I think you’re right about the 50-state emissions, and that was my first thought as well.
I’m familiar with some of the challenges of doing the opposite (leasing a car in California and immediately taking it out of state), but I didn’t think the inbound was a big deal.
But I just found this thread, and I’ll keep looking for more info.
Thank you.
In 2018 I’ve purchased an OOS car and registered in CA.
It took multiple trips to the DMV, one for a smog test, and countless calls to the dealer to get that sucker registered. This was over 2 months partly bc the CA DMV isn’t great at record keeping (no surprise).
Was it worth the $$ saved? Looking back, nope.
In case this is helpful, RE out of state leases in CA:
My F-Type was an out of state vehicle and it was painful getting it registered. Definitely worth the savings, though (.57% on an F-Type is a no brainer). I did have to go to the DMV twice, pay for Smog, and had to hound the dealer a number of times. The process took over 3 months so I had to get a second temp registration as well. It’s doable, but the process is a bit stressful and takes a while.
Uhm I did - twice
In my case:
#1 - F* Yes (and shipped across the country) 
#2 - I could NOT find a car with colors/equipment I wanted in CA, but I did in Vegas. The easiest lease I ever negotiated, three emails and a 1-way Southwest flight on points.
Other than a trip to smog and DMV, NBD in either case. There are broker services that can assist, but as much as I like paying to make my problems disappear, it was trivial to handle myself.
@trism why did you reply to this after 2 years?
The smog checks are due to CARB regulations in California. Some manufacturers’ entire line ups are CARB compliant, but the ones that have to be smogged are not.
This is the reason importing a car from outside the US into California is a HUGE pain in the groin.
It takes 15 minutes. What’s the PITA?
Also the order of operations when you bring a car into CA:
I’ve purchased out-of-state vehicles and it wasn’t hard because I was the owner. For leases though, I’ve only heard horror stories, similar to the above.
How did you handle the registration? Did you have to contact VFS and have them sign the reg 343 form, since they technically are the owner?
All non-EV out-of-state vehicles, even new and 50 state compliant vehicles, have to be smogged when brought into CA.
To create my own infinite loop within the thread itself?
Wait, no, that was a ham-handed forum faux pas.
I’m considering a new vehicle for our place there, and I was curious where the pitfalls might be if I bring in a car from out of state. I didn’t notice the age of the thread when I initially replied.
I’ve done it twice already, both vehicles OOS. One came from Oregon, other Washington. The dealerships handled everything for me. They were waiting for me to send back confirmation of the SMOG check, and after I did, they finalized everything and I was golden. Every state and dealer is different though, so I wouldn’t doubt some dealers kind of throw everything to the bank or new leaser holder to do.
Definitely was worth the discount considering how simple those were. This new one however, perhaps I might get a headache, but hopefully the discount justifies the headache.
I moved these “out-of-state registration” posts out of the other thread and into this more appropriate thread (that you linked to).
I feel marginally less ham-handed now, thank you. 
The Volvo was a CA lease. Both out of state were Ford (CAB East and CAB west). I just called and they sent a POA to process the registration.
Correct. My first hybrid couldn’t be tested but my second did. It’s because only Smog stations are allowed to scan the VIN and send the report to DMV electronically.
This doesn’t replace the DMV VIN scan.
For a new car, the only issue bringing a car into CA is the kabuki dance and knowing what to do, with whom, in what order. If you are bringing in a classic or, perhaps, a Canadian Land Rover Defender 
, it’s a disaster.
Edit: I’ve always suspected you might be some recursive code without a base case (errant in earlier version wasn’t a slam). Maybe some LISP that Richard Stalman hacked back in the day. (I had lunch with him once, take the compliment)
I’ll forgive ya because this is way off topic. To import a car that was not sold in the US market into California and registered is a pain. Any imported foreign car needs CARB compliance, which can cost as much as 10k to make it legal to operate in California.
And that’s before you start dealing with the DMV.
This is only for imported cars that were never sold here.
Yup. Fully aware. Helped a friend with one, tried and gave up on another.
New cars sold in other US states, not hard at all.
For sure, new cars in other states are not an issue. I’ve been looking at the R34s that hit the 25 year mark in a few years, but I live in the wrong state.
I hear AZ is lovely this time of year.
Preaching to the choir, good sir. Only reason I’m here is because my wife won’t live anywhere else. Family…or some lame excuse 
It’s nice to see another Richard Stalman fan here.
No no no, that’s Richard Simmons. He was the spokesmodel for Deal a Meal.