California smog - cannot smog cars older than a 2000 model year

[nokones]

Wow, I went to get my 1993 Chevrolet Corvette ZO7 40th Anniversary (Ruby) LT1 6 Speed its biennial smog check and I was told by several stations that they no longer can do any car older than a 2000 model year. Their new machines will only do 2000 and newer model cars. I had a difficult time in finding a station that still had the older smog test analyzer. I wonder what will happen in 2 years if I try to get it smog again and no one no longer can do older cars than a 2000 model year. What are people suppose to do in that case. Is this a move to get rid of the older cars in California that are still required to be smogged? Of course my car did pass with flying colors.

Hopefully, I won't be here by that time. I'm just waiting to get my new house built in Arizona and I am out of this state.

[andrewb70]

...I'm just waiting to get my new house built in Arizona and I am out of this state.

Best solution for any California car guy.

Andrew

[nokones]

And, I will be saving about 2-3 thousand dollars a year on registration and insurance for seven vehicles. Even my homeowners insurance will only be $661 instead of $1441. The cost for electricity will also be cut in half and. Its kinda a no brainer and I will have more money to spend on go-fast parts.

California is getting out of hand. They are giving away free cell phones to the homeless, free lunches in schools and now free tampon give-a-ways. Even illegals can get driver's licenses in California. They're trying to give things away at no cost to the recipient at a cost to the tax payer and the roads are the worst in the country. I just don't get it, what went wrong.

You should look at the ridiculous legislative bills being introduced these days. They are trying to pass a bill to criminally charge and civilly sue an Officer for making a traffic stop on an outlaw motorcycle type for a traffic violation in addition to making it more difficult for officers in a use of force situation. They even reduce the punishment for possession of meth to a citation/small fine and no jail time for property crimes, just probation.

Yes, things are really great here in California.

[TheJDMan]

A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

[SD67]

I live in San Diego and after living a few other places in the US, the weather here can't be beat. We probably will never leave but that will probably mean I will have to give up some freedoms for sure. I am hoping that at some point we can split the state in half so SoCal can keep our classic cars.

[TheJDMan]

I have heard about a movement to split the state but frankly it sounds like a really stupid idea.

[SD67]

It's not stupid if you tend to lean towards conservative views.

[ilikeike]

I know my Dad just had the SMOG check on his 93 anniversary vette, East Bay area, he was complaining about some part he had to replace. I think he has around 40k mi on it now.Orig owner.

I haven't heard about any 2000 and older smog issues yet.

Dad is more worried about me hacking up the vette and Auto crossing it when he's gone. lol.

[WILWAXU]

You will need a station that still has a dyno. There are only a few left around me, charge nearly double for a non-OBD2 car... not the stations fault they have to maintain the dyno equipment.

[Protour_Pinto]

The older dyno machines are starting to "break" after an update and the state is not fixing them. Their option is to get a new machine that will still do the older cars or just do the OBD cars and not have to deal with all the extra dyno stuff.

The newer non OBD machines have a lot of nanny stuff on them like cameras and such to keep them from doing creative smogs. The numbers for the older cars have also been raised, My 90 Suburban passed last time with a large margin, this time it just squeaked by. Luckily I have a foot out of this state and will no longer live in an area that has smog testing/inspections.

[chevelletiger]

i live in san diego and after living a few other places in the us, the weather here can't be beat. We probably will never leave but that will probably mean i will have to give up some freedoms for sure. I am hoping that at some point we can split the state in half so socal can keep our classic cars.
^^ agreed!

[andrewb70]

I have heard about a movement to split the state but frankly it sounds like a really stupid idea.

Having visited California on two occasions in the last 5 years, I can say with some degree of certainty that there are at least two "Californias" possibly more. State politics are dominated by the far left coastal cities, while the far north and central valley, that tend to be farmers and lean more conservative, have very little power.

Splitting the state sounds like a viable alternative.

Andrew

[MCB Matt]

It is a pretty complicated state to live in for sure. The obvious advantages are the weather and home ownership as our homes are appreciating faster than pretty much anywhere else. There is a LOT of work here as well. It's very unfortunate that many can't afford to work and live even close. I know many that commute 2-3 hours EACH WAY, 5 days a week to make it work. To me, that is insane and I would never do it! Being self employed, we can choose where home and work is so that keeps me here, for now that is!!

I think almost everyone wants a way out of this state but when it comes down to it, it's very hard to leave and almost impossible to come back if you so choose. The store of value in real estate here in the SF bay area is incredible. Homes doubling in price in less than 10 years... If you own one, you aren't complaining!

Kim and I are planning to NOT be in CA forever, we are going WEST ;)

[dontlifttoshift]

You will need a station that still has a dyno. There are only a few left around me, charge nearly double for a non-OBD2 car... not the stations fault they have to maintain the dyno equipment.

That. Here in Illinois the smog centers are all privately owned but are paid by the state......it doesn't cost us anything (directly) to get checked. So what happened was the insurance was getting high because the "technicians" were driving cars through walls and strapping down all wheel drive cars on two wheel drive dynos........ Being green was no longer profitable so they just check the OBD2 cars with a simple plug in now and everything pre OBD2 is exempt.

