No more Emissions Testing!

[RogerC]

Had to do it! Just didn’t want to drive the Cobra in the January rains to the emissions station to find out it failed. So I got a P.O. Box in Duvall and bypassed the hassle. And with typical female logic, the wife didn’t want me to register the daily drivers outside the emissions testing area. But it was okay for the Cobra. Whatever!

[Ron61]

RogerC,

I think I would be careful about posting something like this. The DMV people do read these posts. Best of luck.

Ron

[RogerC]

For now it seems to be perfectly legal. Many people, for whatever reason, have cars located at an address other than where they live. In the City of Seattle, many are doing the same thing because of the high taxes added to the car tabs do to the monorail transit proposal. I just happen to live on the fringe of the emissions testing area. I went in person to the DOL to pay the fee and they "didn't blink an eye". Can we say loop hole?

[Ron61]

RogerC,

I hope you are correct. We have some people here that own property in other areas and actually spend Summers there but about two years ago the state started looking for people who were registering their trucks and motor homes there to avoid the big weight charges and one guy almost had to sell his property to pay all the fines and charges and then register all of his vehicles here. I think they used the primary residence thing to get them. But living in Washington is like another planet compared to Calif. In fact almost any place is. I spent 11 months at Ft. Lewis a long time ago. In fact the World's fair was in Seattle while I was there and I also went to watch the Elvis movie they shot up there at the Fairgrounds.

Ron

[RogerC]

Ron,

Yes, I have heard tales of the great lengths the State of Cal goes to extract there pound of flesh.

Believe me, if I thought it was illegal I would not have tried this much less expose myself on an internet bulletin board. I would have thought the clerk at the DOL would have said something if there was a problem with using a P.O. Box as an address.

But since there seems to be a loop hole, there might be others that feel inclined to use it. I'm sure it won't be long before the State of WA puts a plug in this. Just like California, the State of Washington is having budget problems.

And if I am wrong and since I don't drive the car in the NW winter rains, I will still have the opportunity to make amends.

[KobraKarl]

how many of you nw ers have to emision test?

[RogerC]

Karl,

In the major metro areas of WA, if your chassis was built after 1969 you need to have your car tested. The areas are basically Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and Vancouver and is delineated by zip codes.

It seemthat there are a few cars that have come in from other states that have a different set of documentation rules and were registered as '65 or '66's in that state and WA DOL just carries this forward and these lucky people avoid the test.

My car passed the first year after some tinkering and a call by the local carb shop to the DOL for relief.

[KobraKarl]

Roger, i thought these cars had an exempt status

[RogerC]

You know I heard something about that but on my renewal notice for the state it was mark for emissions testing. If it is exempt, I wasted the cost of a P.O.Box. I guess that is one of the reasons for the post. Does anyone know for sure?

[KobraKarl]

Roger et al , i should mention i have not yet licenced my cobra in the state of wa. i bought it in cal. two years ago , and as it needed a fair amount of work i have been driving it on two day trip passes from time to time(main reason i havnt met any of you yet) i had to go through the wsp check and they gave me a 1972 orig. date. then before i registered it i heard the state was going to dispence with this "out of state check" and i might be able to keep my title 1966 as it was in calif. the car is pretty streetable save for some carb. work, and i am going to see the dmv in a few weeks. any thoughts on this one ? Karl

[RogerC]

Karl,
I have heard rumors that there is no more WSP checks, but I have not talked to anyone that has registered their car and not seen the State Patrol. You will have to pay what amounts to state sales tax on the car (I don't know the right term) and someone has to determine the cost. In your case, you have a sales receipt. I my case I built it from parts. The parts receipts were turned into the WSP. They then added them up, put a value on the car and gave me a chassis date.

Another thing that doesn't ring true about this "no more WSP inspection" is many kit chassis don't have VIN numbers stamped on them. And if this is the case, the WSP assigns a VIN number and a metal tag that you are to attach to the frame.

Does anyone know for sure? That is personally registered your car and not seen the State Troopers.

