East Bay Baby

So my very old car recently failed its smog check.  This on top of the fact that we recently had to replace our other car because it was totaled.  (Not my fault!  Some guy decided to turn into our car, even though he wasn’t in a turn lane.)  So I was fretting about the cost of repairs, whether we would be able to afford repairs, and brainstorming ideas on how my husband and I would share one car instead of having two.

This post is about my experience with the California’s Consumer Assistance Program.  I’m not going to discuss whether there should be a whole industry created for smog check (smog check stations, having to get a  costly smog check every two years for vehicles registered in CA, mandatory repairs, etc.).  I just thought the following information might be helpful, especially since not many people seem to know about the CAP.

Luckily the Smog Check Test Only Center where I brought my car gave us an application to apply for California’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP).  If your car fails its smog check, you may be eligible for up to $500 in repairs paid by the State, after a $100 co-pay.  You can qualify for the CAP program either a) if you meet certain household income limits or b) if you were instructed to take your car to a Test Only or Gold Shield station for the smog check on your DMV renewal notice.  We qualified under “b”.

We received an application from the Smog Test station, but you can also download one online.  After filling out the application, you can mail it in.  They’ll process the application and if approved, they’ll send you a confirmation letter.  After receipt of the letter, you take the letter, your DMV renewal notice, and your failed smog test notice to a Gold Shield Test Station, where they’ll diagnose your car and hopefully make repairs.  I hear it takes about a week to receive approval by mail.

I didn’t want to wait a whole week, and they don’t have a fax number.  So I found out that I could take the application to a local field office and have my application approved (or rejected) on the spot.  Luckily there are a couple field offices in this area – San Jose and South San Francisco.  I went to the San Jose location in the late morning.  It was in the middle of a complex of professional offices, almost like a dentist office.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was nobody else waiting – I was anticipating something like the horrors of the DMV, and I steeled myself against it by bringing snacks and toys for my son while enduring the epic wait.  There wasn’ t much of a wait when we got there.  I went straight up to the window, gave them my application items, and was told to wait about 20 minutes for them to verify everything.  So in those 20 minutes, my son and I walked around outside.  The people at the office are incredibly nice – nothing like government worker stereotypes!  Some guy even came out and gave my son a toy car!  Anyway, 20 minutes later, my name was called, and I received the approval letter for CAP.

I hear some people are denied assistance, but usually it’s because there are ownership issues with the car or if the registration on the car isn’t current.  In the latter case, the person can pay the registration fees to make the registration current, and then apply for the CAP.

So I then took my car, the CAP approval letter, DMV renewal notice, and failed smog check notice to a Gold Shield Station.  When I dropped off the car, I was required to pay the $100 co-pay.  I was really anxious that the $500 assistance from CA wouldn’t be enough to cover repairs (I tend to run through worst-case scenarios in my head), but it turned out to be enough.  My car needed a new oxygen sensor, which was replaced.  All of the paperwork for the State was taken care of by the Repair Shop.  After my initial $100, I think CA paid about $400 for repairs to my car to bring it into compliance.  When I picked up the car, they provided me with a letter stating that I had passed smog check.  I was then able to directly take my car to a AAA office with DMV services to complete the vehicle registration.

California also has other programs if you want to retire your vehicle (if making repairs really isn’t worth it) or if $500 isn’t enough to cover the necessary repairs.  They have more information about these programs on their website.