<p>S2 brought his car from Texas to school in California. He is hoping to stay out there this summer and do an internship. The car’s inspection will expire this summer, and we don’t think it will meet California’s emissions standards. Will he have to drive it home to Texas just to get it inspected?</p>
<p>Our state requires our states inspection of the cars it registers.</p>
<p>I have heard of states where there is an exception for students where they are allowed to have their cars inspected in their school’s state but leave it registered in their home state. However, for S, my concern is that his car won’t pass CA emissions testing…and how could I find out if, for example, a 2001 Toyota Corolla would possibly pass?</p>
<p>As a Californian, here’s my suggestion: get the &%^$ car fixed so he’s not polluting our air. People are breathing out here, you know.</p>
<p>As to finding out whether the car would pass emissions testing, how about doing the obvious, paying the 40 bucks or whatever it is, and having it tested? I</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, the car’s emission system is not faulty. My understanding was that cars purchased in other states are not built to the same emissions specifications as those sold in CA, but I am unclear on that, so I thought I’d ask here rather than spend 40 bucks.</p>
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<p>Dude, calm down - clearly you’ve never lived in Los Angeles - one more car isn’t going to do much. :rolleyes: </p>
<p>Timely, what is the year and model of the car? Its true that CA has its own random laws about extra emissions equipment that must be on all new cars sold here, but I’m pretty sure that its only for new cars sold in this state. Obviously, tons of people have no problem moving to CA and registering their out of state cars here. </p>
<p>That being said, I wouldn’t worry about CA’s emissions laws - if the car is registered in Texas, it doesn’t matter if it will pass smog out here - it matters if it will pass the Texas inspection. Will Texas allow it to be inspected by an out-of-state facility and then registered by mail? If so, I would just do that. Hopefully there is a form you can download and bring to a CA mechanic or smog inspection place and they can just take care of it.</p>
<p>timely:</p>
<p>Unless the car’s emissoins system has been tampered with or unless there’s something wrong with the emissions system or tuning of the car I’d expect it to pass. A lot of cars, especially foreign makes, are made to pass all 50 states. Besides, many of the cars in California started life in other states.</p>
<p>The inspection stations here are configured to send the data directly to the California DMV although they also give you a printout of the results. It’ll state whether or not it passes California’s standards but it’ll also give the data itself so if a different state had a different threshold, it s/b okay. They also only do an emissions check - not a safety check like some other states do. Since the car is still registered in your state, what are their requirements?</p>
<p>Timely- I think it would have a good chance of passing. My husband’s 74 Fiat passed the smog check this week. I was shocked.
I don’t know how long he can legally keep a car registered in another state in Ca. My guess he is fine unless he gets pulled over. A young friend of mine was pulled over recently on her University campus for talking on her cell phone. She was given a warning that she needs to get Ca plates on her car.</p>
<p>Icarus, you clearly have the SoCal attitude down. 
I can’t find anything online about a form that could be used in CA, but that’s a good suggestion. I’ll call them and see if I can find that out.</p>
<p>ucsc<em>ucla</em>dad, in addition to emissions testing, Texas has safety testing including: Window Tinting
Cracked Windshields
License Plates
Seatbelts
Vehicle Height Requirements
Headlight Aim
Aftermarket Air Intake Systems
Engine Swaps </p>
<p>Surely S could get those things all checked in CA somewhere…except that in Texas you have to take your car to certain licensed places, so I don’t know how that would all work out. I hate to transfer the registration to Texas since he’s a student and could go back and forth for some of the summers, but that might be an option…assuming it will pass emissions there. Our emissions testing here is actually fairly stringent, since we are in one of the counties bordering Houston, so maybe it would pass there, too.</p>
<p>Not to be difficult but…</p>
<p>according to the CA DMV, he may have needed to reregister the car in CA anyway - from the DMV site:</p>
<p>"Visitors whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state may operate their vehicles in California until they:</p>
<p>Accept gainful employment in California.
Claim a homeowner’s exemption in California.
Rent or lease a residence in California.
Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote).<br>
Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).</p>
<p>Fees must be paid within 20 days of entry or residency to avoid penalties."</p>
<p>[California</a> DMV HTVR9 - How To Register A Nonresident Vehicle](<a href=“http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9.htm#feesdue]California”>http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9.htm#feesdue)</p>
<p>The “rent a residence” clause snags many OOS college students.</p>
<p>Do you need a permanent CA residence/address (that is, not a dorm room) to register a car in the state?</p>
<p>Cross posted wit scualum.</p>
<p>He could get all of the safety checks done somewhere but it doesn’t seem that Texas would accept it since it’s not ‘official’.</p>
<p>According to ‘scualum’s’ items for requiring registration in California it seems that your S doesn’t fit any of them.</p>
<p>Texas must have some procedure for what to do when one is OOS at car check time.</p>
<p>From the DMV website:</p>
<p>Commercial vehicles and any vehicle owned by a California resident must be registered upon entry into California unless a special permit was obtained. Visitors whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state may operate their vehicles in California until they:</p>
<p>Accept gainful employment in California.
