Overview: Overview: Jonathan and Patricia Summers, a husband and wife entrepreneurial team, have been making an impact on the automotive industry in Riverside, California for over two decades. They founded the California Smog Auto Institute (CSAI) in 2004, eventually branching off into the CSAI Auto Service, CSAI Smog Check Center, and CSAI Training Center. Their school has trained over 6,000 young men and women to work in the automotive industry, and many of their students have gone on to open their own shops. The couple’s passion for teaching and their belief that anyone can succeed in the industry has inspired generations of families to get involved.
Alyssah Hall
Husband and wife entrepreneurs Jonathan and Patricia Summers have been impacting the automotive industry in the Riverside community for over 20 years.
The duo founded the California Smog Auto Institute (CSAI) in 2004. Under that business they have branched out with the CSAI Auto Service, the CSAI Smog Check Center and the CSAI Training Center, all based in Riverside.
After almost 10 years of living in Seattle, the L.A. natives moved to Riverside in 2003. In Seattle, Patricia worked at Washington Mutual Bank and Jonathan was a high school teacher and community college instructor. Patricia wasn’t able to transfer her job to an Inland Empire location due to the impractical distance between the bank’s location and their new home. Jonathan began working as a high school teacher in California but decided his salary wasn’t enough to cover the costs of paying for their new home while also paying a mortgage in Seattle. Having past experience as a transmission specialist for Dodge, Jonathan decided he’d go back to work at a dealership in San Bernardino until their house in Seattle sold.
Jonathan had previously obtained his smog license in Seattle, but had to take the course again to be certified to conduct smog checks in California. During his smog certification training in 2004, Jonathan felt the instructor lacked knowledge on the matter and decided to start his own school.
Meanwhile, Patricia ended up working for Cal State University San Bernardino as the school’s transportation manager. Patricia had years of customer service under her belt, so when a young hire didn’t work out at CSAI, Patricia quit her job and went to work with Jonathan.
“All of the technicians started coming to our school to get their smog license,” Patricia said. Their school received positive feedback and became a trusted pipeline for some students to end up working for the Universal Technical Institute, the Bureau of Automotive Repair and even working for them at CSAI. Many of their students have gone on to open up their own shops in the IE, San Diego, and even Los Angeles.
The Summers opened a smog test-only shop on Magnolia Ave in 2023. They weren’t planning to open another business at first and were only looking for another location to relocate their repair. The space however, wasn’t large enough. Jonathan came up with the idea to open a smog test-only shop to secure their retirement as entrepreneurs.
Patricia shared that when starting their business they faced a lot of pushback with some naysayers trying to talk the Summers out of their business venture suggesting there were already smog test schools in the area. Some even questioned whether CSAI was qualified to work on their car.
“One of the things we recognize we have that we can offer to other people is our wisdom… ‘God only blessed the one that multiplied his talent,’ and that’s from the Parable of the Talents. The one that didn’t use the talent and buried it is the one that was called lazy,” Jonathan said.
“Acknowledging the talent that we have, we chose to multiply it by starting an automotive school, the automotive repair business, as well as the smog and repair shop. And today, we have trained well over 6,000 young men and women to work in the automotive industry,” Jonathan continued.
The smog check inspector program with CSAI is eight weeks long consisting of two days of online training and one night class in person every week. For the smog check repair technician course, it is about six weeks long with the same schedule as the smog check inspector course. To be eligible to participate in these programs applicants must have a valid California driver’s license. Once they complete these programs, they’re certified to take the state exam to get their license. For the smog check repair technician course, it is about six weeks long with the same schedule as the smog check inspector course.
“The difference is, the inspector license is for test-only. The smog repair license is for diagnosing and repairing vehicles that fail a smog inspection. If you run a smog and repair shop and you don’t have a smog repair technician license, you’re not allowed to repair any vehicle that fails. So they have to have dual,” Patricia continued.
Jonathan’s background in teaching and passion for it allows him to uplift his students in their course training. His passion for teaching is inspired by the Bible. He explained that one of the responsibilities of the elders is to provide an impact on young adults.
“In his class, he has a lot of young students who have never been taught that they could do anything. So the first 30 minutes of class is all motivational videos and talking to them and asking them, ‘who told you that you couldn’t do this?’”Patricia explained.
“Since we’ve been in business, we have had generations of families, that we met the dad or the uncle way back in ‘04, he’d get his license, open up a shop or add smog to his repair shop. As soon as his kid turned 15, 16, he’d send them to us,”Patricia continued.
After over 20 years of impacting and educating the automotive community in the IE, Jonathan and Patricia feel good about their work. The couple does not have any biological children and were affectionately told by one of Jonathan’s students that “you have a lot, because we’re your kids.”
“Jonathan and I have touched smog technicians at almost any smog shop around from the age of 15 to 50, 60, older than us,” Patricia stated.
“They think we come from money, we did not, and they just can’t believe this. And we tell them, you can do it too. Nothing’s stopping you. You lease the machine, and you lease a little smog shop spot and you’re on your way,” Patricia said.