Sold to us without smog cert

we bought a used honda hrv with 20K miles on it from a honda dealer.
Now they are calling us telling us to bring the car back to them 66 miles one way so they can smog it.

Do I bring it back or make them Flat bed it back?

 

It's 40 miles, make the trip and ask them to compensate you for gas/time.

 

Move to a free state.

 

yeah, cause no other states have smog certifications........

Seeing you're from Florida I wouldn't throw stones, living in a glass house and all......

 

Ummm..... I thought it was illegal to sell a vehicle in CA without a smog cert.

If it fails smog, the dealer needs to make the repairs on his nickel.

YOU may have a legal lever to use for gently but firmly prodding the dealer.

 

We have no smog requirements, low vehicle registration fees ($45/yr for my taco), no state income tax, cheap gas, affordable housing, sales tax under 7%, and no crap on the street. Oh, and I can buy ammo and 30round mags without 75 forms of id.

 

No Smog or annual inspection in MI either. Very expensive insurance though.

 

Its 66 miles one way.

The dealer spoke to my girlfriend telling her the car probably was put out on the lot to fast.
Thats BS. We saw it on autotrader. So we went to the dealer.
Im calling them tomorrow and going to ask to speak with whoever is in charge of the Honda dealer.

 

Offer to waste a day of your time (@$125/hr) getting the car smogged and see what they say. Otherwise, I'd tell 'em to come pick it up, smog it, and return it clean and full of gas.

 

I’d see if they’ll pay for one local to you to do it

 

Ill ask
I really don't want to drive from Julian to Chula vista

 

That’s a dealer mistake. Since you live so far away, I would emphasize that with them and make them either heavily compensate your time or make them come to you as this is in no way your fault and legally they are supposed to have smogged this before they sold it you.

 

Something seems fishy. Every dealer and their grandmother knows to smog a vehicle. Doesn’t seem like something they would legitimately forget. Plus they said the reason was it was put out on the lot too fast. And you know that’s not true. Also, a great deal of the paperwork is DMV related….. title transfer, smog, how could so many hands miss such a basic step?
So what could it possibly be, that they want the car back, and using smog as an excuse? Proceed ahead cautiously. The real truth will come out once they have the car in their possession.
Please keep us posted.

 

Smog here is $20. I'd just do it myself and move on.

 

Can't you just take it to a local garage or inspection station and get an emissions test done? That's how PA works.

 

The issue is not if he could do the smog test independently.

The hook, if he smogs it, then the owner is responsible for making needed repairs to pass.

This is fully on the dealer.

 

Is it likely a Honda with 20K on it fails? Are California's smog laws that strict? My 13 year old V8 missing two cats passes in PA. haha

 

Lol, I live in a turd in the shape of a state, but at least taxes are low.

 

Agreed. Not likely, but.....Murphy has his ways. It only takes 1 sensor to be operating out of normal.........

The seller (dealer) is responsible for the vehicle to pass smog testing.....by CA law.

 

It's the same way here (seller responsible to have inspection/emissions completed**). I bought my Tacoma from a Toyota dealer in a PA county that doesn't require emissions. They were supposed to perform it because my home address was in a county that does require emissions testing. Didn't realize it until I got home. Similar scenario; the dealer was about 90 minutes away. They wanted me to come back up. I said no and they paid a local Toyota dealer do run my emissions.

Edit- **the vehicle just has to have a current inspection/emissions sticker. If it was inspected 8 months before the sale, there's no requirement to have it re-inspected before the 12 months pass.