LuckyCharmsYo

Just a heads up for those of us unfortunate enough to deal with California car buying laws.

For context - if you live in California but purchase a car from a dealer in another state, you need the car to pass a smog test, even if the car is brand new from the factory and has the "50 State Emissions" sticker on it. It doesn't make one lick of sense. ******* California laws.

This was a problem in the Stingray, though, with GM even posting a notice to the California government saying that all of the emissions monitors in the Stingray might not turn on for over 1,000 miles. So those of us in this situation needed to go to a special "smog referee" to override the emissions test and "pass" the car even without the monitors turning on. It took money, it took time, and if you have a HTC Corvette, it required you to unscrew and pull off the engine bay cover because the testers needed to physically see the engine itself.

However! I was able to get the Z06 smog test to pass after 370 miles. Tried at 270 but one key monitor still wasn't on. So I took the car to the Laguna canyon road, bombed up and down that a few times at high speed, and 100 miles later, I got the test to pass! So if you don't want to deal with the inconvenience of going to the smog referee, try getting to a similar mileage amount first.

Jridden

That is also a more preferable way to spend your time than at the smog referee.

EM Racer

Which is one of the many reasons I plan on picking mine up at the museum and drive it 3100 miles back to my home in stupid CA.

1985 Corvette

Speaking of smog laws in CA, how does that work for older cars? Emissions testing for new cars becomes more and more stringent. Does that strict expectation for new cars “average up” the old car’s requirements to pass? An old 1990 Corvette for example probably won’t have as clean of an exhaust emission as says a brand new car. Or do those bold cars get a more relaxed testing due to being antiques?

Michael A

Can you just drive your car straight from the out of state dealer to the referee station, and forget about going multiple times for smog tests?

fjaphd

Drove from BG to San Diego. Smog test @ 2400+ miles. No big deal.

RBK

The "big deal" for me would be driving 2400 miles.

Minkster

If you live in Kali and order from an out of state dealer, have the ordering dealer include the RPO for California emissions (YF5 I believe) and you should be OK.

adamsocb

I did it twice. Both R8C purchased from an out-of-state dealer and picked up at the NCM. I had to have a CA smog check and DMV inspection both times. Well worth it considering the money I saved. The title and registration has to be initially processed in CA to avoid the requirement. Once the car is registered (even temporarily) outside of CA an inspection is required even with the Cal Emissions RPO.

• If you do R8C from a CA dealer no inspection required.
• If you do a courtesy delivery to a CA dealer no inspection required.
• I believe there are some large out-of-state dealers who have agents in several states who can process the title and registration in the buyer's state to avoid the inspection.

It has everything to do with the state worrying the car has been tampered and not how it was originally equipped. ALL modern Corvettes have the same emissions sticker regardless of where they are sold in the US. Other large states like Texas have similar inspection requirements for cars imported from out of state. It is not unique to CA.
No big deal if you understand it going into the transaction.

shatter

I drove mine to the local smog guy with like 25 miles on it and failed smog as expected but required before you can make a smog referee appointment ($45 down the drain). Took it to the referee a couple of weeks later with 150 miles on it at the referee said "I can't believe your car passed smog at 150 miles." I have no idea what that means exactly as I thought the smog referee just rubber stamped the paperwork and all I cared about was having the smog pass paperwork. The test sheet from the smog referee showed everything as "Ready" so who knows, maybe the car actually became smog ready at 150 miles. Sitting at 400 miles now because I haven't been able to take it out in almost a month.

I can't even confirm smog ready status because my cheap $15 OBD2 scanner doesn't want to read the C8Z.

rv3flyr

Is a museum delivery any different than any out of state dealer? Or will I still have to visit my smog guy when it gets to CA?

416vette

Run the car so the CAT's get hot enough to burn off the carbon residue. That will allow you to pass SMOG.
That's how we used to do it with HFC's in my province before they ditched the clean-air testing for vehicles.

DDanno

Drove mine home from Bowling green. Track wrapped and added the bra. 220 miles later smoged as soon as in state. No problem. Problem with out of state cars is that You have to Smog and Vin inspect to get registered in California. Offloading from the transport and warming up will NOT be enough to trip all the nannies in the system. Leaned this on previous corvette brought in from out of state. Has to run through cold start, steady run state, idle down and other assorted conditions to trip all the sensors. The only way around that I am aware of is to have the car courtesy delivered to a California dealer. Pay them or the state. If the car is delivered to a California dealer then the calif cert clears the smog requirement. If you have the car transported to you home then you will have to go through a drive schedule to get all the nannies to clear. There is a list on the internet on what to do to clear all the sensors, Stop and go, steady drive a specific mph slow down, etc. California is going to get their ounce of skin before they let you register your car.

adamsocb

Yes, if you bought and/or first registered the car in CA. No smog or VIN inspection required in that case.

If like me, you bought AND first registered the car out-of-state then did NCM delivery, you will have to go through the verification process.

The easiest way to tell is what State are your temporary plates/tags from? (the ones you are using to drive home from BG) If CA, no inspections will be required. If the tags are from another state, plan on a smog check and trip to your local DMV.

CA uses the “first registered” test. This is why a vehicle purchased out-of-state, then factory shipped and courtesy delivered by a CA dealer will not require the inspections. In these cases the CA delivering dealer processes the Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin, and registers the car for the first time with the CA DMV.

Sales/Use taxes and registration fees for out-of-state purchases are another issue, but not part of this thread topic. Be sure you know your obligations and rights on the these as well.

09Z06pj

Man, there are so many reasons to want to get the hell out of this state. The emissions testing scam is just another one.

Semifighter18

I've said this before.......there are so many things I hate about California, but the weather is not one of them........allows us to drive all year.......

However, the smog requirements suck......

Halewafa

Has anyone recently brought their car to a referee? I have an appointment in two weeks and they said I need to remove the engine cover to be able to do the check. I assume that's just for the Stingray and not the Z06, since ours doesn't come with a cover (unless you ordered the CF one).

shatter

I believe that is only for the HTC. Perhaps the engine cover is covering the smog sticker?

When I took my Z06 coupe to the smog referee, I didn't have to do any prep.

Halewafa

Perfect, thats what I thought, thank you!