http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82656&highlight=title
My experience was in March '05. Bought car in CA, shipped to CT.
1. If it has a CA paperless title (if there is a lien, I bet it does) you will not get a paper title on the spot. Talk w/ owner & his bank to get a paper one ready before the deal.
2. If you try to get a CA title, they will charge you high CA sales tax to do it. We even contacted & drove to the revenue office, no exemptions. You would get to claim a tax credit in your home state when you register it.. Even you if you pay up, I would bet you won't get it on the spot.
3. We ended up letting the car sit at a dealership (not involved with the deal). I paid him & his bank. Then I went home w/ bill of sale & copies of everything. His title came a week or 2 later & as luck would have it, the transporter showed up the same day. He faxed me copy of the title & Fed Ex'd it. Car left on transporter. I had the title & several days later, the car.
My opinion is CA DMV sucks & I would not buy a car without the owner or the bank having a real title in hand if I was to ever do it again. The seller & I trusted each other & everything was fine, but not everyone is honest & honorable. I could have been broke & carless once I got back on the plane so be careful. Don't forget some DMV branches there require an appt too, making life even worse.
Also in CA, the plate goes with the car, so you will be driving a car not registered to you with no title. Think about that if you get pulled over. In retrospect, mine was the best way since I didn't have to drive a car I couldn't prove was mine, although I did insure it while I was out there & had the card faxed.
I even had to prove it wasn't titled in North Carolina by getting a letter from the North Carolina DMV. 
