Smog Test (San Luis Obispo: how much, to buy, DMV)

[itlchick]

Hi, I'm moving to San Luis Obispo county next month. I'm a little worried about my cars.

My husband and I are students, and can't really afford to buy new cars right now (in a year, that may change). We sorta want to be California residents, because we want him to qualify for in-state tuition.

Anyway, it's my understanding that within a short amount of time you have to
1) pay the registration fee
2) get CA tags
3) get a CA driver's license
4) pass the smog test.

It's the smog I'm worried about. Our cars are both from 1996. My has about 200,000 miles. His has about 160,000. Ummm....what are we going to do if the cars don't pass the smog test? How easy is this to pass? Anybody know how easy/expensive that would be to fix?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Check out the DMV web site. I'm sure they explain it all in detail. If your cars have been maintained well, they should pass. If not, they can make you get it fixed but only up to a certain amount. How much it costs to bring it into compliance depends on what's wrong with it.

[bhcompy]

cars that young shouldnt have problems. an easy boost comes from making sure the oil was changed recently. i had an 86 maxima that passed smog up until it died after 350k miles just by standard maintenance

[Paula Lynn]

All cars will pass a smog - if not on the first time, it will on the second time with some minor adjustments. You'll do fine.

[tn2006]

There are two: Smog check station (usually within the mechanic shop) and Smog check ONLY. The first one they can fix your car if it does not pass then re-run it again. The second one is for smog check only. If the car does not pass, you have to take the car where else to fix and bring it back to Smog check only. Depends on DMV. If it asks you to take to Smog check only then you have to. For the very old car, most likely DMV will ask you to take it to Smog check only.

For the first one (Smog check station), ask the tech guy pre-run smog check first if it passes then sends it DMV. If it doesn't pass, don't send. Otherwise, you will be charged twice. Don't worry, most of them will do it for you.

[rubyskye]

Originally Posted by itlchick

Hi, I'm moving to San Luis Obispo county next month. I'm a little worried about my cars.

My husband and I are students, and can't really afford to buy new cars right now (in a year, that may change). We sorta want to be California residents, because we want him to qualify for in-state tuition.

Anyway, it's my understanding that within a short amount of time you have to
1) pay the registration fee
2) get CA tags
3) get a CA driver's license
4) pass the smog test.

It's the smog I'm worried about. Our cars are both from 1996. My has about 200,000 miles. His has about 160,000. Ummm....what are we going to do if the cars don't pass the smog test? How easy is this to pass? Anybody know how easy/expensive that would be to fix?

i have a 11 year old car that hasn't had a problem passing yet (knock on wood).
my car is in good condition though and i maintain it well.

[itlchick]

Whew!!! Thanks so much! I just need to have these cars last a little longer....