ward00
True Classic
Just a quick update for anyone contemplating bringing a 75 or older vehicle into California. About a 1 1/2 months ago I went to the CA DMV with registration papers for my just purchased 75 Beta Montecarlo. I went in thinking that having only a RI registration and no title, no metal VIN plaque in the front window, no California emissions sticker, and/or no federal safety label was going to raise red flags. But, no, all the DMV inspector apparently needed to do was verify the VIN that was stamped in the chassis. After I paid my fees, out the door I went thinking all was well. Well, after a month of waiting for my title to arrive, instead of a title I got a letter saying I needed to go to the CHP to do another check. Crap I said to myself. I had no idea what it was they wanted to check, and since the car had no emissions or federal stickers and labels, I began researching how to get the car titled in South Dakota, with the assumption the CHP was going to reject the car. It turns out that because the car was from out of state and because there was no federal safety label (that has the VIN printed on it) they needed to do a secondary VIN verification. Today I got the title. Wohoo, but damn, they spelled the make of the car as LNCI. Should I risk who knows what by going into the DMV to correct it (it might require a second inspection of the car), or should I leave sleeping dogs lie.