California emission laws

[The Demon]

It sucks here

You will have to smog your cars. The only thing saving me is that there is no smog for new vehicle purchases for 8 years. So I have 2 years left before im screwed.

I would have to find it again as I think it was on the CA DMV site but I believe I read you can "buy" 2 more years. Leave it to CA to rip off there drivers for more money.

 

[bryyce62]

This place sucks balls on many fronts, including smog & CARB.
One thing I've heard that works for some is if you have a biz, an LLC or such, that is out of state, you can have your company own the car and can get away without smog and CA sales tax.

But check with your tax guy before taking advice from some clown on the internet.

 

[ORRadtech]

This place sucks balls on many fronts, including smog & CARB.
One thing I've heard that works for some is if you have a biz, an LLC or such, that is out of state, you can have your company own the car and can get away without smog and CA sales tax.

But check with your tax guy before taking advice from some clown on the internet.

Yes, be careful.
A few years back there was a whole thing here in Georgia where people buying luxury/high dollar cars/RVs would have an LLC in Montana in order to avoid paying the state 7% TAVT tax. When the buyer bought the car they had to sign a form saying they were shipping the vehicle out of state. When the State figured out there were a bunch of high dollar cars running around with Montana tags they decided, after a grace period, that they would start filling tax fraud charges.
You see very few Montana tags any more

 

[Traffic22]

I’ve lived in CA my whole life 52 years. The area where you are being offered a job (Monterey) is incredibly beautiful. You’re 5 hours from amazing snow skiing. Great hiking, camping, and a lot of amazing outdoor activities are all super close. We have some of the most amazing driving roads all over the state.

But there are trade offs, and a few things to be aware of:

The Monterey Bay Area and surrounding cities are very expensive. (Rent, taxes, even everyday products, bread, milk etc.)

CA has high property and income taxes, and some of the highest sales and gas taxes
In the US.

Politically the state is very liberal. The state has extremely generous welfare programs (compared to other states) and has adopted a fairly soft stance on crime. This has led to an increase in homeless and street encampments in recent years. We have some of the highest property crime rates in the US.

If you like guns, hunting, fishing, etc. the State has restrictions, but we do have some amazing fishing areas, and some hunting still.

With that said, CA is also not mod friendly. As
Others have said, you’ll be restricted to CARB legal parts if you want your car to remain street legal. And if you chose to roll the dice with “illegal” mods, be careful, because the police can issue you a citation which require you to visit the SMOG referee to either prove your mods are legal or have been removed and your car is in compliance.

I think the above is a fairly objective assessment, which other Californians will confirm. But, I think you’re smart soliciting input.

You have to do what’s right for you.

 

[wynand32]

I live outside of Los Angeles, and I'd probably enjoy the northern part of the state much more.

 

[James1980]

Like mentioned, Monterey is one of if not the most beautiful city in the state. Absolutely gorgeous. Lots of car related stuff in the area. Monterey car week being the big one. Leguna Seca isn't far away. Highway 1 is one of the most scenic drives in the world. But it all comes at a cost. You better be making well over 6 figures just to get by in that area.

Everything everyone else said is absolutely true. The strictest smog laws in the country. Anything between the air box and cats are off limits without a carb number. They never use to bother people with loud exhausts, now they're starting to crack down. You can thank the dumb sideshows for that

My advice, dont do it. Its as bad or even worse than everyone says. I'm out of this dump as soon as I can

 

[Biggus Dickus]

Not too long ago a friend I knew was able to smog some highly illegal cars because I understand he went to the Dude, and the Dude performed some magic which resulted in DMV smog pass for the cars I understand he owned.

 

[Muhnopoly]

Basically you cant mod your car at all in california. Can't even have a modified exhaust WITH stock cats. Whole exhaust has to remain stock. Once I'm in IUOE for a few years I plan to move out of state. Can't lower your car, no LTH, tint cant be darker then 35% i believe, cops will pull you over for having a nice car in general.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

And the same organizations who create these regulations (different than laws) troll the car and truck forums looking for folks who brag about their modifications. So it is best to always be stock and never modify anything that has been so meticulously engineered to be the way that "they" have determined is best for us. Keep our air clean and Mother Earth as cool ask we can before we all destroy ourselves and the planet.

 

[thunderstrike]

Hope your salary's tripled to move out there to off set high tax and expensive home or rental.

 

[Ogopogo]

From a climate, weather and environment perspective, Monterey, along with Carmel by the Sea, is a beautiful part of the state.

Keep your vehicles stock is the best advice most anyone can give. There are many other things in life more important than cleaning out the bank account on mods.

 

[PaddyPrix]

I love how dude came in asking a somewhat simple and straightforward question, and the heavens opened up for snowflakes to come falling to the surface. Sure, somebody had once planted a seed, but yet, you're not a tree, so get up and leave.

