Smog Exemption Status for US ALL!! (In California)

[Tom]

It's baaaackkk.....

https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/s-b- ... -for-2026/

--not primary transportation
--collector insurance
--exempts up to 79 to start then rolling window up to 1985 cars

My worry if it passes is that by the time everything is exempt up to 85, there will be only 3 smog stations left with a dyno to smog my 86. To get an test 'allocation' at one of those shops. and they'll be charging ADMs in the thousands, force you to buy a watch, and only work with people who have established a 'relationship' by purchasing several undesirable used smog checks first.

[spacecad3t]

When I lived in CA back around 2015, I drove a '68 pickup that was exempt because it was pre-75. I gutted that exhaust and ran tube headers into straight pipes with side exits right behind the cab. No one ever said a word.

I'm all for "historic registration" with a rolling exemption, that's how other states I lived in have worked, PA, NY... I registered my '87 944 as Historic in NY, the limit on number of miles exceeds the amount I usually drive in a good year. Plus, my odometer doesn't work and is also "exempt" so how the hell they going to tell? It is also exempt from "smog" but requires a yearly safety inspection, which is; lights, horn, wipers, and general body inspection... we cant all be Ohio

[whalenlg]

--exempts up to 79 to start then rolling window up to 1985 cars

Any idea what this obsession is with leaving us MY1986 owners out in the cold?
The only logical cutoff that would make sense is anything after obdii was a requirement (MY1996).

[Tom]

--exempts up to 79 to start then rolling window up to 1985 cars

Any idea what this obsession is with leaving us MY1986 owners out in the cold?
The only logical cutoff that would make sense is anything after obdii was a requirement (MY1996).

I have to believe it's almost entirely political -- trying to add "10 years" to the current (also arbitrary) cut-off. The number of cars that would be exempted goes up significantly by model year -- so if making 76-85 cars eligible for exemption picks up, say, 500k cars, you could double that by extending it just another 4 or 5 model years. Those promoting the bill are just trying to get what they can against an organized opposition that would outlaw old cars if they could.

Eventually, something's going to have to give on the dyno testing though. It requires a huge infrastructure, the justification for which dwindles every day. Putting all economics aside, at some point the smog produced manufacturing, transporting , and operating the dynos, along with forcing people to drive to them, is going to overtake the smog prevented by requiring a dyno test vs a simple visual and sniffer test on cars people rarely drive. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if we aren't already there, or close to it. The load put on a car during the dyno test is negligible (I logged it one). If they just did the same visual test, plus a sniffer at idle and 2500rpm, I bet the sum-total of all cars that fail the dyno but pass the sniffer could fit in a 7-11 parking lot.