Finally joined the Land Cruiser family

[Contendi]

Been lurking for a few weeks now and man..so many beautiful Land Cruisers. My wife has always wanted one and so we pulled the trigger on this manual 1994 Land Cruiser Prado which we plan to take back to the states next year. I've heard registering it in Cali is very difficult so we'll soon have to start looking at out of state registration options. Super happy with it so far and happy we found one with the 7 seats already installed. Every extra seat has a kid in it haha so we definitely need to look into a roof rack asap for the next camping trip.

Cheers

 

[kgrove]

Welcome.

Arizona registration is easy and 4-5 hr drive from Southern CA, if that's where you're headed. NoCal would be closer to Nevada and probably equidistant to Oregon. I've seen imports registered in both states, so it must be possible. States usually frown on long term use of cars registered in other states, so be careful. I know several people who set up LLCs in other states to purchase and register vehicles, but that was for sales tax reasons, not registration / emissions. I would think false claims create a problem regardless whether you're doing it to avoid taxes or emissions regulations, so be careful. The main instances I'm personally familiar with were for RVs and they went to great efforts to store the RV out of state for more than half the year to prove it really wasn't an in-state car.... tolerable to avoid a 5-figure tax bill on a vehicle you only use a few months a year anyway, but impractical on a car you want to use frequently. Your best bet is probably to see if it's possible to comply with the CA regs and register it to your home. Some states have different emissions requirements for their big cities than they do rural towns, so maybe there's a way you can register it in CA but to a small town instead of LA, SF, SD etc.

It's a damn fine looking car, though. I'm sure you'd have no problems getting rid of it if you can't drive it in CA.

 

[Felde]

Welcome to the LC family
Realy a great looking vehicle. I like the rim covers. Please share more pics.

Similar issues with registration and taxes everywhere. Here in Germany you can register a vehicle basically only where you have a residence or business address registered. If the vehicle was registered in the EU, limits valid at the time of first registration are applied then also later.
Tax goes by age, type of fuel, emissions and displacement. Certain areas are off limit for older vehicles with higher emissions.
If it hadn't been registered in the EU yet, it's treated like a new car. For older imported vehicles that basically means: No registration feasible. But also newer imported vehicles have issues as they need official certificates proofing emissions (including noise). Barely no manufacturer has those for vehicle configurations not intended for the EU.
For my 3.4 liter 1985 diesel, tax would be about 1300€ p.a. Only 4 figures, but still not affordable.
But there is one workaround: Historic vehicles recognized as a cultural heritage. Tax for those is only 192€ (!) and they are not subject to the areas off limit!
The vehicle needs to be at least 30 years of age, in original state and well maintained. The vehicle needs to pass a respective survey with an official expert. I was lucky to get that for my BJ73. The H at the end of my license plate indicates it.
No mercy for historic vehicles in CA?

 

[Contendi]

Welcome.

Arizona registration is easy and 4-5 hr drive from Southern CA, if that's where you're headed. NoCal would be closer to Nevada and probably equidistant to Oregon. I've seen imports registered in both states, so it must be possible. States usually frown on long term use of cars registered in other states, so be careful. I know several people who set up LLCs in other states to purchase and register vehicles, but that was for sales tax reasons, not registration / emissions. I would think false claims create a problem regardless whether you're doing it to avoid taxes or emissions regulations, so be careful. The main instances I'm personally familiar with were for RVs and they went to great efforts to store the RV out of state for more than half the year to prove it really wasn't an in-state car.... tolerable to avoid a 5-figure tax bill on a vehicle you only use a few months a year anyway, but impractical on a car you want to use frequently. Your best bet is probably to see if it's possible to comply with the CA regs and register it to your home. Some states have different emissions requirements for their big cities than they do rural towns, so maybe there's a way you can register it in CA but to a small town instead of LA, SF, SD etc.

It's a damn fine looking car, though. I'm sure you'd have no problems getting rid of it if you can't drive it in CA.

Thank you for your advice, that helps a bit! I have to do some research and email Cali's regulatory entities. There are quite a few and from the DMV's website it looks like I will have several standards (CARB, EPA emissions, U.S. FMVSS) to meet in order to drive a direct imported vehicle. I forget the county in NorCal my parents use but they get around smogging their vehicles by registering them at a friend's house 3-4 hours north of Sacramento. Here's the link I'm going off of for now in regards to Cali's requirements: Imported Vehicle Registration - California DMV - https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/new-registration/register-an-imported-vehicle/

 

[Contendi]

Welcome to the LC family
Realy a great looking vehicle. I like the rim covers. Please share more pics.

Similar issues with registration and taxes everywhere. Here in Germany you can register a vehicle basically only where you have a residence or business address registered. If the vehicle was registered in the EU, limits valid at the time of first registration are applied then also later.
Tax goes by age, type of fuel, emissions and displacement. Certain areas are off limit for older vehicles with higher emissions.
If it hadn't been registered in the EU yet, it's treated like a new car. For older imported vehicles that basically means: No registration feasible. But also newer imported vehicles have issues as they need official certificates proofing emissions (including noise). Barely no manufacturer has those for vehicle configurations not intended for the EU.
For my 3.4 liter 1985 diesel, tax would be about 1300€ p.a. Only 4 figures, but still not affordable.
But there is one workaround: Historic vehicles recognized as a cultural heritage. Tax for those is only 192€ (!) and they are not subject to the areas off limit!
The vehicle needs to be at least 30 years of age, in original state and well maintained. The vehicle needs to pass a respective survey with an official expert. I was lucky to get that for my BJ73. The H at the end of my license plate indicates it.
No mercy for historic vehicles in CA?

Thank you! We love the rims too.

Very similar to California. On our DMV website it specifically states:

If your direct foreign import vehicle was not originally manufactured to meet California emissions standards and DOT FMVSS, the vehicle cannot be registered in California, unless the vehicle is modified and tested under CARB’s direct import program.

 

[Contendi]

Welcome to the LC family
Realy a great looking vehicle. I like the rim covers. Please share more pics.

Similar issues with registration and taxes everywhere. Here in Germany you can register a vehicle basically only where you have a residence or business address registered. If the vehicle was registered in the EU, limits valid at the time of first registration are applied then also later.
Tax goes by age, type of fuel, emissions and displacement. Certain areas are off limit for older vehicles with higher emissions.
If it hadn't been registered in the EU yet, it's treated like a new car. For older imported vehicles that basically means: No registration feasible. But also newer imported vehicles have issues as they need official certificates proofing emissions (including noise). Barely no manufacturer has those for vehicle configurations not intended for the EU.
For my 3.4 liter 1985 diesel, tax would be about 1300€ p.a. Only 4 figures, but still not affordable.
But there is one workaround: Historic vehicles recognized as a cultural heritage. Tax for those is only 192€ (!) and they are not subject to the areas off limit!
The vehicle needs to be at least 30 years of age, in original state and well maintained. The vehicle needs to pass a respective survey with an official expert. I was lucky to get that for my BJ73. The H at the end of my license plate indicates it.
No mercy for historic vehicles in CA?

I forgot to include to, my friend recently moved to southern California from Japan and he brought is Nissan R33 GTR..the CARB fee was about $10,000.

More pics:

 

[Felde]

Wow. Very clean rig. Enjoy it as much as you can and Good luck for the registration adventure.
Cheers Ralf