Register Grey market 911 in CA !

fun_tonyb · 02-01-2012, 03:28 PM

Hello, does anyone have any insight/knowledge on how to register a grey market 911 in CA ? I know from past experience that it can be difficult so would like some more info before taking the purchase plunge.

The SN contains ZZZ instead of AAA in position 4 through 6 of SN. I'm told that it is a German car and has all USA smog equipment (which were the same as Germany) but I don't know this for fact.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated !

Tony

Head416 · Head416's Garage

I believe my RoW '81 SC had to have a smog pump added in order to be registered in CA. I didn't do it myself though, a previous owner did.

looneybin · 02-03-2012, 11:37 AM

it also has to have all of the DOT mandated stuff ie: US bumpers, lights, glass etc.

John Rogers · 02-03-2012, 02:41 PM

I remember Black Forest Porsche in San Diego doing several Turbos and others back in the 90s and early 2000s and it was expensive as all hell. The ones they did had no US equipment so needed a bunch of things added and afterward they ran like hell. The owners were usually someone that had come from overseas and the car came with them so they wanted to keep it. I remember they let the owner have all the original parts so the car could be swapped back and forth every two years......

I'd say find an independent shop that has done this and have them do it.

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

I've never done what you're trying to accomplish, but I went through a song and dance with the CA DMV a few months back registering an out-of-state (but US market) motorcycle. Obviously the car's got to pass smog. Not just the sniffer test, but the visual as well. Bikes don't have to do that. But I think they need similar paperwork from the DMV's perspective. The DMV looked for 4 things on my bike: the VIN off the frame, the serial number from the motor (not sure how they do that for a car--would seem prohibitively difficult), and two critical stickers: one attesting to 50-state emissions compliance, and another attesting to the vehicle's federal compliance. Somewhere I'd imagine that your car would have to have documentation to those last two items, as well.