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CA to require Smog for pre '76 cars


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:mad:

 

I'm not sure if this was already posted. Ill put it up anyway.

 

http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/blog/2009/03/18/ca-seeks-to-smog-check-15-year-old-cars/

 

This could be very bad for us. Please send emails, letters or even call to oppose S.B. 1549

 

 

The link you posted is a story about S.B. 859. Reading the story it says it won't change anything for cars made in 75 and before, however it sounds like it will change the interval for cars 15 years and older, from every two years, to every year.

 

S.B. 1549 has to do with "year of manufacture" license plates. Right now the law only allows 68 and earlier cars to be assigned the black and yellow plates, etc., as replacement plates. S.B. 1549 changes it to allow 72 and older pick ups to get "year of manufacture" plates.

 

S.B. 1549 sounds like a good thing to me.

 

Did you get your info off wikipedia or what?

Edited by Orange620
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No I got it off other car forums. Looks like you dug into it deeper then I did. I just saw this today, and it pissed me off. I hope they don't require us to smog our old cars, as thats what everyone else was making it sound like.

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http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_859

 

 

from the first paragraph of the bill

 

AB 859, as amended, Jones. Smog check: annual inspection: repair

assistance program.

(1) Existing law establishes a motor vehicle inspection and

maintenance (smog check) program, developed, implemented, and

administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The smog check

program provides for the inspection of a motor vehicle, among other

circumstances, upon its registration, upon transfer of ownership, and

for vehicles registered in certain areas of the state, biennially.

Some motor vehicles, including any motor vehicle manufactured prior

to the 1976 model year, are exempt from biennial inspection. The

department is required to charge a fee to a smog check station for

each motor vehicle inspection, as provided. Violations of the smog

check requirements constitute a crime.

 

 

thank goodness for those of you with the older vehicles. my truck is a 77, and i dont think it will pass a smog check the next time around. another reason to buy a pre 75 vehicle...

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Guest jaimesix

They have frozen the date of exemption to 1975. 76 and later vehicles need smog certification.

 

They can not retroactively enact nor apply laws and regulations in regard to this issue, all they can do, and they are doing for sure, is make sure no more vehicles get exempted, reason why the year of exemption has been frozen to 1975.

 

Jaime.____________________________________________________

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Guest jaimesix

They can enact new laws, but those laws can not retroactively affect vehicles which have already been exempted. Once exempted, there is no way to bring them back into the smog check system.

 

Any laws that are enacted and enforced would be geared for revenue. The state will not make big money fighting against cars already exempted.

 

Where the money is is in freezing the exemption date, so more old car owners sell their cars, lose them to impound operations for inability to register said cars, or exchange them for state grants like the 1000 dollars exchange for junking an older car, with the implicit goal of having these citizens purchase new or newer cars that will pay fees and participate in the smog system for the next 30 plus years.

 

If the state decided to re direct its efforts to deny exemption to already exempted vehicles, the state would have to initiate action against car manufacturers.

For that denial/revocation of exemption status to happen, the state would have to compell manufacturers to manufacture new parts for the old smog systems cars of the past had ( i/e EGR valves, air control selenoid, by pass valve, selenoid control valve, air pump, air pasages, EGR passage chambers, stock Hitachi carburetors , etc )... and manufacturers would cry wolf before that could happen.

 

But what, unfortunately, the state can do, is to freeze the exemption date to 1975, and never allow it to move. When that happens, the system has the power to destroy cars by virtue of its smog check demands, which demand a vehicle should adhere to smog test results that vehicle was made to comply to and numbers which that vehicle was supposed to show when in new condition. The technology those smog systems consist of is old technology and those smog devices can not perform to standards.

 

An exempted car is the enemy of the state. It is a car that pays minimum registration fees, pays no smog fees whatsoever, its owner is not participating in the financial business ( through car payments and loan profit/revenue creation ) basically it is a vehicle that is sticking its tongue at the establishment.

 

So, the perfect trap is set in, car can not pass the smog test, test centers do not tell you what is wrong, driver can not register his car, car gets impounded , or car is sold/junked to the state.

 

Driver buys a new or newer car, driver is put back in the conveyor belt, were he must remain for the next 30 years, participating, willingly or unwillingly in this system that cares crap about the enviroment, system which was designed to make revenue.

 

Jaime._______________________________________________________

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I've heard of individuals who have seen the state's racket as an opportunity. They buy a cheap non-running pre-76 vehicle of the same model as their post-75 vehicle. They swap numbers/plates between the two vehicles. They get the non-runner running just to the extent it meets the minimum standards and can limp 100 yards under its own power into a salvage yard. They collect the state's fee for junking a gross polluter. They go happily on their way with a now pre-76 smog exempt vehicle.

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Once exempted, there is no way to bring them back into the smog check system.
That has nothing to do with "retroactive", which means they can't fine you or arrest you for something that was not illegal when you did it, but then they pass a law this year and arrest you for something you did last year. You're right: they cannot retroactively enforce.

 

What makes you think that they cannot remove the waiver? If the law says "all cars must comply", and a different law says "we grant a waiver to pre-1975 cars"... who says it cannot be revoked? They can't fine you for last year's pollution, but could fine you if you fail to comply after the law changes. It has happened before with many other laws.

 

The law is not necessarily about what seems "common sense". It's all in the details which in many cases people (like me) are not familiar with.

 

 

But no worries. Just keep all your original equipment. They can visual inspect my 1972 Datsun today, and I'm sure it will pass California test. I think it would probably pass actual smog test too.

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why don't yal just move out this way?

If it runs and has headlights,brake lights, turn signals, seat belts, and a horn, your ready to register, who cares if it poors oil out the exhaust.

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Guest jaimesix
That has nothing to do with "retroactive"....

 

Retroactive means that a law, rule or regulation enacted after the fact can be granted the power to modify, alter or abrogate an existent or previous condition.

If a certain class of vehicles ( pre 76 ) have been granted exemption under the law, enacting a new law, rule or regulation that would supersede the previous exemption granting law would , by definition, become a retroactive piece of legislation.

 

Jaime._______________________________________________________

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They can enact new laws, but those laws can not retroactively affect vehicles which have already been exempted. Once exempted, there is no way to bring them back into the smog check system.

 

 

Not true. Washington did that in 1986. The original Emissions Test criteria in Washington State was all gasoline vehicles 10 years old and newer.

 

In 1986, that was changed to all vehicles 1968 and newer. My Mom's '73, which was exempt in 1985 and hadn't had a smog test since 1983, had to go through emissions tests again in 1987 after being "exempt" for one cycle.

 

This was true through 2000, when the testing requirement was changed to all cars between 5-25 years old.

 

There's a big difference between "Emissions Exempt" (1964-older) and "testing exempt". Just because a car is testing exempt does not make it emissions exempt.

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Guest jaimesix
Not true. Washington did that in 1986. The original Emissions Test criteria in Washington State was all gasoline vehicles 10 years old and newer.

 

In 1986, that was changed to all vehicles 1968 and newer. My Mom's '73, which was exempt in 1985 and hadn't had a smog test since 1983, had to go through emissions tests again in 1987 after being "exempt" for one cycle.

 

This was true through 2000, when the testing requirement was changed to all cars between 5-25 years old.

 

There's a big difference between "Emissions Exempt" (1964-older) and "testing exempt". Just because a car is testing exempt does not make it emissions exempt.

 

 

I am talking about California, I am not talking about other states or countries, each jurisdiction, precinct, nation is a case of its own.

 

Jaime.________________________________________________

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