hccyong

I was wondering if anyone in California was able to work around having to show the emissions sticker to the DMV. My car is new but from out of state, and I have the certificate of origin that indicates it's a 50 state compliant car. However, in getting my car inspected for registration, the inspector would not accept this documentation and said that I would need to show him the emissions sticker somehow. As some of you may know, on the 981 it is under the carpeting like the 987, but everything I've read shows it as a much more involved process including removal of various trunk trim, the aluminum bar, the seat belt trim, etc. Since it was 95F today, and it would be my first time, I decided not to try it out in the DMV parking lot despite having taken time off to head to my DMV appointment. My plan is to tackle this over the weekend and leave some interior pieces off on the way to the DMV on Monday morning. If anyone knows of a way to avoid doing this, I'd be interested to know what the workaround is. The inspector was generally friendly and not trying to be difficult. He just didn't know how to proceed without seeing the emissions sticker.... Thanks.

Crazy Eddie

Well to be honest, I assume I am may be in the same boat ??
Although my car came through the Port of SD maybe that would exempt me ? All these cars are 50 state compliant and are supposed to be smog free for the first 2 yrs of ownership, from what I was led to believe anyway?? Now you have me thinking I bought my car from PA and it was shipped directly from Germany to SD ...
And being delivered to a local Porsche dealer ...as a courtesy ...
Oh and I had no idea that this info is hiddend in the car ?
It was hell here today and will be the rest of the week sadly
I assume you had some kind of temporary registration? That is what I got from the dealer in PA for 30 days....

Regards
Ed
This is a new car correct ?

hccyong

Yes, this is a new car. Maybe the local dealer will help you register things and skip the DMV. I'd be interested in how things work out for you. The dealer (in my case, Omaha) did provide me with temporary registration, but I believe it ends sometime this week. Whether that really matters or not I'm not sure. I have the car insured of course. I went to the Los Gatos DMV today as I had heard of better experiences there than say the Santa Clara DMV. The Caymans/Boxsters have always had their stickers hidden, but on the 987 it was much easier to remove the carpeting as nothing else had to be removed. In the 981 it's flanked by many surrounding pieces.

Crazy Eddie

Sadly the dealer told me already all he is going to do is prep the car and hand me the keys ,..
So I guess I wll be in the same position as you ?
can AAA help? That is where I was going to do my plates etc ?
I will let you know but my car is still sitting at the dock for the past week and 1/2

hccyong

I am actually not a AAA member. But if you are and can confirm that they can do the vehicle inspection without tearing the interior apart just to see the sticker, I'll gladly join I know AAA can do registration renewals, but I'm not sure if they can do everything for a new car which involves also paying the taxes.

Crazy Eddie

No I doubt they will do inspections but I did pay my taxes already ( CA you know the one where they give you no Vaseline) So I paid the full 8.75%
But I will find out and let you know
Regards
Ed

Madrax

Exact situation happened to me when I purchased my Cayman R from out of state. When I went to the DMV office for the plates the inspector didn't want to do it because he said he had to see the emission sticker. It took some very polite convincing and he finally did it.

Just another FYI ... CA assess a penalty to your car registration if the cars not licensed and you pay the sales tax within a few days of the car entering the state. I got hit with an additional $900 in fees because I missed the deadline by a few days.

Archimedes

If you're looking for a VIN verification, you might try calling Valley VIN Verifier in San Jose. I don't know if they can do it without seeing that sticker, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. He did the VIN verification on my Carrera S, but that sticker was accessible.

And yes, I believe you have 10 days to register the car from the point it enters CA or you pay a penalty.

BTW, both of you also have to get the cars smogged, even if it's new and even if it's 50 state compliant. If it came from out of state you have to get a smog certificate done. And that's an interesting proposition when the guy can't view the engine to do the inspection he needs to do. That was an interesting dance with my smog guy when they did my C2S.

And the smog guy needs to see that sticker, so leave the parts off until you get it smogged.

Crazy Eddie

Btw I got the iinfo from my dealer and it turns out I don't have to worry about this as my car went to local dealer so I am good to go ... If this car ever shows up,!???!!!-::;;&@@&&&&"

Spyerx

Aaa will do out of state reg and collect taxes on behalf of dmv. I never go to dmv unless it's a picture needed for my dl. Aaa handles it all. But aaa will need to see the emissions tag. Maybe they are more lenient. I mean these are new cars and built to 50 state standards.

pvgolfer

I'm curious about the whole registration and sales tax payment as well. My GT4 is set to arrive at my out of state dealer's lot at the end of October. My SA wasn't up for doing a courtesy delivery to SoCal for me. I'll have to fly out to the east coast, pay for the car, and arrange transport to SoCal. However, my SA said that they will handle Calif registration paperwork and fee collection...

Archimedes

Some do, some don't. But if it's a car from out of state, they cannot file the paperwork in California until you get the VIN verification done and get it smogged, both here in California, and then send them the completed documents. They will need both documents before they can file the paperwork with the State. There is a way for them to prepay the estimated tax to CA, so you avoid a penalty, or you can just get it done quickly and send them the completed paperwork so they can include it in their filing.

Archimedes

AAA would not do a VIN verification for me. I'm a member and my local office said they can't do a VIN verification on an out of state vehicle.

Spyerx

I did this a year ago at aaa. Fl registered car. Florida title in hand, plates on car, bill of sale, smog check papers. Filled out title app form, handed them all paperwork, she inspected car, verified vin stickers in 2 places, looked at emissions sticker, I gave them a check for reg and tax and was done. Ca title in less than a month.

Now, if this is a vehicle that had never been registered in any state, that I am not sure of.

RDCR

Pulling the carpet on the 987 isn't all that difficult and the emissions sticker is right there on the aluminum motor cover. Is the 981 that much worse? I was thru the DMV inspection in less then an hour and that was without an appt.