Registering a CA car in TN and other questions

[bbob203]

In ohio if you have receipts showing you made a reasonable effort to get the car to pass and exceed like 300 bucks they pass you. Its free to. A joke really.

[burn_your_money]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll be living about 1 hour southwest of Nashville I think.

One more question, how negotiable are used car prices down in the states? Typically up here in Canada on a $2000 car you'd be doing well to get him down to $1500. It seems to me that all your cars are priced with a lot of extra padding built in. How much should I expect to knock off of the asking price on a $2000 car?

[745 turbogreasel]

If its reg is current, you can usually get $1000-1500 to crush them here, so anything that runs n drives is 1200 at least. 
Lots of variables, but on a desirable car I just pick a price I know I can get, and wait for someone to pay it.  on a lesser car...take any offer.

[CRSMP5]

if diesel double price too.... crap dipped in gold here...

i have a 05 2.5 5 speed commin up for sale... smf and a 07 43k engine going in... 135k on it... had bad rattle and misfire... dmf is toast.. got smf conversion... and chains look good but small gear looks worn out... the part all say no wear... but i think the dmf affected the crank sensor to be screwed causing the misfire... at moment 5-6k for it.. pm me if it excites you.. but myself.. id do a us spec diesel as here will cost lots more...

now that b3 wagon syncro tdi swap... you could easily get that in... you being from there... then after you extended vac, it is way more simple vs one of us... wjen you switch to us plates...

[burn_your_money]

We are looking to stay under $2000, thanks though. The CA car is a B4 wagon and it's only a couple hours away from me. I have a B4 TDI sedan that runs but looks terrible so I was thinking...

It turns out that in TN that they only use the OBDII port on 96 and newer, and the wagon is a 95. That means I might be able to get away with an AAZ swap, which means I could go NA if I wanted. I thought the wagon was a 96 or 97.

[CRSMP5]

nope.... tdi e or gas... your issue is customs.... gotta be fed reg epa thing aaz is not listed in... to say tdi e is a pass... aaz is not unless car is no newer then 92... even then you gotta say its a 1.6... and if turbo needs cat... as all eco had cat vs na... and usa only had eco or na in 92..

car has to meet or exceed usa epa of car mfg year...

when you goto do usa tags... customs issue will arise vs local epa test laws... they can order what ever test they want..

they dpo lots to prevent passat syncro in... due to seat belts... do not need a aaz swap to get car exported... you can argue tdi as usa had passat tdi in 96...

[burn_your_money]

The car is registered in Cali and will never be registered as a Canadian vehicle. It just happens to be in Canada at the moment, which is also where it will be for the engine swap. AFAIK the car does not need to be present in TN in order to get it plated. Once it's plated, it's as simple as driving it across the border back into the USA (I hope)

[wolf_walker]

Some states will want to lay eyes on a car being registered from another state would be the only concern.  Not all, N.C. never did when I brought old cars in, but some want a quick look at the VIN.
Otherwise you should be fine with a pre-OBDII model.  Most sane states follow this method to some degree.

[bajacalal]

biiggest rule of thumb on diesel swaps.....

must match usa epa standard of car build date...

a 97, or 98 diesel vw in usa is e tdi... no m diesels....

not in usa vw diesel offerings...

78-80 i.5
81-87, 89-92 were 1.6.. td certain years... eco had cats...
then tdi in 96...

the skipped years are issue as no vw epa on diesels for years skipped... so gotta use newer diesel on skipped... if it had a cat better have one...

why building a old idi into tdi-m best.. but newest you can in theory go is 92... rest would have to be e as usa has no epa for aaz..

this also goes for newer cars too.. cannot put a 2000tdi in a 04pd car... can put the pd in the 00.. but not other way round...

cali... 98 and up get plugged in.. older then that for now exempt..

use the basic rule though.. gotta meet current year of car build for diesel power min epa regs..

so Ohio is similar to CA with the same year or newer rule observation on diesel swaps? 

This is the one benefit to rules in RI.  After 25 years, they don't care whats in your car no matter what the EPA says.  I could put a 1925 engine in a 1985 vehicle, and they would test it, fail it for emissions, pass it for safety, and put a sticker on there and tell me have a nice day.  The sky's the limit past a certain year.   

That's a federal law, and applies to the entire U.S., that a newer engine (of any year) can be installed in an older car but not the other way round, that a HD engine can't be installed in a light duty class and that the engine is supposed to retain the original emissions equipment, but California just happens to be one of a few states that makes any attempt to enforce this on behalf of the feds, as they don't seem to be involved at all.

[745 turbogreasel]

Some states will want to lay eyes on a car being registered from another state would be the only concern.  Not all, N.C. never did when I brought old cars in, but some want a quick look at the VIN.
Otherwise you should be fine with a pre-OBDII model.  Most sane states follow this method to some degree.

Ive had the DMV want to visually verify my claim that I've switched fuel types.  Just open the hood and look for injector pipes, done(at least on cars with were available as diesel).

[wolf_walker]

Some states will want to lay eyes on a car being registered from another state would be the only concern.  Not all, N.C. never did when I brought old cars in, but some want a quick look at the VIN.
Otherwise you should be fine with a pre-OBDII model.  Most sane states follow this method to some degree.

Ive had the DMV want to visually verify my claim that I've switched fuel types.  Just open the hood and look for injector pipes, done(at least on cars with were available as diesel).

That's about the size of it usually.  Same bit to verify a VIN, they check the dash plaque, maybe a door jam, none of the multiple other places.

Until it's an expensive car. 

[745 turbogreasel]

I find if you get the nice nails lady in high heels for a VIN verify, she will send you to the CHP.
But our CHP VIN lady is pretty chill and quite knowledgeable about those other places.

[burn_your_money]

That could prove to be a challenge if they want to see it because there presently is no engine in it. I don't think there is any communication with the CA seller either anymore. I think I'll end up phoning down to the TN DMV and see what the deal is.