Impounded for past due registration? (CA)

makes you wonder how many poor people get thier car towed, have no money to get it out and lose it, then lose thier job because they can't get to work, then get tossed out in the street.

towing cars like that is chickenshit, plain and simple. welcome to America.

 

My Daughter got towed a while back. The tow bill was $350 and that was the same day she was towed.

 

I don't think most of these cars that get towed are poor people. And if they couldn't afford the registration they probably don't have insurance either and quite frankly I don't want those people driving anywhere near me or my family. Hell, you have a six month window, I think that's more than lenient enough. Not to mention California has a program for financial relief for people that can't afford the registration fees. I think many of these are lazy people or those that are trying to cheat the system.
I sued to work with two brothers that used to buy cheap cars with registration that had just been paid or get the owner to pay it as part of the sale. they would then drive them til they expired and then keep driving until they got stopped and the car impounded. Then they would just go buy another POS and do it again - and they never had insurance or driver's licenses!

 

Chickenshit? I pay my registration, that's the law. Its not chickenshit, its what everyone who is responsible is supposed to do. If they do not pay their registration, chances are they are not paying insurance.
If you cannot be responsible, sell the car

 

If the bicyclists that get to use the road for free had to pay up …………………………..

 

Our beloved land is fast becoming the USSA (United Socialist States of America) If it ain't registered ya need to park it, on private property. If it is removed by anyone from that private property, you'd better be willing to do whatever it takes to recover it. I don't mean pay fines. Stand up and be counted or lie down to be mounted. If this post offends you, you are a liberal. Liberals did nothing to make this a great nation.

 

It's got nothing to do with socialism.

It's simple. I got lots of cars. I got non-ops on all of them except the ones I drive. If the cars are so old that they are out of the DMV system so much the better.

If you have the car parked in public street or are driving on a public highway and it's not registered you are at risk. We all know this.

They don't take cars from public property unless they become an eyesore and neighbors start bitchin'.

Do you want to see three junk cars up on jackstands in the front of every house in your neighborhood?

 

Wow, I never knew you could apparently just do whatever the hell you wanted with old cars outside of CA and not have to worry about actually following simple rules like registering a car once a year. I guess we are just a bunch of fools.

 

So our founding fathers and Patriots just sat around wishing it was still like the good old days of the 1750 and 60's all over again?

 

Yes Ca. will get you for not Registering your vehicle. Depends on the Cop. I got stopped once, forgot to register my truck. Cop let me walk home, go pay the DMV, walk back to my truck, drive it home. But yes they can impound your car. Hey, somebody has to pay for all of these illegals here.

 

Awesome....this rules......

 

So now you think it is a good idea to make it so you can't even ride around on a bicycle for free in this country as a way to solve this guys problems? Man, my 3 and 6 year olds are going to be bummed when they find that coming down on them. Welcome to the world where nothing is free anymore, not even riding a bicycle.

 

I'm a 911 Dispatcher (now that I've retired from the Army), and our local policy over towing/impounding is any vehicle that is THREE (3) months past due on registration. If he gets 6 months (or the 5 you said his is), I'd count you lucky.

 

Every morning at breakfast we watch as the POS parking enforcement dick goes through the parking lot citing and towing cars for reg violations, but the bastard will not do anything about the jack offs that park in the handicap spots without a plate or hanging tag!

 

The problem I have with how CA does things is the whole non-op or keep paying registration thing. Does any other state do that?

I know NC has a somewhat similar deal with an annual tax on the car that adds up if not paid. Because it's a tax and not the registration, no non-op status either, although you could sell the car out of state and then they're stuck.

Here, the reg expires, you park it, nobody cares, except possibly codes officers depending on your zoning. After 7 years it falls out of the computers. If you keep driving it expired, you'd get a hefty ticket, but as long as you keep the insurance up, you'll drive away. Insurance is the big thing and not having it will get you impounded. You'd think it would be worse, being New York and all, but no, they care more about getting the money so they don't make it an impossible hassle to get something on the road so they get some income from it.

 

Within this thread, and within all DMV/SoS/(any other alphabet soup plate agency), there's human beings involved. Some are "in charge" in those agencies. Knuckle dragging and mouth breathing is spreading, is a pandemic we should worry about more than HIV or cancer. Those fucks end up thinking "in charge" makes them your boss, your ruler. All we want to do here on the HAMB is enjoy a time when things were simple and fair as well as drive cars and have other items that signify that. No different than other forms of auto enthusiasts, like it or not we'll remain under attack by the stupid and frail human beings that think they rule you from behind a counter because they wear a state ID badge. To my knowledge we have no requirement in MI to "answer to the state" if our cars are removed from service. Some builds and restorations take multiple years to complete. We'll pay enough tax on product, property and even utilities, so to tax the fact we own the project is something I can't abide by. None of us should, and I feel for those who live in states where they do such a thing. What will they tax next? Imagine them taxing you for the tools and equipment you own privately. They already do that to shops in the name of "personal property tax". That's just fuckin wrong, sorry. Humans are frail and prone to fuck up big time. Put them "in charge" it gets worse. Put the stupid in charge it can be catastrophic.

With 5 out of 8 cars non-op, I couldn't see paying for simply having them. Whether this is or isn't on topic, y'all can decide that for yourselves. I'm old school in so far as, my stuff, my land, get lost. We should ALL be that way.

