Can anyone tell me if a PA resident can register a car in a county they don’t reside in?

Submitted by belleayreski2 t3_107c7sw in Pennsylvania

I live in Philly and I have a car that won’t run the emissions tests. Not that it won’t pass the tests, it refuses to run them. My inspection has been expired since August and I keep on getting tickets. After going to two dealerships, two independent garages, and spending hundreds in repairs, the status of my car is still “not ready”. I am being told by everyone to just “keep driving the car”. There is a emissions exception that you can get if you can’t pass emissions but my car doesn’t fail, it just won’t run the tests, so I’ve been told I don’t qualify for it. I’m completely at my wits end as to what to do with the car. My only hope is that I can register the car in a county that doesn’t require emissions testing, however after a lot of googling I can’t find out if residency is required in a county to do this. If anyone has any links to any information about this I would be very grateful, thanks

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crankshaft123 t1_j3lxsdw wrote

It sounds like the shops you've been visiting don't know what they're doing and they don't know the waiver requirements. If your car is "not ready for testing" it automatically fails the emissions test.

Your car should qualify for a waiver, but I can't say for certain w/o seeing your receipts. The trick will be finding a shop that actually employs a Certified Repair Technician, as those are the only people who can issue waivers. This is an additional license on top of the Emissions Inspection license, and only a small fraction of Emissions Inspectors hold both the EEIC (emissions inspector) and FIRST (emissions repair) licenses.

If you actually want to fix the car so it will pass, take a 3 hour trip to Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics in the State College area. I used to work in Philly, so I knew a bunch of qualified guys in Philly and Delco, but I haven't worked in that area in 15 years. I lost contact with those people years ago. Some have retired. Others are dead.

Ivan at PHAD is the only person I know who is both qualified to diagnose/repair your car and honest.

PHAD contact info

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3m0i3t wrote

Thank you!

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crankshaft123 t1_j3m40yr wrote

You're welcome.

After replying to your post, it dawned on me that I might know someone nearby who can help you. He teaches PA Inspection and Emissions courses in West Chester. Contact Joe Torchiana at Torchiana Automotive Training Institute in West Chester. 610-420-0879. He should be able to recommend a somewhat local shop who can fix your car and/or issue a waiver.

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poodog13 t1_j3ljrmc wrote

Your vehicle is supposed to be registered to your primary residence. Anything else is falsifying your registration and against the law.

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tr3vw t1_j3mvwfn wrote

People do this all the time though. Blame PA’s absurd inspection/emissions requirements, which vary county to county. It’s all a big scam.

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crankshaft123 t1_j3o41nj wrote

What is absurd about PA's inspection and emissions requirements?

The safety inspection prevents people from driving deathtrap shitboxes on PA's roads.

The emissions inspection prevents people from driving vehicles that unnecessarily pollute the air we all breathe.

What's absurd about those things?

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Blexcr0id t1_j3qn9m0 wrote

100%! I've seen the death traps folks drive in Ohio and would rather deal with PA inspections process (with a reputable inspection station).

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shewy92 t1_j3vxu17 wrote

> What is absurd about PA's inspection and emissions requirements? > >

The fact that it varies county to county is pretty absurd to me. Does the pollution in Franklin County not also pollute Cumberland County? Does Perry County have a forcefield so that its emission testless cars don't pollute Dauphin County?

If that's not absurd then I don't know what is

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nalgene_wilder t1_j3nnw8l wrote

What? Blame the assholes who refuse to simply register and have their car inspected where they live. It ain't hard

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worstatit t1_j3lmc2r wrote

Not legally. Best option for this is title it in the name of someone who lives in the desired county. But now it's not your car...many potential problems.

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FaithlessnessCute204 t1_j3lvxj2 wrote

I’m going to take a guess , you keep clearing the system memory before you take it in. The system is checking memory not live data . If you don’t have any data it can’t run a test

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3lznca wrote

No, I’ve got hundreds of miles and dozens of warmup cycles since codes cleared/battery disconnected. I know this because I can read those values from the OBD scanner I have

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Tacodude5 t1_j3lkjqj wrote

It doesn't have a computer? Why won't it run emissions?

