Illegal Exhaust
 

i drive a 2001 honda civic ex and i live in nc. i drive to va beach everyday for school and work. i got pulled over four weeks ago and the cop told me that he didnt like my car so i have to change my exhaust bc its not standard. i took them my nc state inspection showing it legal where i live and the judge told me that since i go to work and school in va i am considered a va resident ?... my exhaust has mufflers, converters. i bought the car in va and it passed inspection. i dont understand why now it has to be an issue. if anyone can help plz reply i got court tomo and im not changing it to satisfy a judge when all out cars and trucks have straight pipes or dual stacks... not happening.

Re: Illegal Exhaust
 

wow man that's bullshit. I agree with ya too on loud ass trucks and and straight piped vehicles. if there is a muffler and a cat converter on it then it should be fine. wtf. is your car really loud?

Re: Illegal Exhaust
 

I don't know what the laws are in those states but in MD it is illegal to modify your exhaust in any way other than OE, I assume it is similar in most other states. That means it doesn't matter how loud or quite your aftermarket exhaust is, or how massive or tiny the muffler is, or that you have a cat or muffler at all. If it is simply aftermarket, the police have every right to pull you over for it and give you a ticket.

I know because I was pulled over once just for my exhaust. I was sitting at a stop light and a cop pulled up behind me. The cop was no where before hand, I wasn't speeding or doing anything wrong. The second the light turned green, the lights came on. The cop asked if I knew it was illegal to modify the exhaust and I said yes. I got off with a written warning. I've since then replaced that crappy Magnaflow to a custom Jones Full Boar setup that is very quite and very well hidden and the tip looks stock. However I know the risk of being pulled over is still there and if I get a ticket, so be it.

Passing inspection and passing emissions has nothing to do with it. I used to work at a dealership and modified cars would pass inspection all the time. I've taken my modified cars though emissions and passed. It doesn't matter, like I said, if the exhaust is not OEM in any way, you can be pulled over and ticketed for it.

You're probably screwed if your defense is "all these trucks, bikes, and other cars have massive loud exhausts.. blah blah". The law is the law and it's pretty simply cut out on this one. The judge will side with the cop and you'll now have to pay court fees on top of the ticket and might have to go through a "fix it" ticket, where you WILL have to change the exhaust back to OE, show the car to the police and have the ticket signed off proving it has been fixed.

Good luck.

Re: Illegal Exhaust
 

How long have you been going to school in VA? Do you pay in-state tuition for VA? I think if you can show you're paying out of state then they really can't say you're a VA resident.

Re: Illegal Exhaust
 

You've already been to court for it.. is it too late to appeal? You may want to talk to a lawyer who does traffic/vehicular in VA who takes you seriously, most won't and will probably just tell you to put a stock exhaust back on, but they'd be the one to know. I doubt your out of state defense is going to work.. You couldn't strip a car to a shell and drive it on 3 wheels just because you have out of state plates, but it is the best defense I can think of.

Digging your heels in and bucking the system isn't going to get you anywhere. But good luck, va are hard asses and enjoy taking a non-local's money and ruining their day.

30 days in a state and you're expected to have your address/registration/etc changed over. But there are some grey area angles students can work to their advantage.

Re: Illegal Exhaust
 

But he said he commutes everyday from NC to school. He doesn't live in VA he just goes to school and works there. Isn't a "resident" supposed to "reside" in the state that they live in?

Re: Illegal Exhaust
 

Students can use a local address. That makes them out of state still.