[Ron61]

Roger,

I have a dumb question about your emission test program. You said that anything made before 1969 has to pass if I read the post correctly. But even Calif. didn't have any smog regulations at all until 1966 so there is no smog equipment made for earlier motors. We do have one great thing going now and that is SB-100 which allows the first 500 new kit or special construction vehicles each year to be registered by the body style and year the owner chooses or by the engine and year the owner chooses. If the smog referee doesn't agree all he can do is change it to a 1960 which is ever farther back from smog. We take our receipts for the major cost of the car to the DMV, go to the CHP for a VIN number, then back to DMV for a special construction number, then to BAR for smog test which is a waste of time as all they do is put the sniffer in, put down the readings and then put the smog exempt sticker on the car. Then back to DMV with lots of money and you get your license plate. Kind of expensive but a lot nicer than it used to be. I was just wondering about how you would get smog equipment for a motor that was made in 1964 for example. I am probably misreading your post as I normally do, but am curious.

Thanks,

Ron

[RogerC]

Ron,

Your are so right! I ment to say after 1969. That was the first your for the air pumps, etc. For cars before 1969 there is no testing. As you can see from the postings above there are rumors of changes for "kit cars" (I hate that term) but no one so far can say or has said for sure that there is no more testing.

All I know for sure is my car is registered as a 1995 (the build year of the chassis) and on my latest renewal notice it indicated I needed an emissions test. Note I had sent in my change of address form months earlier but with the normal speed of the State Bureaucracy the notice address had not been change, but when I went down to the DOL office their computers had the changed address.

Sorry for the confusion.

Roger

[jayem]

Roger, I did the same thing & registered all my cars at my mother in-laws place in north bend. No emissions testing on any of my cars. When I registered my cobra they go by the year the replica
was built, in my case 1997. Then they hold you to those standards. Getting a po box or using another adress is the best way to go. Jay

[Bish Wheeler]

Hey all,

I live in Skagit County, no testing and two of my friends in the Seattle area use my address and have for a long time with no problems. I really think the state thinks the testing thing is a giant pain in the a$$, but keep doing it to be PC.

Felice Navidad

Bish

[WestCoastBill]

Hey Bish...you really turn me on me on when you speak in a foreign language... Am I'm the only one in this state that lives and registers in an emmission test area, has his car registered as a 1991, and DOESN'T have to be tested? Bill

[Bish Wheeler]

Hey Bill,

How do you do that?

Too bad I can't spell in a foriegn language......FeliZ Navidad

Bsih

[Back in Black]

In areas that fail certain "clean air" testing parameters...cities are added as they "fail" these tests, which are done regularly.

If the state were to stop enforcing the emissions tests, they would lose federal transportation dollars..it's called "blackmail" or coercion, by the feds.

The WSP no longer does inspections ..you just test for emissions if you are in the areas mentioned, and pay..no testing where I am..Olympia area. The dmv/dept of lisc. is privatized in WA , and a pleasure to work with, in my experience.

[G.R.]

I moved here in'95 from Colorado and almost went into cardiac arrest when we went to register our '95 Honda lx wagon and '90 Chev 4x4 pu. We paid nearly $1200 in WA "taxes" just to drive here legally. The Honda new in Colorado for license, registration etc. was $255--here $695, the truck $130--here $480--
Brought my boat here, Fed documented, home port at the time in Colorado--never had to pay state fees etc., in Co or CA(there for 2 years) never had to license the dinghy either, gotta ticket here for "non-compliance" had to register the boat and dinghy,here it costs $350 a year for the boat, $55 for the dink .

Registered my SPF as a 2000, no Emissions as we live in Kitsap.
Glad "that" initiative went thru or I'd probably spend close to $1500 to license the car today

This state has some serious money(tax collection)mis-management problems.

I think in the Future it may get very hard to register a "Cobra type kit car" most anywhere.

Still wonder though how the "Hot Rod builders" get their cars emission passed and licensed since a lot of them are using late model power for their cars?

[RogerC]

Gary,
Be glad we don't have an income tax -------yet.
I think what happens, if you build a kit car of a 41 Willys or a 32 Ford you buy a title from one of those companies in the back of the street rod magazines that buy up titles from wrecked cars and resell them.
Maybe someone with first hand knowledge of this could chime in.
Maybe I should have registered mine as a 66 Falcon?