Incomplete Registration

[phinneas j. whoopee]

Your focus now needs to be on getting your car smogged and not letting that ticket turn into a failure to appear. Once the car is smogged they often dismiss it in court.

You can get a car smogged for less than $50 total if you use coupons. My last was 29.95 plus cert.

If it fails smog....

Give us the make model year blah blah blah and exactly the emissions profile that it failed. A little research in owners forums can tell us where to look from there. If it didnt fail by much it may just need to be retested in different weather conditions. Cool humid mornings are best, the difference between that and a warm afternoon are signicicant. You might just have some deteriorated vacuum hoses that arent allowing an EGR valve to open. The emissions profile gives us clues.
Did the cats warm up fully? Have you checked the plugs, gapped them? Tire pressure okay?

[phinneas j. whoopee]

Originally Posted by cb73

The legal answer is not to be found in a thread here--it's in the Vehicle Code. How it is interpreted is up to the court.

The receipt that you received from DMV is all that you will receive. It does show that the fees were paid and a SMOG certificate is needed. DMV can issue a Temporary Operating Permit allowing you to legally drive while you are working out the SMOG issue--however, the fee for the permit is $50.

Regardless of the mindset of the officer, the ticket can't be resolved until you complete the registration and get your validated registration card and sticker.

Used to be the DMV would give a couple of one day passes to move the vehicle. Had to fill it out and date it and put it in the window the day you used it.