Best Posts in Thread: smoketest

so fyi to all, i went for a smoke test today wed aug 12 and was advised by my friend ernie they are closed until further notice because they cannot get smoke test certifications from the state office. as far as he knows, no other smoke test facility can get them either.

he reaffirmed that the metal tags required on cars now that i paid for a year ago are still not available either. "just continue to carry your receipt showing you have paid in your car"

 

There is an emission testing center on Flores just after passing the exit from the pier going north towards Lantaw. I don't know what the name of it is, but there is a huge yellow sign that says "Emission Test Center" that you can't miss. We went there on Monday last week and they were fully booked and said come back on Friday. We went back on Friday at about noon and there were 2 motorcycle and 1 car ahead of us. We waited in line and within about one hour we had our testing and all documentation completed for our Fortuner.

 

i think davyL is talking about JPV Emission Testing Center
https://goo.gl/maps/t9VBdBCNCdcDw3vw5

emissions test dumaguete will bring up some more shops.
https://tinyurl.com/y26b6ybb

 

I'll try and explain the different term and abbreviation that are used here.

CS or Conduction Sticker. Those are the stickers on the front and rear windows of the car. Those stickers come attached to the windows when the car is new. I don't know if you need to keep them forever or not.

CR or Certificate of registration. It's a yellowish document. That's basically the "pink slip" or Ownership document. It is advised to keep a copy of the CR with the vehicle and keep the original in a safe place.

OR (not sure what that means) It is a Blue document that indicates you have paid your annual fee to operate the vehicle. You should always have a copy of that with you. I let the smoke test guys deal with the LTO and get the document for me.

TAG or Licence Plate self explanatory. A lot of people have their own plates made because the LTO have not been able to provide plates.

 

hi, well there were two topics. with the smoke test itself the certification paperwork is not available to the testors. so they cannot do the test and give you a certification for your vehicle until the government comes up with more forms. surely this will correct fairly soon as i am sure this is a significant income producer for the government, either local or national.

the "carry the receipt in your car" comment had to do with car tags. you are supposed to have a tag front and rear on your car. you can buy your tags at the readily available mom and pop shops all over the city. they are usually plastic of some sort, or a lamination. however i was told last year when i got my smoke test that i had to have metal tags that were only available through the government. so to get my smoke test i first had to pay for the metal tags even tho they were not then available and year later are still not available.

if you are new to the phils you will find the government always wants you to go ahead and pay, then you can carry the receipt as proof of your compliance with the rules. it took six months to get my real alien registration card, a year to get my real drivers licence. it has been about a year now i think that the little stickers they put in your passport have not been available so everyone is going around the passports that are stuffed with different sheets of paper showing you paid for your prior visa renewals.

one of the problems with this is that the quality of paper and ink used for receipts is poor. the paper is short fiber and easy to destroy, esp if it gets damp. the ink fades readily. when get one of these temporary receipts/"proof of purchase" it is advisable to get some kind of protective cover for them. i have never ever in seven years here been asked for a proof of purchase receipt OTHER than the visa renewals stapled to your passport. those they always check. you can also just carry the expired ARC card, drivers license et cet and just tell them the update was not available. i do this often if i have to show proof of identity say at the bank or to update your file as i did today at palawan. they all understand. its how things are done. you just have to accept it.