Smog Check: Passed
Aug. 14th, 2021 06:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerMonday this past week I took our Nissan Xterra out for a smog check. It was the vehicle's fourth try. It passed!
Smog checks have been around in California since 1984. In most counties in the state, vehicles are required to get an emissions inspection— a smog check— every two years for registration. There are a variety of exceptions to the smog check rule, including for vehicles less than 8 model years old. One of the benefits of owning a newer car is that you don't have to get it smogged. Our Xterra is now 10 years old, so we got it smogged this year and two years ago.
Smog checks are not difficult or expensive, BTW. Most basic service stations can perform them, and there are test-only centers, too. I've taken our cars to a convenient nearby test center. The test takes less than 10 minutes and costs about $75 including the state fee for the certificate.
Curiously California does not require safety inspections for registration. In Virginia, the state where I grew up, all cars had to get a safety inspection each year. The inspections were similarly quick and basically checked that headlights, turn lights, and brake lights all worked correctly. Seeing some of the rolling deathtraps on California's highways I wish we had mandatory safety inspections! Well, at least those deathtraps— some of those deathtraps, anyway, as there's also an exception for vehicles from 1975 & older— are non-gross-polluter deathtraps.
Smog checks have been around in California since 1984. In most counties in the state, vehicles are required to get an emissions inspection— a smog check— every two years for registration. There are a variety of exceptions to the smog check rule, including for vehicles less than 8 model years old. One of the benefits of owning a newer car is that you don't have to get it smogged. Our Xterra is now 10 years old, so we got it smogged this year and two years ago.
Smog checks are not difficult or expensive, BTW. Most basic service stations can perform them, and there are test-only centers, too. I've taken our cars to a convenient nearby test center. The test takes less than 10 minutes and costs about $75 including the state fee for the certificate.
Curiously California does not require safety inspections for registration. In Virginia, the state where I grew up, all cars had to get a safety inspection each year. The inspections were similarly quick and basically checked that headlights, turn lights, and brake lights all worked correctly. Seeing some of the rolling deathtraps on California's highways I wish we had mandatory safety inspections! Well, at least those deathtraps— some of those deathtraps, anyway, as there's also an exception for vehicles from 1975 & older— are non-gross-polluter deathtraps.
