Street, Pasadena. For more information call (626) 449-6252.