New Ram California DMV issues

[Orcadrvr]

Just took delivery of a brand new 2018 Ram 3500 Laramie Diesel, which I really like. I bought it from Dave Smith in Idaho, and could not have had a better buying experience!
However, California DMV is being their usual obnoxious self: I have to get a smog check before I can register it, bcause I bought it out of state! It has about 51 miles on it!
So I took it to the smog check place, waited a while, and the tech showed me the printout which said that it "wasn't ready" for the smog test. I need to drive it some more before it is "ready" for the test.
Anybody have any ideas about how much to drive it before the retest?

[ItsyRV]

Geez, it's not that hard at all. Almost all vehicles sold in the west conforms to CA emissions standards. Just look at the Emissions label and it will say EPA Or EPA and California. A pickup bought in TX by a friend was CA emissions compliant.

Now as for the computer check, the issue is that regardless how many miles you drive, if you don't hit all they requirement points for the computer, you can drive till you run out of fuel and still never read ready. The best way is to follow what the manufacture states is the proper drive cycle otherwise you may miss one or two critical items and fail.

You have to have so much warm up. So much low speed driving. So much high speed driving. Plus you may need to have a certain amount of idles between different driving along with a possible turn off and ons to complete the proper breaking run cycle. On some vehicles you may be able to hit all the requirements through normal driving, but on others, specific things still need to be done. Just ask the dealer for the proper method (if not already specified in your owner's manual).

[time2roll]

Orcadrvr wrote:
I bought it from Dave Smith in Idaho, and could not have had a better buying experience!

Except for the fact that he did not register it in CA.

Too bad this question was not asked in advance. Yes the CA-DMV is very attuned to people trying to avoid sales tax, smog, registration fees and all the rest with people buying out of state and immediately bringing it in. Not saying you are trying to circumvent anything but many are and so it becomes a big PITN at the DMV.

I would contact the DMV and ask for a special inspection center that can handle this properly. You should not be leaving the inspection center with questions.

I had my CA smog license about 30 years ago and it has only gotten more complex.

Generally new vehicles do not require a smog check so the error could be that the standard machine is just saying the vehicle is too new. May need to wait four years... Or possibly you need a minimum number of miles for the computer to fully adjust to your driving. This can happen when the computer has required a reset from repairs and possibly from just being new. If you had driven it in from ID it would have plenty of starts and miles to be ready. Drive it two weeks and try again but you may still come up empty with a standard inspection station.

[Super_Dave]

If all else fails, get an Idaho PO box and register in Idaho for a year.

[BarabooBob]

I am thankful that I live in central Wisconsin. No smog checks, no DOT hastles, just stop at the local sheriff's dept and hand them a check. I get my plates and registration slip on the spot. 3 weeks later I get my new title. This is for used. If you buy from a dealer, they charge you $10 to process the paperwork and it is done before you pick the vehicle up.

[discovery4us]

If the truck does not have all the necessary CA smog factory installed you will need to drive the truck 7,500 miles and wait two years so that it will classified as used.

If the truck does have all the necessary CA smog factory installed you will need a weight cert., an odometer cert., a smog cert., a Application for CA title, the out of state title, a CA DMV employee will need to fill out a vehicle verification, and you will need a boat load of cash to cover sales tax (based off of the dealers bill of sale).

Probable too late but I would make the out of state dealer make CA registration part of the sales agreement.

First thing CA DMV will look for is the factory sticker that states CA legal or 50 state legal.

[turbojimmy]

Lynnmor wrote:
How long can you drive an unregistered vehicle? Since you have little control over the miles and time required to make the truck ready, how is it possible to make this work?

Good point. I ASSumed he had some sort of temporary registration.

[Lynnmor]

How long can you drive an unregistered vehicle? Since you have little control over the miles and time required to make the truck ready, how is it possible to make this work?

[cmeade]

And do not forget a certified weight slip and Vin verification from chp.

[turbojimmy]

It depends. Invest in a cheap OBDII scanner and it will tell you when the monitors are ready. Or drive it 100 miles or so and try again. In NJ you can pass with 2 monitors not ready (except for O2 and catalyst I think), but I'd suspect that Kalifornia wants them all to be ready. EVAP is usually toughest to show ready - takes a long time as it's a combination of cold starts, highway driving, stop and go driving, etc. I never drive on the highway and my EVAP monitor on my truck didn't show as ready even after about 75 miles of around-town driving last year. I passed inspection because the other 6 monitors were ready.

[Lwiddis]

"However, California DMV is being their usual obnoxious self"

Checking vehicles for emissions is not being obnoxious because it causes you to have your out of state purchased vehicle inspected. If you didn't want to be inspected then you should have purchased in state. It was your choice. The rules are clear and they have been in effect for a long time.

[ItsyRV]

Just call the any dealer's service dept and ask what is the "Drive Cycle" to ready the OBD. They will give you the specific (such as X miles at 30 low speed, Y miles at high speed, Z minutes of idle) or they will say drive it so many miles in mixed traffic. I'm surprised the selling dealer didn't do this for you or at least told you what to do.

[ScottG]

I've had to drive mine 30 minutes before it's "ready".