Moving Cars to CA (emissions question)

[chiddy]

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I was wondering if any of you have moved a non-California emissions car to CA and what did you have to do to make it pass emissions or did it just pass? Also any idea how much it would cost to ship all the way from the northeast?

 

[cyclohexanol]

I was wondering if any of you have moved a non-California emissions car to CA and what did you have to do to make it pass emissions or did it just pass? Also any idea how much it would cost to ship all the way from the northeast?

Although I have never moved a non-cali car to CA and I can't comment on how much it might cost, I can comment on emissions requirements.

What is the make/model/year of your car? In all likelihood, you won't have to do much, if anything at all to it.

I built a 342ci supercharged mustang (650+ rwhp) that is fully california street legal, and passes emissions with flying colors.

If your car is modified, like mine, you just have to be certain that all of the parts are CARB certified and have an E.O. number.

The only trouble you might have is if it is a really new LEV/PZEV type car that doesn't have particular CA specific emissions components, or if its any car less than 20 years old that has like.. no emissions components...

 

[chiddy]

I have a 2001 Ford Mustang GT completely stock (unless a painted interior and removed air silencer are going to do anything) 🙂

I guess I should be fine then?

 

[TheFish005]

my car still has current out of state plates on it. there are many cars in our parking lot that do. you only need to pass emissions testing if you want to register your car in this state. it's kind of expensive to register a car in cali, so if you can still claim residents of another state (my folks still live out of cali) i would just continue to renew the plates for whatever state you're moving from.

 

[nrddct]

If you plan on uhauling your personal belongings then also rent a trailer for about $80. Thats the safest and cheapest way. Intercity lines is one of the better transporting companies, but they run in the neighborhood of $600 or more. Other transport companies outsource thier transport between small towns. This is where your car is most likely to get damaged b/c it changes hands so many times.

 

[chiddy]

my car still has current out of state plates on it. there are many cars in our parking lot that do. you only need to pass emissions testing if you want to register your car in this state. it's kind of expensive to register a car in cali, so if you can still claim residents of another state (my folks still live out of cali) i would just continue to renew the plates for whatever state you're moving from.

The car is going to be from Pennsylvania. What about when you go to get the emission's sticker changed? Will the dealer in CA just check to see if the car passes PA emissions and ignore the fact it is in CA? Also can you still change your licence? Mine is going to be expiring 1/2008 so I probably won't be in PA at that time to get it renewed. It would probably be easier if I just switched the licence.

If you plan on uhauling your personal belongings then also rent a trailer for about $80. Thats the safest and cheapest way. Intercity lines is one of the better transporting companies, but they run in the neighborhood of $600 or more. Other transport companies outsource thier transport between small towns. This is where your car is most likely to get damaged b/c it changes hands so many times.

I'm trying to find already furnished apartments so hopefully I won't have much to take with me. If everything works out the most I'll have to do is send a box or two through UPS otherwise I'd probably go with the uhaul/trailer idea. I'm not sure if I want to drive from PA to CA though... that's quite a drive and so I'll probably just go with a moving company. I'll look into Intercity lines.

Thanks.

 

[cyclohexanol]

I have a 2001 Ford Mustang GT completely stock (unless a painted interior and removed air silencer are going to do anything) 🙂

I guess I should be fine then?

Actually you might have to put the silencer back on, depends on where you go, some shops will bitch about it (because they've been fined before), some won't. Other than that, a stock 2001 Mustang GT will pass emissions just fine.

The other factors such as cost of registering a car in cali, etc... are another story. I have no expertise on that, I just pay my fees and move on.

 

[TheFish005]

I'm not sure about that... my home state doesn't require emissions checks, so I don't have to worry about it. if your state requires emissions to renew your license, i'm not sure if CA mechanics will know PA requirements... you might have to go ahead and register in CA, but i wouldn't worry about it right away... wait until your current plates need to be renewed.

 

[chiddy]

Actually I think I found some good news. I was going through the CA DMV site and found this: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/NonCAVeh/NonCAVeh.pdf

Under the moving section, it seems that if you previously bought a car in another state and then move to CA, you can get the car registered and exempt from smog testing. The only requirement seems to be that you need to show proof that the car was bought and registered by you in the other state while you were actually living there. I emailed them for confirmation that this will work so I'll post back when I find out more. So basically if you're allowed to do this, all your car has to pass are the federal emissions requirements which I believe all the other 49 states follow.