Do I Need to Smog My Car Again if Selling It

If yous're shopping for a used car in California, something you might be wondering most — and if yous're not wondering about information technology, you lot should for the reasons I'll describe — is whether or non a smog check needs to be done. If you lot're looking on a website like Craigslist where anyone can post a vehicle for sale, for example, you might see a lot of ads where the seller says:

• The smog exam is the buyer'southward responsibleness,
• The vehicle passed smog "six months agone", or
• The vehicle is "smog ready"

I've ever assumed that "smog set" means the vehicle can laissez passer a smog test which, if you lot think nigh information technology, could have two possible meanings: (i) the vehicle will pass smog and the seller agrees to do that every bit a condition of the auction, or (2) the vehicle will allegedly pass smog, but the buyer has to buy the car commencement and bear the risk of it not actually passing smog.

So the question for this blog post is this: what is the rule most smog tests when you lot're ownership a new car in California?

Two things earlier we dive in to the respond:

• First, if y'all're non in California and don't know what a smog test is, it'south an emissions test that your car has to laissez passer in society to get registered in California. Smog tests are, thus, an air pollution control measure. If your motorcar can't pass a smog test and you can't fix it, then you cannot annals it in California. Depending on your situation, you may be able to sell your car to your local air quality management district. The rules for what vehicles have to exist smogged are very involved so at that place's no way for me to get over all of them in this postal service. To whet your appetite, though, ii very common rules are: (1) motorcycles are exempt from smog testing, and (b) vehicles from before 1975 are also exempt from smog testing. If you buy a new vehicle in California, it is more often than not exempt from a smog test for the first six years of ownership, although it may be four years in some cases. Again, in that location are many dissimilar possible permutations for when a smog test is and is not required so you'll need to bank check what particular rules utilize to your situation.
• Second, buying and selling vehicles falls in to many different categories that, once more, I cannot possibly go over in this post. Some examples are: (1) vehicles that are sold for scrap or dismantling, (2) auto dealers selling to one another, (3) vehicles being sold between family members, (4) vehicles that were leased, and (5) vehicles meant for off-road use. Special rules may apply in those situations as to whether a smog test is required when those vehicles are sold equally used.

In my opinion — which, as e'er, is not comprehensive or necessarily representative of your life — the most common "used car purchasing" situation is where a private private buys a used car (e.chiliad. off their local Craigslist) from another private individual for the buyer's own personal apply. This post will answer the question: is the seller in such a situation required to do a smog check prior to finalizing the auction? Phrased alternatively, is the heir-apparent in such a situation entitled to a passing smog examination every bit role of the sale?

The Answer:
To both questions: Yes, assuming that a passing smog test was non performed in the xc calendar days before the auction.

The Caption:
I read statutes all the fourth dimension and even I admit that California could brand the police hither less disruptive. To empathize where the full general rule of "seller of a used car must provide a passing smog test consequence equally part of the sale" comes from, a good place to start would be California Vehicle Lawmaking department 24007(b)(1) and (b)(2) which state:

(b)(one) Except as provided inSection 24007.v, no person shall sell, or offer or deliver for auction, to the ultimate purchaser, or to any subsequent purchaser a new or used motor vehicle, every bit those terms are defined in Affiliate 2 (commencing withSection 39010) ofPart 1 of Partitioning 26 of the Health and Safety Lawmaking, subject field to Part 5 (commencing with Section 43000) of that Sectionalisation 26 which is non in compliance with that part and the rules and regulations of the State Air Resources Board, unless the vehicle is sold to a dealer or sold for the purpose of being legally wrecked or dismantled.

(ii) Prior to or at the fourth dimension of delivery for auction, the seller shall provide the purchaser a valid document of compliance or document of noncompliance, equally appropriate, issued in accordance withSection 44015 of the Wellness and Condom Code.

The part I've bolded and underlined above well-nigh certificates of compliance and noncompliance basically refer to smog tests. If you lot desire to delve in to that, you tin expect up California Health and Condom Lawmaking section 44015. If you do, the rule that smog tests on used cars are just good for xc days is in section 44015(e). Y'all can also take a look at California Vehicle Code section 4000.1(d)(one) to run into that a passing smog certificate is just good for 90 days.

If you're looking for the constabulary that says you have to accept a passing smog test in club to annals your machine in California, that's as well in Vehicle Code department 4000.one, although this time it'southward subsection (a).

What Does All of This Mean?
The confusing aspect I described before is that you take to read all three of these statutes together. If yous practise, you become:

• Vehicle Lawmaking 24007(b) for the requirement that, in most cases, the seller has to provide a passing smog test with the sale,
• Health and Safety Code section 44015 for the requirement of how the smog examination has to be done and that it has to be from within the 90 days preceding the sale, and
• Vehicle Code section 4000.1(a) for the requirement that a passing smog exam within the last ninety days is required in guild to register the vehicle in California.

As you can probably estimate, the thought behind requiring the seller to produce a valid smog exam is so that the buyer isn't stuck in the situation of having paid a bunch of coin for a motorcar that they can't register.

If you lot're in a situation where yous bought a machine in California and can't register information technology, there are a few things y'all could do:

• Obviously, if you bought the machine and knowingly waived the correct to receive a smog test from the seller, then I would say it's your own error that you can't annals the car now. You took the gamble and you lost.
• If you had no idea it was your right to go the seller to provide a smog examination, you have at to the lowest degree two paths I tin think of: (1) sue the seller and need he or she refund your coin and take the car back, or (2) deem it a lesson learned and just let it go. (ii) is probably not real palatable for nigh people. (1), however, may not be realistic for most people either.

The best style, I think, to avoid this dilemma is to nip it in the proverbial bud before it ever arises: if yous're buying a used car from an individual, check to see if the seller is required to provide you a valid smog examination and, if then, then insist on getting it. If you lot buy the car without the smog examination, and so you run the take chances of not being able to register the motorcar in California.

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Andy I. Chen is a lawyer licensed to exercise police in California and New York. Andy maintains offices in Los Altos, California and Modesto, California. Nether the New York Courtroom of Appeals' 2015 decision in Schoenefeld five. Country of New York, Andy does not take cases from those in New York state. He does, however, know many lawyers in New York land and would be happy to make a referral.

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