Porkcutletfritter
New Member
Hi All,
Just wanted to give some hope to Californians out there hoping to register.
I just got my plates today after 3 months of having my 1992 L300 Diesel. I live in LA.
There’s a couple things I noticed in other threads about this that I didn’t have the information about, so I’ll cover them.
1. I bought my car from delicausa.com I had a pretty good experience with Michael. He’s always willing to help. I didn’t know the right questions to ask when it came to shipping though.
2. Pennsylvania made a mistake on my original title and put the fuel type as gasoline. BE SURE to get it corrected if this happens to you. One of the issues with DMV title issuance and registration was that gas cars are subject to smog check. The dealer fixed this for me and paid the correction fee. It took 6 weeks to get the corrected title. So be sure to get this corrected right away. The only time TCS/modifications/testing were ever mentioned was when my title said my car was gas powered instead of diesel.
3. I used a private vin verifier/dmv agent in LA. Called CA Registration on Olympic Blvd. the guy was really kind. The first time I sent off the info, I didn’t show him both vin plates. The DMV rejected his verification initially because it needed 2 locations. Otherwise they will refer you to CHP. Be sure they get pics of both spots. Side door and between drivers legs.
4. Arm your DMV agent with knowledge about the regulations. A 25+ year old import does not need to conform to FMVSS standards by federal regulation. One of the boxes on the form asks if this sticker (certificate of compliance) agrees with vin or is missing. Your importer probably did not attempt to attain this sticker because it isn’t required. The DMV might try to send you to CHP to have it inspected. But I didn’t need to. I’m not sure if my vin verifier checked the missing box or just checked the box for agreed with Vin. But we did not end up needing CHP inspection.
5. I drove all the way up to the Daly City Mitsubishi dealer to get the modification sticker to show the engine was compliant with EPA and CARB emissions standards.
The sticker reads:
Part No: MD136892-A
TSB: Eng: N/A; A/T: N/A
Vendor Code: Mitsubishi Motors Corp
Dealer Code: 05473
ROM ID#: Eng: 4D56T; A/T: V4AW2
And it has the date affixed
Attempting to upload. Idk if I’m too new a member to the forums.
It cost $100 cash only. Diesel prices going up and down the 5 sucked.. Kettleman city is awful. Definitely get gas before then or after then each way.
6. Some DMV agents don’t understand the rule for pre-1997 diesel smog check exemptions. The DMV rejected my DMV agent saying the car needed smog check. I called the ref, they said I do not need a smog check and with that info, I went back to my DMV agent and urged them to get the DMV to check their own web site.
I’m going to do my part and see if I can show the Mitsubishi dealers in SoCal the sticker and have them become certified to affix them. I don’t wish the drive on anyone. But the people up there were easy and knew exactly what to do. It took less than a minute. Bring cash.
Just wanted to give some hope to Californians out there hoping to register.
I just got my plates today after 3 months of having my 1992 L300 Diesel. I live in LA.
There’s a couple things I noticed in other threads about this that I didn’t have the information about, so I’ll cover them.
1. I bought my car from delicausa.com I had a pretty good experience with Michael. He’s always willing to help. I didn’t know the right questions to ask when it came to shipping though.
2. Pennsylvania made a mistake on my original title and put the fuel type as gasoline. BE SURE to get it corrected if this happens to you. One of the issues with DMV title issuance and registration was that gas cars are subject to smog check. The dealer fixed this for me and paid the correction fee. It took 6 weeks to get the corrected title. So be sure to get this corrected right away. The only time TCS/modifications/testing were ever mentioned was when my title said my car was gas powered instead of diesel.
3. I used a private vin verifier/dmv agent in LA. Called CA Registration on Olympic Blvd. the guy was really kind. The first time I sent off the info, I didn’t show him both vin plates. The DMV rejected his verification initially because it needed 2 locations. Otherwise they will refer you to CHP. Be sure they get pics of both spots. Side door and between drivers legs.
4. Arm your DMV agent with knowledge about the regulations. A 25+ year old import does not need to conform to FMVSS standards by federal regulation. One of the boxes on the form asks if this sticker (certificate of compliance) agrees with vin or is missing. Your importer probably did not attempt to attain this sticker because it isn’t required. The DMV might try to send you to CHP to have it inspected. But I didn’t need to. I’m not sure if my vin verifier checked the missing box or just checked the box for agreed with Vin. But we did not end up needing CHP inspection.
5. I drove all the way up to the Daly City Mitsubishi dealer to get the modification sticker to show the engine was compliant with EPA and CARB emissions standards.
The sticker reads:
Part No: MD136892-A
TSB: Eng: N/A; A/T: N/A
Vendor Code: Mitsubishi Motors Corp
Dealer Code: 05473
ROM ID#: Eng: 4D56T; A/T: V4AW2
And it has the date affixed
Attempting to upload. Idk if I’m too new a member to the forums.
It cost $100 cash only. Diesel prices going up and down the 5 sucked.. Kettleman city is awful. Definitely get gas before then or after then each way.
6. Some DMV agents don’t understand the rule for pre-1997 diesel smog check exemptions. The DMV rejected my DMV agent saying the car needed smog check. I called the ref, they said I do not need a smog check and with that info, I went back to my DMV agent and urged them to get the DMV to check their own web site.
I’m going to do my part and see if I can show the Mitsubishi dealers in SoCal the sticker and have them become certified to affix them. I don’t wish the drive on anyone. But the people up there were easy and knew exactly what to do. It took less than a minute. Bring cash.