i'm wondering the same because where i live if they think you have a loud stereo its $500 fine plus impound for a damn noise ordinance ( not even DUI's get their cars impounded) and what people don't realize is that the car community (especially scions) are the only thing keeping the economy going. i'm glad i'm not in cali with you guys. i definately feel sorry for everyone there that has to deal with that stuff.

 

Wow PIGS..... I kind of get offended when people say that. My father is actually a police officer and has been a good one as a matter of fact. 20+ yrs on the force and protecting and serving the city of Anaheim. Don't get me wrong there are bad ones out there too, but there are a lot of good ones too. Believe it or not, a lot of cops are into our scene too. One of our own fellow Scion owners for example Squirrel from Nor Cal is one of Oakland PD's finest and also a fellow Scion / Import enthusists just like us.

The point of the crackdowns are, numbers say that majority of these meet and greets lead and attract to illegal activity. Not technically saying you are doing something illegal. Its just they tend to attract the wrong attention. They may not know our lifestyle apart from the other all around meets, but they do know that Scion people are more mature and not so ricy.

 

why is modifying ur car so bad in cali? ive never heard of any of this type of stuff here in ny its nuts

 

i thought they couldnt make you do anything like pop your hood or search your car with out a search warrant? if you consent it, then thats a different story but i thought if you told them no...they couldnt do anything about it like arrest you and such....the funny thing is, last week when AlphaSQUAD was having there weekly meets at McD's off the 91 & McKinley, a cop straight up rolled by and didnt say ****...just rolled and left....and it was surprising cause we had a big and i mean BIG turn out that day....so idk

 

Most of it has to do with the Emissions Controls in CA. and the smog here when it comes to engine modifications.

 

The reason is, it was a private meet and advised the cop that it was strictly our private meet and we were leaving as soon as we were done. Notice the "bird" even showed up and left?

 

na i didnt even notice the "bird"...but thats good to know...i also think there really cracking down in places where they know this is a problem....like AcidDrop said about Porter Ranch ...and i quote

so its like once something goes down in one place...they tend to keep watch in or around that area....another example is the streetraces that always use to go down in pasadena(i think...or was it pomona?)....anywho we just need to stay low since we dont do that type of stuff anyways...we just go to chill

oh my OP was edited in respect to kirbys pops...

 

Its those idiots that kill the car scene doing burnouts, peelouts, reving, etc. and now everyone is getting blamed for it.

 

did anyone see that CRX that wrapped around a tree and completely split in half off the 91 and lincoln this morning? that ____ was crazy...

/threadjack lol

 

So what if your modifications are all carb legal like from the dealership. Can they still bust you. ex Aem cold air or trd exhaust.

 

if the cop is out to get you yes.. but you can fight it in court.

 

Cops in general, don't know jack about mods, they just know what they "look" like. You'll probably get pulled over, have the vehicle searched, and given a ticket anyway. If you're not, they'll try and find something to write a ticket for like tinted windows, no front license plate, a windshield crack, or something else relatively stupid.

 

Lol, you're kidding me right?

The entire nation is green. Period. Concepts like safety, Racism, Sexism, Due process, and everything is more or less a front. If they can make money off of you, they'll find a way to do it.

Take street racing for example, they continually tell you how dangerous it is when in actuality, less than 200 deaths occur NATIONWIDE per year. However, when you look at deaths related to alcohol consumption or even cell phone use, the number of deaths climbs is over 1,000 higher!

Are they going to eliminate alcohol consumption? Absolutely not, because alcohol is taxable. Are they going to get rid of cell phones? Nope, because majority convience allows for acceptable loss. Deaths are ok as long as the majority benefits.

Since we that mod our cars are in the minority, they target us under the disguise of "safety".

It's all BS.

