Calling all Fiat owners

[LeiPero2]

This may or may not strike with you all, but while I'm considering to get a newer Fiat 124, 80 through 88 besides my 68 which is a work in progress; I've come to find out that the emissions requirements/exemptions for CA are utterly outdated and not in par with that of other states like IL, IN, MO, MA, NH, TX, NY, OH, RI, VT, VA, WI, CT, LA & GA just to name a few. All of these states have updated their exemptions rollback period to pre-96 and pre-95 to pre-86 in some cases.

So the question remains what do we as voters need to do to get our legislators to change that and adopt a law that favors car enthusiast like us by rolling emissions exemptions say at least to pre-95. Currently CA has it pre-75 and a previous attempt failed for whatever reason.

A few of days ago I happen to stumble onto the http://www.samasan.com website and learned that we may have a few friends in Sacramento, Sen. Tom Berryhill and Assemblyman Frank Bigellow co-authors of "Collector s Car Appreciation Day" have it right and this will take place on July 15th. A few car clubs in the IE lhave in the last year opposed legislation such as SB-1077 and AB-1077 designed to tax mileage the first one while giving tax credit to alternative fuel vehicles the second one. Both passed and were signed by the governor and a pilot is under way to study the impact of SB-1077.

So maybe we could start by joining semasan and encourage them to lobby on our behalf, whether you collect, classics, vintage, hot rod, race, like the retro looks or want mods on your ride as long as your car meet the minimum standards; do you see any reason why Californians (and who know what other states) shouldn't enjoy the same? What makes you tick?
Can any one with experience take this up?
Cesar

[spidernut]

The legislation that would have implemented a rolling 25 year exemption was forwarded to Arnold Schwartzanidiot and to Knothead Brown (note I am equally bashing both political parties). Both said it would be Dead on Arrival. We don't need just new laws in California, we need new politicians.

That being said, my brother works for a major dealership in parts and service. He said he spoke with their California BAR rep who said Calif is revamping all of the emissions testing equipment and older cars will eventually be exempt. It's a long article he sent me, but it is hopeful the changes will be a step in the right direction.

[So Cal Mark]

every year SEMA pushes a change in the smog check legislation. There are a few friendly legislators in Calif but they have been unable to get the bill out of committee, much less to the point where the govenator could sign it. Rolling back emission laws in Calif is harder than winning the lottery without buying a ticket

[nathans76]

Smog techs and tree huggers will ensure that extended exemptions will never be allowed. For the techs such exemptions cut into their profits. For the tree huggers they want all vehicles eventually banned. Best thing is do what I have done for years, create an llc Montana or Wyoming and register the car to the llc.

Nathan

[donm]

So you live in CA but would have your car registered in Montana or Wyoming? Wouldn't that mean your car would have out of state plates? That could cause a problem with the local police and town officals whom I assume would eventually notice the descrepency and be at your door, not to mention potential problems getting reimbursed from your insurance company should you ever have a claim.

[bobplyler]

In North Carolina, we still have safety inspections. They are only for 35 year old cars or newer, so I just got exempted.

There have been several attempts in the legislature to kill the safety inspections. But the safety inspection lobby has killed them.

Some locals insist that safety inspections are necessary, in spite of the fact that almost all surrounding states no longer/never had them. South Carolina got rid of them in the '90's, and I was living in Georga in 1982 when they got rid of them. And Tennessee never had them.

[LeiPero2]

every year SEMA pushes a change in the smog check legislation. There are a few friendly legislators in Calif but they have been unable to get the bill out of committee, much less to the point where the govenator could sign it. Rolling back emission laws in Calif is harder than winning the lottery without buying a ticket

Mark & all, Thank you all for your replies, I got in touch with SAN's Colby Martin (the lobbying arm of SEMA) who told me they have tried several times and fallen short by one vote, which means we'll need to first join SEMA which operates in all 50 states and Canada end then engage our legislators.

This will not happen overnight, partly because they do not really understand the nature of our interests, therefore we're last if any in their agenda; but as more of you sign up and begin to invite them to events such as fundraising for, say the rescue mission (get creative) we can also flood their email to get their attention.

First things first, if you know of other car nuts feel free to share this bit.
Hasta la vista,
Baby.

[RRoller123]

We do a cursory safety check in MA but not emissions testing, thank God.

[wizard124]

IMO, California will never miss an opportunity to pick your pocket. Roll back legislation to exempt a smog check on a 40 year old car.....never happen. But they did offer me $1000 to get my car off the road.

Just had the wife's 2002 Suburban smog checcked. I learned that 2000 and newer cars don't have their emissions analyzed, just the computer scanned. These programs simply mean revenue to the state and to perpetuate the massive government.

[steve8462]

move to Rural Georgia. i dont even have to get our newer vehicles emission tested. we have no regular inspection either. you could have a wood burning car and nobody would give you a second glance. some of the old cars down here routinely have parts drop off them left and right. mufflers seem to merely be a suggestion also!

[phaetn]

Just had the wife's 2002 Suburban smog checcked. I learned that 2000 and newer cars don't have their emissions analyzed, just the computer scanned. These programs simply mean revenue to the state and to perpetuate the massive government.

There were some issues with that here in Ontario. It affected Mercedes, I think, but also could have been other marques. I might just be remembering that the news piece showed a Benz.

The problem was that if the battery was recently disconnected (e.g. for servicing) then the computer wouldn't be able to compile enough data regarding emissions to be able to provide a report. It wasn't just a matter of time, but mileage. People were leaving their car for what should have been a 15-20 minute test at the tailpipe, but then had to leave their car for days and days, or actually had to pick it back up and drive it around for a few weeks; the latter meant they could miss the deadline for license plate renewal (since it required an emission check).

Cheers,
phaetn

[RRoller123]

Had that issue here, the solution was miles driven, it took about 100 miles of driving for the computer to reset, having gathered enough data presumably.