>IIRC emissions testing is similar to building codes in that you are only tested against the year the car was manufactured in most cases. As I understand it ol

>IIRC emissions testing is similar to building codes in that you are only tested against the year the car was manufactured in most cases. As I understand it older cars have higher allowable emissions, but the state has lowered those limits over the years. >So a 1970 car will still pollute as much as a 1970 car. In CA you are not required to get emissions testing for any car older than the 1975 model year. It used to be any car older than 30 years, but in 2005 they decided to leave it at 1975. To the larger point, yes, older cars can be registered with emissions levels consistant with a well-maintained car from that year. Though the net effect of the rules is to take more older cars off the road, since much of the time when you fail emissions testing it's cheaper to replace the car than to fix it.