Registering a "49-state" M100 in California

[ElanBRG]

A question came up on my BaT auction about registering my car in California.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1991- ... nt-2565192

My Elan is a 49-state car, not a 50-state car, as determined by my last five digits of my VIN starting with a 2 instead of 3.
http://www.lotuselan.com/vin_decoder.html

So the question is, how did 12 people get their 49-state Elans registered in California? And this registry is about a 1/4 of all the cars out there, so there may be closer to 50 of the 49-state cars registered in California.
http://www.lotusm100.com/Registry/report_choices.htm

Are any of you still active on this forum that are in the registry with a 49-state car registered in California?
1lotusman
lotusguymichael
jabrown39
erictheredps
mark
GoM100Go
Ekapol
bwiddowson

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Lotus created the classification and tested / verified that the cars sold to California met the more stringent requirements.

I am not aware of anyone being able to get their car re-classified. The question HAS come up before and California people just skip non-California models.

That said, I am not sure how California could refuse to test a car being brought in by a person transferring or moving into California.

Statements from California's Smog Council:

For information on other California vehicle smog laws, contact the California Air Resources Board (ARB) at (800) 242-4450, or visit our web site at http://www.arb.ca.gov

If you are moving to California from another state, you may register a new federally certified vehicle if it was first registered by you in your home state, or for military personnel,
in the state of your last military service. When applying for vehicle registration in California, you must provide evidence of you vehicle's previous registration. A temporary operating permit is acceptable proof.

All gasoline-powered vehicles, new or used, being registered for the first time in California must pass the California Smog Check. A vehicle will fail the California Smog Check if
it is not equipped with the originally required smog devices.

Look at this link: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detai ... cts/ffvr29

"Does This Apply to Someone Moving to California?

If you are moving to California from another state, you may register a new 49-state vehicle if it was first registered by you in your home state, or for military personnel, in the last state of your military service. When applying for vehicle registration in California, you must provide evidence that the vehicle was registered."

I WAS NOT trying to hurt your sale attempt, but others have come up to a lot of trouble trying to move a car into California that was a 49 State emission vehicle.

The registry was a voluntary list to which not too many people offered their information. A LOT of the info was gathered by others from for-sale listings found on the web.
When Microsoft abandoned FrontPage and web hosts stopped providing the background files to keep FrontPage sites working, the forms I created stopped working and even though I offered to manually import any data sent to me, only one or two newer owners sent their details, so I gave up.

[ElanBRG]

I learned about most of that stuff googling last night, but I am hoping we hear from someone that has done it.

Even this 2016 BaT auction shows a 49-state car that was still registered in California:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1991-lotus-elan-m100/

I can't imagine that all of these cars managed to qualify for the very narrow exceptions, so there must be more to this story.

I don't want to sell my car to someone that can't register it, but if it's possible for CA residents to buy and register my car, I don't want to miss out on that big market for bidders.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

The only name I recognize from that list that I have any info on is GoM100G0. His name is James and his car moved to Canada after a LOT of registration and inspection problems.

You can email him at jsosa99-AT-hotmail.com. Obviously, fix the address.

Ekapol still has his car and will probably answer any questions he can. LGM took care of his car but she is now in France most of the time and not answering many questions.

[ElanBRG]

Thanks! I emailed James just now, and posted a message on BaT for that red Elan that sold in 2016. Looks like the seller is very active on BaT, but may not have the history of the registration since it was done before his ownership. That red one does show it past California emission in 2012, which is very interesting for a 49-state car.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

To settle the discussion, I called the compliance office in Calif. A car with more than 7,500 miles is considered USED. Any USED 49 state car can be purchased by a California buyer and will be able to be registered with no problem. It must meet the emission limits, but otherwise nothing has to be changed or retro fitted.

[ElanBRG]

To settle the discussion, I called the compliance office in Calif. A car with more than 7,500 miles is considered USED. Any USED 49 state car can be purchased by a California buyer and will be able to be registered with no problem. It must meet the emission limits, but otherwise nothing has to be changed or retro fitted.

That's great news! Not only for the CA bidders that want to buy my car, and not only for me since I will have more bidders, but also for future M100 owners selling their cars nationally.

Thank you!!!

[CalElan]

To settle the discussion, I called the compliance office in Calif. A car with more than 7,500 miles is considered USED. Any USED 49 state car can be purchased by a California buyer and will be able to be registered with no problem. It must meet the emission limits, but otherwise nothing has to be changed or retro fitted.

Just for clarification BCN, are you saying that the 49 state cars have all the equipment required for CA registration and that the cars are also tuned to pass this test?
If that's the case I'm wondering why Lotus didn't just 50 State certify all the cars. I guess I'm wondering why the difference, if there's really no difference??

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Nope.

The 49 State car when NEW did NOT meet California requirements.

However, after 7,500 miles it is considered to be USED and used cars can be purchased and brought to California as long as it meets the 49 State rules.

I don't claim to understand the logic, but I was careful when I questioned the person when I called them. I even clarified that the missing Calif parts don't need to be installed on a USED car after 7,500 miles. It just has to pass the 49 State requirements on the sticker.

[CalElan]

As usual, awesome info..
So basically a 49 state car only has to comply to 49 state emission levels not the different (possibly stricter) California emissions.



Hmmm... so how much money is in my piggy bank??

[tigerdog]

One other thought: the only differences between a 49-state Elan and a California one are the VIN ("3" leads the last 5 digits) and the MEMCAL in the computer. The second can be easily fixed using a different ECU, or a Mountain chip with the correct base. Of course, opening the computer voids compliance but I've never seen a smog test inspector delve deeply enough to find a broken seal. OTOH, I've had a couple refuse to even test my Elan since the new "visual inspection" regulations went into effect. A tester must certify that all the intake/emission components on a vehicle are as standard, or have explicit exemption from the State. Since Elans are so rare, many testers are unwilling to spend the time to learn, and many are unwilling to risk their license passing a car with defects. The Elan would make a great decoy for compliance officers trying to uncover unscrupulous testers.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Doug: The EGR Valve is also different in that it also has a temperature sensor included and it does throw faults if the sensor goes bad or is missing.

Didn't you have to change your EGR valve? I thought I remember someone mentioning they did. (I am getting senile, so maybe dreamed it).

I remember you said you replaced your ECM... or did I dream that too?

For anyone wanting to research this, see page 273 of the Elan100 Parts Guide-S2 from the manuals page (link below). Look at Illustration and details for item #6

[tigerdog]

Doug: Didn't you have to change your EGR valve? I thought I remember someone mentioning they did. (I am getting senile, so maybe dreamed it).
I remember you said you replaced your ECM... or did I dream that too?

You can't blame senility just yet. I had a problem with EGR valve not opening, and throwing off my NOx numbers enough to fail smog. The valve was OK, though; the ECU was not properly energizing the vacuum solenoid, so the valve stayed closed. I changed the ECU and fixed the problem.