Rio Rancho, NM Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Rio Rancho's decibel ordinance (Municipal Code 131.06) is aimed at stationary noise sources and does not set a roadside vehicle decibel limit; the city's published rules note that motor-vehicle muffler requirements are handled under its traffic code (which adopts the New Mexico Uniform Traffic Ordinance). The controlling substantive law is the state statute, NMSA 1978 Section 66-3-844 (Mufflers; prevention of noise), which provides that every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and that no person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass, or similar device on a highway. New Mexico case law has treated noise from a 'smitty' or 'Hollywood' muffler as 'excessive or unusual' within the meaning of the statute. Because muffler and exhaust standards are a matter of statewide motor-vehicle equipment law, the same rule applies in Rio Rancho as elsewhere in New Mexico; the city primarily enforces it during traffic stops. Loud aftermarket exhausts, removed mufflers, and modified bypass systems are the typical violations. A traffic-code violation is a penalty assessment / misdemeanor under the adopted traffic ordinance; stationary engine idling or revving in a yard could additionally be measured against the Section 131.06 zone limits if it is not on-road traffic.