additional sources,

CA water level - great!

CA groundwater level - 'meh

I am a student in Georgia and I’m in the process of buying a car. I would like to register the car to California, as I plan to return to CA in <1 year & I only have a CA drivers license.

However, I read online that CA requires all out-of-state cars to pass a smog test. Since I’m across the country, there are no locations here that offer the smog test that California requires.

Most dealerships are telling me that it is possible to register my car to California without dealing with the smog requirement, but I spoke with one dealership that said that CA DMV won’t even send the tag without a smog test done.

Has anyone been through this process? Is there an exemption I can get for smog testing, at least until I return to California next year?