Exhaust ticket. Please help.

GBDiaz

Furious Eggplant
Spectator
So, I was driving home right now going the speed limit, if not a little slower when a FL Highway Patrol car pulls up behind me and stops me at 2:09 A.M.(I was by FIU). Tells me the reason why he's giving me a ticket is because I have an altered exhaust that goes against D.O.T. I drive an '89 S13 Silvia with a CA18 and a full turbo back ISIS exhaust (Catback is ISIS MBSE). He didn't pull out a decibel meter or anything, just gave me a ticket and said that I have to get a shop to put on a factory exhaust (WTF, that's still illegal, exhaust shops never order any OEM parts). Has anyone dealt with this? My exhaust is pretty quiet, I doubt it exceeds any limit. I do have pictures of my car with the stock exhaust and I know someone who could give me a receipt stating that they worked on it...? Any ideas, please help!
 
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Lawyer up. Cop doesn't care and neither will the judge. They'll just tell you to pay and go home pizza boy.

Lawyer can help you keep points of license, and trust me it's worth it...

Seriously. I just got my license back today and could have paid off my 350z with how much I've given my lawyer for my trouble
 
Is it true that if I show, 'proof,' (receipts) that I changed back to, 'factory,' exhaust I could go to a police station and get it signed off?
 
Got a be tint ticket took them off myself showed a few pictures of the car after and that waved the ticket... Not sure if they take points on a non moving violation
 
I got pulled over a couple years ago for the same thing, and my exhaust was pretty quiet. Theres a law that actually says youre not allowed to operate any vehicle on fl highways with an exhaust system that is not oe designed. its stupid and only enforced to rake up tickets. worst part is theres two sections to the law, one is dismissible by a simple signature and the other isnt.
 
How do I know which one is which?? And how would they know if my car's exhaust is OE or not? It's from Japan, not like he will know.
 
Same thing happened to me on the turnpike. I had a cop buddy sign off on the ticket saying it was put back to stock and only had to pay $5. You need to prove to the police with a visual inspection that the exh was put back to stock to have the ticket thrown out. It's not a moving violation so you shouldn't have to worry about points.
 
Same thing happened to me on the turnpike. I had a cop buddy sign off on the ticket saying it was put back to stock and only had to pay $5. You need to prove to the police with a visual inspection that the exh was put back to stock to have the ticket thrown out. It's not a moving violation so you shouldn't have to worry about points.

Thanks for the response. I do have a buddy who's an officer, so he could sign it off. But someone mentioned there are two sections of the law; one could be signed off and the other can't. Is there any way I could tell just by looking at the ticket?

The cop was just being a dick... I was not doing anything at all and I have a beyond clean driving record. He couldn't even cut me a break with a warning.
 
look at the ticket, it should state which law was violated.

---------- Post added at 09:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 AM ----------

How do I know which one is which?? And how would they know if my car's exhaust is OE or not? It's from Japan, not like he will know.

they see shiny or big tips and immediately think aftermarket

---------- Post added at 09:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:40 AM ----------

if you got busted for 316.293 section 5.b which i remember right is what i got, ur pretty much fucked

(5) NOISE ABATEMENT EQUIPMENT MODIFICATIONS.—
(a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle or any other noise-abatement device of a motor vehicle operated or to be operated upon the highways of this state in such a manner that the noise emitted by the motor vehicle is above that emitted by the vehicle as originally manufactured.
(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of the state with an exhaust system or noise-abatement device so modified.
 
I got 316.293(5)(a).

The ISIS MBSE is kinda of flashy for me and bigger than I actually wanted. I was looking at Magnaflow and those mufflers look pretty dope. I like how flush it looks. Shouldn't attract much attention.

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Do you know if they sell catbacks for 240's or would I buy the tip and make my own piping?
 
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I feel bad for you but NO WORRIES im typically pretty good at this kinda stuff since the people who try to enforce the laws in this country are often idiots that give out tickets like this all the time. First off cars that are before 1998 or so get a lot more privileges in terms of what can slide in terms of car modifications, exhaust, etc. (this is primarily due to a higher amount of emissions that are created in older cars). These privileges are not directly listed in the rule book but if you call a DMV most people will tell you that cars past a certain date are not obligated to abide by the same regulations are their cars. Exhaust being replaced alone is not enough to receive a ticket and hold any ground as there is no direct law against it. At the least a new car with a replaced exhaust can only cause you to void a warranty on a car but since it is a 240sx that doesn't even apply. Unless you have a certain amount of filed complaints on the noise of your car, your car exhaust exceeds a certain level of decibels in terms of noise, or your exhaust is releasing excessive amounts of smoke that create less visibility for the driver behind you, there is no reason why you should have to pay that ticket. I daily drive my drift car with the ISIS GT exhaust and have even been complimented by a police officer and drive around town all the time. Since i am on a NA engine and not using the silencer my car actually is loud. There are several arguments floating around about the ticket violation that you received where if used well can easily get you out of a ticket. The reason for this is that different cars even out of factory are much louder than others. Simply saying that you are being fined if the car is louder than it was out of factory then can not be justified with a reason for it existing in the first place. The only reason laws like this exist is because some people do not like driving around a car that it EXCESSIVELY loud which they have a separate test for which would be where they see if your car makes a certain decibel level of noise. Since they started doing this the fine that you were charged with is rendered useless and it is uncommon that people are fined for that reason. In front of a judge nobody is going to try and argue that if your car is louder than OEM that you are being an annoyance in public. If i were you i would take your chances in court because the government contradicts itself far too often as a result of politicians lacking common sense. Most people don't even realize that we are in violation of the constitution every single day and have been for the last 30 years or so.
 
It wasn't really a noise complaint, just the fact that I had a modified exhaust. Although, now that I read what I was charged with, it mainly focuses on exhaust sound.
 
Just take it to court, either get a lawyer to do it or you take a day off to do it yourself. Everytime ive taken an exhaust ticket to court (by myself no lawer) right after the judge sees the ticket he laughs and dismisses it. If you fight it and dont bend over and let them fuck you youll stand a better chance at saving some money. Or you could pay it, its like $75-95 or something like that.
 
i would just get it signed off and pay the ticket. that way when they search the records itll show that its been approved
 
Get it signed off and go to court. Paying the ticket also admits guilt, and getting it dismissed will usually cost close to nothing. ALSO, getting signed off and going to the clerk doesn't do anything, they will just try and make you pay the ticket. You have to go to court. I almost flipped when I got a $1300 bill in December(at the clerk).

I got stopped in November and got 10 violations. 4 for 4 bald tires, 1 for a broken mirror, 1 for no tag lights, 2 for no side marker lights and 2 for no turn signals. Each was $129 (or $1290 total), which I bet is probably about the price of your ticket($129). Find a way to get your ticket signed off, if you have "proof of repairs," even better. Then go to court, and ask for dismissal.

Chances for the cop showing up to give you hell are slim, to none. Unless there is someone there that he wants fined. Either way, I doubt they will take the ticket seriously and probably dismiss it. If they write the ticket, they just want you to fix it. They normally show up just for the douche that gave them hell or more serious offenses like moving violations, not for something small like an exhaust ticket.
 
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