Posted on 04/25/2015 1:21:51 AM PDT by Cowman
A bill proposed in California would allow classic car owners to cut a check to the DMV for $200 to get out of the state’s notoriously strict smog test. But naturally, it’s a bit more complicated than just paying off the Golden State.
Any car in California built on or after 1976 has to undergo a smog test every two years (not so for pre-76 cars, which is one of the reasons my 1976 BMW 2002 is now living in Florida).
AB550 seeks to amend that law to allow vehicles 30 years or older to bypass the test, but only after a series of steps. Here’s what the changes state:
44011.7. (a) The owner of a motor vehicle that is required to obtain a certificate of compliance pursuant to Section 44011 may elect to pay a smog abatement fee of two hundred dollars ($200) if the motor vehicle meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Is 30 or more model-years old.
(2) Was manufactured during or after the 1976 model-year.
(3) Fails a smog test required pursuant to this chapter.
(4) Fails a subsequent smog test after necessary repairs were made.
(b) Payment of the smog abatement fee established pursuant to this section shall be made to the Department of Motor Vehicles at the time of the registration of the motor vehicle.
(c) Fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Air Quality Improvement Fund created by Section 44274.5.
It seems simple, but the obvious question is how the state would confirm how “necessary repairs were made.” Does that mean ensuring the car is putting out the lowest possible amount of emissions or making drastic changes to the powertrain to get inline with the sniffer test? Or can you just pay off a mechanic to say that “necessary” repairs were made and it’s still a rolling superfund site? There’s really no clarification, which doesn’t exactly bode well for the language’s passage.
The bill was proposed by Assembly Member Marie Waldron, a Republican from Southern California’s 75th district, and has the support of the SEMA Action Network. SEMA has attempted to do something similar in the past with a bill that would exempt all pre-1981 cars from emissions inspections in California. That failed, but maybe lining the pockets of the state with a couple of Benjamins means AB550 has a shot.
LOL....nope, if you can believe....power windows, steering, brakes ....wish it had leather seats though. :(
“Oh, by the way...maryland is THE Freak state.”
I hear you. I get to punch out in five or six months.
I friend of mine finally had enough and after running a service garage for 40 years got sick of merely being a troubleshooting tech to trace bad control modules for power locks, windows and headlights and sold the business. New technology was forcing him to no longer be a mechanic, but a module swapper, and he refused to deal with it anymore.
I ran into the same crap with my 2004 Ram 2500... a headlight out was not a bulb, fuse, or relay... it was a corroded flimsy pin on the Front Control Module... which the kid at the dealer kept calling a “TIPM” (sounds like “tip ‘em”). TIPM stands for “Totally Integrated Power Module”. and the trucks didn’t have that card in 2004... but he liked to say Tip Em over and over again. What Valley Girl came up with THAT name? What retard EIT designed a card to replace standard fuses and relays? All I know is that none of the dealerships would use a pin puller and FIX iT. They wanted me to pay 700 bucks for a new card and they would just swap it out.
My ‘91 Jetta diesel has no heated seats or heated mirrors, no lighted vanity mirror, no cupholders... but it has crank down windows, an ash tray and LIGHTER, 315k on the odometer and it still gets 38 MPH. Oh, and NO COMPUTER and 100% of the car can be worked on by ME... 95% of which only requires a 3/8” drive ratchet, phillips head screwdriver, and 11mm and 13 mm sockets and combination wrenches.
From a pragmatic standpoint, most of these are garage queens. How many miles do most really accumulate?
Probably air quality. The entire state of WV is exempt due to good air quality. No vehicle emissions testing imposed by EPA here.
An electronics savy guy posted his repair of a TIPM on the internet. The problem isn’t corrosion. Chrysler speced lower rated relays than needed. He replaced the relays with ones with higher amp ratings and hasn’t had a problem since. Chrysler has a monetary extraction devices attached to the bank account of every one of their new car customers.
It’s going to be get much worse when the new electro-hydraulic brakes come out. Figure $600 for replacing the pads. There’s a procedure the mechanic has to follow first or risk serious injury.
I live in California and this is one of the reasons I bought my 1965 Buick Skylark. I can do with it as I please.
Well, that bullet nose looks like the lap of luxury!
We were never hassled for any of the years we did this. The DMV even put our Florida address on our drivers licenses.
Our son took his truck to college in South Carolina and did the same thing. His legal address was CA, the registration was mailed to his SC address, and he never had to smog his truck.
The CA DMV person I spoke with back in 2005 when setting up our Florida address told me that the DMV didn’t care if our cars were in CA or not ... if the registration was mailed out of state, the smog was waived every year.
Sarcasm, what do you mean? It is fact.
Funny thing is ..... whenever I go out ....people always stop me and want to know the car particulars. It evokes good memories in most curiosity seekers and lots of smiles. A guy asked me to stop and let him pose by the car....and *would you mind taking my picture?*
I was seriously thinking about have some of those inexpensive business cards made up ....with all the car info printed on it. It’ll save me a lot lot of time. Several suggest that I bring it to car shows .... I’m not really up for that yet.
It’s Clark Griswold fun to drive! A good solid little car that is very reliable. We had a lot of snow this past winter, and the FWD is enuf to get me where I’m goin’. :)
Get your tank nearly empty then put in a gallon of ethanol from hardware store. You will pass smog test with flying colors. I did this once
Right after the test fill up your gasoline tank to dilute the ethanol
Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. So far the Z has passed, but just barely. No smog check was required this year.
I have a ‘64 Skylark. Convertible. Was my daily driver until about 1993... I need rear quarterpanels for it.
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