Registering a Euro 360 Spider in CA

Sorry, this is going to be long but there is a lot of information to know about licensing a Euro in California. Unfortunately there is also a lot of FUD. Since I just completed the process I thought I would post details. Hopefully it will help others.

Here is my experience on getting a 2001 Euro 360 Spider licensed in California. There are a lot of caveats so each situation will be a little unique. This process assumes you are a CA resident and you are buying the car from out of state. This also assumes that the car is a '75 or newer model year.

If you have a 49-State car you will go though the whole process. A 50-State car will follow part of this process but you will be able to skip steps (they will direct you when to jump to the end).

If you are moving to California with a gray market car there are a bunch of rules that I didn't live through. I can provide some information from what I found but I can't tell you the exact steps and risks. PM me if you have specific questions and I will help where I can.

If you car has less than 7,500 miles OR is less than 2 year old FORGET IT!. You won't get through this process. Look for a nice US car.

There are a number of players you have to be aware of. The DMV, ARB, BAR, BAR Referee Station, and NCDL.
DMV - Department of Motor Vehicles
ARB - Air Resources Board (CA version of EPA)
BAR - Bureau of Automotive Repair
BAR Referee Station - a special smog station
NCDL - Northern California Diagnostics Lab

Each of these guys plays a different role and can be a road block. I put NCDL but it is actually a certified testing lab as noted in the BAR statement I included below. I also included a list of the testing labs.

My car car came from Spain to the US. It was legalized by JK Technology in Baltimore. The importing owner lived in NY so the car was legalized to 49 state. Yes, CA is the 50th as far as BAR and EPA are concerned.

The car was immediately sold. The 2nd owner lived in Chicago and had the car for about 4 1/2 years. During that time the car passed smog and had legal IL plates.

I purchased the car in June 2006 and had it shipped to California. Obviously I made a lot of calls and gathered information before I executed the purchase. Even then, there were things I didn't know that came as I worked through this process.

California has some information on their web site but it is difficult to find. If you make enough calls, and get lucky with someone who knows something, you will find additional information.

Here is what the BAR has to say - "The vehicle must be modified and laboratory tested to meet California new vehicle emission standards for the model year of the vehicle. The modifications can be performed by any California BAR licensed mechanic, but the laboratory test must be performed by a BAR certified Direct Import Vehicle Laboratory. After the vehicle has passed the California lab test it is taken to a BAR Referee for a Smog Check. The referee will verify that all modifications have been done correctly, affix a BAR Identification Label, and provide a Smog Certificate needed for registration."

Theoretically you need to have:
1) Chain of title from the first owner
2) EPA certification (HS-7)
3) DOT certification (release of bond)

The DMV will also want:
1) Application for Title
2) Original Title
3) A bill of sale and odometer certification
a) note: this DMV form has to be picked up at the office not on the web
4) Vehicle Inspection
a) this is an inspection that is performed at the DMV office
5) Large check
a) remember that they want sales tax as well as transfer fees

You can download most of these forms from the web. The odometer cert and bill of sale is on special paper so you have to pick that up from the DMV office. Do this before you go see the seller because you will need their signature on this form.


I suggest that you:
1) Make contact with the people who did the original EPA modifications. You want them around in case you need any extra information. See "Prep for BAR Referee" below; be sure to ask for this stuff.
a) List of what was done to the car
b) Lab results if your car was tested
2) Key to this process is to be polite and ask for help. People like to help but hate to be talked down to. Always smile and your job will be easier.
3) Look in the users manual and validate where all of the VIN numbers are located. Also look for any EPA stickers (door jams) etc.
4) Be over prepared.



DMV & Inspection:
Once I had everything in order call the DMV and set an appointment. Get there ~1 hour early so you can get the inspection done before your appointment. Most DMV offices do inspections, ask when you set the appointment. They are looking to make sure that the VIN and mileage are correct. They will fill out a form that the DMV will use to compare to your other documents.

They found that my VIN says my car is a 2000 but there are no 2000 Spiders. This turned out to just a minor bump in the road. They can manually override the system but they have to be satisfied that everything is correct before the issue the Vehicle Inspection paperwork.

Take all of the paperwork for the DMV (list above) and give it to the clerk. They will process the paperwork and get everything ready. You won't have a SMOG Certificate so you won't get plates but they will give you a 90 day temp tag. I found this part of the process to be very easy.

