Private Seller. Didn't pay any tax as didn't stop at a DMV. Heard mixed reports on whether they would give a temp trip tag without paying tax - and the tax is not cheap. Some say there is no tax unless you are planning on registering the vehicle in Cali - which I was not. In any case, because of the method I chose to drive the car home, I just did the Thelma and Louise thing and kept on driving. No issues whatsoever.

 

I was looking at a car in San Diego when I bought my first car from down there. Ultimately with the haze surrounding the DMV/temporary plates/sales tax I decided to get it from Florida (which has its own stupid out of state tax, which I was able to avoid).

What plates did you use on your car then?

 

JoshP: Please see post #15

 

What about the gauges needing to be in kmph vs mph

 

Just turn to the right and hold the Odometer reset button for 5 seconds and the digital Speedometer will change from mph to km/h

 

From my research, the only actual mod that needs to be done (that costs money) to make the car legal is day time running lights.

 

and my dealer offered to do the day time running lights for free when I had it in for one of the inspections. They said they just had to go in to the computer and tell it to turn them on (997 TT).

 

Just a heads-up to anyone looking to import a US car, any 997 with Sport Chrono can have the DRLs turned on via the PCM.

Without Sport Chrono, or on a 996, most US Porsche dealers will switch on the lights free of charge while doing the PPI (you are getting a PPI at a Porsche dealer, right? )

 

Go to the Can Govt website and get on RIV, Registrar of Imported Vehicles, it will tell you what cars you will be able to bring across the border, and the rules you need to follow, you will need to stop at US customs as well, they will want to be sure that the paperwork is in order, I believe you need to give 3 days notice before showing up at the border, as for the recall note from Porsche I did that at a US dealer and it cost $25 and took 5mins, if you do it at a Can dealer they will not be happy that you are bringing the car up from the US and didn't buy from them,so you'll get the attitude and high fees.