mikesgt3

Hey guys, I am interested in buying a porsche from a different state and am just wondering if there are any issues that I will run in to. I am in California, car being bought from Texas. Will their be emissions problems or anything with the DMV? I have never done this before so just doing my research. Thank you for you help guys

Steve Jensen

If you are a AAA member from what I understand they will deal with the registration, etc. for you.

Of course, emissions and such will depend on what model/year car you are buying.

squid42

Different inspection styles can be a problem.

Florida for example is really lax. You can buy a perfectly registered car in Florida that you cannot register in the stricter states. Just for starters some states do not allow any warning lights in the dashboard on, whatever the reason for the light.

I hear that cars are deliberately transferred to Florida for the purpose of selling them there when they have e.g. broken catalytic converters and the like.

Steve Jensen

We haven't had vehicle inspections here in Florida since the late 70s or maybe 1980

Kaduku

I just bought a 2014 Boxster in Seattle and drove it back home to San Francisco. All Porsches sold to dealerships in the US are 50 state emissions compliant. There's a sticker somewhere in the car that shows this. Your smog guy and whoever is doing the VIN verification needs to see it. All you need to bring to DMV is the bill of sale, smog certificate, VIN verification, vehicle registration application, proof of insurance, vehicle title, and your check book for tax and registration fees. That's it.

wallyworld925

i bought a car from Texas and brought it into California. Kaduku is correct in his list. Only issues I encountered were:

- There is some sort of registration sticker on the window vs. printed registration like California. Mine had been removed so I had to send a FedEx letter to Texas DMV to verify registration details. Maybe someone from Texas can verify this?
- AAA cannot do the inspection since it's an out of state car.

Kaduku

I almost bought one too in the San Antonio CARMAX. I wonder if I would have had that same problem.

Also, I did not need an inspection besides the VIN verification which I had a police officer perform in my town. You will also get credit at DMV if you've paid any tax for the vehicle at the origin state. Bear in mind that if you did finance at a dealership and you are solely taking care of the registration in CA, you need to have the dealership mail the title to DMV. They will change it to a CA title then mail it back. You will not be able to complete your registration without this, otherwise a temp registration will be issued.