need info on police ticketing

[Fouihustle650]

Hi, I was wondering if there is a way to avoid "fix it tickets"? I'm planning on building up my s13 and was planning on turbo charging it. Now is there a way to avoid getting a fixing ticket for having an illegal engine mod or tinted windows. I live in the bay area, ca, but was wondering if I could have my s13 registered out of state, Texas for example, so i would have texas plates and have insurance in texas. So my car would be in my dads name and not mine also insurance would be under his name. So if I drive the car and get pulled over for dark tints on my front windows, can I still get a fix it ticket even with texas plates and its under my dads name.

Thanks in advance...

[Bubba1]

Hi, I was wondering if there is a way to avoid "fix it tickets"? I'm planning on building up my s13 and was planning on turbo charging it. Now is there a way to avoid getting a fixing ticket for having an illegal engine mod or tinted windows. I live in the bay area, ca, but was wondering if I could have my s13 registered out of state, Texas for example, so i would have texas plates and have insurance in texas. So my car would be in my dads name and not mine also insurance would be under his name. So if I drive the car and get pulled over for dark tints on my front windows, can I still get a fix it ticket even with texas plates and its under my dads name.

Thanks in advance...

you might avoid some CA fix it tickets but not all of them. For example, I believe California's tint laws apply to out of state vehicles as well. So if TX's tint standards are darker than CA, you can still get ticketed in CA.

Something else to consider is annual inspections, I don't know if TX has an annual inspection or not. But If they do, you might have to get that car to TX once per year to have it inspected if it's registered there. That's not cheap given the cost of gas these days. Something to look into.

[alms24sebring]

^ Thats a good point about inspections. Can you get in trouble for frauding registration and insurance like that? You can always register it in another county that doesnt have emissions, but you didnt hear that from me. And I dont know California but do cops check under the hoods for illegal/swapped/'off road only' engines?

[raremotive]

^ Thats a good point about inspections. Can you get in trouble for frauding registration and insurance like that? You can always register it in another county that doesnt have emissions, but you didnt hear that from me. And I dont know California but do cops check under the hoods for illegal/swapped/'off road only' engines?

You mean suppose I was a California resident who cares..could go to this website?

http://www.chp.ca.gov/prog/cheaters.cgi

And report him? I am sure that the CHP will pull you over, because... most out-of-state license plates are always suspicious.. drug transporting, etc.. so it's also a convenient way to check residency too.

So to sum things up:

It's illegal, don't do it. It will prove to be a headache.

[alms24sebring]

I believe it. The consequences of being caught may be more than you can handle.

Cali laws are another reason why it just needs to drift off in the middle of the Pacific, but rules are rules.

[S133P3R]

Whoa whoa whoa, this guy sounds like a cop. And if your not from Cali, don't talk about it.

[C-Kwik]

Ultimately, there is going to be some risk. Generally, most cops don't worry/care/know about illegal engine mods. For the most part,they won't enforce such things if they don't have heavy suspicion and/or you're doing something really stupid (illegal street racing actually have undercover cops who are pretty knowledgeable relaying info to uniformed officers). Not sure how prolific this still is as my knowledge of it stems from aspects of insurance fraud they were dealing with when I was an adjuster and I've been out of the industry for 6 years. The program was growing at that time and they were pretty knowledgeable about the 240sx and the SR20 motors being put in them.

I have heard of limited cases of non-CARB turbo cars being caught on regular streets. They were rare, but there is still risk.

Cali laws are another reason why it just needs to drift off in the middle of the Pacific, but rules are rules.

Aftermarket manufacturers can build turbo and supercharger systems that can be CARB approved and therefore street legal. While its ultimately a problem for enthusiasts, understand that the intent is to prevent the huge increases in emissions levels (which could be on the order of hundreds or thousand times greater than stock) that come with adding parts like turbos, superchargers, intakes and headers that might undo some of the progress made by CA emissions standards. It basically puts the parts through similar standards as the OEs. There are some procedures in place to allow an engine swap from the same or newer year legally as well (must be a motor approved for use in US, i.e. no RWD SR20 motors).

Now, I understand the reason for the animosity towards CA on emissions, but there are very good reasons for the laws to exist. And if there were an easier way to ensure modifications meet or exceed OE emissions, I'm open to it. The standard biennial smog check is very limited compared to what manufacturers actually test for.