Last year I picked up an O/T chevy truck that had been put on non-op since '08 so I figured it wouldn't cost me too much to register it....famous last words. I called the dmv and they told me it had no fines but it would be $300 because I had to pay for the rest of last year and next, but the lady on the phone said I could wait till January and only pay $150 so that's what I did, big mistake. Since I didn't register it within 20 days of purchase they now want $520! ($130 short of what I paid for it) But I do get the military discount that drops it to $511.......Hahah So now I either have to register it in Oregon or find a new truck. I'm looking for a '61-'64 chevy for under a grand if anybody has one.
If your military,, register the thing at home and tell cali dmv to shove it. cheaper easier and you wont have to reregister when you do get home to stay.
That is what I would do. Get it registered in Oregon if that is your "real" home and call it good. You would need the Oregon drivers license to go along with it to make it right though.
My home of record is oregon and I have my dl so Im good there, but unless I take it up there for the vin check I have to get some form signed off here which I think the dmv charges for......
There doing the same thing to us here in CO. They want there back taxes and fees so I have just not been dating the title or bill of sale until the very day I plan on plating it. That way I say "I just bought it" and there is no back fees. But thats here in CO.
You can ask a CA cop (for free) to check the vin and fill out a form for you, then take that to the OR DMV and it works same as a inspection.
Well,I agree that sucks and I would do the Oregon route. However, you can only really damn the Cal.DMV if they are doing something contrary to the rules they have in print. If they are there in plain sight, then you have only yourself to blame. I will agree that most DMV's have no idea of their rules and make everything as hard as they possibly can.
Call Or. DMV and tell them you are military and here in Ca. and want to register it in Or. as you are going home in a few months. Ask what they need to register it properly, of course they may give you the wrong information like Ca. does all the time. Or tell Ca. DMV that you were out of the country on Gov. business and that is why you are late maybe they will cut you some slack ( Yeah right).
I did and it was on non-op when I bought it with no fees, they wanted to charge me for the rest of '09 and '10 so I was told to wait till January so I would just have to pay for one year. The fines came when I waited longer then 20 days from purchase to register.
The DMV is just like any other big company/business/bureaucracy. It's hit and miss on getting someone who knows what they are talking about. I always go here first: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/ It really helped me out recently when I had to transfer plates over on my '37. The lady I dealt with was nice enough, but had never done a transfer on an old vehicle and had never seen old plates. I had all the paperwork filled out already and had printed out their rules/instructions for transferring the plates. She learned on the fly and I was out of there is 10 minutes. As far as paying back due registration fees, that has always been the case in Cali... I'd just register it in OR.
Every time I read these threads it makes me glad to live in New York. If for only one reason, for the most part the DMV is pretty much no bullshit, you're allowed to own a car and not register it and they don't kill you for it later. What happens if you turn up a reciept for it that says you bought it I dunno... yesterday.. and go to a different DMV office? if it's not already in their computer that you actually bought it last year, they have no way to know. Even if they do know, maybe you bought it, sold it back, and bought it back again. And yeah, that's probably not ethical or honest, but come on, if the government that collects these fees was ethical and honest, they wouldn't be so broke they want to screw everyone out of every possible dollar they can take from you, in the first place. So fuck 'em.
Yeh Florida used to be OK until recently they decided the state was going broke so they doubled reg fees and then tripled new reg fees. Most counties now are busting balls about unregistered cars to so I have my frame with the rear bumper bolted on with my tag (current) so they leave me alone while I restore the car.
Recently had the same problem in Ca. Took the title to Mich and registered it for $60 which did not include plates. Now that I have a Mich title, I wonder what Cal DMV would say if I came in with the Mi title - would they still want the back fees?
so far wa. has none of this "non op" bullshit! i have a o/t truck and it will have new wa. state plates when i go back south for the winter. the only break cal. has is property taxes.
Every time I read these threads it makes me glad to live in Alberta Canada. If for only one reason, the DMV is pretty much no bullshit, you're allowed to own a car and not register it and they don't kill you for it later. Plagiarism is good...... Oh yeah, up here, no BS about titles. Bill of sale is what we use.
You'll be able to get the vehicle licensing fee waived since you're non resident military. Should knock off around $100. Fill out their little form, show your military ID, and you'll save a few bucks. That really helps me out on annual reg. fees for my DD.
A few years ago I bought a vehicle with tags dated 1988. The seller wasn't the registered owner. He got it from the registered owner for work he did for him and never got the pink. I went to the DMV with nothing more than a bill of sale. The DMV sent me to the CHP to get the numbers run. Clean numbers. Simply drive back to the DMV and I paid a lot less than I thought I would be hit for. Maybe I'm just lucky with the DMV but I've never really had a problem.
Back in my sailor days I bought a car in Virginia and was able to send the bill of sale, Virginia title, and fees to Oregon by mail. A couple of weeks later and I was able to bolt on my new Oregon plates. I'm guessing, aside from waiving any required smog check, even today it shouldn't be any more complicated for a serviceman on a current tour of duty. Damn sight cheaper then, rather than now, because the Oregon politicians and bureaucrats have been as in love with spending other peoples' money as their California counterparts for many years. You can aways hope that with the state's hunger for money, they might make the process even easier for servicemen to register out of state cars. Yeah, fat chance of that!
