Have MINI's been California "smogified"?

[ctownsend]

Can any California MINI owners confirm if anything has to be done to a MINI Cooper regarding our smog rules? Hopefully getting mine this Sunday. Thanks! Carter

[MINIAC]

All US MINIs are 50-State smog compliant. If you're buying out of state, you should probably call the DMV to see what is required to register the car.

[fjork_duf]

I would buy one from out of state if it meant I could get one custom built faster than 13 months.

[olddad]

I am also a Californian buying out of state, and from help from others on this forum and a few phonecalls I've found the following to apply.

1. You pay sales tax in the state of purchase, fill out a simple DMV form and pay just the difference for your county of registration use tax. You won't pay more tax than you would if you had bought here.

2. You must get the manufacturer's certificate from your out-of-stat dealer that verifies the car is 50 state compliant. This is a 'no problem' for the dealer.

3. You will still have to run down and get a smog test here and bring the papers with you when you register.

Really not that big of a deal.

[fjork_duf]

How much quicker will you get the car if ordering from out of state? In my case I want a cooper S.

[olddad]

Don't think it's any quicker...might even be slower. I'm buying in Utah because the dealer is straight arrow. My S will be $21600 with leather, computer and air. For various reasons I wanted exactly this. My dealer "addons" will be $206 for airfare and $40 for smog test. The drive home will be a bonus as I had planned to take some time off to flog the car around anyway.

I know Mini of Murray will give you an honest answer as to delivery estimates on customer spec cars. I suggest you call other dealers for their estimates, and the make a choice. I made a cost based decision because I just couldn't take the California feeding frenzy that has allowed dealers to jack up prices. If cost is no object, try ebay for quick delivery of "used" cars directly from dealers to avoid any waiting.