Out of state vehicle inspection - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

okyoureabeast · #1 02-28-2011, 07:46 PM

Mere curiosity here,

Lets say that I have a vehicle registered and a safety inspection that is out of state (example a 300D registered/inspected in Pennsylvania). This vehicle is nowhere near home (example in Los Angeles).

What should I do if the safety inspection runs out? Peal the sticker off and hope I don't get caught or go to a California inspection center and get a safety inspection?

buffa98 · #2 02-28-2011, 07:50 PM

Perhaps a better question is to ask if California enforces pa law?

What if the state your car is reg has no state inspection? (Ga,Sc,Al)

PS scrape the sticker, When you get back to Pa have proof you were out of state then get Inspection done.

Diesel911 · #3 02-28-2011, 07:53 PM

In California they do not have safety inspections on cars. The exception is where when my Step Father was in a Car accident the Insurance Company totaled the whole Car. He told the Insurance company He wanted to keep the Car.

He gave the Car to me. In order to get it back on the Road I had to have a Brake and Head Light inspection. After that no more inspections.

okyoureabeast · #4 02-28-2011, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel911

In California they do not have safety inspections on cars. The exception is where when my Step Father was in a Car accident the Insurance Company totaled the whole Car. He told the Insurance company He wanted to keep the Car.

He gave the Car to me. In order to get it back on the Road I had to have a Brake and Head Light inspection. After that no more inspections.

Problem solved

Thanks Diesel911

layback40 · #5 02-28-2011, 08:10 PM

Adam,
Pardon my ignorance but when you move state, dont you have to transfer the registration to the new location/state? Or dont we talk about such things?

tbomachines · #6 02-28-2011, 08:49 PM

I have to travel back to CT to do all my DMV stuff (actually here right now). AFAIK there isn't too much leeway on out of state permissions, as they recommend you change your address after a little bit. I've been playing that game for 6 years now...

buffa98 · #7 03-01-2011, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by layback40

Adam,
Pardon my ignorance but when you move state, dont you have to transfer the registration to the new location/state? Or dont we talk about such things?

Depends on whether its a "permanent" move or not, or it might be for residency type stuff. There are peple that "live" in Florida but spend most of the year in the northeast. Think state income tax.

Other reason is I know a lot of people that do contact work so they might be away from home for 2 years at a time.

layback40 · #8 03-01-2011, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

I have to travel back to CT to do all my DMV stuff (actually here right now). AFAIK there isn't too much leeway on out of state permissions, as they recommend you change your address after a little bit. I've been playing that game for 6 years now...

I got a 10 year Texas license when I was over there years ago. I used it a couple of times when I came back here to avoid speeding tickets. Its too hard for the local leos down here to deal with over seas licenses so you can normally get away with a warning.
I think you are required to change your registration down here once you have been in the new state for more than a few months. When I was using interstate registration, I would just cross the border for a drive every now and again so that I hadnt been in the state that long.

JB3 · #9 03-01-2011, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by layback40

I think you are required to change your registration down here once you have been in the new state for more than a few months. .

The same rule applies here. Technically, the vehicle must be registered in the state where you currently live, or have an address. In okyoureabeast's situation, his vehicle must be inspected in PA if he has a PA registration and plate and current PA mailing address. The fact that he is 3000 miles away makes that a little difficult!

, but whenever the car is next in PA he should go for an inspection. You can have cars registered in a bunch of different states if you have addresses in those states, but the vehicles all have to meet those individual state registration and inspection laws.

Depending on the state, registration might be pulled based on no inspection. In RI, if you do not get your RI inspection within 30 days or something of it having expired, your license and registration in that state is suspended. Okyoureabeast, do you have a PA, NY, or CA license?

I would not peel off the expired inspection sticker, I remember in NY that counted as a crime of some sort, I think some kind of misdemeanor, but its better to just be past the date of inspection than to have tried to conceal that fact.

CA cops probably won't have the first idea of another states inspection laws and won't care.

Another example, I had a vehicle registered in CT, and they went to a different recording setup for state inspections I guess, instead of window stickers, so I had an expired inspection sticker from 2006 on the vehicle for years even though it had been fully inspected, never had a single issue with that despite getting pulled over in that car a couple times.

charmalu · #10 03-01-2011, 12:23 PM

No state inspections here in Calif. but if you move here as a permanent residence, you are suppose to register the car at the DMV and have Calif plates. I think you have 30 days to have it done.

You are suppose to have your registration and a proof of insurance in the car at all times, along with a valid Drivers License.

Iam surprised Calif doesn`t have a state inspection, they are loosing a ton of revenue by not having it. what are these Politicians doing there in Sacramento? they are missing on another way to screw us

.

