... Hills, that is. Swimming pools. Movie stars.

My beautiful and incredibly intelligent daughter will soon be graduating from the halls of the Ivy League and has accepted a job in the Inland Empire region of California. She plans to move all her stuff (including a boyfriend) from here in New Jersey to there.

The question I have is how does one bring a car from the normal world into the People's Republic of California? Must a car have originally been built for import to that strange land or can we mere mortals simply drive our ordinary cars there and register/inspect them for legal street duty?

Thanks in advance for any guidance

Best Reegards,
Rob

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Robert Fini

'12 ML350 BlueTec, 100k
'06 E320CDI (x2)
'05 T1N Sprinter 2500/Pleasure-Way Plateau TS, 70k
'97 C36AMG, 319k (son's)
'94 E320T, 249k
'93 190E Sportline LE, 168k (daughter's)
'84 190E-2.3/5spd (Stage Rally Racer)
'66 230 W110 Sedan (Barn Find, Vintage Racer build in progress)

It isn't a problem for a transplant to bring federal vehicles. Gray market and significantly modified cars might be a problem. Depending on model year and fuel there could be sniffer, dyno, visual and OBD components to the test.

Sixto
83 300SD
98 E320 wagon

It's just a smog check and a physical inspection for emission control items. Make sure any check englne codes are erased and causes rectified.

At least she gets to pump her own gas now lol.

What part of the inland empire is she settling in at?

She made a good decision. This is what I know. It is quite simple.

1) Out of state cars need a inspection to match the VIN at DMV. Better to make an appointment.
2) Smog certificate for gas car after 1975, diesel after 1997.
3) Smog check. No dyno for cars after 2001.
4) Registration fee etc.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+register+out+of+state+vehicle+in+ca&oq=how+to+register+out+of+stae+vehicle+in+c&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.16569j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

Thank you to everyone who responded earlier. The date of the move is almost upon us for the big airlift to Redlands...

We have decided that, rather than buy a rust-belt car here and pay to have it transported to a place where cars never rust, we will simply buy her one that's already there; more on this later. The sticky wicket is the boyfriend: he has decided to take his 2003 Chevy west, since the company will pay the transportation costs; however, there is some concern that the car might not pass the smog test, so I'm hoping someone can tell me how that works, technically speaking, and whether we could perform the same test here in NJ to see whether the car would pass once it arrives (no sense in taking a problem child out there if we know it won't pass). Any advice is appreciated.

With regard to buying one there for my daughter, I'd appreciate any leads you can pass my way. Criteria are simple: modern but nothing newer or bigger than a W124 (I'm thinking 107, 123 or 124), good service history with all updates, all systems fully functional, decent looking in and out (she prefers red exterior) and of course able to pass all required California emissions tests. I will be posting this as a Want to Buy in the Cars for Sale section, as well.

Best Regards,
Rob

__________________
Robert Fini

'12 ML350 BlueTec, 100k
'06 E320CDI (x2)
'05 T1N Sprinter 2500/Pleasure-Way Plateau TS, 70k
'97 C36AMG, 319k (son's)
'94 E320T, 249k
'93 190E Sportline LE, 168k (daughter's)
'84 190E-2.3/5spd (Stage Rally Racer)
'66 230 W110 Sedan (Barn Find, Vintage Racer build in progress)

'00 and newer do not get put on a sniffer, so if there are no codes and all the emissions equipment is there he should be fine.

I think it would be worth getting a reader to clear any stored codes that don't trip the CEL, run it for a week and then check again.

__________________
Watch him go!!! link

#dontdealwithkahlil

I don't believe California smog checks test to higher standards than a federal car was designed for. An untampered federal car in a good state of tune will pass easily. One caveat is aftermarket cats. Some shops won't test a car with uncertified aftermarket cats but that's better than failing it.

Does your daughter work on her car? It's difficult to find a shop that'll take proper care of a 124. Forget MB itself. Inland empire, this time of year, a 124 AC system, particularly an R12 system running R134a will barely cut it. Unless she buys a fixer upper, the seller is responsible to provide evidence of a smog certificate no older than 60 days of the date of sale. That doesn't mean much in a private party transaction. Good luck getting your money back if you didn't check before closing the deal.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

Rob,

Beverly Hills from Redlands is like two to three hours on a great day, and five to six hours on a commute day.

