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Kellyn

Kellyn

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Behold, the best damn USA Delica forum on planet Earth. My name is Kellyn. I am your leader. I own Karr Automotive LLC and can help you with any vehicle import issues you may have. Welcome and feel free to ask any questions.

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Kellyn said:
Behold, the best damn USA Delica forum on planet Earth. My name is Kellyn. I am your leader. I own Karr Automotive LLC and can help you with any vehicle import issues you may have. Welcome and feel free to ask any questions.

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hey Kellyn,

Just bought my first Delica. Very excited for its arrival next week. Any thing to be aware of as an owner regarding maintenance.

Thanks

Brian
 
Kellyn said:
Behold, the best damn USA Delica forum on planet Earth. My name is Kellyn. I am your leader. I own Karr Automotive LLC and can help you with any vehicle import issues you may have. Welcome and feel free to ask any questions.

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Looking for a roof rack. Any ideas on which one will fit properly
 
Brian,

There are a lot of good resources on this site regarding maintenance. I would highly recommend posting your Delica specs once it arrives so others may chime in and help you find your footing.

I would advise that you purchase a Stainless rack from fts4x4.com. They are out of Taiwan and shipping will cost your dearly but lemme tell ya the rack is second to none. If you can't sort out the shipping on your own let me know and we can use my shipping bond to get one for ya.

K
 
There's a lot of racks out there that will fit. Yakima bars can mount to our gutters, and you can mount any bar-mounted rack to those. FTS is good too. Most importers have accounts with them and either have stock or will order for you. I've gone through Rising Sun in BC. Google it.
 
@Dustinbowls - most are diesel, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Check Craislist frequently. Not just for CA, but for Washington, as well, since we're closer to Canada and seem to have a lot people doing business with Japan out of Seattle.

Hit up www.delicausa.com and some other importers - plenty in Canada, and I swear there's one in California, too..

Hit up @Kellyn
 
Kellyn said:
Welcome! I will be writing some tech articles this week so stand by! Any questions about your delica shoot them my way!
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Any advice on how to register a delica that does not meet emissions standards? I've hit a huge road block with DMV
 
rdelica said:
@Avilagus83 What year Delica, what city/state, what have you done so far, etc.?
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Hey @rdelica I appreciate the reply. So I bought this thing in Canada. Imported it through customs in Blaine, WA. I have all proper paperwork from customs. I've got all paperwork into DMV. DMV sent me to CHP to get my van inspected. Got that done. Got the paperwork signed by officer. Took all that to DMV. Lady at DMV said everything looked good. "This is all going up to Sacramento, you should be receiving your plates in the next two months" is what I was told.

Yesterday I received a letter from DMV stating that I needed a letter from manufacturer showing my vehicle is compliant with US and/or California emissions standards. I called the rep from DMV who signed the letter. She stated if i couldnt get that letter, to call ARB. I called Mitsubishi Japan, they couldn't help. I called ARB, the girl I spoke to said that because its a diesel, there is no way to register that grey market vehicle in california.

When I did my research before I bought the van, I learned about the 25 year rule from the DOT that makes it legal for the RHD. and the 21 year rule from the EPA which makes it not need smog test. Apparently, that has nothing to do with being emissions compliant.

Any idea what I can do?
 
For some reason, I thought you were in Oregon. You should've registered it in Washington, truthfully. California is a royal pain in the ass for just about everything car related.

I don't understand the process in California, unfortunately, though it seems, based on other California Delica owners' experiences, that the general rule that applies in other states might be true here, too. If you have problems at one DMV, go to another. It's like finding a mechanic. Sometimes they get confused, sometimes they need extra paperwork, but sometimes they just do it. My registration process in WA was literally 15 minutes long. I walked out with plates and got my title in the mail days later. If I'd gone to a different DMV and said "Ok, I've got a tricky one for you..." it could easily have been a bigger ordeal. Not sure if your hang up is at the office level or the actual DMV level, but going to another office might help.

Like I said though - I'm not from California. There's some people on here that are, and I imagine they're driving around with license plates.

Another option: contact JDM importers based in Cali. https://www.google.com/search?q=jap...rome..69i57.5088j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
 
@rdelica yea it's out of the hands of the local dmv. All my stuff got sent up to Sacramento. I talked to them again this morning. The lady said that even if I register it in another state with more lenient emissions standards, once I bring it back to California, I'll need to meet California emissions standards.

I was totally thinking of registering it in Washington. When I went to their dmv, the lady gave me a sheet that said "California emissions" and i was like wtf. So I assumed the process would be the same. I do have a buddy that lives up in Seattle though
 
Gotcha. Damn, that does make it tricky. The basic question still remains: people are either meeting/exempted from California emissions standards somehow - so how!? Lol.

I'd talk to some more non-DMV people if I were you, who may be thinking in more of a "workaround" mindset rather than one of compliance. JDM importers, classic car titling companies, fellow Delica people, the like. Good luck!
 
@rdelica thanks man. Yea I talked to the only place in California certified to do modifications to bring it to compliance and they said 4,850 bucks. Might be my only option.
 
Avilagus83 said:
@rdelica yea it's out of the hands of the local dmv. All my stuff got sent up to Sacramento. I talked to them again this morning. The lady said that even if I register it in another state with more lenient emissions standards, once I bring it back to California, I'll need to meet California emissions standards.

I was totally thinking of registering it in Washington. When I went to their dmv, the lady gave me a sheet that said "California emissions" and i was like wtf. So I assumed the process would be the same. I do have a buddy that lives up in Seattle though
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The problem is that you imported from another country yourself. Youll notice almost all importers are actually based out of CA( i.e yotaimports, delicausa, vanlifenorthwest). So they can Register for that state.

the 25 year rule does apply but only if you were registering an out of state vehicle. not an import. Imports must meet the CARB standards. Thats the letter you got in the mail. I'm guessing when you went to register in WA you showed them your CA drivers license? The DMV applies the rules for whatever state you reside in. So unless you can show residence in another state youre going to have a tought time registering it there. I was going to do this with my delica to avoid the state sales tax.

My only suggestion would be to find some way to register it out of state then reregister it here. wether that means gifting it to a friend or whatever. The delica will never pass the CARB test to my knowledge.
 
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