I anticipate moving from MA co CA in the fall and I need to decide what to do with the car (more info below). I am not sure if taking the car to CA is a good decision, because of (1) an extra smog test (2) some rust that would automatically decrease value of the car in CA. Any advice would be appreciated.

The car, Volvo 240 wagon '87 with 170k miles and auto transmission was purchased last October for 2.2k. I've already put an extra 1.3k into it while changing shocks&ball joints, converting the radio, repairing odometer&installing tach, fixing chips in the paint and rust starting on the roof, fixing the leak in the tranny cooling lines and flushing it.

The car seems to be in a decent shape. Although it has some rust -- e.g. the tailgate bottom is rusty, there are some holes in the spare wheel compartment (the one on the passenger side), few holes that are fixed in the body where the bottom of the passenger door is. All this rust was addressed by previous owner, e.g. it was sanded, painted, patched, etc.

 

find the emissions certification plate, does it say CALIFORNIA on it, or 49 state? if its a 49 state car, you'll never get it registered in California.

240s are all over this part of California. most are rust free. I mean, COMPLETELY rust free.

 

Wow, that car's over 25 years old. CA won't register it?! Fufufuufufuuufuuu...

 

anything after 1975 has to meet the CA spec of its day, with biannual smog inspections. you go to a smog shop, you're usually in and out in 30 minutes once every 2 years, and it costs like $40 or $50.

 

You won't have any problems with the issue of the car being CA version or 49 states version--this went away over two decades ago! Even then, the worst was that an owner had to pay a "Fee", which later was ruled illegal and everybody got a refund. You know, "little knowledge", etc...

Passing the smog is usually easy for Volvos as long as they are in relatively sound running shape--they run pretty clean. On the bright side, there is no other roadworthy inspection in CA so any rust bucket will be welcome!