Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 17:17:57 -0700
Reply-To: Daniel Schmitz <djs@gene.com>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Daniel Schmitz <djs@gene.com>
Organization: Genentech, Inc.
Subject: Re: Move to CA - emissions?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Brain,
Speaking as a Bay Area native, California has stricter emissions laws than most
other states, but VW appears to have engineered the later Vanagons to be
50-state compliant from the factory, at least for the 2.1L Digifants (not sure
about the 1.9 Digijets).
You might first check to see if your Vanagon has a sticker on the inside of the
license plate flap or engine compartment stating that the vehicle is 49-state
compliant AND meets CA emissions, or is simply 50-state compliant. My '87 that I
recently purchased in Colorado has this sticker in that location, stating the
former, and all I needed to do was to get it smogged and register it. You will
also need to bring your vehicle to a California DMV office for inspection, at
which time they will tell you that it's considered an RV, not a passenger
vehicle, a factoid that seems to make little difference anyway.
We no longer have the $300 so-called "Smog Impact Fee" as it was voted
unconstitutional.
Additional things to know:
You must have all of your original, factory emissions control equipment hooked
up and functioning. This includes the O2 sensor, catalytic converter, etc. The
vehicle will have to pass a smog test to be registered. In California, smog
tests machines are computerized and linked to DMV's computer network. Test
results are instantly uploaded to DMV, so you may want to have your van's
tailpipe "sniffed" prior to actually executing the test in case the van is
running poorly and won't pass the smog. If your van fails the smog test by a
wide margin, and the test data is uploaded to the DMV computer, you risk having
your van classified as a "gross polluter". You don't want that label. It's
better to make sure it will pass a smog test before actually having the test.
My '87 Westfalia and I live in San Francisco. We would be happy to answer any
other questions you might have, like the absurdly high cost of housing, traffic,
good weather, etc. Where are you moving to specifically?
Dan
Brian Walch wrote:
> There is a good chance I will be moving to the Bay Area in the very near
> future. I live in Alaska now, and own a '85 Westy that I am pretty sure came
> from AK - it doesn't have AC. I know there are different emission controls
> in CA - what will I have to do to make it "registerable" in CA? How much am
> I looking to spend?
>
> Also, if you are knowledgeable on the subject of CA emissions: Are newer
> cars going to work in CA? If I buy a relatively new car up here and have it
> shipped down (we'll hopefully drive the Westy) will it pass emissions in CA?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Brian
> '85 Westy
| 
