Santa Fe, NM Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 12-10-1.10 requires every motor vehicle operating in Santa Fe to be equipped at all times with a muffler in good working order and constant operation, and it separately bans muffler cutouts, muffler bypasses, and straight-through mufflers lacking baffles, naming glass packs, steel packs, and straight pipes as examples of the prohibited hardware. Subsection B extends the same standard to emission control equipment, requiring the muffler, engine, and power mechanism to be adjusted to prevent excessive fumes or smoke, and Subsection C requires 1968-model-year and newer gasoline vehicles to keep their factory emissions equipment intact and bars modifications that would amplify noise above what the original factory muffler produced, tying the standard back to NMSA 1978 Section 66-3-844.

Subsection D closes a loophole for aftermarket-ordered factory options: even a factory-installed exhaust option violates the section if its noise output exceeds the decibel level identified as excessive in the city's separate noise ordinance, Section 10-2.9. Subsection E extends liability to anyone who sells, installs, or modifies a muffler or intake system in a way that increases noise, fumes, or smoke, not just the vehicle's owner or driver. A first-time violator under Subsections A, B, or C gets a conditional pass: Subsection F bars a conviction if the vehicle is repaired and passes a compliance test within 90 days of the citation, and Subsection G lets the city manager's designee set that compliance test based on the Section 10-2.9 decibel thresholds, which a cited driver can also use as an affirmative defense.