California Title and Registration of Diesels

[MrsCait]

Has anyone registered in South Dakota? I know they don't require you to establish residency or prove you have the car there. You are even allowed to register with your CA address and license. No emissions testing either.
But I can't find out anything really about out-of-country cars.

Non-Resident Title and Registration Information

 

[saltycoconuts]

Has anyone registered in South Dakota? I know they don't require you to establish residency or prove you have the car there. You are even allowed to register with your CA address and license. No emissions testing either.
But I can't find out anything really about out-of-country cars.

Non-Resident Title and Registration Information

Maybe give them a call and ask it wouldn’t hurt and might get you somewhere

 

[TonyP]

Montana is another very popular place people register vehicles.

 

[DVracing]

I have a 1991 Land Cruiser Diesel RHD that is 100% CA legal and Legit. That said it was a learning experience, and there is absolutely zero chance to import one directly to CA without doing things that ruin the vehicle or why you wanted it in the first place.
You pretty much have to buy a vehicle that is already registered in another state, and it has to be over 25 years old. You very well may need the actual Dept of Homeland Security import papers.
The NTHSB has a clause that is clearly written that vehicles over 25 years old do not have to meet any highway safety standards. I found this out from the CA Highway patrol office that I was sent to when the first trip to DMV was met with 2 people that did not know the rules or care about me whatsoever. It will help a great deal to have AAA do the vehicle inspection that is pretty much to verify the Vin and the motor type and such. That will allow you to bypass the DMV inspection which is important because none of them know RHD is legal if it is over 25 years old.
So after being stonewalled at the DMV I went to the local Highway patrol where he stated sorry no can do until I mentioned the 25 year old part, he then said oh yes but it is dependent on the actual day of production so he said I needed the actual import papers that were signed of and stamped by homeland security that lists the production date of the vehicle (by the way most other countries do not specify a production date so it is whatever the importer puts on the papers that counts). It must be 25 years to the day or more. Went back to Highway patrol office showed him the papers, he said I do not need his inspection and showed me the NTHSB document on the 25 years thing and suggested trying a different DMV office.
Went to a different office, 15 minutes later after a supervisor had to accept the 13 digit Vin I walked out with 100% legal plates. I have had police and Highway patrol talk to me about my rig and never once has a single one mentioned it not being legal. If you have a legal registration and plate you are legal.

 

[tlaporte]

@DVracing Out of curiosity, when did you register your vehicle?

I had reasonably similar experience to you, but that was 10+ years ago. Word is that things are much more difficult, if not impossible, nowadays. Curious to know if your experience contradicts that "word."

 

[Omoitsurugi]

Has anyone registered in South Dakota? I know they don't require you to establish residency or prove you have the car there. You are even allowed to register with your CA address and license. No emissions testing either.
But I can't find out anything really about out-of-country cars.

Non-Resident Title and Registration Information

Hey Cait,

We just brought ours from Rota as well I fortunately got orders to IL though. Ours was pretty straight forward, just lots of paperwork. However, IL requires proof of residency.

 

[LRIwater]

Hello Folks,
I have an ad over in the FJ45 for sale section for my 1980 HJ45 (shameless plug: For Sale - 1980 HJ45 in San Diego LH Drive, PS PB), and tlaporte suggested that I post here to explain how I imported directly into California. This is a long story...

I originally bought the HJ45 from a friend's neighbor up in LA back in 2015. He had the importation docs, or so I thought, along with the Costa Rican title and bill of sale. I slowly tinkered on the truck, rebuilding and fixing the transmission, re-coring the radiator, new springs, tires, fuel tank, etc, etc. Finally got it to the point where I could start thinking about getting it on the road. My original plan was to pull it to AZ and get it registered there. It was Feb of this year.

My wife was at the DMV getting another vehicle registered, and she asked about my HJ. DMV told her "no problem", and my wife filled out most of the paperwork with my help over the phone. DMV said all I had to do was come in with the documentation and pay for it. Registration and importation fees, etc, etc, retro back to 2015 purchase date was $978. Ouch, but worth it if I could get CA plates.

I went in with my docs, and they said I need to bring the truck in for a VIN inspection. The good part was that they said that if I wrote a statement to the fact that it has been in a shop and not on the road, they would drop the fees to $563. Nice! Since the truck wasn't quite road ready (instrument cluster and seat belts not installed), I rented a tow dolly and pulled it over to DMV. Since there was only one VIN (on the frame), they said that I needed to get a California Highway Patrol inspection. Next appointment available was in 3 weeks.

Another rented tow dolly. After explaining the whole story and checking the one VIN on the frame, the CHP guy signed off on the forms. Ok, good to go I thought. I took all of that back to DMV, and they took everything including the title, made copies for me, and said they needed to send everything to Sacramento to HQ to verify the importation docs. Welp, ok I guess? I had heard stories of DMV HQ denying the registration and keeping the fees, but oh well, here we go.

About 4 weeks later I got a letter saying that I needed the Customs paperwork with the U.S. Customs stamp. It turns out that the paperwork I had didn't have the customs stamp. Ugh. The paperwork I did have showed the importer's name, and I looked up their contact info. They sent me all they had, but they didn't have the Custom's stamp. They said it was filed electronically. I sent the import docs that I received back to DMV HQ and said it was filed electronically. They sent another letter 4 weeks later saying that they need the U.S. Customs stamp.

