yet another reason NOT to live in California!!! it was great to visit but DAMN they got some fucked up shit going on there. if i had to pay for plates on a car i was'nt using for a couple years i'd be pist too. i had my 47 chevy on the road for a while but let the tags expire when i blew it apart a couple years back. never heard of anything like what you are talking about, around here. as far as i know you don't have to have current registration for a vehicle your not driving on the road (in Michigan). it could be different if your county has a rule against unlicensed vehicles in your driveway but that is different. mine is in my garage anyways. as far as i'm concerned if you paid sales tax on it when you bought it (which you do when you transfer the title into your name) then Uncle Sam has gotten his due and should piss off. now if your driving it then you have to have current plates (and therefore registration) to legaly do so. that i understand aswell but if the damn thing is parked (legaly) then fuck em. greedy suns of bitches anyways.
On the same type of Calif DMV overgovernment: Heard from a buddy that , as required by new law, his insurance co automatically notified DMV of insur renewal. Later the DMV sent him a notice that his stated value of car to insure co is higher than stated when registered and taxes paid. So, he got a bill for taxes for the difference in the two amounts - gonna fight it.
Just another reason that Im glad I dont live in the great state of California. The other 47 reasons are all my moms brothers and sisters that translate into cousins that I really for the most part never could stand. The 5 good ones took my advice and moved here to oklahoma. Like the one fella said we have a black tag regestration here in Oklahoma but..................... ya still dont wanna let even that lapse. And its tighten up here to.
If it ain't on the road, they don't deserve the money. You thought you owned the car? You don't. It isn't your property. There used to be the right to travel the highways. When cars came along, Highway got a new meaning. Now you can buy the car, but you have to pay the state to keep it. Registration, taxes, plates, etc. You have to report when you buy it, sell it. It isn't yours. How did our government get so out of hand? We let it. Cali needs to start getting the socialists out of government and get back to the private ownership of property. Fortunately the same poison hasn't affected us out here in fly-over land. If I don't pay registration, they leave you alone. The wouldn't know if the car were stored, sold out of state or anything. If you are on the road without plate, you will pay a fine. When you go to register it, you may have to pay some back taxes. So far they don't mess with us too bad.
It's fucked up! I know! even if it's reg'd and insured it can still get towed if is sits still for more than 72 hours. And if you don't pay your parking tickets get this! they go to the IRS and they take it right out of your bank account no questions asked. Oh, your rent is due - tough shit. Happend to my wife, 800 bucks gone! To all of you that are glad you don't live here, it's cool with me cause there's too many people here already.
Damn what city do you live in?, here they bitch and say you need to have it in an enclosed area (garage). the only one not registered (non op'ed) is my girlsfriends car.....every few years they give me grief, i move it to my moms garage for a few months and then back in the driveway (with a new car cover of course). the funny thing here is they have an ordanance that says you can't have a car in your driveway un-moved for more then 3 days, i asked them what if i went on vacation........they had no answer.
wow, how do you get $800 in parking tickests? ALL take heed california is the road map for all things shitty, we started the smog crap and then other states followed.....seatbelt laws, helmet laws, insurance laws......all coming to a town near you.
I agree with this above post and I was in the same boat. This isn't new so the fact that alot of us Cali guys seem to have never heard of it is a good thing (i.e. you have been paying your reg or keeping a current non-op). Do I think it is fair? No I am a car guy too so it made my heart sink and made me mad too but in the end, I was to blame. I forgot to put my car on non-op and I didn't keep up the reg. So pay the bill because they will and can seize it.
We dont have anything like that here in Ohio but they will take your drivers license if you have a vehicle registered with regular tags and cant prove you have insurance,when the license expire in march for my wagon I am going to drop the insurance and let it sit in the garage until I sell it or decide to drive it again. It might get historical and YOM tags but I need to call my insurance agent and see what to do when I drop the insurance for the winter storage having up to date tags. Jeff
Costa Mesa. We had the right to cover them for a couple years then they decided that wasn't good enough. The code enforcement people have been known to go up in a driveway and lift a cover to run the tags. If it comes back unregistered they cite it and send you a letter telling to to comply or lose it within, I think it's ten days. When we reregistered the Mustang we had to have the VIN werified (even though I had a title and old registration) and I had it done by a relative that's a cop in San Bernidino because I didn't want to let the local police on my property. They verified a 50 Buick I had once and a few days later I got a letter about a Pontiac wagon I had that wasn't registered. Like I said, a couple more years and we are out of here to someplace with a little land outside any city limits. Build a nice new garage and enjoy my stuff.
Here in TN, I have several cars with expired registration. Like going on 4 years for one....2 years for another. No insurance, no registration. The state doesn't give a damn. Sounds like you all in Cali got cornholed pretty good. In the state of TN, we still OWN our cars.
Oh just wait.... As of Jan '07 all insurance companys in CA are supposed to report to DMV if you are insured. I believe it is supposed to be done electronically so they know right away. How did I find this out? My insurance policy expired and I noticed 3 days later that I didn't have a new card. Luckily all I had to do was call and get re-instated for another year. Next day I had a letter in the mail from DMV saying not to drive the vehicles and if the matter was not resolved then the registartion tags would be suspended and some other crap but I tossed the letter. Coming soon to a state near you.....