Claim a homeowner’s exemption in California.
Rent or lease a residence in California.
Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote).<br>
Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).</p>
<p>Sounds like Texas plates will be OK so long as the Texas registration is up to date. Perhaps the question should be addressed to the Texas DMV as to what to do with a car that is out of state at the time the inspection is due.</p>
<p>Thankfully, although CA requires a smog check every other year for our cars, we don’t have to have any other check.</p>
<p>[Texas</a> Department of Public Safety - Out-of-State Motorists](<a href=“http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/Misc/faq/outstate.htm]Texas”>http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/Misc/faq/outstate.htm)</p>
<p>Haven’t read through this yet, but this looks to be on point.</p>
<p>This was interesting:</p>
<p>“Be sure to inform the DMV that you have a valid Texas registration tag and that Texas does not require that you have a current Texas inspection certificate unless you are driving within the Texas state limits.” </p>
<p>Your registration tag is still valid but it is your inspection certificate that is expiring in the summer? If so, it looks like you don’t have to have a current Texas inspection certificate unless you are driving within Texas state limits. Once he drives the car within Texas again, he has 3 days to get a new inspection certificate.</p>
<p>From Texas’ website -
</p>
<p>[Texas</a> Department of Public Safety - Out-of-State Motorists](<a href=“http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/Misc/faq/outstate.htm]Texas”>http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/Misc/faq/outstate.htm)</p>
<p>California doesn’t have an inspection that results in an ‘inspection sticker’ like some other states and is really only an emissions check. The Calif emissions inspection is tied to license plate renewal with the result being a new date sticker that attaches to a particular place on the license plate. It seems as if the above might apply to your S’s car and in any event, a California cop won’t be checking for Texas inspection stickers. The website also has info on what to do if the state has an inspection.</p>
<p>There’s goes ‘ellemenope’ beating me to it again!</p>
<p>You must be beaming your thoughts to me, ucdad!</p>
<p>“how could I find out if, for example, a 2001 Toyota Corolla would possibly pass?”
S’s 1989 corolla passed. All he needed was a tighter fitting gas cap 
(he’s a CA resident)</p>
<p>
I should have just chosen ‘queueareessteeyou’ for my moniker.</p>
<p>I think the California legal requirements quoted by scualum in post #10 are pretty clear: if the vehicle is registered to your son, he may be required to re-register it in California if the internship is a paid internship (“gainful employment”) or he if rents a place to live for the summer ( “rent or lease a residence in California”). Or if he rents a place off-campus during the school year, for that matter; I don’t think college residence halls count. In that case the vehicle would need to pass the California smog check before he could register it.</p>
<p>If the car is properly tuned and its emissions system is in proper working order, there’s nothing to worry about. California does impose stricter auto emissions standards than most of the rest of the country (a few states adopt the California standards, which they all have the option to do). But as Icarus correctly notes in post #6, these stricter standards basically prescribe what emissions controls need to be on new cars sold in California, as well as on new cars (<7500 miles) bought elsewhere and brought into the state by California residents or new arrivals in the state—the obvious point being to prevent evasion of the stricter California standards through out-of-state purchases. If you bring an older car (>7500 miles) into California and need to re-register it, whether because you’re permanently relocating or because you’re working or renting a residence there, it does need to pass the smog check. But it will be tested against a standard that’s appropriate to the make, model, and year of the vehicle, based on the emissions control equipment on board at the time and place it was purchased, which in your case would probably be the “49-state” (non-California) standard—unless the manufacturer was selling “50-state” (California-certified) cars in your state. A sticker under the hood will tell you whether it’s 49-state or 50-state certified. Either way, so long as the vehicle and all its emissions equipment are working properly, no problem passing the smog check.</p>
<p>Several posters above seem to be advising you not to worry about it because your son is unlikely to be stopped. Take your chances, I suppose, but I’d have some concern that if your son is stopped for a moving violation or gets into an accident, and it comes out that he’s been living and working in California all summer, then technically the vehicle could be considered not legally registered. If they decide to throw the book at him this could result in a citation and fine, points on his driver’s license, higher insurance costs, and penalties for late registration when they do direct him to re-register in California. Not likely, perhaps, but possible.</p>