California smog police are waiting...?

[urq]

> What if I live in  indiana, where there is no inspection of any kind,
> and I have for example put an '89 engine in my '90 car. If I move to calif
> and take my car with me, is this going to cause me problems? In general,
> if you live in one of the other 49 states, does moving to calif with a
> non-calif-laws-compliant car cause major problems?
>
... chances are that as long as the old engine looks like the original you
might be able to sneak it in ... the inspection done at the DMV when you
register it is not as strict as that at a referee station.  It would have to
be close enough so as not to set off any flags for the guy running the smog
check though ... and you would have to pass the smog test for the engine the
car was supposed to have.  The techs do have lists of all of the stock
equipment, and they will check for it.  Another warning is that I hear that
the inspection system everyone rebelled against, the one where the state
runs the smog check shops and the inspections are a bit more rigorous (and
more expensive) will be sneaking in as law some time soon.  Overall I think
I would recommend anyone trying to bring in such a car to sell it before
moving to California.  No worries with a stock and well maintained car from
out of state ... three of my Audis are "49 state" versions, and I rarely
have problems getting them to pass smog.  In fact when I brought my V8 in
from Colorado, the smog tech said that it had one of the cleanest exhausts
he had seen for a while ...

... as is likely true of any state you would contemplate moving to, be sure
to fully understand the laws in the state you will be going to, and get any
questions you might have answered ... in writing if at all possible.  Really
folks, California isn't all that bad ... and if you think about all the rust
free cars here, it might actually be better to leave that rust bucket in
Indiana ... ;-)

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)