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3lzgrf wrote

The evap and oxygen sensor readiness monitors just say “not ready”. I’ve tried to run the drive cycles dozens of times and even had the dealership try themselves to do the drive cycles, but nothing helps. There are no codes either.

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crankshaft123 t1_j3m7c1t wrote

The evap monitor will NEVER complete if the fuel level is below 15% or above 85%. Does your gas gauge work properly?

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No-Setting9690 t1_j3m7nax wrote

Had a similar issues on my Ford Escape. Two monitors would not come up. Did about 200 miles, still would not activate. This was through Pep Boys, cause nothing was wrong. After few days, they gave me a pass as nothing visually was wrong. I would suggest finding another place as you should eventually be able to get it done if nothing is broken/wrong.

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crankshaft123 t1_j3melo1 wrote

How did they "give you a pass?" The inspection computer determines if the OBD system passes or fails. There's no way for the inspector to override the computer's determination.

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NotNowDamo t1_j3nqddh wrote

Lol, while I believe this happened, because Pep Boys are a shit operation and their mechanics suck, about 10 years ago, They insisted they knew what why my check engine light was on and ignored me when I told then I already ran codes.

3 weekends in a row I took it in, each time the light would come back on within 30 miles. I eneded up taking it somewhere else and vowed to never go there again.

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No-Setting9690 t1_j3nrebn wrote

I only take it there when I need it to be inspected and other places have long waits. I will never take my car there for repairs.
Late 90's I was young and stupid. Took my car there to get brakes fixed, said I need shows and drums (was a '70 Dodge Dart). I agree. Brother came with me to pick it up, we asked for parts, they said they threw them out. We jacked car up in parking lot and proved they lied. They never did the work. I should have brought charges against them, but didnt. I will never trust Pep Boys to do more than inspection.

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Tacodude5 t1_j3n14lc wrote

Maybe it's the battery is too shitty?

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3saz33 wrote

I changed the battery, catalytic converter, both oxygen sensors and even the whole engine wiring harness :(

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crankshaft123 t1_j3lz6va wrote

It sounds like certain monitors are not completing, so the PCM flags them as "not ready" and the car automatically fails emissions inspection.

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kronus87 t1_j3lmlll wrote

You just need a family member or friend that lives in a non emissions county. Register under their address. Your plates and cards will be mailed their but its works fine for the stickers. P.O box wont work.

Or find a garage that will give you a sticker regardless of the vehicles condition. Those are getting harder to find these days but its still possible. The seedier the garage looks the more likely they might do it for an extra $50.

Ive seen some counterfeit stickers sold online but none that looked good enough to try.

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TransporterOffline t1_j3lxgbw wrote

Registration is linked directly to your Driver License address. So unless you're willing to change that address (say, to a family member's address), pay taxes at that address, go to jury duty in that county, vote there, etc., the registration hack won't work. I think like a couple others suggested you may just need to continue to shop around for a friendlier inspector.

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Wild_Box9005 t1_j3myd5g wrote

What kind of car? And which monitors are not setting? I’m a tech in bucks county

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3sb930 wrote

2016 WRX, and it's the Evap and oxygen sensor (O2 Heater and Cat monitors are good). I do have an OTS tune from Cobb, but it's never been an issue before, as I haven't eliminated any Smog components from my car.

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Wild_Box9005 t1_j3scwwa wrote

More than likely it’s the time, I’ve run into issues once with a Cobb acting up. No rhyme or reason, we reset it back to factory had him take it easy for 175 miles and ran it again.

I’ve had diablosport do it on multiple vehicles

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3t4dns wrote

Is there any danger in running the stock tune with an aftermarket intake and J pipe?

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Wild_Box9005 t1_j3w4kgo wrote

If you’re easy on it then you shouldn’t have any problems, If you were running larger injectors and a bigger turbo it might fuck it up but if you just have an intake and down pipe you’ll be fine

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INVUJerry t1_j3n6cij wrote

You need to have your license in the other county to have it registered there. That the only hold up.

I live like 1/2 mile from Adams county and half the time my registrations pop up for them. But my township cops always bug me about it.

Depending on the year of the vehicle you’re allowed to have 1 or 2 not readiness set codes.