[WILWAXU]

The joy of California.. :D SMOGing a 25 y/o car.
154569

[groho]

Yes, the smog rules changed. The prob is not CA, it's the business owners that refuse to keep up with the rules. I tell ya, vaca'ing in steamboat co right now, and I'm wondering why I'm still in CA. If it's that big of a prob, take it to a referee station.

[Btamayo23]

Smog rules haven't changed only the platforms and machines we use to perform the tests on. The eis or "2000 and up" has been around for about 3 years now, its minimal equipment to buy and maintain. The bar 97 "99 and down" machine was recently updated to a new platform basically the same but repairable (as the older machines were getting harder and harder to fix) and upgradable to high speed internet and such. Believe it or not 99 and older cars are a small portion of the cars we actually smog. Newer cars are faster easier and much more profitable to smog which is why a lot of stations are not bothering to do older cars. As smog stations we can't "refuse to keep up with the rules" but we can choose to test only newer cars if we'd like

[Ron Sutton]

And, I will be saving about 2-3 thousand dollars a year on registration and insurance for seven vehicles. Even my homeowners insurance will only be $661 instead of $1441. The cost for electricity will also be cut in half and. Its kinda a no brainer and I will have more money to spend on go-fast parts.

California is getting out of hand. They are giving away free cell phones to the homeless, free lunches in schools and now free tampon give-a-ways. Even illegals can get driver's licenses in California. They're trying to give things away at no cost to the recipient at a cost to the tax payer and the roads are the worst in the country. I just don't get it, what went wrong.

You should look at the ridiculous legislative bills being introduced these days. They are trying to pass a bill to criminally charge and civilly sue an Officer for making a traffic stop on an outlaw motorcycle type for a traffic violation in addition to making it more difficult for officers in a use of force situation. They even reduce the punishment for possession of meth to a citation/small fine and no jail time for property crimes, just probation.

Yes, things are really great here in California.

It's crazy huh Kenny ?

My friend Nick Lyon's owns a Smog shop in Roseville, called Smog Busters.
They have both machines ... for 2000+ ... and 1999 & older.

Give Nick a call at 916-257-1786
Tell him Ron Sutton sent you.

[nokones]

Thanks Ron for the information. I won't have this problem again because I will be living in Arizona by the time I have to smog my 93 C4.

[arcane73]

Thanks Ron for the information. I won't have this problem again because I will be living in Arizona by the time I have to smog my 93 C4.

I can totally understand why so many from Cali are moving here. At the same time though, there are more than a few people here in Phoenix that apparently aren't happy about it because I've started seeing more and more "Don't California my Arizona!" stickers recently.

[USAZR1]

I can totally understand why so many from Cali are moving here. At the same time though, there are more than a few people here in Phoenix that apparently aren't happy about it because I've started seeing more and more "Don't California my Arizona!" stickers recently.

Texas is full.

[arcane73]

Texas is full.

Oh, c'mon! My wife and i were looking to retire there. We don't want to stay in Phoenix and don't want to move back to New Orleans.....
I'll bring beer and crawfish!


Thanks Ron for the information. I won't have this problem again because I will be living in Arizona by the time I have to smog my 93 C4.
I still get our drivers smogged here once every two years (03 and 05) but 67-80 have to do it yearly. And i think it's only required in Maricopa county (Phoenix and surrounding areas) and Pima i believe (Tucson)
My 68 runs copper plates (antique tags) and isn't required to test (because i have collector car insurance) but is supposed to be limited in miles driven - insurance rules - not certain if there are restrictions on it with the antique plate.

But with all of that said, I've not had any issues getting anything tested so far. Our nearest testing center allows 96 and newer to pull in and run OBD scan and you're done but they also have the pull on roller tests but i've only seen heavy trucks on them when i've been.

[qnitro]

I left 2 years ago.. I bought the house in the Castro valley hills of the SF Bay, bought it for 720k, sold it 5 years later for 1.6million in Jan 2016.. Im in Texas now.. loaded with Guns and old school cars.. agree.. Texas is full :)



It is a pretty complicated state to live in for sure. The obvious advantages are the weather and home ownership as our homes are appreciating faster than pretty much anywhere else. There is a LOT of work here as well. It's very unfortunate that many can't afford to work and live even close. I know many that commute 2-3 hours EACH WAY, 5 days a week to make it work. To me, that is insane and I would never do it! Being self employed, we can choose where home and work is so that keeps me here, for now that is!!

I think almost everyone wants a way out of this state but when it comes down to it, it's very hard to leave and almost impossible to come back if you so choose. The store of value in real estate here in the SF bay area is incredible. Homes doubling in price in less than 10 years... If you own one, you aren't complaining!

Kim and I are planning to NOT be in CA forever, we are going WEST ;)

[conmax]

I can totally understand why so many from Cali are moving here. At the same time though, there are more than a few people here in Phoenix that apparently aren't happy about it because I've started seeing more and more "Don't California my Arizona!" stickers recently.
Can’t be simply earlier than 2000 because many years did not even have smog.