How Legal Is Your Car?

[euroshark]

No insurance is no joke. I'll always have insurance on any car I take on the street.

Wait til you get caught with your pants down.

lol, so serious. I have insurance any time I take a car on the street, but not when they are parked for repairs or "off season".

[AndrewBird]

Technically, any modification done to the car that isn't a "factory" option, is considered illegal. I'd like to see a cop who would enforce that however.

And euro ellips and HID's are illegal because they are not DOT approved.

[NC325iC]

my car is full on legal

[ivo316]

My car was fully illegal, no inspection and no payments on license plates for two months, now it's ALL legal.

[TerribleONE]

gamecube nintendo,
-5% tint so you cant see up in my win-dow.(got a ticket)
-no front plate (got a ticket)
-hids
-drove my car for like a week with no exaust
-euro trim
-euro lights all around
-smoked taillights
-driving someone not over 20years of age (provisional licence)(ticketed)

[ddongbap]

I got caught without insurance and registration. It was only a $414 ticket. I guess I got off hella easy.

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

i had 4 mnths tech inspection expired, becauase i was in college and didn't have time...

[LivingLegend06]

Im living on the edge with no rearview mirror. If thats not illegal then i guess im legit and not cool like you guys.

[JasonC]

Im living on the edge with no rearview mirror. If thats not illegal then i guess im legit and not cool like you guys.

I was told that if you have both of our side veiw mirrors, you don't have to have a rear veiw mirror. But that was in IL.

[BimmerToad]

do 2 dead hookers in the trunk count as one illegal mod or two?

My car is legit, minus the euro ellipsoids and no front plate. M52 swap is CA smog certified.

[browntown]

you people make me scared to be on the road, and even more scared to open my insurance bill. We have mandatory uninsured driver insurance in Oregon because of you fuck-nuts.

The third brake light thing can't be a huge deal, it was only mandatory on cars after about 1986 I think (anyone old enough to remember them being called "Dole Lights"?, my 85 doesn't have one, and if you have a newer e30, there are still plenty of the generation without one. I couldn't imagine being pulled over for that.

You should have a rearview mirror, legal or not, it's the best way not to run over someone at the grocery store.

Turn signals, ehh, euro trim looks better, but I understand the safety of having them on the side of your car. Enough old pickups around here and people that just plain don't use their blinkers, doesn't mean much to me.

Never really understood the tint laws. I suppose it can limit your visibility at night which could be a safety concern, but even with tinted windows you should be able to see someone elses headlights. Only other argument I've heard is that it's for police safety so they can see in your car when approaching it to make sure you're not pointing a gun at them.

Whatever, only ticket like that I've ever been involved with is my buddy's mr2 was waiting on a custom exhaust and we were driving downtown with only headers. Got a fixit ticket, put on exhaust, court dismissed ticket.

[James Crivellone]

90% of my car is not D.O.T approved, no CAT on the exhaust, no front plate, and about 10,000 other things.

Nothing unsafe or just dumb though (full insurance, etc)

[ptownTSI]

Yeah.. paying for insurance is cheaper than the fine that they slap you with for not having coverage. And I happen to be with Geico who actively NOTIFIES the motor vehicle bureau any time my coverage lapses. Other companies that I have had in the past never said anything and I only got caught if the motor vehicle bureau decided to do a random check.

The last time I got busted, I ended up havnig to pay a $1300 fine. I could have paid my premium for 2 years for that kind of money!

what if you weren't driving the car while the premium lapsed? like say you didn't renew it because you don't drive the car for 4 months during winter or something, why would they fine you?

[browntown]

what if you weren't driving the car while the premium lapsed? like say you didn't renew it because you don't drive the car for 4 months during winter or something, why would they fine you?

Some states, NY is one, you have to surrender your plates if your insurance expires or lapses. I think they verify electronically, they're mighty serious about it. I got a letter once when I moved back to Oregon and was in process changing to Oregon registration.

[MR 325]

90% of my car is not D.O.T approved, no CAT on the exhaust, no front plate, and about 10,000 other things.

Nothing unsafe or just dumb though (full insurance, etc)

Since when is it illegal for a car not to run? :D