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3sc5qe wrote

It's a 2016 so I'm only allowed to have one not set, but I have Evap and O2 sensor :(

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INVUJerry t1_j3sjc3e wrote

Which o2 sensor? And is it the o2 heater or o2 activity? If the car is modded, there are ways to trick the ecu

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3t4guq wrote

The heater one is set, it's just the regular O2 monitor. I only have one "bank" of O2 sensors so it doesn't show different monitors for left and right.

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INVUJerry t1_j3tbsfc wrote

It should say bank 1 sensor 1 or 2

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3tyw89 wrote

I only have one bank, the exhaust is joined into one before the first oxygen sensor. There is no “bank 1” and “bank 2”

Here’s a pic of the readiness monitors

https://i.imgur.com/zQQqrGR.jpg

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INVUJerry t1_j3tz879 wrote

I understand that. It will have an upstream and a downstream/after catalytic converter sensor. One “bank”, two sensors.

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3w9d0g wrote

Right but the readiness monitor doesn’t distinguish between them. There isn’t a sensor 1 readiness monitor and sensor 2 readiness monitor, just an “oxygen sensor” one

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PixiKris t1_j3n8dp9 wrote

Don't know where all you have been for your inspections. I went to CaroTech on 8th street. Mike has been straightforward and great to work with. He's my go to guy ever since I found his shop. I would suggest giving him a call and see if he can help.

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imakedrinks88 t1_j3ntxb7 wrote

After a quick look in your post history and seeing you rebuild a WRX and having evap and O2 monitors not set, I wonder if your ECU is tuned.

Some tunes will turn off your secondary O2 sensor in order to help maintain a certain A/F ratio.

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crankshaft123 t1_j3o0zzw wrote

Turning off the downstream 02s via tuning or coding usually makes the monitor show up as N/A or NOT SUPPORTED on an OBD I/M test. The state computer will typically allow that to pass.*

*I haven't done an emissions inspection in 3 years, but this info was correct as of 01/2020.

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3schy6 wrote

I do have an OTS tune, but I still have all of the smog components like Cat, O2 sensors, etc. I have been able to set the monitors in the past.

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belleayreski2 OP t1_j3saog8 wrote

It's an OTS tune from Cobb that goes with the exhaust and intake, but it hasn't stopped the readiness monitors in the past.

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J_tman t1_j3ntyba wrote

I know somebody that did this by buying a post office box in another county and registering their vehicle to that

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dirtyoldman20 t1_j3ojm8z wrote

Maybe cross to a easier county . The 3 places I use in luzerne county dont even plug in the computer . Just check the gas cap for leaks.

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pa_bourbon t1_j3u6py6 wrote

Different counties have different emissions testing requirements.

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dirtyoldman20 t1_j3w5ui9 wrote

Not sure if you can get away going to an easier county.The stickers look the same . I dont think the mechanic up here would have the computer needed. Its just a question / option .

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pa_bourbon t1_j3wbk3d wrote

My point was not every county has the same requirements for emission testing. The rules that apply to a vehicle are determined by the county of registration, not the county where the test is performed.

The state sets the rules county by county.

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SBRH33 t1_j3qtv3n wrote

If your car is parked on any street in PA and doesn't have a valid inspection it is liable for ticketing/citation. If it's parked on a residential street in the suburbs its less likely to be ticketed unless a nosey neighbor calls the car in. This has happened to me. I'd pack my bike in my car. Then I'd leave my car out in the burbs and train back into town to beat traffic and the horrible parking situation, using my bike to get around from car to train station, and station to home. It worked well for a while. But neighborhood people took notice of what i was doing and started fucking with my car after a while, leaving notes and leaving trash on my car etcetera. Folks do pay attention out in the burbs. Anyway.

Switching counties isn't going to save you from a potential inspection violation ticket. Also your car is registered to your legal address, so if thats philly then its philly.

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[deleted] t1_j3lip8y wrote

[deleted]

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That_Checks t1_j3littt wrote

False

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NastyBass28 t1_j3ljju2 wrote

Butler and Armstrong don’t do them. I’m sure there are several other counties that don’t as well.

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TMax01 t1_j3n8tyb wrote

Am I missing something? Since when does the county have anything to do with state registration and state inspections? AFAIK, what county you file the paperwork in is irrelevant, and state inspections are required and enforced in every county in Pennsylvania.

