Sword_of_the_Spirit

Car is been sold. Wonder where it went?

Tom@TPC Racing

Thanks again for the helpful info. FYI, the OEM 997.1 GT3 emissions sticker has to be ordered from Germany. So probably a good idea to order one ahead of time for those in a similar situation. Part # is 997-006-109-90.

bmw_e30

no smog shop ever looks at that stuff

all you do is drive the car hard and redline it a few times and hit the smog shop and it passes super easy

and for anything else there is special smog guys that will pass a ufo for $200 or $300 bucks

Sword_of_the_Spirit

True. But what’s the cost benefit? Registration in SD or MT is far easier and legal.

cgfen

Wow, so much wrong info here.
"no smog shop ever looks at that stuff" - try bringing a car into Ca without the proper emissions label = no go.
"all you do is drive the car hard and redline it a few times and hit the smog shop and it passes super easy" = Ha
"and for anything else there is special smog guys that will pass a ufo for $200 or $300 bucks " = occasionally true, but becoming harder and harder to find and that ignores the problem when the car is sold the next time.

Maybe you were just kidding?

Craig

rsierra

In my garage

Sword_of_the_Spirit

Cool. Only thing for me that held it back was a regear. Considered...., but hope you turn some time trials out in Midwest with it. Would be a fine candidate for the Iowa runs

Sword_of_the_Spirit

TSD Rally’s I meant....That and NW WI and NE MN

Sword_of_the_Spirit

for giggles

powdrhound

The trick for flashed cars will be to have a separate new totally stock ECU that you can swap in whenever it’s time to smog the car.

RAudi Driver

Congrats! That's a nice car.

GM.RS

What the heck is going on here in the comments? RSierra is banned and "Richard S." shows up as a new user to continue the nonsense? What is this even about? What does it have to to w/ 997s, Tom's car and/or CA registration?

gdarrah99

Tom - Your original post is a little older by now, but I recently brought my 997.1 GT3RS into California from out of state. The process is pretty simple as long as the car is basically stock from the headers back to the cats. Headers, high flow cats, and tunes that disable O2 sensors will cause smog to fail. Aftermarket exhausts don't matter, and the OBD2 scans need to be complete and show passed. The VIN verification checks for the CA emissions sticker and a stamped VIN plate on the car, but doesn't check anything else. The smog has a visual inspection, but they only care about emissions, but no safety inspection. After that, it's just a straightforward transaction. I also used one of the private DMV service centers to take care of the VIN inspection and title transfer -- you pay a bit extra but you're out of there with new plates and stickers in under an hour.

Out of state registration is a tricky thing in California. If you're licensed in the state and they catch you with Montana plates (the most obvious choice), it can lead to a whole host of hassles and fines if you get caught. CHP even has a website for Prius drivers to report out of state cars that bother them.

Finally, a dirty smog is also problematic. If your car gets flagged by BAR as a potential dirty smog, you'll be subjected to more rigorous inspections and review for more time than is worth it.

aasilvia

Just wanted to share my experience as it's fresh in my mind having just returned from the Oceanside DMV. I basically followed the paperwork requirements found here.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicl...from-a-dealer/

Bought my car from a dealership in New Mexico and flew out there to inspect, haggle, pay for, and drive home my 997 6sp. C2. I can confirm that when you arrive at the DMV (without appt), you'll go to a check in counter and be told to go to the VIN verification line outside with your car. The VIN guy will do exactly as stated by gdarrah99. They'll definitely verify the VIN in a few places on the vehicle as well as confirm that it's 50 state smog legal. I took my 997 to a smog guy in Oceanside the 2nd day it was in California and that smog cert is valid for 90 days.

Paperwork in hand, I proceeded to wait for my turn at the counter. All told, process for me took 1 1/2 hours start to finish. The notable questions I was asked by the DMV person were things like; Where is your permanent residence? When did the vehicle enter California? Was it ever registered in CA before? Did you pay out of state taxes at time of purchase...............? Did you pay $XX........ for the car (to clarify there's only two places where the sale value is shown and that's the out of state title that you're turning in (that area was oddly left blank in my title) and the vehicle title/registration form, a bill of sale is not required and I didn't provide one). Is the car financed? Do you still owe money on the car? DMV person will input all of this information, tell you what you owe in state taxes........and registration. If you pay cash or check, there's no additional fees but if you pay by credit card or debit it's an additional 2.5%. You'll receive temp registration paperwork as well as actual license plates (2 of them), Month/Year stickers too, and you're on your way.

I'm super relieved now because for 2 weeks or so I've been driving on temp registration and no plates from New Mexico and while I think that was legal I'm pretty sure now that it wasn't as I never reported/registered the car until today.

Body In White

It’s gotten even easier in California since COVID. There are companies that are registered agents of the DMV — they will come to your house do the VIN verification, fill out your paperwork, collect your sales tax and give you a plate/registration sticker right there on the spot. I’ve done it for the last 2 out of state cars and will never go back to in-person DMV if I can help it.