Overbear

Sounds like a good reason to have a friend in another state, "Rent" A room from them, and register cars there.

**** CA, I hope this state burns to the ground once I am out.

Lorry

It used to be even worse than that. Until 1999 any cars brought into the state were charged a $300 SMOG impact fee - even if they were 50 state and fully smog legal. It was eventually challenged, overturned, and they had to issue refunds to everyone who had paid it.

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

It's more or less the easiest way to help ensure that the new owner in CA will be able to actually register their car. As strange as it might sound, some people simply don't know. So, if they were to buy a new or newish used car that were not 50-state legal, or, in which the previous owner had made some sort of illegal mod, they would not be able to register it. The smog in this case is a lot like a pre-inspection for the DMV inspection that ensures your newly purchased vehicle is compliant and will be able to be registered. It really sucks to not be able to register a car that you just bought.

Yes, CA is known to have the strictest emissions in the country for sure.

Just like in CA, it depends on where you live. Nevada definitely has smog. When I moved to Reno, I needed to smog both of my cars, but the smog was trivial. I arrived and popped my hood. The tech came out, closed my hood, plugged in his thingy to the OBD2, went inside, brought out a form and I signed.

That doesn't work any longer. Since the late 90's really. I was able to squeak by in 1997 (because I had actually just bought the car and was determined to not pay sales tax on it) but actually did get pulled over by an enthusiastic fellow who told me he had seen my a few times over the past few weeks. Some people have gotten away with it - really depends on a lot of things.

Yep - when I would bring cars in, I would call my buddy who owned a body shop and get him to purchase the under-hood sticker that said "CA" instead of "Federal" in order to save that silly thing.