Even if a new vehicle is EPA legal and CA legal, CA will not let it be registered. This keeps people from going somewhere else, like Oregon, where there is no sales tax and then driving in to CA to register said vehicle. It used to happen all the time until the 7500 mile rule: In essence, you can bring a used vehicle in and register it if it has the EPA certification. CA is just a money/ tax mongering WH--E, who wants to tax people to death. Born there and lived there 51 years.
Sam:)