I have searched online and the forums but never came up with a straight answer. Anyone driving a Jdm in California please help me out!! I am looking to buy a RHD imported AE86 can have it as my daily driver. I have seen some for sale with the title but non op. I have also seen some for sale out of state already used as daily drivers for sale.

I am wondering since these cars are already in the states if all I have to do is a simple smog check? For the cars out of state do I just need to transfer to a Cali title and smog? Or is there something more extensive I need to do? I can't seem to find a straight answer. If anyone has experience here please help me out! Thanks!!!


EDIT: to clear things up I meant making the car California street legal once it is already legally imported and registered to the USA, be it street legal in another state or has a legal US title but not smogged yet.

Taken from another forum:

Since this seems to be discussed constantly on here, I thought I'd right a little FAQ about this topic and maybe the mods will stick it in the FAQ section. I've done a lot of research on this and it's good to know. This is going to be relatively short, because there is a lot of info on it, but it will answer some frequently asked questions.

Can I bring a JDM / European Supra/Silvia/Skyline/Soarer to the USA and legalize it?

Well, let's first establish legislation. A car has to be approved by two agencies to gain legalization. The DOT and the EPA.

There are only two ways to bring in a car and permanently legalize it for road use in the United States by the DOT/NHSTA.

1.) It must be established by a Registered Importer or Vehicle Manufacturer that a US version of the car exists that is substantially similar and meets all US certification requirements.

2.) A Registered Importer or Manufacturer has petitioned that adequate safety equipment exists for said car and/or it is capable of being modified to to comply with US safety standards. The standards involve pages and pages of things from a maximum distance essential dials can be when someone is wearing their seatbelt to how far the steering wheel can protrude into the inside of the vehicle. It's a very lengthy and exhaustive list and the car will have to meet every single one of these standards.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...VSS/index.html

Now, there's also the EPA. In order for a non-US sold car to be cleared by the EPA for legalization it has to meet Clean Air Act standards (including things like OBDII - a major PITA), which vary from year to year, or have it proven that the non-US model meets it's US counterpart's certifications (this has to be proven by the manufacturer or RI). EPA testing is not sticking a car on a roller for 10 minutes. EPA testing is 7am, cold start after sitting overnight, and some 9 miles of varying speeds and rpms all of which are monitored for emissions.

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/factmnc.htm

Both agencies (DOT & EPA) have numerous exemptions but are not ones you can apply for and get away with just thinking they won't notice. Most exemptions require a lot of proof and paperwork (usually to be filed by an RI or Vehicle Manufacturer) and are usually only temporary - in some cases requiring a bond of 100% of the vehicles value and then car will have to be exported.

Isn't the JDM version of X car similar enough to the US version?

In most cases, no. The only RHD car (aside from ones 25 years older or more) that is approved by the DOT for sale is the 1990+ Skyline GTR. No other RHD car is approved by the DOT. A list of cars that are eligible for approval can be found here:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...LIG102803.html

If you see an SC300 on the list, it refers to LHD SC300s, not Toyota Soarers. Just because cars look the same DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE THE SAME.

What about bringing one in illegally? Is that possible?

Yup, anything is possible. If you are caught with an illegal car in this country you could face fines and jailtime and your car could be crushed under US law. You will first have to get the car past customs agents at whatever port it enters. If they find you trying to sneak a car in, they will impound it and keep it. If you do get it by them, you will have 3 things to worry about: insurance, liability, and license plates.

1.) You cannot privately insure a car without a VIN OR State Registration.
2.) If you hit/injure/etc someone with an illegal car, you are in deep ****.
3.) You cannot get regular plates without a VIN.

Are there ways around those 3 things?

Kind of. You could try to fake VINs on the car, which is highly illegal and use that for plates and insurance. For a car with a US counterpart, you may get by. For a car that does not have a US counterpart, good luck. Sometimes you can just walk into a DMV and hope they don't check VINs and fake one too. All these laws vary from state to state.

There are also things such as kit cars and things of that nature, but in spite of kit car laws being vague, many states require an inspection by a state official.

So, in essence, unless you want to put up with a lot of legal and financial risk or want to spend a boatload of money and time petitioning a car to be legalized, stick to US-Spec cars

I'm not actually asking about importing a car. I'm asking if anyone knows what needs to be done once the car is already here and resistered legally in the states, what I would need to in addition, if anything, to get it legal in Califonia. As we all know California is stricter than all the other states specifically emissions.

