Smog check rules for leased cars and trucks

People leasing a car in Reno ask two things: whether the leasing company handles the smog check, and whether anything about a lease changes the rule. The answer to the second is narrow, and it helps with the first.

At a glance

• A lease does not change the yearly test for a vehicle based in Reno or Sparks.
• Exempt: a transfer between leasing companies with no change of lessee or operator (DMV exempt list, NRS 445B.800).
• A new leased car is exempt for its first three registrations like any new car.
• A pass is valid 90 days, which covers most buyouts and renewals.

The rule in the DMV's words

The Nevada DMV's emission control page lists the transfers that need no new test. One of them reads as a transfer between leasing companies with no change of the lessee or operator. Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 445B, at section 445B.800, is where the transfer exemptions sit in the law, alongside the 90 day validity of a passing test.

In plain terms: when one leasing company sells your lease to another and you keep driving the same car, that change of ownership on paper does not trigger a smog check. Nothing about the car or its driver changed.

Everything else about a lease

Outside that one transfer, a lease is treated like any other registration. A gasoline vehicle 1968 or newer, or a diesel up to 14,000 pounds GVWR, based in the urban part of Washoe County and past its third registration, tests every year at renewal. The renewal notice says Smog Check Required when a test is due, and the test still has to happen before the registration can be renewed.

Whoever handles the paperwork, the car has to come in for the test, so in practice the driver brings it. Check your lease contract for who renews the registration; the DMV's rule is about the vehicle.

Starting a lease on a new car

New vehicles are exempt for their first three registrations, and a leased new car is no different. Many three-year leases end before the first test is due. A longer lease, or a lease on a vehicle that was registered before, can reach the fourth registration while you have it. The new vehicle exemption page explains how the count works.

Buyouts and turn-ins

Buying out your lease is a change of ownership, and the DMV's ordinary transfer rules apply. A transfer is exempt if the last passing test was within 90 days, or 180 days on a sale by a Nevada dealer. Outside that window, plan on a test before the title work. The buying or selling page covers who is responsible in each kind of sale.

Renewing a leased car in Reno

Drive into either Reno location, no appointment, inside an Xpress Oil & Lube Center: Reno Northwest on Mae Anne Ave, (775) 787-1000, or Reno South on Longley Ln, (775) 828-6996. Both are open weekdays 8 am to 5 pm, with Saturday hours to 4 pm and 3 pm. The result goes to the DMV electronically, so the renewal can be done online, at a kiosk, or by asking about renewing in the same visit. The renewal page has the steps.

• The renewal notice, if you have it in hand.
• The odometer reading, which also helps you track your lease mileage.
• Any plug-in insurance or lease tracking device unplugged from the OBD port.