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Re: More questions about LA... (long) Posted by EGD [Email] (#663) [Profile/Gallery] (more from EGD) on Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:42:33 In Reply to: More questions about LA..., Dan [Profile/Gallery] , Thu, 18 Apr 2002 02:22:21 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
You have to have your car smogged when you initially register it in California, and then every two years thereafter. California has pretty much the same emissions requirements as the "northeast states." I don't know if PA is part of that group. Either way, if your car is well-tuned it should pass a CA smog test with no problems even if it doesn't have exactly the same hardware as the Saabs sold here.
As for keeping your PA plates, I suggest you just get CA plates when you get out here. When you get to the DMV they'll ask you when the car first arrived in the state and charge your CA registration fees from that date. If you keep your PA plates, avoid traffic and parking tickets because they'll be in the DMV database and they'll know if you're lying as to when the car arrived.
Annual fees for plates are tied to the value of the car but have been reduced substantially the last few years due to a vehicle license fee offset. My beater car -- a '96 Ford Contour SE -- will cost me $84 to register next month and most of that are other fees for LA County. My '01 9-3 SE was $191 last January, which is almost reasonable (maybe) compared to some of the excise taxes I once paid in Massachusetts on other cars.
Finally, despite the envy from non-Californians who hate the fact we don't have to scrape ice off our windshields before work, not everyone out here is a brain-dead Hollywood moron. You can avoid the annoying aspects of California "culture" if you choose to do so and have a perfectly normal existence with perfectly normal people. There's a lot to do in LA, and California has some of the best scenery (hence, road trips in your Saab!) in the world. The food's great, some of the beaches are still clean, and the weather IS usually spectacular, if not monotonous. Enjoy it for a while.
posted by 64.12.10...
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