Just cancel your insurance for the winter and reinstate it when you're ready to drive 'em.Remember, in Ohio when you tag a car, you just sign a paper stating that you have insurance at that moment. You don't show proof and the State doesn't check up on any of this. I have two old cars in my driveway and one in storage with current Historics that I drop the insurance on in the winter and renew it in the spring. It's perfectly legal so long as you don't drive them uninsured. Luckily, we don't live in Kalifornia.. Jan
Ok, you Californians have me so confused about your laws that I'll present you with a hypothetical question. I have an '87 Monte Carlo that I bought from the next door neighbor, plated and insured. One fine day, I decide to built the M/C into a stock car. Understand, the car is currently titled, tagged, insured, running and legal. I build it in my garage not to offend the neighbors' sensibilities. It'll never be driven on the road again. Do I have to go to the BMV, put it in non-op status, buy non-op insurace and leave the VIN tag on? Understand, this'll be a racer forever. Or can I just build the turkey, forget about the BMV, take off the VIN...normal with race cars and head to the track without being fined or hassled? Does the state have spot highway checks to make sure all is legal with race only cars, call the BMV, check for a VIN, face impound, fines etc as I'm hauling it to the track? Jan
From what I know if you're gonna race it don't worry about it. I'd keep the title and stuff just to prove you got it legally but since it's never gonna be on the street again it won't matter. If you pull the VIN off I'd keep that little metal gem with the papers. Now that said, most of the other problems on here, at least from my end, were with city ordanances. I don't know if Costa Mesa would push it or not but they would probably tell anyone with a race car to get it off residential property. I could be wrong on that though. The State DMV is a pain but the local code enforcement cops are the worst. All puerly hypothetical of course.
What do you mean seems fair. Since when should a goernment be allowed to take your personal property, which is 100 % paid for just because you are not , at this time choosing to use it on the public roads? I am SO glad I moved outa california.
I have always refused to pay insurance or registration on a car when it was not road worthy. Right or wrong, I always got the notice, and the notice always got ignored. The one year I got my tax return check and a note that said $83 was taken for past due registration. Oh well. I also had a VW impounded from infront of my house cause the cop said it had no tranny or motor. I found that funny cause with out the tranny it wouldnt have rolled on to the flatbed tow truck.
I tried to non-op a couple of my vehicles before the tags were due. I had dropped the insurance because they weren't being driven. The DMV told me to wait until the tags were due to non-op them. Oh, the irony.
You should be able to drop your insurance on any car that is not being operated on the road. Simply remove the car from your policy or cancel the policy altogether. Then, let the car sit without operating it. Who cares if it's insured or not, when it's sitting. As for the registration, it is against the law to have unregistered vehicles on your property. Not sure if that's on the state or county level, but you aren't likely to find anywhere that is legal. So leave it registered (like you could ever cancel and get a pro-rated refund, LOL), and when the tags are due again, then you go non-op if the car is slated to sit for a long while. That's just the way it works. Something should be noted, however. When a vehicle comes out of non-op and is getting ready to go back on the road again, it just might need a police inspection. I think they call it "safety" or something. Has to do with DOT.
Just got new tags in the mail for one of my cars from the DMV. Included in the envelope was a slip of paper with the following; On January 1, 2006, all insurance companieswere required to report insurance status to DMV for all private use vehicles. As of July 1, 2006, law enforcement and court personnel have access to DMV records to verify that your California registered vehicle is currently insured. Effective October 1, 2006, your vehicle registration is subject to suspension if the liability insurance is cancelled, OR if your insurance has not electronically provided evidence of insurance when you purchase and register your vehicle, OR if you provide DMV with false insurance information. These changes provide you with increased assurance that fewer uninsured vehicles will be on California's roadways. The bold is theirs not mine. That's my public service message for the day.
that "non-op" is fucked! why should a guy have to pay a fee if for example he is building a car and it takes 10 years. if it's on the road that's different but parked is bullshit!
Its not as bad as it seems. I dont even have a vin# yet, let alone a registration or even a non-op. I would think unles you are on their radar already then you would be ok. I have mine in the back of the driveway where Im working on it. Its not like im parking it out on the street. There was a time when I registered a car as non-op though because it was previously running and registered, but then I had it out of commission for several months to work on it. I just wanted to avoid the late fees. But if it was never registered in the first place and the state doesn't know about it, its not like they are going to peak into your back yard I wouldn't think...
At my parents in central illinois, the city has the right to "dispose" of vehicles that are not plated and insured if they are in plain sight and there is a complaint, but the state doesnt really care here. I'll never live in Cali
Interesting. I never read those slips they include in their mailings. Maybe I should. Well, I can understand them making that move-- it is a move against those people who insure their vehicles with bare minimum liability only just long enough to get registered, and then cancelling the insurance as soon as they get their tags. But I don't know how it could actually affect someone who has tags and insurance, then just cancells insurance when they go to park their car for a given length of time. Wonder what the repercussions are when going to re-insure and drive it again?
You should be fine as long as the car isn't on a public road at any time while it is not insured. The letter says to "...correct the matter... to lift the suspension. " The tags are suspended not cancelled so you shouldn't need to buy new tags, that seems the way it is worded. Just sounds like they will be looking more closely at tags now and as you said about the insurance. As far as putting it back on the road, it shouldn't be any problem as long as the correct steps were made(i.e. keeping current with the registration or non-op, then insure it, get your tags and go.
btw; on this topic what I hate about the DMV is very little to do with the actual DMV. They have steps and procedures to follow just like everyone else. What I really hate is when people let things go and don't handle them or find out what they need to do before hand. I have been behind too many people in line who have issues that are clearly their fault. Speaking of....... I have a Camaro to handle the registration on. It was my Father-in-laws and he gave it to my girl. He passed before having it signed over. I could be like some people and bitch and moan at DMV or I could go in calmly, explain, take all the required forms, etc and see what they can help me with. 9 times out of 10 if I am prepared and and polite they will be more than helpful. Sorry for the rant...... my 2 cents
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