 

i know cops in OC crack you down if they are d!cks or if you did something illegal to p!ss them off. while i was chilling at my audio guys place, all the cops from buena park to LAPD come over there to get their cars done. i talked to several of them and they told me yeah its illegal to modify the engine but why are they just gonna crack you down when your not doing anything wrong. like what they said, is dont do anything wrong and your fine. drawing attention will get you pulled over

 

No I am not kidding I was on the waiting list and passed my Police exam back in the 90's. Cops have a job to do and there are good one s and bad ones just like every where else in every industry Or one we just do not like cause they ruined our day but are good cops My motive to wanting to be a Cop was I felt I could make a diff. I have a good sense of honestly an integrity. That is def. not a joke and lost friends over it. I was also attracted to the great long term benefits and being a non-citizen has it's perks. However there are politics here and the mere fact that police have a quota to fill leads to human error and some will look for what ever they can to give out big $$ tickets. Money is the route to all evil?

This situation is what is a tad BS to me. I agree we are a minority and maybe in time more laws will be put into place to protect us but for now I think even the good cops or cops that are our friends will be put under pressure to help save there department or jobs in the dapartment. Not good.

 

Well Marlon, regardless a death is a death...street racing, drugs, suicide, whatever. Street racing is still illeagal. It can be 1 or 2 million, its still one person dead.

 

Thank god I live in Southern Maryland. There is NO vehicle inspection once you buy the car for the life of owning the vehicle. If you sell, it does need to be re-inspected. It's not that way state-wide, but is for our county.

For the dealer-installed CARB-exempt or legal stuff, isn't there a plack or certificate that comes with it? Couldn't you just mount it in the engine bay or carry it with your registration? I'm not sure even a stubborn cop would fight the paperwork since it would be garenteed not to hold up in court.

I know here for our clubs, we hold all our meets on private property, either at our sponsoring dealership or local businesses who sanction the meets. That, and the reacetrack when we can get Scion corporate to help pitch in. Cops have rode through the dealer meets before but it's kind of hard for them to say we're tresspassing or anything when the dealer employees attend as well Of course, we're all parked and not doing stupid stuff like burnouts.

Could I just show a picture of my xB in court as evidence I don't race it?

 

I agree 100%, but call a spade, a spade.

For the police department to blatantly lie and say that street racing, modding your car, or even driving fast is dangerous is just nowhere grounded in fact.

How is it that on the Autobahn in Germany, drivers can legally reach speeds of up to 250mph + yet have the same accidents per year as we do on the 91 freeway? Maybe speed isn't the source of accidents, perhaps it's just our crappy driving tests? They don't even test you on parallel parking!

By the police department's reasoning, no one should be allowed to drive cars period, because there are more deaths caused by automobiles than any other form of transportation. Cell Phones should be banned 100% while in the car, as study after study has proven that the act of TALKING is what's dangerous, not holding a phone to one's ear. Alcohol just be banned too, because it's more dangerous than some illegal drugs in terms of abuse.

Will they ever do that? Absolutely not, because a few deaths, or even a lot of them, is ok in a capitalist society as long as the majority benefits from it.

I'm more or less ok with that notion, as are most people who use their cell phone, but let's keep it real. There are so many other LEGAL things that are thousands of times more dangerous than this crap.

I don't street race, but that doesn't keep me from seeing all the BS the media keeps trying shove down my throat. Not buying it...

 

bottom line. Damn Fast N The Furious and Bow Wow. The media is one of the main reasons for this too.

 

In cali, it's technically illegal to modify your "muffler" period. It's not actually in the Vehicle Code, it's actually somewhere in the automotive retail/repair section of the state business codes (I think).

You can only "change" your muffler if you are replacing it with OEM or aftermarket equivalent (to OEM only). Anything else is considered a no-no. Even if the new muffler meets noise standards (95 db).

So if the officer sees an exhaust that "looks" or "sounds" "different", he automatically has "reasonable suspicion" that you're breaking THE LAW in some other way.

The above statement only addresses mufflers and noise. If the cop tries to tell you you're violating CARB by changing your muffler, smile and nod, and then fight it in court later.