California DMV Question

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
12/18/2016 at 10:32 • Filed to: None

Good morning, Oppo, here’s a question: I need to go transfer title and register my ‘71 GMC Vandura. I have the clean title and the Bill of Sale, but the thing hasn’t been registered since 1991, and at that time, it was registered inoperative. Do you think I’m going to be in for any ugly surprises?

And for your time, a 1955 Studebaker Commander Regal Coupe:

DISCUSSION (9)

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/18/2016 at 11:00

Should be smooth with no surprises. Just don’t get caught driving it before you register it again.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
12/18/2016 at 11:07

What do you think my chances are of being allowed to keep the 45-year-old plates?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/18/2016 at 11:26

High. CA rarely issues new plates for cars (in theory, they stay with the car for life, although I believe they can be transferred), so it should be easy. The only times I know where CA issues new plates/numbers for an old car is when it is transferred into the state, you get personalized plates, or they’re stolen.

One area I can never fault CA with is their laws are very sensible and car-friendly, in spite of smog checks (which aren’t anywhere near as onerous as in most states).

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
12/18/2016 at 19:08

Those are some of the few kind words anybody has ever said about my state of residence. For my part, I am happy to be in one of the only politically blue patches of the country right now, and the gun ownership laws are ridiculous. But I like California. I was born and raised back east...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/18/2016 at 19:45

I was born in Los Angeles. It might color it a bit. The only law they have that I don’t like is the 1975 cutoff on smog checks. It was supposed to be 25 years, not a fixed year.

But their laws are so sensible that when I moved back there and got my first license, I passed the license test with no study book and no wrong answers, they were that predictable.

Almost everything is sensible with cars.

Guns, on the other hand. It’s the worst place I’ve lived when it comes to shooting sports...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
12/18/2016 at 22:19

Are you arguing that too many cars are smog-exempt?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/19/2016 at 10:27

No, I think more cars should be exempt. Today there are 40-year-old cars that need smog checks, which is kind of ridiculous. It also ensures that cars before the cutoff will be kept running/polluting forever, while those after it are rusting in a junkyard. A poor person with a 30+ year old 1980s car they’re keeping running for basic transportation shouldn’t have the added burden of smog checks. It starts the 6th year the car has been on the road and runs on forever, but how many are actually on the road after 20 years?

I appreciate that they have a program for fixing these cars so they will pass smog, but the fixed date is unreasonable. If they don’t want to make it a fixed number of years (ex, 25), they should be dropped out of the smog check program when a model/year drops below some percentage of the peak number registered in the state (let’s say when under 5-10% of the peak registered are still registered, the state just quits requesting smog checks on registration renewals). You’d still be subject to smog check tickets from police forever, but as long as they’re doing a decent job of keeping their car in order, they’d probably never need to deal with it again.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
12/19/2016 at 10:38

Are you talking about California specifically? I ran into a guy yesterday who was driving an 84 Caprice. If I saw him again today, I’d ask him about smog. I’ve made some posts here about a ‘71 GMC van I bought recently as a hobby vehicle. I went pre-1975 just to avoid the smog checks.

But I do not dispute your analysis.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/19/2016 at 11:37

Yes, California specifically. He’s definitely going in for smog every other year if he passed the last time...

Another methods that would be much simpler/cheaper to implement could be based entirely on model year - when a model year drops below some percentage of the peak number of that model year ever registered, they become exempt from registration renewal smog checks. It would account for the increasing longevity of modern cars without making it unnecessarily difficult to keep the survivors running (or register your classic that doesn’t get out that much).