What is a "smog check"?

What is a "smog check"?

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A smog check is required on all vehicles on a varying basis. As the vehicle gets older you may be asked to do a smog check every two years. A smog check is basically taking the car into a mechanic's shop that has the diagnostic equipment for analyzing the exhaust coming out of the vehicle. A smog check is looking for a certain threshold of particulates and different elements of the emission to make sure it matches and exceeds the states clean air laws. Quite often when a vehicle is registered for the first time by a new owner, the state will ask you to provide proof of a smog check, and that your car has passed that test. It's a good way for the state to make sure that the vehicles that they have registered on the road are meeting or exceeding their particular emissions control laws.