CA C7 OWNERS WHO BOUGHT FROM OUT OF STATE DEALER
 

My new C7 will (hopefully) arrive to my home in Southern CA by Christmas Eve. Since I have never brought a new Unregistered Car here, I am wondering what hoops I'll need to jump through to get the Car Registered.

My main question is, being a brand new 50 State Certified Car, do I have to get a Smog Check done? The Car is Untitled until I register it and that seems idiotic, but we are talking CA here. I'll have to get a Temporary Operating Permit to get it to the Dealer to Smog and then to the Auto Club and the DMV Office if necessary.

I usually use Auto Club when doing Car Registrations, but I did have to go to the DMV last time I brought a "used" Car here that I bought back East.

Any assistance would be appreciated. I can't be the first guy living in CA who bought his C7 from an out of State Dealer. The local Dealers here are still asking 10K -20K over Sticker, especially if it's a Z51. I managed to get my Car without a Markup back East.

I Bought mine from out of State, haven't reged it yet. But I don't think we need to smog it however I will need to pay taxes on sense N.H. has no state Taxes. Lets keep in touch, good Luck!!
Glen

I bought out of state in Ohio and it was easy - the dealer collected my Florida county sales tax and sent my DMV office an Ohio title showing "taxes paid" and then I transferred it to a Florida title for $75. Then my Florida plate was transferred also.

I'm in CA and bought my C7 from dealer in Ohio. My car came with temporary tags/plates for approximately 30 days. So the process I faced were:

1, Dealer in Ohio requested address information on my local DMV (so they can send the out of state title to the DMV). Dealer in Ohio also collected their % of sales tax (which you will need to pay the difference when you go to your local DMV).

2, Dealer will mail/fedex the title to your local DMV. Dealer should notify you (or you can follow up with the dealer) when that is done so you can go to the DMV and get the process started.

3, When your local DMV has the title, you can go to your local DMV and pay for the fees and the difference in sales tax. DMV will also inspect your vehicle. If the inspector cannot find the sticker in your engine bay, the sticker is located on the passenger side of your hood.

4, DMV will then provide you with paperwork to do your SMOG check. SO YES, YOU WILL NEED TO GET A SMOG CHECK.

5, Get a smog check, then go back to DMV and finish the registration process.

I am unsure if AAA will help register a new vehicle purchased out of the state. I thought they did not.

Also, I have been driving on my temporary out of state tags since I got the car in November, as I am waiting to go back to the DMV after my smog test.

Hope that answers your questions.

To all you Cali guys...any reason you bought out of state? Just wondering.

Gunny -

The local Dealers, I'm up the Freeway from you in Laguna Niguel, were / are asking anywhere from 10K to 20K over MSRP. I didn't Pre-order. Two Months ago I hadn't even given a thought about buying another Corvette. Things change, rather quickly at times. Saw it, had to have it, period.

They Dealers up here didn't have what I was looking for as far as Equipment and Options either.

Just started using Auto Trader and other Websites to see what's out there, locally and otherwise. I found one out of State and ended up getting it under MSRP.

Granted, shipping it back has eaten up much of that savings, but I'm still $500 under MSRP after expenses. I can't complain, except having to jump through hoops to get it Registered.

A Brand New 50 State Emissions Car and I have to have a Smog Test done on it. Just adds insult to injury.

Ok, that explains it. I found a dealer (Quality in Escondido) as the only one at MSRP. I paid a little over...not 10 or 20 thousand. I guess that little bit extra paid cor avoiding the transfer experience. Great you got the car you wanted. Hope to see you on the road one of these days.