I know for a while they were bumping up the cutoff year for smog checks. Used to be '66, then went to '73 I think....and started to bump a year forward every year. Is that still going on? If so what's the smog check cutoff now? I picked up a nifty little '78 Triumph Spitfire today and was wondering. -Jeff
If you own a car made in '75 or before that you're in luck. They stopped moving the exemption and froze it at '75, so no go on the '78.
At the moment it is fixed at 1975 and older. Be patient, it can change at any time, hopefully it will extend past 1975, but it could go back too. The thing that makes little sense is that the technology in 1975 is pretty much the same as 76, 77, 78, on US cars, and most imports. Late 1979 and 1980 started up the computer carbs, etc.
Oh well...I really didn't have plans to do anything with the car anyway. But I could picture a small block and T5 in there. Thank you
As stated already, '76 and newer will forever still get smogged unless they change it still another time. They left it at'76 because that's the year that hadn't reached 30 years when they retroed the law. IMPORTANT! Even if you have a '66-'75 car you still aren't allowed to modify or remove any smog equipment, right down to including the original air cleaner housing. The onle thing is you don't have to get it inspected. This could all change with the next legislature because every year some ***hole introduces a bill to roll it back to have to smog ALL cars to the new unattainable for old cars standards, thereby making them "illegal". So if you put a supercharger through the hood of your 64 Chevy II make sure to keep all the stock parts in the garage to reinstall WHEN they make it required again. Im convinced they dont want to allow '76-'77 cars "imunity" because that's the years of Olds Cutl***es and Monte Carlos that are the most popular with the lowriders and they want to keep ****ing with them.
i bet they will roll it back to '66 in the future, when i started doing smogs i think it was '66 or '65.
To be smog free,so to say, your car has to be a 1975 or earlier. For a while they were moving the year for smog exemtion forward year for year, but for some reason they froze it at 1975!
The tags on my stock 90 Chev P/U expire tomorrow. It needed a "test only". 60 bucks later,Im good to go. I had my smog licence from 89 to 94 & stupid-*** me let it expire when I got a better job. I could be doing smog tests on Saturdays for extra bucks,but it'll cost me around $700.00 & some schooling to get my licence again. Id put a small block in that Spitfire & drive the sum***** without tags. The punks with the HonDUHs do it all the time here.
I'm surprised they ever moved the test exemption up from '66 in this state. The cute little motor will end up staying regardless. I bought it to commute with...I drive 80 miles a day to work through the mountains and I've been driving nothing but my old '57 pickup getting 10 mph. And its a cute little car, belly****on high and 1800 lbs.
haha there's the funny part "test only" california's great haha, i let mine expire also (damn shop owners wanted you put your license on the line so they can get some extra $$$), but i only have to take the newest cl*** to get mine back.............IF i wanted to.
I happen to live in the only county in California where you don't have to get your car smogged. This will continue as long as Lake County continues to meet all of California's clean air requirements which it has done for the last 15 years. Lake is the only county that currently meets all those requirements. The only time you have to smog a car here is if you are selling it. There is even a way around that. If you sell to a member of your family you don't need to smog it. Lots of people just claim that the person they're selling to is a relative, DMV doesn't check. (Shhh, mum's the word!) That's why there's lots of hotrods hereabouts. Many people who live elsewhere have vacation places here and register their vehicles here too. Hope they don't change the law!
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