Importing Vehicles to California

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digixjairo

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Has anyone ever imported a vehicle into California and registered it successfully at the DMV? If so what are the requirements? Any guidance will be helpful.
 
If the car is a European market car/gray market that was never federalized it will get costly and prepare for a sea of paperwork. Good info here http://www.arb.ca.gov/html/master_faqs/vehicle_faqs/greymarket_cars_faq.htm Also a prior discussion here http://e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4152
If its just a out of state pre 1976 US market car a trip to AAA and your done (need to verify Vin # and Federal Sticker) Just did it on the Hawaii car I bought ...15 minutes and I had my tags and a title 2 weeks later.
 
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viphoto said:
If the car is a European market car/gray market that was never federalized it will get costly and prepare for a sea of paperwork. Good info here http://www.arb.ca.gov/html/master_faqs/vehicle_faqs/greymarket_cars_faq.htm Also a prior discussion here http://e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4152
If its just a out of state pre 1976 US market car a trip to AAA and your done (need to verify Vin # and Federal Sticker) Just did it on the Hawaii car I bought ...15 minutes and I had my tags and a title 2 weeks later.
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Thank you!
That is a mountain of paperwork to deal with to import a European car.
 
teahead said:
If the Euro spec car is 75 or earlier, CA doesn't car because it's smog exempt in CA and anything over 25 years old is DOT exempt. http://www.bayarea02.com/features/importing/index.html
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I believe at some point the law changed and you have to pass EPA requirements in effect in 1972 as referenced in the ARB link which would involve extensive testing. Being smog exempt helps but from what I understand its not a slam dunk.
 
Hi - I imported my '73 CSL into CA this year from Europe without any major issues. DMV had the EPA info in its files already for that year and model so no further testing was necessary.
 
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) does not like gray market cars, even if you bring one in from another state. Here's my horror story of dealing with CARB when I bought a 81 Euro spec E12 in Washington and tried to register it in CA. I would rather have hot pokers in the eyes than deal with CARB. If you try to register a Euro spec car in CA that's a 76 model or newer, make sure you have deep pockets and lots of patience. As others have said, you should have no problems importing a 75 or older car provided your paperwork is in order.
http://www.firstfives.org/carmonth/may2009.html

G-Man
 
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