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Any non-Californians who read my blog might not know that California has especially strict vehicle emissions standards, and you have to get your car "smog checked" every couple of years when you renew your registration. My registration was just about due, and this is a smog-check year for my car. My clever plan was to run to the smog-check place just down the street, drop my car off, then walk back home and do some work until my car was ready.
So I walk in the door and greet the nice gentleman in greasy "I work on cars for a living" clothes. He asks me for my registration paperwork (standard question when you're getting smog checked). I hand him the papers. "Oh," he says, "you have to go to a 'test-only' shop."
"A wha...?"
"I can't do this. You have to take it to a test-only smog checker."
I've never heard of such a thing. I always just went and got it smogged. "See," he shows me my paperwork, "it says right here: test-only." Sure enough, it does.
"What is a test-only place and where is one locally?" He gives me a vague answer about the definition, and professes ignorance on the location of this seemingly-mythical location since he claims he just moved into the area. I actually believe him on that last point because I noticed when the "Under New Management!" signs went up a couple of months ago.
So back home I go for some quick internet research. Sure enough, it turns out there are about 5 flavors of smog check facility. I guess every so often you have to go to somewhere graded slightly higher than "the repair shop down the street." Maybe they don't want repair shops having an incentive to fudge results so they can upsell you on repairs.
Fortunately for me, the State of California provides a website where you can search for different types of smog check facilities in your neighborhood. Lo and behold, the place I'd taken my car the last few times, conveniently not far from work, happens to be a test-only place. So off I went, and they weren't at all busy so I was in and out in 20 minutes or so. Whew!
So I walk in the door and greet the nice gentleman in greasy "I work on cars for a living" clothes. He asks me for my registration paperwork (standard question when you're getting smog checked). I hand him the papers. "Oh," he says, "you have to go to a 'test-only' shop."
"A wha...?"
"I can't do this. You have to take it to a test-only smog checker."
I've never heard of such a thing. I always just went and got it smogged. "See," he shows me my paperwork, "it says right here: test-only." Sure enough, it does.
"What is a test-only place and where is one locally?" He gives me a vague answer about the definition, and professes ignorance on the location of this seemingly-mythical location since he claims he just moved into the area. I actually believe him on that last point because I noticed when the "Under New Management!" signs went up a couple of months ago.
So back home I go for some quick internet research. Sure enough, it turns out there are about 5 flavors of smog check facility. I guess every so often you have to go to somewhere graded slightly higher than "the repair shop down the street." Maybe they don't want repair shops having an incentive to fudge results so they can upsell you on repairs.
Fortunately for me, the State of California provides a website where you can search for different types of smog check facilities in your neighborhood. Lo and behold, the place I'd taken my car the last few times, conveniently not far from work, happens to be a test-only place. So off I went, and they weren't at all busy so I was in and out in 20 minutes or so. Whew!
