Does anyone know how I can find out if a car passes Texas emission standards will also pass California's?

Question

We are purchasing a car for my son here in Texas using the Texas voucher program ( a program that gives you $3000 to apply towards a newer car in exchange for pulling your older car off the road). Although it will meet Texas emission standards how will we know if it will meet California's higher standard emission test? If it will cost thousands to upgrade to the California codes, might be cheaper to buy it in California without the $3000 voucher. Any tips or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Call the dealer, ask if THAT V.I.N. auto is CA smog equipped- You'll be WAY better off, if you DON'T buy one without CA smog, and then try to register it here- can cost up to $5,000 to install required parts. If it's equipped with CA smog, chances are it will be no problem to smog, or something mechanical that might need replacing( O2 sensor, Catalytic conv., re-timed, etc.)

Answer 2

Take the emission standards results you got from your test center in Texas and compare them here:

http://www.epa.gov/OMS/cert/veh-cert/b00...

to see if they are low enough to pass California standards.

Assuming you spend about $10K, it's probably cheaper to buy the used car in Texas with the voucher, even given the cost of getting the car from Texas to California (about $200 in gas I'm estimating, assuming about 1200 miles and 30mpg at $4.50 a gallon), new licensing and registration (a couple hundred dollars), and the whopping 8.25% sales tax in California (another thousand or so).

If the above inconveniences are worth a thousand or two dollars, do the Texas buy.