dealer or neighborhood place (smog check)?

One of those new 'Test Only' places recently opened about a mile away from me, and it set me to wondering (I searched on 'smog check', but didn't quite find what I was looking for) if I dare take Karl Bimmer there vs. driving the 15+ miles to Crevier?

I'm thinking that a neighborhood place wouldn't be able to reset the computer once the car was put up on the dyno? And, I admit to a bit o'elitism, after all, this is a BMW we're talking about!

I seem to recall that the charge for a smog check at Crevier is something like $110; I think the neighborhood place charges about $80-$90 or so.

The money isn't really the question, and I'm willing to slog down the 91 to the 55 (I have FastTrak, so I can go through the toll lanes) - it's just if I could get the smog done in my area - that would be nice.

Thanks for all your help, folks!

Why do you need to smog the car? Current requirement is 4 years from new, then every other year after. I've had mine for almost 3 and it's never been smogged.

Originally Posted by Kaz

Why do you need to smog the car? Current requirement is 4 years from new, then every other year after. I've had mine for almost 3 and it's never been smogged.

Ah! I was thinking that I'd have to smog it at the end of this year...thanks for the information!

You'll get a notice along with your DMV renewal indicating you need to smog the car. If you're concerned about the neighborhood places 4 years down the road, ask them questions and see if they seem knowledgeable to you; if not, move on to the next place.

Also, all it takes to reset the DSC/ ABS after a dyno is drive around normally. once you go above ~20mph, the system will run a self test and reset itself.

Just had my NYS emissions test done a few months ago, by the time i drove around the block, the light had reset itself.