another smog test question

Last winter I posted a smog test question, and thanks in no small part to the discussion of cats and ancestry that that post engendered, I was eventually able to get my '04 CRV to pass. Now, I'm back with another smog test adventure.

I took our '09 Civic in for a smog test, and the nice Vietnamese gentleman who attempted to do the test told me that I'd have to call the smog "referee". I thought he was joking, or that something had been lost in translation, but it turns out there may actually be a smog referee. After some telephone run-around, I'm now scheduled to visit a putative smog referee in Livermore (an hour drive for me) next Monday. As an added bonus, the registration on that car has now expired, so it looks like I'll have the privilege of going to the DMV and paying $50 so that I can legally drive my car to visit the smog referee.

I'm thinking that this is some kind of elaborate prank that somebody is playing on me. Assuming that I'm wrong, and there really is a smog referee, my question is: Does a smog referee wear a shirt with black and white vertical stripes? If not, I'm going to be very disappointed.

And a whistle?   

What was the reason for going to the smog ref?
The smog tech should have given you a reason. Did he try to smog your car?  The only reason why id see him tell you to see a smog ref is if there were modifications done to your car (both visual and sniffer) that is illegal and affecting your cars ability to pass EPA regulations.  Some smog techs won’t touch cars with smog modulations because they could get heavily fined or even lose their smog certification.

2009 civic fail!?!? Modified in some way? Non factory catalyst? Japan replacement motor? Look at your smog check print out. Reason for failure will be on it... Seems sketch to me...
 Been doing Smog check 25 yrs +

Take your car to a different smog place.

The last time i went to a smog referee (which was my uncle) was because i got a ticket for a smog related problem. He needed to smog it and sign off on the ticket.

That year civic I think is the cleanest burning ICE on record.  For it to fail AND require a ref to intervene is highly unusual.
 
This is exactly why I always pay for a preinspection; if there's something wrong, they'll tell me and stop before the computer hooks to the state. But once it's pushed out to the state, you are screwed.  Cost is around $20 extra.  If all is well, they continue and I pay up.

2009 civic fail!?!? Modified in some way? Non factory catalyst? Japan replacement motor? Look at your smog check print out. Reason for failure will be on it... Seems sketch to me...
 Been doing Smog check 25 yrs +

The car is not modified in an y way. And, there was no smog check--the smog guy just punched the info in and it said it had to go to the smog referee, so he stopped.

Is it worth trying another smog place? I've got an appointment with the "ref" on Monday, but am not too keen on wasting half a day for something that has got to be a snafu of some sort.

What was the reason for going to the smog ref?
The smog tech should have given you a reason. Did he try to smog your car?  The only reason why id see him tell you to see a smog ref is if there were modifications done to your car (both visual and sniffer) that is illegal and affecting your cars ability to pass EPA regulations.  Some smog techs won’t touch cars with smog modulations because they could get heavily fined or even lose their smog certification.

No, the car has not been modified in any way and, no, he did not do the test.

I called the ref number twice. The first time, they told me that they didn't have any info, as their computer system only updates at midnight, so I'd have to call back the next day. When I called the next day, I was told that the only reason they could give was the answer posted on the smog ref website, which was just some generic blather. In other words, there was no specific info wrt my car. It all seems incredibly weird, even by California standards of weirdness...

Sounds like you were randomly selected for some reason.  I didn't know they did that.

That's what I thought too, but then why wouldn't they just say so?

Odd, I'd just take the car to some other place that's willing to talk to you about it, some smog guys know their stuff, some are just robots.

I went to a referee back in the dawn of time, think 1980's with a modified 61 engine in a 68 El Camino. The referee was a young (younger than me) kid who I think was just enamored with the car, took him a long time to figure out how to pass it but he did, with tongue in cheek, we both smiled and off I went. 

Did you need to go to the referee or to a STAR smog shop? The STAR ones are more closely regulated by the state and vehicles are randomly picked to need a smog from a STAR certified station. Had to get a smog earlier in the year. Went to one shop and was told I couldn’t get the smog there because I needed to get a STAR certified inspection. It actually said so on my registration renewal in the fine print.

Anyways it’s just California being California with ridiculous governmental nonsense.

Yes, I had the star thing before. So, I noticed that on the paperwork this time and went to a star certified place. The paperwork said nothing about the referee. The star smog guy told me I’d have to call the referee, and by the next day, it showed up in the referee system when I called. At this point, there doesn’t seem to be any way out of it. I’ll post a follow up on Monday after taking it to the ref.

You can pay the reg and then do smog check. Stops late fees
When smog passes computer will see and you get your new tag

The car passed the ref smog test. It only took about 5 minutes for the actual test, and the smog ref also had no clue as to why my car was selected. It seemed like a big waste of everyone's time. The only positive is that it only cost $8.25, but I'd rather pay the regular rate and be done in an hour, instead of wasting half of a day.

I was really tempted to make fun of the whole "smog referee" thing (after passing, of course). But the smog dude at Las Positas College seemed to be pretty humorless so, reluctantly, I let it slide...