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crankshaft123 t1_j3nxu3x wrote

>Am I missing something?

Apparently. >>Since when does the county have anything to do with state registration and state inspections?

Since 1984, your county of registration has determined whether your vehicle is subject to emissions inspection or not. >>> AFAIK, what county you file the paperwork in is irrelevant, and state inspections are required and enforced in every county in Pennsylvania.

The county where your vehicle is registered determines whether or not it is subject to emissions inspection. All cars and light trucks, other than those tagged as farm vehicles, are required to have an annual safety inspection regardless of the county they're registered in.

You're right in that the paperwork can be filed in any county. For example, someone from Chester County could buy a vehicle in Potter County and file the registration/title paperwork in Potter County. His car would still be subject to emissions testing, because he lives in Chester County and the car is registered to his home address.

Drivecleanpa has all the info you could possibly need on this topic.

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feuerwehrmann t1_j3li7jd wrote

You have to have an address in the other county. A PO box in said other county may work.

I thought all counties now had emissions

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discogeek t1_j3lkuxq wrote

You can use a PO box as a secondary / mailing address for PennDOT, but you have to have a physical address as your main one.

Your residential address is also used for various things like voter registration, jury duty, county residency. So if you use a "fake" address in another county, you're not only breaking the law, but you're also setting yourself up for lots of unforeseen problems.

https://www.dmv.pa.gov/Pages/FAQ%20Pages/Address-Requirements-FAQ.aspx

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Dispatcher12 t1_j3lsw6a wrote

Nope. None of the Northern Tier counties do, nor a lot in the middle. When my sister borrowed my grandmother's car while she went to Susquehanna University she had to bring it down to Delco for an emissions test.

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[deleted] t1_j3lzzb8 wrote

Many of the larger chain garages in tioga county can do emissions like bastians and Steve Shannon’s.

In addition, Lycoming county requires emissions, it could have been done there.

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Dispatcher12 t1_j3m636j wrote

I don't think she knew that at the time. When she was in school it was Pittsburgh and surrounding and Philadelphia and surrounding. It was a while ago. She lives in Ohio now.

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LilDutchy t1_j3lmjlf wrote

The Skook still doesn’t.

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crankshaft123 t1_j3m04rh wrote

42 of the 67 counties in the state have no emissions inspection.

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feuerwehrmann t1_j3mm3fu wrote

I'm surprised I thought that was made universal.

Who remembers the state owned garage that you had to go to do get your emissions test done. That sucked

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crankshaft123 t1_j3mq6pt wrote

Not universal. Counties that the EPA designates at "non-attainment" or "severe non-attainment" areas require testing. Others don't.

>Who remembers the state owned garage that you had to go to do get your emissions test done.

Did you ever actually go to one? Where was it? The legislature pulled the plug on them before the State Testing Center was open to the public in the Philly suburbs. I never knew that one was fully operational before the legislature pulled the plug on that deal.

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feuerwehrmann t1_j3n1lk2 wrote

Pittsburgh area has them in the late 90s. They lasted a year or so

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crankshaft123 t1_j3n3fej wrote

Thanks. Is the building still there?

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feuerwehrmann t1_j3n8ueq wrote

Been a while since I've been back. I think it is a midas or another muffler shop now

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Allemaengel t1_j3ltqfv wrote

Neither Carbon or Monroe here in the Poconos do either.

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tr3vw t1_j3mwgvy wrote

Should just be a national system that you have to get it done every five years or something. Most PA counties are way too strict when you have other states and counties that will let you put anything that moves on the road.

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Allemaengel t1_j3n2n2b wrote

It's the state being strict, counties themselves aren't involved.

The state requires vehicle owners residing in counties over a certain population threshold to have emissions inspections.

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tr3vw t1_j3o5plu wrote

Gotchya. I had no idea thats how it worked!

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crankshaft123 t1_j3o8i7f wrote

The state is trying to comply with US EPA regulations.

If the US EPA (the feds) designate a county as a "non attainment" or "severe non-attainment" area, that county is subject to emissions inspection. It's not directly tied to population-the feds don't mandate that all counties with X number or more population get emissions inspection, but higher populations generally go hand in hand with more cars and more pollution, so it works out that way.

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