Moving to California?
Do I need to modify my non-California car to drive it here?
What about importing vehicles from other countries?
If you are planning to relocate to California with your vehicle, you will
need to pass California's Smog
Check in order to register your car in this state. Despite what you might
have heard, California Smog
Check is not dramatically different than vehicle inspection programs in
other states.
Federally certified vs. California certified cars
Cars sold in California are certified to meet California emissions
standards for that model year.
California's emissions standards are more stringent than federal
standards. Each car has an emissions
label under the hood which indicates whether the car meets federal or
California standards.
In order to obtain a California registration for a 1975 or later model year
vehicle which is not California certified,
you will need to pay a $300 Smog Impact Fee. The fee is intended to help
offset the excess emissions from these
vehicles. The fee is collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
when you register your car. The DMV
is a separate agency from Smog Check and has responsibility for auto
registration issues in California.
Emissions equipment
A federally certified vehicle may be registered in California as long as it
has all of the emissions equipment
which was on the vehicle when it was first sold. The equipment must all
function correctly. If the car has missing,
disconnected or tampered emissions parts, you will not be able to register
the car here until those deficiencies
are corrected, even if that means locating hard-to-find original
equipment.
It is not necessary to add additional emissions control equipment to your
federally certified vehicle in order to bring
it to California; do not attempt to make this vehicle conform to California
standards. However, you may wish to get a
tune up if your car is running rough or has not been adjusted to factory
specifications for some time. Regular maintenance
will help you pass your Smog Check.
Obtaining a Smog Check
In order to register your vehicle in California, your vehicle must pass the
California Smog Check. Smog inspections
conducted in other states do not satisfy this requirement.
Most motorists may obtain a smog inspection at any licensed Smog Check
station. If you will be living in any of
California's most polluted urban areas, known as Enhanced Areas, you must
have your Smog Check performed
at a station equipped with the newer, BAR-97 emissions analyzer unit.
If your car happens to be a gray-market import, has had an engine change,
or is a special-construction (kit) car.
you will need to visit a Consumer Assistance and Referee Center to get your
smog certificate.
Please see our list of Active Stations to find a convenient Smog Check
station. California has more than 7,000
privately owned and operated Smog Check stations. The prices and services
they offer vary. If you are concerned
that your vehicle may not pass the test, ask the technician for a
"pre-inspection." Most stations charge a nominal extra
fee for the pre-inspection.
If you wish to look at the California emissions cutpoints, to compare them
with a recent test of your vehicle, they are
linked here:
BAR-90-- for less polluted and rural areas.
BAR-97--for California's smoggiest urban areas (Enhanced program areas)
Foreign Vehicles
Most vehicles sold in Canada, particularly newer ones, meet U.S. federal
specifications for emissions and safety features.
Vehicles from other countries are less likely to meet U.S. specifications.
Vehicles which do not meet U.S. specifications must be imported as
gray-market vehicles.
This can be extremely expensive and time consuming. If you are considering
importing a foreign vehicle,
you should review what the United States Customs Service has to say on this
subject, as U.S. Customs
controls what vehicles may be brought into the United States. Your intended
vehicle must clear customs
before it can be registered or driven in any state. You may also wish to
contact the California Air Resources
Board for its brochure on gray-market vehicles.
The emissions label under the front hood will indicate whether a car meets
U.S. standards. If so,
the procedure for registering a Canadian car in California is the same as
for registering any federally certified vehicle.
Even if the emissions label on a Canadian vehicles does not indicate that
the car meets
U.S. specifications, it still may. You must write to the manufacturer and
ask them if this particular
model/serial number vehicle meets U.S. EPA emissions requirements. If so,
ask the manufacturer
for a letter stating that fact. After arriving in California, call (800)
622-7733 to make an appointment at
one of the state's Consumer Assistance and Referee (CAR) centers. Be sure
to bring the manufacturer's
letter with you when you go to a CAR center to obtain your Smog Check..
If the manufacturer replies that the car does not meet U.S. specifications,
you should consider selling your
car in Canada; in order to register the car in California you must first
import your car into the United States as
a gray-market vehicle.
|