Yea, no W124, Get your self 2000-2002 E-Class..Reliable, and cheap to own

The skinny on a California Smog:

You will not know the SMOG System until you fail, and when the problem is not a sensor, or vacuum line, but a hard part like an engine/intake/Transmission/Catalytic converter fail. I have had hard parts fail on two of my cars. One will learn real fast the California emissions game.

FYI, their a few counties in California where a smog is not required, but the car has to registered in that county, so I know Red-lands is encroaching near one of those county's, so your daughter may luck-out if she moves away from the cities.

The skinny on smog's is the vehicle must not have a check engine light on, and NOT be in the "not ready" state. I would say that a better than 80% to 90% of smog test only places are not kind to tell the person "Hey your car is Not Ready"(free pre-inspection) or "Hey you got a Check Engine light on" and "your car will not pass"(automatic failure of test), but what these clowns do is take your money, and tell you you did not pass because of "not ready" or check-engine light. The check engine is a no brainier, but "not ready" is tricky for the owner of the car.

When one resets any code. The car will be in a "not ready" state, and clear the ECU memory, so one will need to complete the drive cycles, and the drive cycles can be pain for some cars, yet some people can complete the drive cycle with 50 to 60 miles, and I have heard stories of people doing six to seven hundred miles and the car is still not ready. This applies to +96 cars(96 was the Boner year for Mercedes, so stay away from those cars-They will have documented test-abilities problems with the EPA). On the early cars, I have no clue with test-ability issues. The " not ready" is called I/M readiness, and their are ten-conditions that have to be met, but the EPA only allows any only ONE to be not ready of the ten for +96 through 99, yet for +2000 cars it CANNOT be the EVAP one. The best thing in California is to have a +96 car with OBDII, so one can use an OBD tool with readiness screen to look at the readiness flags.

The OBD test is about $40 to $50 if you pass the certificate is $7 to $9 additional. If you have a 96-99 car they charge $8 to $10 more, and before 96 they will charge $15 to $20 more.. Some offer pass or do not pay(once only), yet some will charge you less the next time if do not pass the first time. if the car just will not pass, they have a program to compensate the owner of certain repair dollar amount. At times, the state does have a buy-back of old cars that have failed a smog test, but it must have failed, and they give around $1000 for the car, and it must go to a recycler that crushes the car, and nothing can be sold from the car...Like previusly said the smog test is good for 60 days

If you are barley squeaking by with the hydrocarbons tail pipe reading. Fill the half the tank with E85, and half with Supreme Fuel...

I lucked out with one car as the idle emissions test were fine, and visual was fine too, but the tread-mil may be an issue with it as the transmission was skipping 2nd and 3rd gear, so I was not sure if the tail pipe output would be hampered because of that.

I was not so lucky with my 98S500 as the EVAP error was causing a low p0455(Gross Leak). Which a P0455 is a "Gas Cap Error"(missing cap). The tank pressure sensor was reading low pressure, but it was not the sensor(or bad cap/missing cap), but a leak on one of eight intake seal rubber rings that connect the upper an lower half of the intake manifold. I found the problem by using smoke machine, so the car is still in parts as i broke one of the intake bolts, and waiting for a welder to weld a nut... The car was just not generating a enough vacuum.

This Smog crap can be a can of worms...

Hope it helps

Martin

MAVA is our go to guy on the Benz forum. Listen to what he says. I just went through the smog test ordeal. I have a '97 CL600 with only 65K. It has run perfectly for 2 years but just recently threw a P0809 code and CE. We couldn't and still can't find the problem. The code points out differences in angles between cams and crank but all sensors are new. Anyway, we thought we cleared the CE and went to the smog place. Two blocks away the damn CE light returns. We cleared it and went to the inspection station. They put it on the testing system and as I stood behind the car, the CE light lit up again. Apparently they didn't see it and the car passed with flying colors with all readings at the very LOW end of the scale. At least now I have another couple of years to find the problem.
And yes, this is the place to buy cars. Rust? what is that? I would look in autotrader.com
That way you can specify a car and how far away from you to search. Far better quality cars (and sellers) than on Craig's List. Take a look at cars from the Palm Springs area. Mainly wealthy retired people who trade in their cars with just a few thousand miles on the clock.
Anziani '97 CL600 65K