[AKAFAZT]

Just curious, what is the plan for when we finally have to get our modded beasts smog tested? I live in CA. and I will never get past the visual part. I have over 5 years to figure it out. Just like to know other peoples options.

[kropscamaro16]

new cars are 8 years i believe but we would have to go back to stock or find an illegal smog

[serper3]

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

new cars are 8 years i believe but we would have to go back to stock or find an illegal smog

Getting harder and harder to find places that will do a shady smog. when you dont need one everyone has someone. then all of a sudden when you need one, crickets!

I am doing all CARB mods, easy revert to stock, or things that will not fail a visual going forward.

I had a bone stock c6 the smog guy failed me on 2 years ago. Had no idea what he was doing. Literally the car was bone stock. He noted that it was modified and failed me. Two other places wouldn't even look at the car because of the note the first guy left. I had to go to the dealer and get a print out showing the car came with a valve cover tube capped from the factory. Finally the next place I took it to with the print out, the guy passed it. I was so mad!

[kropscamaro16]

yup i hate smog when i sold my last car i got lucky and sold it to some guy in az so didnt have to smog it again to sell it! was so happy

[43Camaro]

Move to another state. My 5th Gen had to have a PNO (permanent non operation permit) until I finally escaped. Like was stated above it’s harder and harder, the penalties for shady smog dealers are so harsh they are very difficult or impossible to find.

[Crawco]

Originally Posted by 43Camaro

Move to another state. My 5th Gen had to have a PNO (permanent non operation permit) until I finally escaped. Like was stated above it’s harder and harder, the penalties for shady smog dealers are so harsh they are very difficult or impossible to find.

Congrats on escaping!!!!

[43Camaro]

Originally Posted by Crawco

Congrats on escaping!!!!

So I've been a car guy my whole life and really enjoyed working on and doing a few garage mild restorations while in ca. It got to the point the state took that away from me, to the point anything older than 1975 is almost a non starter for a project car. Then came the restrictions on anything non CARB stamped which is 93% of the aftermarket. I'm not a CA hater, just left when the opportunity presented itself. I'm much happier that my freedom to work on cars has been restored.

I played the SMOG game forever on my 5th Gen which was highly modified. You get to the point with these cars in CA where its just not worth it anymore to try and pass. If I was still in Ca I would leave my car stock, got tired of playing the game. States can do as they please with these regulations, but I also can do as I please so I left.

Good luck with the SMOG, you still can find ways to get it done, its just to much of a hassle anymore, or at least for me it was.

[serper3]

Originally Posted by 43Camaro

So I've been a car guy my whole life and really enjoyed working on and doing a few garage mild restorations while in ca. It got to the point the state took that away from me, to the point anything older than 1975 is almost a non starter for a project car. Then came the restrictions on anything non CARB stamped which is 93% of the aftermarket. I'm not a CA hater, just left when the opportunity presented itself. I'm much happier that my freedom to work on cars has been restored.

I played the SMOG game forever on my 5th Gen which was highly modified. You get to the point with these cars in CA where its just not worth it anymore to try and pass. If I was still in Ca I would leave my car stock, got tired of playing the game. States can do as they please with these regulations, but I also can do as I please so I left.

Good luck with the SMOG, you still can find ways to get it done, its just to much of a hassle anymore, or at least for me it was.

Unfortunately the EPA is cracking down on this stuff on a federal level. Who knows how bad it will be by the time I am actually able to leave this state one day.

It isn't just about the cars for me either.. 2a, hunting, riding dirt bikes, basically CA is a no fun state.

[scgms1]

Originally Posted by AKAFAZT

Just curious, what is the plan for when we finally have to get our modded beasts smog tested? I live in CA. and I will never get past the visual part. I have over 5 years to figure it out. Just like to know other peoples options.

The quick answer is to move to a state that doesn't require smog testing.

The longer answer if you're staying -

California's regulatory agency for smog and auto repair is the BAR - Bureau of Automotive Repair. They're well aware of what has been happening and they're cracking down on the fraudulent smog tests and the people and shops doing them. What this means is there are very few people left that are willing to do these for whatever the going rate was.

With this crackdown I heard there were some DMV employees doing this (not smog testing, but falsifying smog certificates), but recently there were some arrests for falsification of registration. So...


Since 2014 the new equipment for smog testing on 2000 MY and newer is the BAR-OIS system which consists of a DAD, or Data Acquisition Device. This plugs in to the DLC and has access to the vehicles data. Currently they are just gathering data, but other things are in the works as far as Calibration File numbers and Calibration Verification Numbers. (CVN)

CVN's have been around for awhile now and they were implemented for some of the catastrophic failures that GM was warrantying, most notably on Duramax's. This was the advent of branded titles/warranty blocks...for the powertrain. Essentially the CVN is a Checksum that is generated to validate that the files are stock. If a program is a million lines of code and you change one line and one word from "the" to "it", the CVN numbers will not match.

What this means is even if you were to get a fraudulent smog test, there might be a time when you get a notice in the mail to "bring your vehicle to a Referee Station to have your vehicle inspected." You're kinda' SOL if the vehicle is modified at that point.

I would say any modification that does not have CARB approval is done at the risk that the vehicle might not pass smog, and if that's the case, it can not be legally registered in the state of California.

This was one of the reasons I bought this car as I might have a few years of seat/track time before I get bored with it.

[nighttowl]

In the past I would sell it and move on to a new toy.

[nighttowl]

Originally Posted by scgms1

California's regulatory agency for smog and auto repair is the BAR - Bureau of Automotive Repair. They're well aware of what has been happening and they're cracking down on the fraudulent smog tests and the people and shops doing them. What this means is there are very few people left that are willing to do these for whatever the going rate was.

I remember reading that a few years ago a huge amount of smog shops were shut down in CA for fraudulent testing. I dont know the number exactly, but I remeber it being in the thousands.

[serper3]

My guess is that over the next 10+ years even though overall smog pollution is going to decrease significantly with a lot more electric vehicles, the EPA and CARB is going to be cracking down exponentially more on modified vehicles, aftermarket shops, and parts manufacturers. Even though the total amount of smog from these modded cars that mostly get driven very little, is not even a blimp on the radar.

Living in CA, I also strongly considered how easy a car is to mod "under the radar", put back to stock, or CARB approved when deciding on the ZL1.

[Mark R]

I'm curious if a cat back exhaust would pass California inspection? What about a catch can?

[kropscamaro16]

catback would be smog legal but if its over 95 decibles you can get stopped


catch can isnt legal as far as i know