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Smog Test Done Engine Running But Gear in Park, Why?

I used to live in a rural area and never heard of this. I was told that since the old title was from Goshen, CA it is a a smaller town then Visalia, CA so my test had to be done in park? Apparently, if I got the address changed to my address in Visalia, which was stapled to the front of title along with change of ownership, then he could smog check my car on the dyno because Visalia is bigger than Goshen? Is this true because I've always had my vehicle on the dynamometer during the smog check.
Answer:

The DMV requires that a vehicle's seller provide to the buyer a valid smog certificate at the time of purchase. With this method, the vehicle is smog checked in the county which it was registered in before the sale. The problem arises when a vehicle is bought without a smog certificate and relocated to a county which has different smog check requirements; such as a vehicle being bought in an Enhanced Smog Check area and being registered in a Basic Smog Check Area, or such as in this case, vice versa. At this point, if you try to obtain a smog check before filing any DMV paperwork, you will be required to get the smog check done at a basic smog check area (Two-Speed Test - Idle & 2500 RPM). If you wish, you may start the title transfer process with the DMV and pay the DMV fees due for the title transfer. You will receive a Report of Deposit of Fees document with your name and address. You can then obtain a BAR-97 ASM smog test in Visalia (an enhanced smog check area). The complete registration will be pending the smog test. posted by SmogTips Support

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