The state will get you big time with expired registration. say the car has a mechanical problem and you just park it for a while. the registration is due and you just don`t pay it because it is not on the road. then 10 months later you decide to put it back on the road. you will still pay the full year reg plus penalities.
the way to go on that is to file a non-op (none operational) with the DMV. but you will still have to pay the full years registration, just not be charged with the penalities.

I was talking to a guy at PNP last week. he bought a 79 240d that had been sitting for 6 years and the registration hadn`t been paid or had a non-op. the DMV wanted the back 6 years registration plus the accumulated penalities.

If a vehicle is parked for 10 years and no registration or non-op has been filed, then the vehicle will be dropped off the DMV computers records. then it has to be re-registered an get a new plate, and everything continues on.

so this guy bought it and let it sit another 4 years.

Charlie

ah-kay · #11 03-01-2011, 02:08 PM

I bought a 85 300D from Texas in San Diego as a project car. I tried to register it but I was told to 'drive' it down to DMV for inspection. I told them it was a project and was not drivable. I was advised to contact the local Sheriff dept and they will come out and inspect the car for free. It may not be free now as it was 3 years ago.

It took the police a while to come out, may be 2-3 weeks, I cannot remember. He came out and looked around the car and checked the VIN. I do not know what he did as I was not there at the time. My wife did. She told me he did not do much and it took about 15 minutes or less. He signed a piece of paper and we took it to the DMV ( AAA ) to register the car as no-op. It is probably the same procedure for op. During this inspection process and for some reasons AAA removed the salvage title from the registration. So the car has a clean CA title. I am not sure whether the procedures have been changed since. It was sold to my friend and he is still using it as a daily driver.

rhodes2010 · #12 03-02-2011, 01:32 AM

Should we gather a 50 state classic MB diesel owners guide to registration ?
Pretty interesting when I hear all the variations.

What I like about California - no bi-annual smog inspection for diesels (or motorcycles).
No vehicle safety inspection , UNLESS - the vehicle was deemed a total
and then needes to have a paid for ($90 last time) inspection that includes brakes, rotor thickness, and lights.
My pontiac with a dented door was forced to have this and failed.
Car was never off the road and ran great. Rotors were too thin.
Vehicles not previously registered need to be inspected for VIN number matching, sometimes by the Highway Patrol.

So.... the car went to OREGON-
What I learned about Oregon, no need to even see the car at all.
For $10.50 a family member was issued a set of Oregon vehicle license plates
for a car that was in California that they had never seen (what's a smog inspection??). Plates were installed and car went to Oregon.

Sold a Chevy Suburban to an Oregon guy who had no idea what an inspection was.

Off Road (dirt bikes and quads ) rules vary too. California has many rules.

okyoureabeast · #13 03-02-2011, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dropnosky

Okyoureabeast, do you have a PA, NY, or CA license?

I'm from Pennsylvania so it's a PA driver's license.

It's really not a problem at the moment. My safety inspection sticker runs out in July, but I was curious if the opportunity for me to live out here arose then I would have to deal with it.

It's also a problem for my Hawaiian room mate who is driving back to New York for the next year to finish college (Hawaii plate).

Mere curiosity is why I am asking this question.

bustedbenz · #14 03-02-2011, 02:48 AM

The root of this issue is the time at which the state the car occupies determines that you were "supposed" to establish legal occupancy of the state. In NC/VA for example, within I think 30 days of establishing permanent residence between one or the other, you are expected to turn in your license tags from one state, turn in your driver's license from one state, and receive new drivers license and new plates.

The assumption is that if you are establishing permanent residency, there is no reason to keep the old registrations. And, likewise, if you are not establishing permanent residency, then it is almost inconceivable that you wouldn't at least drive to the true home of the car at least once a year to collect your mail, see your family at Christmas or Thanksgiving, college students going home for a month of the summer.... SOMETHING to get the car home for fresh inspection and fresh registration within that year.

In MOST states if not all, it's illegal to "live" there without being a legal resident there. People do of course own multiple homes and transfer between them, but the assumption thereagain is that they must at least return home once a year to take care of exactly this sort of business.

I don't know of any state that will perform any type of legal inspection on a car whose license plate is another state's problem. If I drove up into VA for the day with expired NC license tags, I think they can write me the ticket and NC will prosecute it through an arrangement. If I drive up in there with an expired safety/emissions inspection (no emissions inspection on a diesel but you get the point) it would be really hard for them to even KNOW about it. Some states use windshield stickers, some states use internal computer systems, some states use the car's license plate AS the inspection due-by date... in any case, it would be very difficult for a cop in CA or FL or WY or wherever to know whether my NC car had an inspired safety inspection or not. And, they wouldn't really care. They'd be far more concerned if the license plate were expired (for which I think I'd get a ticket).

