HOW TO PASS SMOG CHECK IN CALIFORNIA
After many years of smogging cars on a daily basis, let us share our observations about California smog checks… we may sound a little biased, but we can assure you that we do this with our best intentions for your benefit. DO change your oil and perform regular maintenance as recommended by the owner’s manual. This is the key to getting your car to pass smog. But… Make sure you let a few days go by between your last oil change and the smog test. Some oil changers may include a 10- or 15- or 20-point checks that may disconnect the battery for a while. This would temporarily erase the memory chip inside of your vehicle, which is needed to pass your smog check. An erased memory chip would need a few days of freeway and city driving for it to repopulate itself. DO use a licensed STAR or TEST ONLY Smog Check station (like us!). Such stations are allowed to smog any cars.
But the biggest advantage to you the consumer, is that STAR/TEST ONLY stations are not licensed to perform repairs, so we are truly independent… we have no profit motive to fail your car and then offer to repair it ourselves (this scam may sound familiar to some of you, dear readers). As the saying goes, do not let the fox guard the chicken coop! DO NOT use the cheapest smog station out there. Not all smog techs trained equally, and not all stations are willing to go the extra mile for you. We have over 50,000 smogs under our belt, and we only use the best, most experienced techs available. We may not be the cheapest, but we give you the best overall value: price, expertise, service, speed, and convenience. You can read our reviews and testimonials here. DO use your vehicle to run your chores first, and then smog the car. By then your vehicle would be warmer. Warmer engines have a better chance at passing smog. DO business with someone honest and with high integrity. While a car may fail a smog test on its own, we have seen way too many cars fail due to dishonest stations, inexperienced technicians who just graduated from tech school, or laziness. Our customers have come from as far as San Francisco, the Peninsula, Solano County, and Marin County, and they told us that, “Some places are just worth the drive.” Thanks for reading. We hope these tips are helpful. As usual, just give us a call if we can be of further help. Smog STAR Express Family 925.356.6858
