drummin4fun

Very good info... thanks Brett.

Duly noted Ed. Now if I could just find an example as sweet as Ruby!

jakeflyer

I will not buy a car for California use without a Ca. smog cert from the owner. I have known several nightmare situations with out of state cars. The goal of California is to get all older cars off the road and it gets worse every year. If you fail, it can become a major problem. The SC failed last year and had to retest and barely passed after freeway, heat the engine RPM driving. If it fails next year it goes to Texas where I am out of the smog test areas (Dallas, Houston, Austin, etc).

You may find that the number of 911s for sale and the pricing may be better in the SF/Sac and LA area. That way you know you have passed smog before the buy. Good luck

drummin4fun

Excellent points. I was reading the CA DMV site regarding registering older/out of state vehicles. Someone here posted that vehicles after 1980 were produced as "50 state emission compliant", however, the DMV is very clear about the fact that "50 state emission compliant" does not always mean "California emission compliant". We have much tougher requirements than anywhere else in the country, as referred to by Oldskewel. It has me re-thinking my plans for sure.

Does anyone know if it is possible to have an out of state emissions test-only performed to California standards?

Brett San Diego

Strange statement from the DMV. Not sure what that means. One thing is certain. Porsche has made only one engine for sale in all 50 states since 1980, and plenty of 1980's 911s are running around California passing smog tests with ease.

No doubt there are advantages to buying local, and smog checking rules definitely increase the degree of the advantage. If you think about a worst case scenario of a 3.2 L 911 not passing smog, what would you be looking at in terms of cost? I think at worst you're looking at a new catalytic converter.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...FILTER_TOOL=ON

$1400 for genuine Porsche or $600 for CARB approved aftermarket. If you factor that in to your thinking, you can be prepared.

Maybe a complete maintenance, too... spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor, spark plug wires maybe, and a valve adjustment. Maybe another $4-700. But, that's stuff that you should probably do immediately anyway with a new to you car.

I should say I don't speak from experience, but it just doesn't seem like a deal killing issue to me. I think if you're going to spend around $20,000 on a 911, you should have around $3-4000 in reserve for immediate repairs. You'll be prepared for smog issues at that point. I don't think a non-pass on smog will require an engine rebuild to rectify, for example.

Brett

drummin4fun

I must amend my last post. There are two different categories of emission compliant engines. There is a 50 state, and a 49 state. My apologies to you on this. The CA DMV's exact wording is this:

"Not all new vehicles are manufactured to be sold in California (to) residents or businesses. Many manufacturers make vehicles to be sold in the other 49 states. These vehicles (49-State) are made with smog equipment that meets federal emission standards, but not California standards. California certified (50-State) vehicles are made to be sold to California residents"

... and, I am sure you are correct regarding becoming compliant. With a well cared for, well tuned engine, worst case will likely be a cat. Regardless, the important point is to be sure to request a no-report 'test-only' first, so that the car is not reported as a gross polluter, otherwise it results in, aside from the repairs to make the vehicle compliant, a yearly test.

UberXY

Just a data point - I had an '85 ZZZ 911 that had to pass a rolling dyno emissions test in an eastern state. With the stock Euro pre-muffler, it failed miserably. With an oil change and a non-OEM catalytic convertor in place of the pre-muffler, it passed with flying colors.

Brett San Diego

That's very useful information. Thanks. Like I said, I don't have personal experience. I just know my 1978 911 had no problem with CA smog last time I had to test, 2006 or 2007 I think.

And, drummin, my only point is that I don't think you should narrow your search to local cars unnecessarily such that you might end up settling for a 911 that you don't prefer just because it is local. On the other hand, CA has a lot of good ones already here.

good luck with the hunt,
Brett

drummin4fun

Thanks everyone for the excellent information. These responses helped to clarify the issue for me a great deal. Also, thanks for all of the wishes of luck! On with the hunt...