For better or worse

[pdedse]

As far as choosing a smog tester, yes, they all do the same thing. They check the car’s emissions and the data gets sent to the state automatically. They each can charge a different amount, typically between $40-$50 or so.

The price typically increases for cars older than about 2000. For cars newer than that, the guy just does a visual inspection and plugs into the OBD2 port. For cars older, a “sniffer” is stuck into the tailpipe, and in some cases the car has to have its drive wheels put on a roller so that the car can be “driven” under load for a few seconds.

For those older cars that need the extra labor, the price goes up, and many shops only accept the 2000-up cars that just need OBD2 plug in.

To get the best deal, I’d check Yelp in the area. Some smog shops post their prices and offer discounts for doing a Yelp “check in”.

Since your case is a bit different than just renewing CA registration, have your daughter explain to the tech that you need a check to renew OR registration, and have her keep the printout that the tech gives her with the smog check results in case OR needs a copy.

Ok, thanks for the yelp idea and other explanation.