bellwilliam

I've been looking for an early 996 (let me know if you have one, under 50k miles, 1 owner car, stick, coupe or cab, good price of course !!). I've searched a few cars out of state. question is:

how can I be sure the car would pass California smog? PPI done in another state probably won't guarantee passing California smog. would hate to be stuck with a 996 that I can't register to drive here.

so if any of you have experience in purchasing a car out of state and registering in California, pls chime in. here is California, smog is the responsibility of the seller.

thanks for the input !!

porsche-t

If you live in California, the only thing you could probably do is get the emission specs for the car (for California) and have it checked during the PPI - a Porsche dealer should be able to get a good estimate of emissions for your model year and mileage. This will at least be a starting point to see if you really want to purchase the car. Also, make sure there is a factory sticker for California emissions on the car.

cdodkin

You will have to have a California smog test when you register the car in California - so you're corerct, the car will have to pass California smog.

All Porsche cars sold in N America are built to pass California's smog test (as it's the most stringent)

I brought a car in from NY state, did the smog and registered the car at the DMV, no problem.

So if the car has been maintained, you'll have no issues getting it smogged.

The only thing you can do to check it before you get it to California is:

1) Get the California smog pass levels SAMPLE HERE
2) Get the car smogged out of state and check the results against the California specs

Then smog test when you arrive, and head to the DMV to register.

Chris.

Nutbeem

Yeah, you should be fine - I bought mine in Pennsylvania, passed smog EASILY the first time.

krisd

I purchased mine out of state and it was originally sold in Canada. I had no problems with the emissions. I would guess as long as the car is running well you should have no problems.

Botsy67

Make sure the car does not have bolt-on upgrades such as CAI, SS, straight pipes etc... or the likes because they may fail the "Visual" inspection during SMOG test. My 528i did not pass visual due to CAI, darn! had to put back stock intake box.
Cheers,

bellwilliam

thanks all !!
only thing I worried about is to get stuck with a car that won't pass California smog, either due to modification, or old age (catalyc converter-many fail after 10 yrs or so). don't think I can take the car back to seller to get a refund.

djantlive

If car is stock, you should have no issue passing smog if the car passes PPI. You may want the tech doing PPI to pay special attention to emission parts like cat, muffler, 02 sensors, MAF. Test each for rattle, leak, fault code.

Other's suggestion is also good. CA requires a smog check on rollers in most counties which is tougher. 996 are known to be one of the most green sports cars. The reading was virtually indetectable on my 02 with 17k mi when I smogged it.

joes c4 cab

I bought mine from out of state and have no problem with CA smog. It is for sale by the way - here is the link: 2 owner, newer motor. Here is the link: Price is negotiable as I am ready to get rid of it.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...g=en&cardist=0

YA911Fan

Is not having the CARB sticker an automatic failure for this model year?