 

............5 and 6 year olds shouldn't be riding bikes on the road and don't pay taxes..yet!

 

Watched this thread mushroom from a simple question to a full on Dramafest - as expected - despite the OP's request for cool heads and sanity. And the usual out of state rabble just had to stick their noses in about a question that was California specific. Quite frankly with specific regard to the original question, who gives a flying fuck about what the laws are where you live and just how do they relate to and affect California State law?

The laws seem fair to me - use the public highways and pay a use tax. Note that I am not questioning whether the amount you pay or the system used to calculate it is fair or not - just the way the law is written and applied. Pay on time - and 60 days prior notice seems a reasonable amount of time to do so - or face the consequences. If you don't store or drive the vehicle on a public highway, non op it and pay a one time fee of $18 to cover the admin costs of the paperwork. Six months to bring your registration current before the vehicle gets towed and impounded also seems a fair amount of time and you get plenty of notices to remind you to pay. I cannot see anything unfair about that....

 

Voice of experience here. If the car was parked on a public street, road , etc. it must be currently registered. The state looks at it this way, if the car is not registered and in contact with any public road THEN you have not paid the road usage taxes that are part of the your overall yearly registration. In the eyes of the law you are a tax dodging scofflaw who must be brought into compliance so the state seizes your property and away it goes to the impound. As long as the unregisteredvehicle stays on private property you are okay unless your community has some wretched ordinances regarding this.
You are not allowed to flat tow. If you want to move it you have to load it on a truck or trailer. Your wheels cannot contact the road.

That's the way California has done it since the dawn of time. SO... go pay fees and get your buddy's car out of impound now before the charges exceed the car's value and you're signing it over to the tow yard.

If that happens your only option is to attend the auction and try to buy it back. I know it can be done but why take chances.

 

Non-operational status in California has been around "forever", and actually, it has gotten BETTER. Years ago, every year you would either pay registration fee or a non-op fee. EVERY YEAR. If you forgot to pay the non-op fee for that year and try to register the next, you are on the hook for the fees for the prior year. They changed it a while back and now you only need to pay the ONE TIME non-op fee of like $10 or $20. What the non-op status does is keep your car in the system so when you are ready to use the car, you just pay the registration. No inspections or VIN verifications or anything like that.
Sure you could just not pay anything, and your vehicle will fall out of the DMV's computer system after 5 or 7 or how ever many years. But if you didn't pay the non-op fee and you decide to register it before it falls out of the system, the DMV assumes you have been driving the car since it was last registered and you will have to pay the back registration fees for all of those years.
If you don't pay anything and the vehicle falls out of the system, you will need a VIN verification by the DMV or AAA.
I'm happy with the way the one-time Non-Op fee works.
And sometimes when you have a mess of a registration/title issue, some sharp and friendly DMV employees will actually "guide" you down the path of lower fees through recommending which info or dates to include on the DMV paperwork

 

I have nothing smart to add. So.... CA still sucks.

 

Theyres a car not far from me on the street with JAN-11 tags.
Spider webs and grass growing up through a pothole under it.
I went up and asked to buy it and he's GONNA RESTORE IT.

 

I worked as a bouncer for a club in san Bernardino and it was common for the cops to come in and just drive through and see the tags on the parked cars. plenty were impounded, but all were OVER 6 months. trust me it sucked for the people to come out of having a good time and theyre car was gone. also Ive heard of cops giving tickets to cars on driveways with expired tags, but never impound off driveway. but im sure if it was parked infront of your house on the street and tags were expired theyd take it, theyre assholes like that

 

Unless the DMV has changed you still get a one day moving permit and keep the car non op without paying the fees.

Charlie Stephens

 

You definitely nailed it on the first half.

I have 2 old trucks, one driving and registered, one a project in the garage and registered as non-op for the last 8-9 years. As BigDogSS stated, I only paid some very minimal fee once and only need to pay again when/if I ever get it running and back on the road again. Haven't had to give CA as single dime for it in the meantime or even bothered with any paperwork every year. If you think that is bad, then I guess I'll just have to count you as truly blessed and lucky. But, I think I can live with it.

The bashing CA threads and posts are right up there with the dumbest of the dumb. If you think living in the sate of CA sucks as far as owning cars and hot rodding goes, then your credibility has gone out the door just about right from the start. Like a virgin complaining about how bad sex is.

 

Whoa.....who started this thread? A Cali resident. And it pertains to that states treatment of its taxpaying residents. If you do not care what the rest of the country says/feels about your state, why did any of you bother to respond. It trivial ego's. Now whip a freakin' doughnut.

 

This thread has gone to shit.

Your best ammunition is to sit and read the CVC, specifically 4000(a) - registration, 22500 - parking, and 22651 - towing sections. While there are definitely other sections and it is ALL dry, this will give you a good start as to what can and canno be done.

As for the other threads about shit being towed or cited in driveways and shit like that, it cannot be cited on private property unless the ass is hanging onto the sidewalk or there is a local ordinance.

We might have some screwed up laws, but it is what we all have to work with.

 

Well said! I wish I could have said it as well.

 

Hasn't this thread run it's course? HRP

 

So, who's the bigger asshole? The cops doing their job or the owner not paying registration like the rest of us?