Purchased my first 2002! Need help with out of state Reg!

[GeigerSpeed]

Hey everyone! New to the fam as of late. I live in SF and may have met you at the Not-The-49-Mile-Drive a few weeks back. Check out this thread for more details lol

 

Anyway - I just purchased a '68 registered in WA, but it's in Oregon. Does anyone have experience registering an 02 in CA from out of state?

 

Many Thanks!

[layers]

Hi--

 

I purchased my tii less than 10 years ago from a fellow near St. Louis.  Registration in California was straightforward and fairly prompt at DMV.

 

I carefully read the DMV instructions on their website so I obtained a signed bill of sale when I collected the car in Missouri along with the Missouri registration.  As I recall, no one at DMV even looked at the car before handing over license plates.  I do not think the car's previous registration in California made any difference.  CoupeKing apparently found the car unregistered in Southern California in about 2004 and performed a basic restoration, including a '73 engine so it is registered as a '73 in spite of a manufacture date of May 1974.  They also deleted some safety features such as bumper shocks (to move the now-chromed bumpers closer to the fenders).  The side markers were removed before repaint (so I added retro-reflective tape inside the front and rear parking light lenses and some red LEDs inside the rear lens; side markers could prevent an unfortunate accident).  Clearly, DMV did not care about these changes.

 

I recall when I brought my late '73 back to California (from New York; I registered it in California when I bought it new), I needed to get a smog check.  DMV inspected that car but seemed primarily interested in seeing the smog sticker and chided me for a few missing spots in the 20-year-old sticker; they registered the car anyway.  But now there is no requirement for a smog check for any car 1975 and earlier so that should not be a problem.

 

If your car looks highly modified, I have no idea what kind of inspection DMV might require.

[ThompsonO]

Congratulations. You will likely need a VIN inspection. That has to happen at the DMV, just in case you’re a AAA member and do your registrations there. It should be very straightforward otherwise. I think it’s wise to make sure the Vin numbers are easy to read. You don’t want to get flagged and then have to go to CHP to have them checked. Otherwise it’s very straightforward, and I’m assuming you don’t need a smog check based on the vintage. If so, do that before you take it in for registration. I bought one car, a 1602, from New York. That was a hassle because they have transferable and nontransferable titles. I don’t think Oregon has any such thing

[Spyke]

It's very easy, and can confirm DMV only. Get there expecting fully to go through the line twice.

The inspector looked over allll my goddies on the e36 so you should be just fine.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Spyke

[GeigerSpeed]

Thanks for the tip @Spyke!