Frequently Asked Questions
A smog check is a test to measure the level of pollutants your vehicle emits. It ensures your car meets environmental standards.
A smog check is a test to measure the level of pollutants your vehicle emits. It ensures your car meets environmental standards.
Smog checks help reduce pollution and ensure vehicles comply with state regulations to protect public health.
If your car fails, we can help diagnose the issue and guide you through the necessary repairs to pass.
We are here to ensure your vehicle meets state smog requirements.
Got questions? We've got answers!
Some vehicles require a Smog Check at a STAR station. STAR stations meet specified performance standards established by BAR. Some STAR stations are licensed to perform only tests, while others are licensed to perform both tests and repairs.
Gasoline Vehicles 1976 and newer are required to go through a biannual smog check inspection. There is a smog exemption for vehicles 6 model year or newer for registration renewal and 4 model year or newer for a change of ownership. 1998 and newer Diesel vehicles 14,000 GVWR and under are required to go through a biannual smog inspection.
The purpose of the Smog Check is to ensure that the vehicle meets the required limits for emissions for California. This keeps the air and environment clean us and for our future generations.
Three are three different aspects to the smog. The visual inspection, the functional inspection, and the tailpipe emissions. During the visual inspection we are looking for any defects or tampering of the emissions related components. The functional inspection will check the OBD readings, check engine light, visual smoke and etc. While the tailpipe test will check the actual emissions being released from your vehicle. Your vehicle may not be subject to all three test depending on the model year or fuel type.
Your car can fail for readiness if you did any recent check engine light repairs, disconnected the battery, or the battery on your car died. In all three situation the readiness data for different components is deleted and the vehicle has to go through a full drive cycle before it will pass. In this situation you will have to drive your car until the drive cycle is complete. Most cars will complete in 100 to 200 miles but there are sometimes exceptions.
You will be unable to complete your registration until your car passes the smog check inspection. If your car fails, you can take it to a certified smog repair facility to get the repairs done (if repairs are needed). We offer our customers free retest within 90 days in case they have to get any repairs.