Sez John
>  I'm thinking of transferring my CA registered '75 westy to a friend
>in MA (needs MA plates for resident parking) while I'm off to Japan
>for a year.  I'll most likely transfer the car back to me and mostly
>it will be in CA.  Do I have to pay the smog impact fee when I go to
>re-register it?  How about if I keep paying my CA registration but not
>wear the plates?

        Sez Steve M.:
>I believe you don't have to pay the fee when you come back. When I moved
>to Calif. from Colorado four years ago, I brought three cars, and was
>unpleasantly surprised by this little "feature" of CA residency. So,
>I studied the law VERY closely, looking for an out.
>
>It read at the time, that if you could demonstrate that your car had
>been registered in CA in the past, then you don't have to pay the fee.
>So, I think that if you keep your CA registration papers safely in a
>drawer and show them to the minions of gummint here when you get back,
>you'll be in the clear.
>
>Or, if you can show somehow that it has all the "correct" CA emissions
>equipment for its year, then you don't have to pay. I think method 1 above,
>is easier.

        Say I:
When I started asking about this stuff about 2 years ago, the replies were:
        If originally sold in CA (meaning with CA emissions):Exempt
        If sold elsewhere: you're SOL-wether or not it has CA emissions (!!!)
        It does make sense that the impact thing would be a 1 time gig, so
if it was ever a CA vehicle in the past I'd assume you could avoid a 2nd
fee.

Peace,
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