I'm a California resident in the process of buying a 1990 Corvette (in fair condition) that is currently in New Jersey. I've always heard about California's "strict automobile guidelines," but I honestly don't know a thing about them. Can anyone tell me what kind of hoops I'm going to have to jump through to get this thing registered, what costs may be involved, and if there's anything I can have done in New Jersey that may make the California process easier? I'm buying the car from my dad, so if there's anything that can be taken care of before it gets here, that's definitely something I'd like to look into.

Also, if anyone can recommend a good company to ship the car out here, that'd be great, too.

Thanks!

-Jason

 

As far as shipping I don't know. But you can bring any used car into CA even if it is not CA emissions equipped if it has more than (IIRC) 7000 miles on it. The rule is just to keep people from buying new cars outside CA and bringing them in here.

You will have to take it down to a DMV office and have someone inspect the chassis and engine VINs to see if they match in order to get it registered in CA.

But you should probably go the the CA DMV website to get all the current details.

 

You will have to get it smogged and that can be a problem for older cars. Cali has STRICT smog laws. If it has any mods then you could be in real trouble.