Moving to California for grad school, do i have to register the car?
08-12-2009, 03:59 AM
#16
Fleet of Foot
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Well, this works great until you get pulled over. The CHP is going to grill you on how long you've been here, why are you driving your dad's car, etc. etc. They aren't very lenient about this sort of thing - People try this all the time where they have the car registered to a family member in another state, but that excuse will not repeatedly fly with the CHP. I used to work with some people who were "temporarily" re-located to California and didn't register their cars here, and some of them got away with it for a couple years, some of them got pulled over and "flagged" - the next time they got pulled over they got busted for still driving here in an out-of-state car - in their name or not. As a student at Stanford (and if you have an address in CA) you are a resident. So, your situation may sort of skirt the letter of the law but not the intent, and if you get pulled over you are probably going to have to register it here (and therefore pass smog, and pay excessive out-of-state registration fees). Or fight them in court. Good luck...
08-12-2009, 04:08 AM
#17
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There are two cat upgrades that are legal in Germany; to the best of my knowledge both delete the air pump and still get the S4 and later cars into better emissions classes (meaning less registration taxes).
1. One of them replaces the ceramic material with a metal mesh - inside the original housing. This one definitely does not require the air pump. It gets the 928 into the next better emissions class. Including a new chip, this solution adds about 30HP.
2. The other adds small pre-cats to the headers (for better cold start emissions), while retaining the stock cats. Not sure about the air pump on this one. This solution improves the car by two emissions classes. No programming or HP gain to my knowledge.
The trouble is that getting a such solution federalized in Germany takes a battery of tests that well exceed a standard smog test. Not something that would be feasible for a single owner.
I would not want to try that in California... so my car will never benefit from better cat technology, and not get cleaner than it is now. Sad, but it's what it is.
08-12-2009, 04:33 AM
#19
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Well, this works great until you get pulled over. The CHP is going to grill you on how long you've been here, why are you driving your dad's car, etc. etc. They aren't very lenient about this sort of thing - People try this all the time where they have the car registered to a family member in another state, but that excuse will not repeatedly fly with the CHP. I used to work with some people who were "temporarily" re-located to California and didn't register their cars here, and some of them got away with it for a couple years, some of them got pulled over and "flagged" - the next time they got pulled over they got busted for still driving here in an out-of-state car - in their name or not. As a student at Stanford (and if you have an address in CA) you are a resident. So, your situation may sort of skirt the letter of the law but not the intent, and if you get pulled over you are probably going to have to register it here (and therefore pass smog, and pay excessive out-of-state registration fees). Or fight them in court. Good luck...
Realistically how about this option: Don't get pulled over! Drive safe and install a radar detector
The crucial part as I said before is things need to MATCH. Your DL, Reg and Ins need to all be the same address and match up.
