MOUNTAIN VIEW AUTO REPAIR

Most of us have received those registration renewal reminders in the mail that tell us we must prove our vehicle meets the smog requirements before we will receive our registration sticker. For those of you that have been religious about visiting your auto shop for maintenance services, there should be no worries. But if maintenance visits have been infrequent or just plain forgotten, passing that smog test may not be a given! So, what can you do to improve the chances your vehicle will pass? The most important item is to make sure that your vehicle “check engine” or “service engine soon” warning lights are not on. If they are, your vehicle will automatically be failed, regardless of how well the engine is running. In that case, bring your vehicle to a trusted auto repair/service shop to take care of whatever is responsible for turning on the warning light(s) before making your smog check appointment. There are many other reasons your vehicle may fail a smog test that may or may ... read more

Receiving the registration renewal reminder in the mail is even less welcome when it says a smog test is required. It may be inconvenient, but does not have to be a worry if you have been religious about visiting your auto shop for routine maintenance services. By faithfully observing a maintenance program for your vehicle, and if there are no warning lights on (Check Engine or Service Engine Soon), you should pass the smog test the first time. Warning lights result in an automatic failure without any further testing being done, so if those lights are on, please take your vehicle to a trusted auto repair shop that can correctly diagnose and fix the cause of the light being displayed. Neglecting vehicle maintenance and then failing the smog test, generally leads to higher repair costs being incurred in order to get the vehicle to pass the second test. Maintenance is always better than repairs! Your registration renewal notice may direct you to a Test Only station. Test Only statio ... read more