california emissions/50 state question

A 50 state car would already meet california emission standards.

If a 50 state car is brought into california, does the car have to be brought up to california emissions standards to be registered in california? patrick. ____________________________________________

A 50 state car would already meet california emission standards. Mike. _____________________________________________

In California, there are special standards for emissions and equipment on cars originally sold in California. Vehicles originally sold in other states have different standards. Emissions Inspection stations connected to the California DMV know which standards to apply.

Rodan.

How many states are in the union? Is California one of those states?

And a car that was already 50 state legal would have the California legal package. Do the math. The U.S. has 50 states If a car is 50 state legal then what state isn't it legal in?

Now if it's a 49 state car (which is what the OP probably was asking) then it meets the standards of all the states EXCEPT California.

aarcuda69062 wrote in news:nonelson- snipped-for-privacy@news.chi.sbcglobal.net:

There are 51 states. Canada is that extra one. ;^)

Nope, it's s suburb of Wisconsin.

OK, My bad. it's a 49 state car (82 porsche 911) and the guy is trying to sell it to my next door neighbor who's hot to trot. I told him for the price and what it needs, he's crazy to drop the cash for the thing (which needs windshield, steering wheel, synchros, a bit of rust(!) paint- not to mention that it's an oregon car and failed the first try at smogging- those are the knowns). All for 12 k U$. The neighbor thinks he's getting a daily driver and selling a perfectly fine iinfiniti to finance the beast. Perhaps I should keep my BIG mouth shut (take up US history to find how many states there are!) and wait for the comedy to follow- my neighbor doesn't know which end of a phillips head screwdriver to use. Pat

I've seen '80s 911's that had good paint, good glass, and didn't seem beat up for just under 20 grand. Paying 12 for a beater seems really stupid.... especially with how fast the repair costs will tally up.

Well I hope he likes getting stuck. Maybe tell him it will be legal when he becomes Governor? Or he could wait until 2012 when it will be a classic and exempt from the smog laws.

I sometimes wonder that myself!!

Lugnut

Here in GA, there are some damn nice 1970's/80's 911's around for under $20K. I'm sure the same is true in CA. You just have to look for them. A $12K 911, I would stay far from just because of the parts and labor cost to repair one. At $12K, it is nothing more than a fixerupper

Lugnut

My (mis)understanding is that if your neighbor is proposing to buy the car and then move to California, it only has to meet 49-state aka Federal standards and need not be brought up to whatever the California spec was for 1982. I think this is also true if he is presently a Californian and wishes to bring this car into the state, but am less certain about that. He should ask

How much hell he has to walk through to get this *particular* car to meet those standards depends a lot on what kind of shape it's in (both general wear and tear and immediate tune) and on how much smog-related original equipment has been replaced with aftermarket mods... or a plug or a piece of straight pipe or whatever. In some states, if what comes out of the tailpipe is clean enough they don't care how you achieved that feat, but in California it all starts with a visual inspection. If they see missing, added, or unapproved equipment in certain areas that are considered to affect emissions, you flunk right then and there.

I don't know Porsches well enough to guess whether those were good years or tell you specifically what to watch out for. Whether this particular car is a good buy at the price -- and whether this particular person is a good candidate to own what sounds like something of a mechanics special -- are questions I wouldn't touch with a ten-millimeter ratchet wrench.

Instead let me offer my blanket suggestion for used car buyers: having a mechanic knowledgeable about that model, who has no stake in the deal, go over it before purchase. He's paying for objectivity as much as expertise -- by the time it gets that far, more or less by definition he wants the vehicle, and the $25 or $50 or even $100 or whatever that the mechanic charges for an inspection could save him orders of magnitude more. And even if the decision is to buy it, he'll go into the deal with a repair and maintenance strategy, and knowledge of the car's weak points that is gained the way you want to (in a garage) rather than the ways you don't want to (in the desert in the summer, in the mountains in the winter, in the toll plaza in rush hour...) Take it from one who has done this both the hard way and the easy way...

Best of luck,

--Joe