Vehicle Services

Making Your Car California Road-Legal

Beyond sourcing your vehicle, Apex coordinates the smog, VIN verification, inspections, and DMV paperwork that turn an auction win into a titled, registered, road-ready car — including full salvage revival.

What We Coordinate

The certified work is done by licensed stations; we handle the running around and the paperwork. Costs below are passed through at cost.

ServiceForTypical cost (pass-through)
Smog checkEmissions certificate (required in LA County)~$45–$75
VIN verificationConfirms vehicle identity for DMV~$75–$200
Safety inspection (brake & lamp / VSSI)Required for salvage/revived vehicles~$40–$150
CHP salvage inspectionRequired to revive a salvage title~$50
DMV title & registration processingTitle transfer and registrationDMV fees + coordination fee

Salvage Revival

For salvage-title cars that need repair before registration, we handle the full California revival: body-shop coordination, CHP salvage inspection, safety (brake & lamp / VSSI) inspection, smog, VIN verification, and the full DMV revival paperwork that takes a car from a salvage title to a revived, road-legal title. Repairs are quoted separately by the body shop; our coordination fee is $400–$800 plus pass-through inspection costs.

Registration note: Registration cost is an estimate. A vehicle can arrive with registration already due or lapsed, and California adds back-registration fees and penalties on top. We confirm the actual DMV amount once we pull the vehicle record.