For example if somebody is selling a car second hand that is already register in another state, transferring the title and making it smog legal for California. Or somebody selling a car within California that still needs emissions, but already has a California title. I am ony interested in Info about AE86 and don't really care about skylines or any other car. Thanks!

Well, from what I gather, if it has been imported 100% legally, and registered in another state, as long as you can pass smog, you should be alright. But there still could be complications trying to get it registered within CA. Best bet is to buy a RHD ae86 that has been already titled in CA so you dont have to go though any of the headaches should they arise.

Even if its registered in another state it wont pass smog in california, cali is known for is strict smog. An ae86 from japan doesnt have any of the smog equipment so it wouldnt pass smog unless a usdm motor and ecu is swapped in along with all the smog equipment. I believe if transfered from another state to cali a light check and such is required are well? ae86 from japan dont have the quarter panel lights like the usdm ones do. Believe the jdm lights are not dot as too.
It isnt really worth it imo. Just get a clean one here and be happy with it haha

California calls cars that are not imported by the manufacturer or manufacturer's representative "grey market cars." In order to register a grey market AE86, it must meet all emissions requirements for the year model. If you don't have any proof of year model, such as a title stating the year model, door decal stating the year model, bill of lading, etc, California will require it to meet all emissions requirements for the year you are registering it. DMV will require a BAR referree decal on the car in order to register it. In order to get the decal, the BAR ref will perform a visual inspection on the car and ask for you testing paperwork proving that the car meets the CARB emissions regs for the year model of the car. Since the JDM AE86 did not come with an EGR, it will fail visual inspection. You will need to add one. The tests that the car will need to pass are a) the normal rolling dyno sniffer test that we do every two years b) a cold start emissions test and c) an evap system effectiveness test (same stuff that Toyota did when the imported the cars to the US.) You will not receive testing certification until the car can pass all three of these tests to the levels required for the model year of the car. There is exactly one testing company in California certified by BAR (despite the fact that CARB will tell you another exists.) The guy that runs the testing shop knows that he is your only choice and charges accordingly. It's a minimum $2000 testing charge and he will assure you that most cars don't pass on the first attempt (undoubtedly with a wink.) You may be able to get away with less than this, but the law states that you must do all of these things in order to legally register a grey market car in CA. For 1968-1975 year model cars, smog regs were much looser, so my understanding is that you don't need to do the emissions testing and, of course, the car will be exempt from needing to have a smog check done every two year. I believe you still need a BAR ref decal, but you would need to research that. Cars made before 1968 had no CA mandated emissions controls on them, so you can just carry your bill of lading to the DMV and easily register it.

In case you didn't pick up on it, you need to be able to prove the model year of your car. Just because you say it is from 1986 isn't good enough. Most of the JDM 80's cars that I have looked at do not have the model year shown on the VIN plate on the door, so that means you need to prove the model year some other way. I would assume that a hand written bill of sale is not adequate, so you might want to research what proof is acceptable.

I forgot to mention that the DMV visual inspection is the same for an out of state car, so you can easily find the procedure on DMV's website. I would expect they will collect the odometer reading in miles, though. I doubt the DMV system can handle a kmh odometer.

I throw my 2 cents in. I currently have a street legal Levin RHD from Japan in Nevada and have a buddy living in Cali with the same car. For me all i had to do is show the DMV my import paperwork which verifies the year the car was made and my car was then listed grey market.. In Nevada i registered as a Classic car which does not require smog... in cali all you need to do is have a copy of the import forms (very important to have) and pass smog since cali doesn't have a classic vehicle registration. As for DOT or EPA the AE86 is completely exempt from all that. Passing smog with the Japanese 86 is possible because I know my buddies is 100 legal... I can find out what his process was and let you know a straight answer if you have not already figured it out. Its not much of a headache as long as you have all the correct paperwork.. I had to the company that imported my car to fax me all the EPA and DOT exemption stuff to the DMV and it was no questions asked to get it registered.. I hope it work out for you ... there's nothing like a true 86 from Japan

The problem in CA is that you need to get a BAR ref decal in order to get the car smogged and that adds quite a bit of complexity and expense to things. I agree that it is totally doable, though.

ahhh i should have read ur post entirely lol... yes the BAR ref could be an issue... im gunna ask my buddy.. hopefully he has the easier route to make the car legal...