Prep for BAR Referee:
Call the people who did the original conversion. Have them look up your car. It turns out that they only have to test 1 in 3 cars they legalize. If they have the actual test results have them fax it to you. If they didn't test the car, my car was not tested, you can proceed but you will be off to the testing lab. If they did test, you MAY get buy but have them also send a list of what was done to the car.You will need these documents if you get by the referee or if you go to the testing lab.

You will need to have service campaign 148 completed or you will have trouble. This campaign grounds pins 5 & 6 of the OBD connector. If you don't have this done beforehand the Referee will get a link failure and abort your test. This campaign cost me $86, 1/2 hour, at the local dealer.

BAR Referee Station:
Call BAR and schedule to see a referee. They are busy so this could take a couple of weeks. ARRIVE EARLY! Take all of your paperwork, you won't need most of it. If you have the lab results you may slide by here and get to jump to the end. If not, they will fiddle around for a while then send you away to NCDL.

NOTE: there are only 2 testing labs in California. One is in Napa and the other is in Long Beach. The Referee will give you a paper with the contacts. The paper lists 3 but I am told that 1 of them is out of business. Here they are in case you want them.

Northern California Emissions Lab
2748 Jefferson St
Napa, CA 94558
707-258-1753

Natural Gas Vehicle Development Company, Inc
2040 Cherry Industrial Circle
Long Beach, CA 90805
310-630-5768

Think this one is out of business:
California Environmental Engineering
3231 S Standard Ave
Santa Ana, CA 92705
714-545-9822

NCDL Testing Lab:
They guys here are very nice and helpful.

The testing lab is basically a super smog check facility. They go through the car in detail and make sure that everything is converted correctly. During the test they gather all of the exhaust and determine the exact content. That is compared to the ARB/EPA requirements. When the car passes your car is dubbed to be CA compliant and you get a Certificate of Conformance. They also put a sticker on your car that says you passed.

I am sure rates change and the Lab will provide details but this process is not a one day thing. You have to leave the car 7-10 days and the cost is $3,500. If the car doesn't pass they charge you $1,000 and tell you what is wrong. They may be able to fix it for you; obviously at additional cost. Work out the repairs and the rest of the testing.

BAR Referee Station, again:
NCDL will take the car to the local BAR Referee Station for you a for an extra $250. I said OK and planned the $3,750. This should be an easy step so I guess you could give up time and do the Referee run yourself saving some money.

When you get the car back you have complete lab tests, a smog certificate, and a BAR Identification Label on your car. The BAR Identification Label is the really important part. The label allows you to have the car smog tested anywhere. You are now CA legal.

If you didn't have them do the Referee run then you have to do this step now. The process is the same as the first visit but you will have all of the required documentation so it is very smooth. If you had NCDL do the run and it went well, skip to the next step.

DMV Again:
You can make an appointment again if you want or just go and wait. If you deliver the package of papers they gave you and the newly acquired smog certificate they will give you plates.

Congratulations, you now have a Euro that is legal in CA.

 

My experience with NCDL: after dropping off the car they did a pre-test. At that point everything looked good. They did the final test and I passed everything easily except the hydrocarbons were fractionally too high. I missed by less than 1% so I failed.

Lots of things can cause high hydrocarbon readings. The primary cause is un-burnt fuel and Ferraris tend to run rich. A short list of possible issues is:
Engine not up to temp
Spark plugs not firing hot enough
Faulty spark plug wires or weak coil
Catalytic converters not working properly
A little blow by on the rings
A little leaking around the valve guides
Oxygen injectors not working properly
Timing too advanced (this is a inherent issue on euros)

Some of these are inexpensive and some are expensive. Ambient temp even has an impact; cooler is better. If you are close this is a manageable problem.

NCDL told me that they had recently made some changes so they had to check calibration on the machine and a few other things. They made their checks and tested my car again. It passed, no changes necessary. At that point I got the Certificate of Conformance.

Off to the Referee:
They took the car to the Referee. NCDL tells me that most machines have a hard time reading the OBD port on Ferraris. As a result, the Referee couldn't get a 'ready to test' from all systems. He didn't get a failure he just couldn't get the response. He tried his 2nd machine and got a some response but not 100%.

The Referee pushed ahead anyway but couldn't get a stable tach reading. They have 3 different types of pickups. He tried the block connection and there was too much noise to get a reading. He couldn't find the sparkplug wires so the NCDL guy pointed them out. By then the referee was frustrated and didn't want to put his hand that close to things that were so hot.

Darn, the Referee send us away without completing his step. This cost me the $250 for NCDL to take it but didn't result in the completion of the Referee step.