When something is 49 state legal, yeah, it's unfortunately California, but the majority of those modifications are things you wouldn't do on a street car anyhow. They do have some CARB legal Turbos, but generally they're not for Mustangs, but they do exist (D-321). The main issue was that they wanted something like $25k for the application/testing process, and the kit, and trying to tell somebody you want to make an already powerful car EXTREMELY powerful is a hard sell with all the clowns doing donuts and running each over making people who know what they're doing look guilty by association... However, people who know what they're doing usually go to tracks, making this a fun catch-22. Nothing stopping them from just eating up your application fee and rejecting your application, so for many/some, that's a pretty hard pill to swallow.

While organized racing usually takes the summer off to avoid the +120F highs, our race tracks are open year round, and since we're in a 20 year drought, you'll almost never have a track day rained out. You don't have to buy a house to join an exclusive community like you do in Texas with their motorsport ranches, you just fill out a form, show up, and pay a couple hundred bucks. Also have more than just about anywhere, Laguna, Sonoma, and Thunderhill to the north, Auto Club, Buttonwillow, Chuckwalla, and Willow Springs to the south. I'm excluding the circle tracks and drag strips, but they're there, and if you're in the desert, it's anything goes if you wanna take it off some sweet jumps.

If you're not yet there, you can also go on a cruise through canyons, deserts, mountains, wine country, even beaches in the same day, hell, same cruise if you plan it right. Most roads look familiar to you, it's because your favorite shows and magazines are on the same tracks and roads, yes, they're all that nice. If you like doing donuts in the middle of the busy city street, you can even do that too, plenty of people streaming it on instagram, first timers welcomed!

If you really want a car to pass, there is always "a guy", they're about $500-750 now. Just sucks having to take that big bite out every 2 years. Probably cheaper to make your car a full-time race car and have a beater for a daily, which makes the race car that many more times faster until you adjust to it again. Plus significantly cheaper on the insurance and gas bill. Speaking of gas, our e85 is generally fantastic, availability is great and getting even better, stable year round at 85-88% ratings.

 

[The Demon]

I love how dude came in asking a somewhat simple and straightforward question, and the heavens opened up for snowflakes to come falling to the surface. Sure, somebody had once planted a seed, but yet, you're not a tree, so get up and leave.

When something is 49 state legal, yeah, it's unfortunately California, but the majority of those modifications are things you wouldn't do on a street car anyhow. They do have some CARB legal Turbos, but generally they're not for Mustangs, but they do exist (D-321). The main issue was that they wanted something like $25k for the application/testing process, and the kit, and trying to tell somebody you want to make an already powerful car EXTREMELY powerful is a hard sell with all the clowns doing donuts and running each over making people who know what they're doing look guilty by association... However, people who know what they're doing usually go to tracks, making this a fun catch-22. Nothing stopping them from just eating up your application fee and rejecting your application, so for many/some, that's a pretty hard pill to swallow.

While organized racing usually takes the summer off to avoid the +120F highs, our race tracks are open year round, and since we're in a 20 year drought, you'll almost never have a track day rained out. You don't have to buy a house to join an exclusive community like you do in Texas with their motorsport ranches, you just fill out a form, show up, and pay a couple hundred bucks. Also have more than just about anywhere, Laguna, Sonoma, and Thunderhill to the north, Auto Club, Buttonwillow, Chuckwalla, and Willow Springs to the south. I'm excluding the circle tracks and drag strips, but they're there, and if you're in the desert, it's anything goes if you wanna take it off some sweet jumps.

If you're not yet there, you can also go on a cruise through canyons, deserts, mountains, wine country, even beaches in the same day, hell, same cruise if you plan it right. Most roads look familiar to you, it's because your favorite shows and magazines are on the same tracks and roads, yes, they're all that nice. If you like doing donuts in the middle of the busy city street, you can even do that too, plenty of people streaming it on instagram, first timers welcomed!

If you really want a car to pass, there is always "a guy", they're about $500-750 now. Just sucks having to take that big bite out every 2 years. Probably cheaper to make your car a full-time race car and have a beater for a daily, which makes the race car that many more times faster until you adjust to it again. Plus significantly cheaper on the insurance and gas bill. Speaking of gas, our e85 is generally fantastic, availability is great and getting even better, stable year round at 85-88% ratings.

You are correct. Great post. I have “the guy” but I don’t think I’ll be here for the first emission test. I plan on being retired by then.

 

[2morrow]

Monterey is basically the best car scene in the US.

Unfortunately any tune that you might have or any modification to emission equipment is illegal.

If oyu happen to run at Laguna, hit me up. Always down to meet fellow forum members/track rats/gear heads.

Good luck OP!

 

[2morrow]

Not too long ago a friend I knew was able to smog some highly illegal cars because I understand he went to the Dude, and the Dude performed some magic which resulted in DMV smog pass for the cars I understand he owned.

This phenomenon is quickly being reversed. Just a FYI.