[90503]

Texas is a state that does not require California emissions standards. I wouldn't touch that car with a ten foot pole.

If anyone (in California) plans on buying an out of state car, make sure it is a California emissions car....Otherwise you are in for a nightmare and a loss of money...

Additionally, it is the seller's responsibility to provide a current Ca emissions test showing the car has passed before it can be registered. It's not the buyer's responsibility to smog the car, it is the seller's...

Ca DMV is not helpful in registering non-ca emissions cars....Only military, owning the car before moving to live in Ca, are a few exceptions....

Here's link to Ca emissions states. Good luck. Do your homework first before buying.

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/doc...on-177-federal

[ST1LE]

Originally Posted by 90503

Texas is a state that does not require California emissions standards. I wouldn't touch that car with a ten foot pole.

If anyone (in California) plans on buying an out of state car, make sure it is a California emissions car....Otherwise you are in for a nightmare and a loss of money...

Additionally, it is the seller's responsibility to provide a current Ca emissions test showing the car has passed before it can be registered. It's not the buyer's responsibility to smog the car, it is the seller's...

Ca DMV is not helpful in registering non-ca emissions cars....Only military, owning the car before moving to live in Ca, are a few exceptions....

Here's link to Ca emissions states. Good luck. Do your homework first before buying.

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/doc...on-177-federal

Very helpful post!

[ThirstyDave]

Form someone who knows people who bought an out of state car with no cats, all you need is around 300 bucks and the right smog guy. There's also 3rd party services that are very lenient and will register your car to the dmv.

[m6-lt1]

Thought I’d chime in because I have experience with this. To anyone wondering how it works it’s like this.

If the car doesn’t have a check engine light while it has been driven catless, the car was clearly tuned and will not pass most state inspections because the sensors that get checked will show up as either “off” or “not ready”.

Simply installing the cats doesn’t take care of this. The car needs to be flashed back to stock. I could be wrong about this but I believe tuners can lock the pcm so you could run into problems there. If not most dealers can simply flash the pcm back to stock.

Now you run into the issue of the car not running right after it got flashed back to stock due to having aftermarket parts on it that require a tune.

Let’s say in the op’s example there are no aftermarket parts on it aside from the catless exhaust. After the dealer installs the oem cats and flashes the computer back to stock, the op would have to drive the car a certain amount of miles within a certain way (this is called a vehicle specific drive cycle) For the sensors to show up as “on” and “ready”. Only then will it pass emissions.

[delthawk5]

Install a cats and de-tune? lmao

[90503]

For California, this may also be helpful...

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/uploads/2020/06/htvr9.pdf

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/upload...3/ffvr29-1.pdf

Remember, some out of state cars may have CA emissions even though they are not required to...An out of state car must meet CA emissions standards that include more than just having cats and passing a smog test. It must have the proper CA equipment, including a CA emissions sticker, and of course no mods, tune or cel...Good luck, again. Your state and requirements may be different.

In Ca don't count on finding a shady smog guy. Get inspected by the CHP at a traffic stop without cats, etc., and you may never see your car again....Stay legal...It's not worth the risk otherwise...Good luck.

[swoops]

Originally Posted by 90503

Texas is a state that does not require California emissions standards. I wouldn't touch that car with a ten foot pole.

If anyone (in California) plans on buying an out of state car, make sure it is a California emissions car....Otherwise you are in for a nightmare and a loss of money...

Additionally, it is the seller's responsibility to provide a current Ca emissions test showing the car has passed before it can be registered. It's not the buyer's responsibility to smog the car, it is the seller's...

Ca DMV is not helpful in registering non-ca emissions cars....Only military, owning the car before moving to live in Ca, are a few exceptions....

Here's link to Ca emissions states. Good luck. Do your homework first before buying.

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/doc...on-177-federal

Thanks for this thorough explanation. I ultimately decided to go with another car that cost me an extra 3k, but 1 owner super super clean. Just got back from the bank, should have her by early next week

[ST1LE]

Originally Posted by swoops

Thanks for this thorough explanation. I ultimately decided to go with another car that cost me an extra 3k, but 1 owner super super clean. Just got back from the bank, should have her by early next week

Awesome!! Congrats. I think you made the right choice!

[rshelar]

Dude, this is California, there are thousands of Camaros out there.
It would help to know where you are. Not just CA.
Bought my vert from a local dealer, only two years old, for $24k. Love it

[NEZL1]

My car has longtubes and no cats.
But we're allowed 1 or 2 emissions test to read "Not Ready" in the ECU in MA.
Which you can check using a simple OBD2 code reader. And my car I'm assuming is tuned so that cats never become ready. All other emissions systems are ready though, so I'm good.

Problem is, it looks like in CA you have to have all systems reading to pass emissions on vehicles 2007+ per this article:
https://www.smogtips.com/smog-questi...rs-Are-Allowed

Now that being said, all of the weird voodoo scare tactics people speak of above is a bit overblown. You may need to put cats in the car (if there's a visual which I believe there is and there also is here in MA including cameras in the bays) but none of the visual is under the car as far as I know. Having a tech not going out of their way to bust your ass, also helps.

If you really don't want to run cats and the visual inspection includes under the car, we have nifty little solutions like this:
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/dsm-i...xoCWsMQAvD_BwE

The car's O2 sensors still won't read right and throw a code without the cats, so there are solutions like this:
http://www.bigdaddiesgarage.com/?gcl...xoCnUcQAvD_BwE
https://shop.redline360.com/products...xoCurYQAvD_BwE

That should get you no code without disabling anything, and still running no cats. Although those O2 simulators can be finnicky. In some platforms they work perfect, in others, they are hit or miss, so it might be a case of ohh goodie the light's out this week, time to go get a sticker.

Otherwise **** the state and **** emissions.
I wouldn't let a cats deter you from buying a car. If the car was tuned it can be turned back to stock just as easily.

[mikeman]

Good luck trying to find a "shady" smog shop in CA. No one who wants to stay in business and be jail/fine free would ever consider doing something like that. CARB is no joke.

I love how these "urban legends" continue to get mentioned over and over again. lol!

Best thing would be to return car back to smog legal. Then, smog it. After that, put the mod parts back on and rinse/repeat every two years.

[Jeb114]

Put the Cats back on no one wants to breath your poison.

[legendary70]

No disrespect.

Move out of that ridiculous left wing state!! IMO.