Here in NY, you can sell a car 1000 times back and forth to whoever and you only pay sales tax based on the reciept you give the DMV when you go to register it.
Sounds like the authorities up there still have a respect for the law then. Governance seem to forget Common Law and self evident facts are higher than statute. I think it goes back to before the Magna Carta that a "bill of sale" is the instrument(paperwork) that transfers ownership. The State cannot transfer ownership unless it holds an ownership interest in a property. Only buyer and seller through the bill of sale contract and a court order has the authority to transfer ownership. The physical exchange by sale or gift doesn't actually transfer ownership it transfers possession. Title (and ownership) are intangible things. They are real but you can't touch them. They exist only in fact they have no physical properties. The piece of paper we call the title is actually the "Certificate of Title". It's an instrument by which the state certifies ownership. Being a certification it witnesses but does not actually transfer ownership. Ownership is defined as a package of rights to possess and use a thing. Sales and Use tax is due when a vehicle is bought. Operating a motor vehicle on public property is a privilege but owning a vehicle or operating it on private property is a right not a privilege. You gotta pay the sales tax right up but don't have to register unless operating on public right of ways. The DMV can assume the vehicle has been in use so it assumes registration is due. I'm not knowledgeable about California but in my state and some others I've looked into; If you author a notarized statement making an affidavit that the vehicle was stored and not in use for a period of time, then registration fees are not assessable for that period of time. Property taxes and sales taxes still apply. When you make that statement and get it notarized you are making law. An affidavit is a record of fact admitable in court. It cannot be shot down (by word of mouth) without a legal challenge through due process... and if you lied... and they can prove it... then your guilty of perjury so you better be telling the truth if you do. I've had cars stored for several years and only paid the property tax. when I renew the registration I bring my affidavit and my registration time starts from the day I register it, I get a full 12 months on the plates. According to Common Law and the US supreme court The motor vehicle code legally applies only to operation on a public right of way. private use cannot be regulated because it is a right. There is a legal requirement for a vehicle to be registered even if not in service but it is not within the motor vehicle code. It's in local nuisance code. Using Nebraska for an example.. For a vehicle to be lawfully parked on private property cities usually require 3 things. It be registered, Operational as per manufacturer's intentions, and parked on pavement. Summing it up, There's no offense for not registering your car but If the city has a similar nuisance code as Omaha, there is an offense for parking an unregistered or inoperable car outside on your property. Ne state law defines pavement as concrete, brick, asphalt, or tarmac. Gravel is not pavement but if the property is commercial and has non vehicle commercial equipment stored outside then vehicles may be parked off pavement. Parked is outside on the ground. On a trailer or inside is legally defined as stored. There is no statute that makes this definition it's self evident. That's the framework of the law according to the Bar regarding registration requirements property tax and legal definitions. Things are different everywhere but they are branched from the same tree. Policy is not law. Policy is a civil employees' instructions to follow for how to carry out the law. Regulation is not law. It is policy that has force and effect of law. Law is more than statute. If you understand it's structure and the meaning of the words used and how they interrelate you can use the law. The things the court and govt. employees are (normally) most concerned about are highest and best interest, justice, and due process. The higher up the chain you go, the smarter and more concerned they get. When you can show that your case is more right over policy, That your not using the law to cheat, and are using the proper channels you stand a fine chance of winning.
I almost forgot what I was originally going to say!!! I found out from being in the trucking business that you can use a lawyer in another state as a process agent to register a vehicle. His office and assigns may register your vehicles for you in a state where you and your vehicle are not present. It's done through power of attorney. It doesn't need to be a lawyer. A lawyer's more secure but essentially anyone with a notarized power of attorney ( explicitely only for the purpose of registering the vehicle so they can't sign over all your stuff ) from you may register a vehicle in your name.
you ever heard of cash for clunkers program...and that's only for cars that are semi new w/ bad mpg's. imagine what cali thinks of cars that are probably older than the laws that have subjected classics to being running asap or suffer being towed away. parking citation cops come to my house regularly because they assume the rides are all non op. they didn't like it when i started every one of them and they drove. 55 ht, 55 sedan, 57 3100, 64 nova. cali sucks for owning classic cars. cali is just trying to pinch money be it through traffic citations, parking tickets, reg fees. everything you can think of. moving violation cost me 300 bucks. non speeding ticket to boot. they accused me of only being able to do 75 mph. i laughed...maybe in 3rd gear out of a 5 speed. don't get me started on cali, i need to leave asap.
in cali its pretty simple...you reg it as non-op in advance, or its been used on the street period. you cannot retrocatively delcare non-operation. was once the case but they keep gettin smarter at gettin your $$ skull
Here in Finland you can bring a car into the country, have it as long as you like without registering it or paying taxes, but when you register it you have to pay the road tax, which is not assessed on what you paid for the car but on the value here in Finland, which is (from memory) 29% + sales tax on the tax!! Guess what? Because of the really high tax, cars here are really expensive...
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