Long story short, if you're going to move somewhere for more than 12 months, go on and do the legal thing and surrender your plates and license, get the new ones in the state of residency, and then go through it all again when you get back home. If you can make it home once every 12 months then keep the old stuff current from your own state whenever you go home. Pretty simple in the long run and less trouble than worrying about getting pulled over.

bustedbenz · #15 03-02-2011, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhodes2010

Should we gather a 50 state classic MB diesel owners guide to registration ?
Pretty interesting when I hear all the variations.

What I like about California - no bi-annual smog inspection for diesels (or motorcycles).
No vehicle safety inspection , UNLESS - the vehicle was deemed a total
and then needes to have a paid for ($90 last time) inspection that includes brakes, rotor thickness, and lights.
My pontiac with a dented door was forced to have this and failed.
Car was never off the road and ran great. Rotors were too thin.
Vehicles not previously registered need to be inspected for VIN number matching, sometimes by the Highway Patrol.

So.... the car went to OREGON-
What I learned about Oregon, no need to even see the car at all.
For $10.50 a family member was issued a set of Oregon vehicle license plates
for a car that was in California that they had never seen (what's a smog inspection??). Plates were installed and car went to Oregon.

Sold a Chevy Suburban to an Oregon guy who had no idea what an inspection was.

Off Road (dirt bikes and quads ) rules vary too. California has many rules.

But if I remember correctly, CA police are notorious for giving out "fix-it" tickets and they can even pull a car over just for smoking too much. Around here that's absolutely inconceivable.

Every 12 months, ALL cars in NC must have a safety inspection. This consists of making sure every light (headlights on both beams, all parkings, all turn signals, all brake lights) comes on when it should, the horn functions properly (almost failed because they didn't know you have to have the key on for an MB horn to blow) and the tires have sufficient tread left to be proclaimed "safe" on the road.

In addition, all cars undergo a basic emissions test in which the ONLY thing checked is that "every emissions device that was originally present on the car must be present and untampered with". Technically I'd fail for having my EGR removed, IF they had any idea that it was supposed to be on there. They couldn't possibly KNOW about everything that every engine was equipped with, so typically they don't do much checking under the hood. 99% of what they're looking for is cat converters removed and replaced with straight pipes. One time they couldn't figure out where the mufflers and such were on mine so they put it up on the lift to be sure. They saw the stuff under there but weren't diesel-familiar so they were being careful.

In addition, all gasoline powered cars newer than model year 1994 get their exhaust "sniffed" by an electronic machine that analyzes the exhaust and red-flags you if it's beyond certain levels of a few substances.

Oh, and everybody, regardless of year, also gets their headlight ANGLE checked by shining it into this prism type device to be sure they aren't blinding other drivers.

It's a lot to go through, and as of about 3 years ago, when the rules changed, you can't even GET your license plate registration renewed for another year until you have successfully passed the inspection. Used to be your license renewal was a separate issue and a separate sticker, but they did away with the windshield "inspection passed" stickers a few years ago. Now it's all in the same system, and your license renewal month is your inspection month.

In exchange for all of this, however, our police rarely if ever give tickets for mechanical problems. When I read of california people getting their exhaust checked for opacity and such nonsense by troopers on the road, I just think... that's yet another reason I don't live there. They check us once a year and then let us go. "Improper equipment" IS a ticket that some officers still give. 99 times out of 100, it's for driving at night with a burned out headlight or brake light. It's a zero points, zero insurance points ticket that basically you don't have to prove you ever did anything about, you just pay the fine and go on about your business. Usually, improper equipment is what the lawyers manage to get our actual speeding tickets reduced to. Or we pray for the officer to be generous and write that out on the ticket instead of a speeding ticket.... like THAT ever happens. That's another thread: "Where did all the NICE cops go?"

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention, if you cancel the insurance on a car in NC without canceling the license plate registration first, you're in SERIOUS legal trouble and you get a huge fine. They "assume" you are driving a registered car without insurance, and the fact that it was sitting in your yard with the engine sitting beside it rather than in it makes NO difference to them. There's no such thing out here as a cop coming to your house to verify your story. They just mail you the bill and then your insurance company mails you your rate increase. If they don't summons you to surrender your license for driving uninsured.

Hasn't happened to me but I've heard stories. Sometimes these automated systems are more trouble than they're worth. The computer knows the minute your insurance lapses and it doesn't matter if you "were going to turn the plate in tomorrow when the office opens"... you've just had it. Again, never happened to me, but I've known people. For all the mercy you get from the "system" and the police nowadays, they might as well be robots.