Well yeah it's definitely worth it. Return your car back to stock every 2 years and fight the good fight or get it registered once and never deal with it again.
State Ref failed..
- Thread starter AFLOCOBRA
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No; this is not as easy as you believe it to be. Cops out here go out of their way with out of state vehicles. Not to mention California’s snitch program for people doing just as you describe. Let me tell you that fee for doing that is not worth it. Moving is worth it more than gambling with cops here.
Well you're not getting an out of state plate. All your simply doing is registering it in another county in California. California has a few counties were smog is not required every 2 years.
Wouldn’t matter; if you reside in a county that does test and get pulled over you still get reffed regardless of you registered it in non-smog counties. They will tow out of state cars not meeting emissions the same as those not meeting emissions in those counties. It just takes the right CHP or local PD/sheriff.
Yeah i get that you get reffed. But the point I'm getting at is you have a LOT less chance of getting pulled over with California plates, another plus is you don't have to return your car to stock every 2 years. Your only risk ever is the potential of getting pulled over and on top of that they would have to write it up as a ref. I'll take that gamble over out of state plates any day
Unless someone is willing to go all out and become a resident of another state as well, registering in a smog exempt county is a safer bet.
I wouldn't be surprised if the state has a way to fine you for doing this as well if they suspect your intentionally avoiding smog.
One also needs to keep in mind that these cars stick out more so than ever and cops get used to seeing vehicles in their areas. Once they notice out of state plates for a while they'll find a reason to pull you over. The fine while not very likely is still something to be mindful of. I wouldn't be surprised if there's people in this state that have been hit with one.
I guess one of the good things about living in a military area is the cops don't really pay as much attention to the plates around here.
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You're still required to pass smog. Wait till a cop snags you
Not if the state your car is registered in doesn't have smog. Pretty much any military I know has their cars registered elsewhere.
Seeing as I still have Cali plates I'm not too worried about it right now.
They've changed that. When I was stationed there, smog was a thing regardless of registration.
When I was in you needed to get smogged to get stickers to get on base. Which was still pointless as I knew a couple guys that argued their cars were legal in their home states and still got through. Now we don't need stickers so no reason for smog.
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I just retired in 2019, so I'm aware of the need for decals lol. It's still buried in the mavys instructions that smog is required. How dumb.
We haven't needed decals on the base I work on since at least 2013. When I got put in 2008 I was able to get on to a couple bases with just ID.
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I know
Is it possible you did not return it to stock code? I just purchased a Cobra out of state. It was pulleyd, CAI, and exhaust (cat back only I thought) and had a custom tune loaded with an SCT tuner. Long story short, I returned it all back to stock and flashed it back to stock. It only failed visual because it didn't have stock cats - had bassani x pipe with cats (kiss another 2k goodbye). They could not detect it had been flashed by the SCT tuner before. specifically returned it to stock because they just started looking for tunes and if the car is flashed. I was not at a referee station, but it seems highly arbitrary that they can fail a car for having a factory tune. If you can replace cats, you should be able to replace a tune....
wow thanks for the info, well i know for sure i put it back to stock tune with the sct tuner, when i took it to for for the "OEM Calibration" they said they didnt want to calibrate because the PCM came up as an 2004 cougar....
IDK maybe test only has a better CPU checking the factory tune. I would be interested to know. F'n Cali and their BS.
When you flashed it back to stock did you have to reset all your readiness codes? I know that when I flashed it back, I had to set all the readiness codes, which is a PIA in and of itself. If you have Ford reflash it, you want to see if they can reset the readiness codes as well. I've walked in your footsteps before. Sorry man.
Thanks man yeah it sucks big time, i did reflash it with the sct tuner back to stock oem tune but not sure about the readiness codes, what threw me in a loop was Ford hooking up to the car and the PCM coming up as a 2004 cougar?....so now i have the new pcm new keys all stock format im going monday to a lock smith to get it programmed to the pats system then drive the car somehow as long as it needs...(unregistered still)...until the readiness is complete then send a photo to the jackasses over at the ref station for they can approve me for another appointment for inspection....im so tired of the bs... i love the car i am going to keep her and leave her all stock minus exhaust probably for now and just enjoy her... i just picked up a 69 Camaro that i can actually do practically whatever i want and not have to worry about no bullshit smog no longer atleast with that car...thanks to everyone who chimed in to help i definitely appreciate.
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