Sandy
05-30-2007, 10:23 AM
I just had to do smog checks on two cars. This is what I learned. If you have a car that is more than a few years old and you have the choice of a smog only station or your mechanic, use your mechanic.
I took my little old Toyota to a smog only station because I never thought about it failing. It failed. So, I took it to my mechanic who said:
A) If I had started at a mechanic they could repair the problem without paying another smog-only check.
B) And this is the bad part/good part. It would cost me around $500 to fix my little old car. BUT - There is a program that will help pay the repairs if you are low income. Or, if you are at the point where you want to get rid of it now, the same program will pay up to $1,000 to retire your polluter. There are guidelines: It must be driveable, it must have current registration in California and all registered owners must sign off. If you fit that category go to smogcheck.ca.gov and look for BAR forms. You don't even have to fail a smog check first.
So then, I took my fairly new Toyota to my mechanic for its smog check. It failed too(!!) but he fixed it, sent the report through the computer and it needed only the one smog check.
I took my little old Toyota to a smog only station because I never thought about it failing. It failed. So, I took it to my mechanic who said:
A) If I had started at a mechanic they could repair the problem without paying another smog-only check.
B) And this is the bad part/good part. It would cost me around $500 to fix my little old car. BUT - There is a program that will help pay the repairs if you are low income. Or, if you are at the point where you want to get rid of it now, the same program will pay up to $1,000 to retire your polluter. There are guidelines: It must be driveable, it must have current registration in California and all registered owners must sign off. If you fit that category go to smogcheck.ca.gov and look for BAR forms. You don't even have to fail a smog check first.
So then, I took my fairly new Toyota to my mechanic for its smog check. It failed too(!!) but he fixed it, sent the report through the computer and it needed only the one smog check.