Wanted 90s 77 or 78 Series | California (1 Viewer)

Year

1990

Vehicle Model

1. 70 Series

Location

Los Angeles, California United States

Hey all!

Looking to buy my first Land Cruiser and of course the model I have fallen in love with has to be the most pain in the butt for the state I live in.

Necessary:
- Either already registered in California/CARB compliant OR cheap enough to not make me go bankrupt making it compliant
- Four door 77 series (would be fine with a HZJ73 if there's one available, they have grown on me a bit)
- In decent working condition (fine with a bit of a project in terms of interior and exterior as long as it runs)
- not a rust bucket

Wants (but not necessary):
- Diesel, but have heard from some sources/importers that shops like G&K (Ew) won't do diesel compliance work (or can't?) even though I have seen the threads on here to prove the opposite
- RHD is totally fine
- Would prefer auto but fine with manual as well

I know it's a lot to ask and I am sure there are thousands of other dreamers out there like me hunting for the perfect rig. Any insights, thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated -- open to everything, especially when it comes to the California compliance and testing. I should just move lol or get a 60 like a normal person

Thanks!!

 

[Tighe]

RHD and auto should make it easier to find. Haha I want a LHD and manual

 

[octobloc]

RHD and auto should make it easier to find. Haha I want a LHD and manual

Yeah that's my hope! The biggest hurdle for me honestly is gonna be the CARB emissions sticker. Damn California and their wacky laws

 

[CreateOverConsume]

I've got one in Carlsbad meeting your specs except it's registered on Montana, however. I went through the exact same thinking process. I was talking with a local Land Rover guy who does the CARB compliance for Defenders. His name is Brett Carnot at Defender Traders in San Diego and would process a Land Cruiser. I went and checked out his shop and it was the real deal. Might be something to check out too. Happy to chat and maybe we can work something out.

 

[octobloc]

Ohhh thanks for the info! Also, I definitely checked out your rig before I made this thread -- she's a beaut! Just a little out of my price range haha.

 

[ripcalifornia]

Ohhh thanks for the info! Also, I definitely checked out your rig before I made this thread -- she's a beaut! Just a little out of my price range haha.

just a heads up, the last 70 series with actual CA plates that I saw was listed for over 70k. Getting them to CA compliance seems like a wild goose chase as far as where/who/how much. You basically just have to get lucky at the DMV, not to mention they could crack down and start revoking plates in the future. Good luck with the search mate

 

[octobloc]

WOWZA! That's quite a bit.

Whelp... guess I am just gonna keep looking and keep my fingers crossed that there is one out here which isn't insanely priced haha. Thanks!

 

[prwillard2]

WOWZA! That's quite a bit.

Whelp... guess I am just gonna keep looking and keep my fingers crossed that there is one out here which isn't insanely priced haha. Thanks!

Probably more realistic to register an LLC somewhere and register as a company vehicle. Then you can use the unique vehicle for advertising purposes and write off the expenses I'm not a financial advisor though...

 

[MTN77]

Hey all!

Looking to buy my first Land Cruiser and of course the model I have fallen in love with has to be the most pain in the butt for the state I live in.

Necessary:
- Either already registered in California/CARB compliant OR cheap enough to not make me go bankrupt making it compliant
- Four door 77 series (would be fine with a HZJ73 if there's one available, they have grown on me a bit)
- In decent working condition (fine with a bit of a project in terms of interior and exterior as long as it runs)
- not a rust bucket

Wants (but not necessary):
- Diesel, but have heard from some sources/importers that shops like G&K (Ew) won't do diesel compliance work (or can't?) even though I have seen the threads on here to prove the opposite
- RHD is totally fine
- Would prefer auto but fine with manual as well

I know it's a lot to ask and I am sure there are thousands of other dreamers out there like me hunting for the perfect rig. Any insights, thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated -- open to everything, especially when it comes to the California compliance and testing. I should just move lol or get a 60 like a normal person

Thanks!!

Hello ~ did you end up finding a truck you like??

 

[octobloc]

Hello ~ did you end up finding a truck you like??

Hey! Sorry for the late reply. Unfortunately I did not find anything in my price range. Holding off for a bit and just cruising in a leased car.

Once that ends I’ll probably continue the search — hopefully by then prices in general for cars will have normalized!

 

[GilaMonsterMoto]

Hey! Sorry for the late reply. Unfortunately I did not find anything in my price range. Holding off for a bit and just cruising in a leased car.

Once that ends I’ll probably continue the search — hopefully by then prices in general for cars will have normalized!

What’s your price range?

 

[ripcalifornia]

Just wanted to add this. Don’t overpay for CA plates. They can and will void the title during the transfer for diesels. Another confirmed case

 

[TreadingLight]

Looks like they tried to do a direct import. It used to be you could import elsewhere and then transfer to CA. Now days it doesn't matter.

New registrations will not happen unless you get it approved by CARB, which right now means paying a lot of money and spending a lot of time getting tested/modded at CEE.

I believe you can still transfer ownership of a CA plated rig to another CA buyer w/o much risk of losing your title.

This all based on my personal experience. I would love to find new info on navigating this mess.

 

[prwillard2]

At this point it's probably easier to make an LLC in Montana and register it as a work vehicle that you use in California.

 

[TreadingLight]

I don't know how much the LLC gets you other than maybe some flimsy plausible deniability. Most of the imported cruisers I see in CA have SD, OR, WA, AZ, or MT plates.

But yeah, it is definitely less paperwork to have out of state plates. Still, LLC or not, that comes with its own risks.

 

[prwillard2]

I'm not a lawyer, but unsure what "risks" you're implying. State registration in one state is good in the entire USA

 

[ikarus]

I’m not a California legal expert by any means but I have friends there who say CHP has gotten more serious about cracking down on out of state registrations. They even have a hotline for snitches

CHP to crack down on California cars with out-of-state registration

goldcountrymedia.com

 

[ripcalifornia]

I’m not a California legal expert by any means but I have friends there who say CHP has gotten more serious about cracking down on out of state registrations. They even have a hotline for snitches

CHP to crack down on California cars with out-of-state registration

goldcountrymedia.com

they've been saying this for years. it really only applies to extremely expensive cars or RVs. Your average van or hilux isn't going to peak their interest.

 

[ripcalifornia]

Looks like they tried to do a direct import. It used to be you could import elsewhere and then transfer to CA. Now days it doesn't matter.

New registrations will not happen unless you get it approved by CARB, which right now means paying a lot of money and spending a lot of time getting tested/modded at CEE.

I believe you can still transfer ownership of a CA plated rig to another CA buyer w/o much risk of losing your title.

This all based on my personal experience. I would love to find new info on navigating this mess.

As far as I can tell from reading the original post this truck was registered in CA then attempted to be sold to another owner in CA when the DMV voided the plates. You can see the old plates in the photo as well

 

[ikarus]

they've been saying this for years. it really only applies to extremely expensive cars or RVs. Your average van or hilux isn't going to peak their interest.

Makes sense. I read about an r34 owner getting caught on a JDM fb group