registering jdm car in socal Options

[midengine3sgte]

anyone know where I can get a RHD Celica from japan registered in socal? In LA or Orange county. It's a GT4 WRC.

[94GT]

I've done some research on this. Assuming the previous owner didn't get a US VIN for it (JDM vins won't work), here's what you're going to need to do it by the book: The original bill of sale from Japan, and the customs release paperwork demonstrating that the bond was released on it at the port (or port of entry if it came through Mexico or Canada) and that it meets DOT/EPA standards. My guess is that it doesn't, so your next best bet is to start calling around until you find a DMV (doesn't have to be cali, it can be anywhere) that doesn't really know the rules and you could sweet talk your way into them issuing you a US vin. The less smog requirements they have, the less likely they are to even be knowledgeable about the DOT stuff as well, would be my guess (I'm not saying smog has anything to do with DOT, but the Oklahoma tag agency is far less likely to be savvy on the rules like a California DMV where many more people try to get grey market cars like Skylines registered). Once you get that done you can register it wherever you want, as long as they don't have an under the hood inspection or strict smog requirements. It might pass the sniffer, but the JDM motor doesn't have an EGR on it so it would fail the Cali visual. I recommend Wyoming or Oklahoma. Hopefully you've got some family or friends that live outside of Cali to help you out with this. I've got a really old thread on here about this, but you're already at least halfway there since you've got the car in the states. Start with step 4 on my writeup, and there are plenty of useful links for which laws apply at the bottom. Here's the link: Importing a GT-4 Link. Good luck, and let us know how everything turns out!