Well, this thread is more for letting me vent the hypocrisy that I have to deal with California smog. Before I bought my Blazer, the previous owner had it smog, when it was my turn the following year I decided to take it to the same place, no problem, it passed easily. I even took my daily driver there because I was happy with the work.

Fast forward to this year, I do the same thing, take it to the same place. Only this time it fails smog because they think the catalytic converter is aftermarket and I require another one. I told them I was a repeat customer and the previous times it passed easily, no go. So they said they would call and see how much a replacement one was.

Head back a few days later, they apologize for not calling me but they tell me that it's a "dealer only" part and they can't get it. Are you kidding me?! So I am out $60, wasted my time, and made me drive out to this business twice.

I climbed under the truck and the exhaust system has never been touched, and if it has it was more than 10 years ago.

Feel free to share your own experiences with Smog shops or Mechanics in general.

 

What year is your Blazer? I bought a (CARB-approved) aftermarket cat for mine a few years ago, and I've never had any problem getting it smogged. Fortunately for me, that was before they got REALLY expensive.

My worst experience with a smog shop was right after I did the SAS on my Blazer. I bought it non-running specifically to build up, so it was the first time it had been smogged since I owned it. Anyway, the smog tech spent about 20 minutes crawling over it and under it, trying to find something wrong. Then he called his buddy over, they hooked up the scanner, and spent another 20 minutes trying to find something to fail it for. Finally, after they couldn't find anything illegal, they aborted the test because I had put a manual transmission in it. I took it somewhere else and it passed with no problems, just like it has several times since.

 

Best possible thing you can do is to move out of California. Other than that, find a reputable place to get smogged that isn't trying to make a few extra bucks. I don't know if the inspection stations are state operated or not but the one you went to sounds a bit shady now.

 

Next year.

 

I wish I could move to another state. I ended up taking the Blazer to another Smog Shop but since the first shop marked the Cat "TAMPERED" they wouldn't touch it. At least they didn't charge me at the second shop.

The replacement cats are unbelievably expensive. One shop quoted me $1,400. Another $650. Rock auto has replacements that are CA Emissions certified and a good price but they wont ship it to my address.

Last year I had to replace the two catalytic converters on my daily driver. Same price $1,400.

So most likely $650 plus the DMV registration fee, then I will end up selling the Blazer.

 

If you're reasonably certain the cat is original (or at least legal) make an appointment at a referee station and let them have a look at it. They can certify it so you shouldn't have problems in the future.