Ok, well, the car that I just purchased was sold to me as a parts car so the seller didn't have it smogged. Well, how do I get it registered in my name now??? It says on the website that the seller MUST have it smogged ... what do I do if the seller didn't???? Also, the car hasn't been registered in about a year so I am not sure how to drive it to the smog place to have it smogged so I can get it registered. I AM SO CONFUSED!

 

Kali is so screwed up with smog control I have no idea what you should do. They add stuff every year it looks like a tax code book.

If it was me, I would pack up and move. The state is run by emotions and not logic! Your tax rate is so high, It's cheaper to stay home and just collect a check from all the other tax payers who do work.

Your state should have the highest surplus of cash, Yet it is broke and there bond rating is in the dirt.

 

I am not in California, but my state would give me a temp 3 day permit to bring the car to the smog shop or station. Check with your county licensing dept.
HIH
Fordboy49

 

Ask them for what they call a "trip permit." If that doesn't work, go ahead and pay for the registration, and they will issue you a temporary permit. After the car passed the smog inspection, they will mail the registration to you. Sometimes I got lazy or had no time to get the smog inspection done in time, I would just send in the check with the renewal papers, and get the smog inspection dane weeks after that. You can avoid the late penalty that way.

Muffinman: I would love to leave this damn state, but I can't. I lived in Texas for 4 years. The state is great, the people is great. I loved it, but the weather was killing me! If it weren't for the weather, I doubt anybody would want to live here in California. I lived in Idaho for two years, and that was the best two years of my life. Hunting in the winter, fishing in the summer, not a care in the world. What a life! But then my parents and all my siblings live in Southern Ca, and I wanted the kids to grow up with their grandparents and cousins, so that's why I moved back to Ca with the other 32,999,999 fellow nuts

 

that is the law here that the seller must smog the car unless he is junking it. if you bought it as a parts car and fix it back up then you must smog it. you can get it a temp licence and then drive it to get smogged. you will probably have to pay late fees because it was not registared and in california you have to pay for a non op license if you are not driving it and the only way out of that is to put it in the junk yard.

 

You will have to get it smogged. I usually tell the seller to knock a few dollars off the price and I will pay to get it smogged.

You can tell them that the car was not in the state for that year that it wasn't registered.

 

That's a smart idea ... hes selling it to me for about four hundred bucks cheaper than what it's worth because he doesn't want to get it registered and smogged!

 

The Weather does wear on most people that are new. They thought the wait 5 mins and it will change was a joke, Now they know better

 

If the seller specified up front that it was being sold to you only as a parts car, that's the tipoff that it's not smogged and WON'T smog. So that's how he got around having to smog it, otherwise it's on the seller to do it first. And of course, he saved some money. But if you bought it as a parts car, then part it out.

The only place I would get a car that isn't smogged first is from a lien sale, like a tow yard. I've bought 2 cars that way, changed the oil and they passed smog fine.
Ray Mac

 

Well ... shh ... the reason he is selling it to me as "parts" is so he doesn't have to pay to get it smogged. The car is actually in fine running condition.

 

Well, I didn't mean to be so hard on you.

Since a vehicle is worth so much more if it's already smogged, though, if a person sells without it, it usually means he's found out the repairs to make it smog are too expensive.

 

Well...shh... The reason he's doing that is like fud2468200 said, the smog repairs are too expensive and he's letting you pay for them.

 

Fortunately, I don't think the smog repairs are that expensive with the Aerostar, even though I might be wrong. Think of it! The Aerostar, even for the California car I have, doesn't have a smog pump or an EGR valve. So what could go wrong? If you can start it, the PCM is probably good. So what else? O2 sensors? Temperature sensors? Pressure regulator? MAF? IAC? All cheap and most likely can be cleaned out to make it work (MAF and IAC). About the most expensive thing that can go wrong with the emission system is the Catalytic Converter, and I haven't seen one go bad yet.

So, take heart and dive right into it

By the way, what year and engine is this?

 

Well, its a 97 with a 4.0 and AWD ... he just hasn't had it registered in over a year because he bought two new cars, one for his wife and one for him. He is selling it cheap because it does need some work, the front windshield needs to be replaced, the steering is a little loose, and the lo-beams don't work but the high beams do. I can't really complain for a hundred bucks ... oh, and there is 150k miles on the second engine. The guy has told me that he just wants to get it out of his driveway. It has been sitting ... I dont really care if I have to put money in it.

 

I haven't had to do a front windshield yet (knock on wood), so I don't know how expensive it will be. May be 200-400 dollars? The loose steering is just labor intensive, but cheap to repair. '97, 4.0L, AWD for 100 bucks. How can you lose? You thief

By the way, I hope he PNO'ed it (filed a "planned non-operation") so you don't have to pay the hefty penalty for prior lapses in registration. Believe it or not, it's your penalty to pay, not his!!!!!

If he hasn't done that, then we need to do some underhanded stuff to the DMV. Private e-mail me and I'll tell you how. This stuff is so secret, if I wrote it down here, I'll have to shoot those on the board without a top-secret-licensed-to-kill clearance