Evo MR Cross-country roadtrip report (pics)
Oct 27, 2004, 11:38 AM
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Evo MR Cross-country roadtrip report (pics)
Okay, I admit, I'm a bit crazy for doing this, but I couldn't pass up a great deal. So, here in SoCal, MR's are a bit pricey where I checked. At one dealership, they offered to sell the car to me at MSRP, but then they said I couldn't get anything lower than a 12.99% APR! It's a little known fact that even finance managers can rape you on the "back-end" and you never see the money the dealership makes. 
Fortunately, the co-owner of a dealership in Illinois was a family friend, and he had 1 MR allocated. I quickly called him up and told him, "Hold it, I'm on THE way"
I had 2 cars, an 03 Eclipse GT and a modded 97 Eclipse GS-T. The 03 is sloooow and not worth the $$, so I decided to trade that one in for the MR. Unfortunately, that meant a roundtrip roadtrip. I left last Wednesday night and drove straight thru nonstop (30 hours). I got the car for sticker price (no markup) with a good ACV on my trade-in and MUCH better finance rate.
I was a little reluctant to put 2100+ miles on the Evo in 2 days, but I didn't really have a choice.
I averaged about 80mph the entire trip but tried to vary the speed and RPM when I could between 60-90 mph. Sixth gear cruising was nice - 80mph at 3000 RPM. Very smooth, but even flooring and acceling from 80-100 mph pulls HARD. Much better than my GS-T.
2400 miles and car is still running as good as new. Gotta change the oil though. Finally glad to be the proud owner of an Evo!
Here's a link to my roadtrip report w/ lots of pics:
http://www.rustycode.com/~davidb/evo/trip/
Anyone wanna buy a GS-T?
Fortunately, the co-owner of a dealership in Illinois was a family friend, and he had 1 MR allocated. I quickly called him up and told him, "Hold it, I'm on THE way"
I had 2 cars, an 03 Eclipse GT and a modded 97 Eclipse GS-T. The 03 is sloooow and not worth the $$, so I decided to trade that one in for the MR. Unfortunately, that meant a roundtrip roadtrip. I left last Wednesday night and drove straight thru nonstop (30 hours). I got the car for sticker price (no markup) with a good ACV on my trade-in and MUCH better finance rate.
I was a little reluctant to put 2100+ miles on the Evo in 2 days, but I didn't really have a choice.
I averaged about 80mph the entire trip but tried to vary the speed and RPM when I could between 60-90 mph. Sixth gear cruising was nice - 80mph at 3000 RPM. Very smooth, but even flooring and acceling from 80-100 mph pulls HARD. Much better than my GS-T.
2400 miles and car is still running as good as new. Gotta change the oil though. Finally glad to be the proud owner of an Evo!
Here's a link to my roadtrip report w/ lots of pics:
http://www.rustycode.com/~davidb/evo/trip/
Anyone wanna buy a GS-T?
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congrats ....
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Oct 27, 2004, 02:42 PM
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UUUuuuuhhhh, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you CAN'T buy a new car in another state and register it in California, it's against state law. If you bring in a car from another state, it must have at least 7,500 miles on it, in order to register it in Calif. The purpose of the law is to protect Calif.'s stricter emissions standards, and (I suspect) to protect Calif. car dealers.
You have a problem on your hands, that you will need to deal with sooner rather than later. Maybe you register it in Illinois, drive it for 7,500 miles, and then tell the DMV you just brought it in. But what about your insurance? You can't have an insured car garaged in Illinois if you live in Calif.
You have a problem on your hands, that you will need to deal with sooner rather than later. Maybe you register it in Illinois, drive it for 7,500 miles, and then tell the DMV you just brought it in. But what about your insurance? You can't have an insured car garaged in Illinois if you live in Calif.
Last edited by Richard EVO; Oct 27, 2004 at 02:45 PM.
Oct 27, 2004, 03:04 PM
#12
Originally Posted by Richard EVO
UUUuuuuhhhh, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you CAN'T buy a new car in another state and register it in California, it's against state law. If you bring in a car from another state, it must have at least 7,500 miles on it, in order to register it in Calif. The purpose of the law is to protect Calif.'s stricter emissions standards, and (I suspect) to protect Calif. car dealers.
You have a problem on your hands, that you will need to deal with sooner rather than later. Maybe you register it in Illinois, drive it for 7,500 miles, and then tell the DMV you just brought it in. But what about your insurance? You can't have an insured car garaged in Illinois if you live in Calif.
You have a problem on your hands, that you will need to deal with sooner rather than later. Maybe you register it in Illinois, drive it for 7,500 miles, and then tell the DMV you just brought it in. But what about your insurance? You can't have an insured car garaged in Illinois if you live in Calif.
no problem, so many ways around... had the same problem with my car when I moved to CA but I just used my head and everything worked fine
Oct 27, 2004, 03:18 PM
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I didn't want to be an alarmist, so I did some quick legal research in the Calif. Vehicle Code, and I could not find the section that I described in my previous post. I first heard about the law a number of years ago, and it may have since been repealed. Howver, I would make the inquiries carefully.
Oct 27, 2004, 03:39 PM
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Hey Richard,
I had concerns like this too. I made sure the car was California spec (which it is) and called the DMV about it. I've already successfully added it to my insurance. In fact, the insurance company didn't even ask where the car came from, they just wanted the VIN.
This is from the DMV website:
What should a California resident look for when buying a new vehicle from another state?
California residents are prohibited from importing, purchasing, or leasing a new vehicle from another state, unless the vehicle was manufactured for sale in California and the Environmental Protection Agency label certifies the vehicle has California smog equipment. California considers a new vehicle to be any vehicle with less than 7,500 miles on the odometer at the time it is purchased or aquired.
The Bottom Line
If you are a California resident and acquire a new car, truck or motorcycle from another state, it must be certified to meet California smog laws in order to be registered here.
What Is Considered a New Vehicle?
California law considers any vehicle with less than 7,500 miles on the odometer when acquired by a California resident to be a new vehicle. This holds true whether or not the vehicle has been registered in another state. If you acquire a new vehicle from another state, you may not subsequently drive it to accumulate over 7,500 miles to circumvent the law. DMV cannot accept an application to register the vehicle, and you will be told to remove it from the state immediately.
I had concerns like this too. I made sure the car was California spec (which it is) and called the DMV about it. I've already successfully added it to my insurance. In fact, the insurance company didn't even ask where the car came from, they just wanted the VIN.
This is from the DMV website:
What should a California resident look for when buying a new vehicle from another state?
California residents are prohibited from importing, purchasing, or leasing a new vehicle from another state, unless the vehicle was manufactured for sale in California and the Environmental Protection Agency label certifies the vehicle has California smog equipment. California considers a new vehicle to be any vehicle with less than 7,500 miles on the odometer at the time it is purchased or aquired.
The Bottom Line
If you are a California resident and acquire a new car, truck or motorcycle from another state, it must be certified to meet California smog laws in order to be registered here.
What Is Considered a New Vehicle?
California law considers any vehicle with less than 7,500 miles on the odometer when acquired by a California resident to be a new vehicle. This holds true whether or not the vehicle has been registered in another state. If you acquire a new vehicle from another state, you may not subsequently drive it to accumulate over 7,500 miles to circumvent the law. DMV cannot accept an application to register the vehicle, and you will be told to remove it from the state immediately.