I contacted the local U.S. Customs office, and they said that I need to bring the truck down for a VIN inspection. Oy! Another rented tow dolly... and it was downtown San Diego. That was a fun towing and parking experience... They inspected the vehicle and gave me the right form with the right U.S. Customs stamp. The form indicated that I acquired the rig in the U.S. but it did not clear Customs correctly. This form fixed that issue. I sent that to DMV HQ and got the title and plates about 4 weeks later (last week!). Yay!

 

[tlaporte]

Awesome! Thanks so much for that write up, @LRIwater !

 

[ChapterX]

Importing the car with the correct paperwork to ca is easy. If you want plates and CA registration its not very difficult just expensive. Regardless of what you hear ALL of these vehicles need to go through CARB to a proper test station and receive a BAR plate after that its smooth sailing. It all depends on how much money you want to spend

 

[Paraglider]

More power to you guys who successfully register your rigs in CA. I went through the same process as Lrlwater and Drvracing but was not successful. Just a side note, AAA would not inspect or have anything to do with my imported (all paperwork was available and correct from importation) so had to take it to the DMV. DMV would not sign off on it (in Petaluma, CA) and required me to go to CHP to verify the VIN. CHP would not sign off until I had CARB sign off (which, as Chapter X pointed out, is easy enough if I wanted to spend $10k and as he also pointed out, not have the same rig after it was emissions sanctioned). Earlier in this thread, I included the link to CA DMV regulations that explain why it is not legal to register these rigs because CA has a more stringent emissions regulation than the federal gov (which is just the 25 year rule), requiring CARB to inspect and approve it. Anyone registering these rigs in CA is doing it by luck (i.e., ignorance of a CHP officer, DMV employee or . . . .). I was not one of the lucky ones.
(This happened in 2016, so recent enough.)

 

[TonyP]

Miss the good old says of getting shady vehicles registered (Granted, in Utah) with slipping a double-sawbuck and a case of Bud Lite to a shifty garage employee.

 

[ChapterX]

If anybody needs CARB certification let me know, it’s under 10k and to some people might be worth it

 

[Paraglider]

If anybody needs CARB certification let me know, it’s under 10k and to some people might be worth it

Chapter X, it might be helpful if you explained your experience with CARB:

1. Which rig you had CARB inspect and remediate.
2. What exactly CARB changed to make it BAR passable.
3. What the cost was.
4. Any other relevant info.

When I called them and told them the vehicle (HJ47 with 2H engine), they estimated $10k but maybe they were giving me the high end.

 

[ChapterX]

Chapter X, it might be helpful if you explained your experience with CARB:

1. Which rig you had CARB inspect and remediate.
2. What exactly CARB changed to make it BAR passable.
3. What the cost was.
4. Any other relevant info.

When I called them and told them the vehicle (HJ47 with 2H engine), they estimated $10k but maybe they were giving me the high end.

1. Ive put multiple vehicles through the process, Nissan Skylines, Toyota Supras, a bunch of random cars but about 8-9 land cruisers all diesel.
2. That always depends on the vehicle some have the right equipment some don't. Some vehicles have more or less than others. Everything needs to be acceptable by CARB standards which could be down to something as trivial as the stampings on the factory catalytic converter.
3. As previously stated it costs me around $8500 for a diesel about half the price for gas vehicles. All depends on who you know. It is very expensive to run the test lab it cost them alot of money to get to that point and they are in business to make money so yea the prices can bee steep. Also factor in that youre a one time customer for them very unlikely to have any type of repeat business so they dont really "hook people up" unless you're bringing them more stuff to certify
4. Move out of california and make your life easier or just pay lol

 

[Paraglider]

1. Ive put multiple vehicles through the process, Nissan Skylines, Toyota Supras, a bunch of random cars but about 8-9 land cruisers all diesel.
2. That always depends on the vehicle some have the right equipment some don't. Some vehicles have more or less than others. Everything needs to be acceptable by CARB standards which could be down to something as trivial as the stampings on the factory catalytic converter.
3. As previously stated it costs me around $8500 for a diesel about half the price for gas vehicles. All depends on who you know. It is very expensive to run the test lab it cost them alot of money to get to that point and they are in business to make money so yea the prices can bee steep. Also factor in that youre a one time customer for them very unlikely to have any type of repeat business so they dont really "hook people up" unless you're bringing them more stuff to certify
4. Move out of california and make your life easier or just pay lol

Moving out of California seems like the obvious pick.

 

[ChapterX]

Moving out of California seems like the obvious pick.

Yup, even registering in another state is rolling the dice

 

[Dragos80]

I got the cure for all that.

Florida.

 

[ChapterX]

I got the cure for all that.

Florida.

Yea but Florida sucks

 

[Dragos80]

Is there a problem with having "dual residency"?

CA driver's license, FL plates and insurance.

"I decided to drive here instead of flying, officer."

 

[ChapterX]

Is there a problem with having "dual residency"?

CA driver's license, FL plates and insurance.

"I decided to drive here instead of flying, officer."

Well while that may work and does sometimes its up to the officers discretion and they can impound your vehicle and let you figure out the rest later. Especially if its CHP they can do whatever they want. So while a lot of people do it and get away with it you're still playing with fire. Get a FL license if you're gonna try and do that.