I picked the car up and brought it home. I did more research and found out about Campaign 148. Once I had that update done I went to the referee myself. The process was very smooth and the car passed easily. This bagged me a BAR sticker and a clean smog test.

NOTE: I took a little extra time to explain to the referee what my process was. That way he didn't look at the number of aborted tests and become concerned.

 

As a side note: I am sure I will hear all about how this is all wrong, you can't register a Euro in CA, blah, blah, blah. All I can say is belive what you want. I just did this process and have a legal car.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I will help where I can.

 

Good info but what a runaround. Not sure why anyone would bother unless the car was at least $25 G's or so below a US model. Thanks for the info.

 

John,

That sounds like a job in itself. I gotta hand it to you though; I would've given up just after reading the process.

Harry

 

Question....

I live in California and just bought an '01 360 spider from a local guy...it came already registered in California with Calif. plates, Calif. registration and even a hot blonde who, given a pair of high heels, a pole and a room full of drunk men can earn a better living then most of us.....(you guess which part I'm kidding about)

Anyways, I was only given the pink slip, current registration and a set of keys: NO OTHER PAPERWORK!!!!

I had no problem passing smog (on the first try) and registering the car in my name....I have every reason to believe that things will progress year after year without issue and I could easily sell it to another California resident....but what happens when I go to sell the car to someone in another state? And what happens if it leaves Calif. and then someone wants to bring it back?

The previous owner bought it from some local Lambo dealership and they were thoroughly useless in trying to find/get more info on the car. All we know is that is used to belong to Rod Stewart....and I ain't given him his blonde back!

 

It sounds worse than it really was. The hard part was figuring out the process. Since I didn't know the road I had to figure out how to get by the innevitable bumps. I think this will set a good roadmap for anyone else going through the process.

The hard cost was less than $4000. If you had to do this I agree that you would want the car to be ~20k less than a comparable US car.

On the plus side, once you have done the process the cost differential should be pretty much eliminated. The market doesn't prove that out right now. I think that the delta is caused by uncertanty about the risks and process.

 

Once you are CA registered the extra paperwork isn't needed. You should be able to sell to someone in CA, no problem. Not sure what happens if it leaves CA and then comes back. I would think it should be OK since the DMV will have the VIN on record. BUT, that is just a guess.

I just wish my car came with the Blonde.

 

Thanks for the writeup John! As always, maneuvering the "process" is the most difficult part of the job, knowing that one mis-step could potentially be the land mine that blows your whole effort up, sky high.

Looks like you'll have your CA plates at SR this weekend!

 

John, thanks for taking the time and documenting everything and glad that everything worked out for you. I registered a Florida P-car once in CA and it was a 50 state car, but even with that, the DMV gave me the run around! But glad that you got through it!

 

Ahh, but Grasshopper....it is for each Ferrari owner to find his own blonde.

 

Thanks guys. I will be at SR on Saturday. See everyone there.

If I had to do it over I think this could be cut to a fairly easy process.

Get Campaign 148 done
Skip the first Referee visit and go directly to NCDL
Have NCDL go to the Referee for you
Skip the DMV and wait for the plates in the mail

Of course you will still need documentation.

 

hi there, did your car have to be retrofitted with the ORIGINAL headers / cats / mufflers? Is it possible to pass with fabspeed equipment? I was told that all the smog equipment has to have the C.A.R.B california smog stamp, is this correct?
thanks
David

 

To be legal the cats and headers need to be replaced. I doubt that any CI will have imported a car and not done the changes because they risk forfeiting a rather large bond and losing their license. There is no way you will pass the CA certification test with Fabspeed headers. These just barely make the cold start anyway and without the precats you don't have a prayer. And yes, it all has to be OEM or certified equipment.

The muffler is different since it doesn't impact emissions. You can pass with just about anything.

 

Not a big deal, my 360 spent the first 8 years of its life in Calif. then went on to live in 5 different states with 4 different owners before I brought it back home. DMV looked it up and because it had been out of state I needed a visual inspection (as well as a regular tailpipe test) to make sure no equipment had been removed or modified. The visual guy looked at it said he had never seen a 360 and asked me if anything was missing, I said no and he signed off on it.

I did fail the tailpipe test but that is another story.

 

I think getting a wholesale dealer's license and driving on the dealer tags would have been easier. CA is not friendly when it comes to cars

 

Yep, once you are CA certified it is only a tailpipe test. That is generally pretty easy.