I live in two places - two very distant places - California and Connecticut.
You see, my primary residence (my home) is in CA, but my job, and therefore my secondary residence (my apartment) is in CT.
The reasons for why and how are not important to my question, but I fly to CT every Sunday night, work all week, and fly home to CA every Friday night. Since I am not bringing my car with me from CA each week, I need a second car in CT. Herein lies the problem.
Legally, one cannot hold more than one driver’s license, and therefore cannot be licensed in more than one state. In addition, one cannot legally register a vehicle in a state in which he is not licensed. So, I have a car in CT that I cannot register in CT because I do not have a CT driver’s license. If I were to obtain a CT driver’s license I would have to give up my CA driver’s license and therefore could not register a vehicle there. :smack:
As of now, the only solution I see is to drive or otherwise deliver my (unregistered) CT car to CA, register it there, and bring it back to CT. Not a project I really want to undertake.
Surely I cannot be the only person who has ever faced this dilema…there must be some provision for persons in my situation…right? (if there is, the DMV ain’t sharing, I can tell you that)
Do you really have to have the car in CA to register it there?
True, you’d have to have it there to get it inspected, but the penalty for “not inspected” has to be less than “not inspected and not registered”. Heck, a CT cop probably wouldn’t know what a CA inspection sticker is supposed to look like anyway.
Not a good solution, I know. There ought to be some official provision for this.
Change your license to CT, buy and register your car. When you need to re-register your CA car, change your license back to there.
I’d also suggest trying harder with the DMVs of the two states, maybe asking to speek with a supervisor, or sending a question to each of them in writing.
Do you have any relatives in either state?
Are you sure you can’t register it in CT with your CA license? I’ve registered vehicles in both Georgia and Texas with nothin’ but my Michigan license.
That, or can you form a corporation in either state and register the car to the corporation?
Yup, I’m sure. It may be just a CT thing, but I’m sure.
Not a bad idea but it would mean doing the license switcheroo every time a registration comes due. Seems like more of a hassle.
Yup, can’t be registered without being inspected.
The first person who answers the phone at the DMV knows nothing. Keep trying.
I was once told that I couldn’t register a boat because it had been register in my state, then sold to someone in neighboring state and registered there and then moved back to my state. It took about a hour of being transfered and calling the state headquarters but it finally got straightened out and I got my registration.
I see nothing in the codes of California or Connecticut that requires the registered owner to have any driver’s license. One must, however, have insurance.
Right, sorry, I was attempting to keep my question a bit less long winded. The root of the issue really is the insurance thing. Can’t insure a vehicle in a particular state without a license to drive in that state, can’t register the vehicle without insurance.
Well then you need to start with your insurance company. What do they say? Just that they won’t insure two cars in two different states for you?
Hmm, that must be a CT thing. I have had a Florida drivers license ever sincce I learned to drive but I have had and registered cars in Michigan, Texas, New York, Italy and Germany…I’d ask an insurance company in both states. If they won’t accept that, will they accept an international driver’s license? That is how I registered my over seas cars. They are easy to get.
I agree that it must be a CT thing if anything. My sister had a Minnesota driver’s license, but she was able to buy and register a car (and buy insurance) in New York. She was in the Army at the time–perhaps that makes a difference, but I don’t think it does.
If CT does have a law like that, it may be to prevent fraud. Plenty of people around here try to skirt around Minnesota’s higher license tab fees by registering cars in Wisconsin using a friend’s or relative’s address. I have no idea if these people bother to get Wisconsin driver’s licenses as well…probably not. In an area where there are so many states close together, this type of fraud is probably even more rampant.
There must be a way to do it, though. What do those celebrity couples with bicoastal careers do? Heck, my own grandparents keep a car down in AZ to use every winter…I’m sure they don’t switch driver’s licenses.
You could get married, and your spouse could get a driver’s license in one state, and you get one in the other. This does seem like a drastic solution, though.
Well, considering you’re less than an hour away from three other states, why not look in to the registration laws in NY, MA, and RI? Perhaps one of them has figured out that they can make good money by issuing tags for regular visitors, rather than residents–I’m thinking New York City in particular might have a deal like this.
You need to start with the insurance. Just call a company and say I’d like to start insurance on said car. I’ve done it without a license at all, done it for cars and motorcycles. I’ve also seen people with suspended licenses get cars. All you need is an address, which maybe the sticking point, if you tell them you don’t have a CT address they may not let you, but you have an apartment so you have an address.
I say call up the insurance tell them your CT address and you should be good to go. The only problem you might have is getting letters saying please make sure you have a license to drive, as happened with my motorcycle that I owned but no license.
So this has nothig to do with the law, just with the insurance company’s policy? Change insurance companies. Connecticut has more insurance companies than any other state; surely someone will write you a policy?
I once had a very similar problem, but under much different circumstances.
Coincidentally, I was a California resident who moved to Connecticut to attend college. I bought a car in CT, got a CT drivers license, and registered the car in CT. After I graduated, I moved back to CA, bringing the car with me. I got my CA license back, but because of that $300 fee California used to charge to register out of state cars, I didn’t have the cash to register the vehicle then.
Shortly thereafter, I moved to DC to work for a member of Congress from CA. In DC, you are allowed to keep your state residency if you work for your own representative, so my particular situation is a bit different than yours… BUT -
When I finally had the $$$ to register the car, I called the DMV and got this advice. Print out the forms from their website to register the car in CA. Have a police officer do the inspection to make sure that the VIN is there and that the car is generally in working order - I just went to the local police station, and a cop was glad to help (if a little confused).
I sent the stuff in with the understanding that when I brought the car into CA, I would have to get the smog check done ASAP. Within a couple of weeks I got my CA plates.
Of course, I don’t know if you could do the same thing, because I had a pretty unique circumstance, but it’s worth a call to the Sacramento HQ of the DMV.
Here’s my experience in MASS. I went to boot camp and Naval Nuclear Power training in Orlando, FL. About 1 month before my training period was up, I purchased a car.
I was then assigned to the training reactor that was just outside of Hartford, CT for my “prototype” phase of training. However, since the closest Naval base was New London/Groton, the Navy put us up in an apartment outside of Springfield, MA.
I registered my car in MA at that time, without any grief, even though I had a FL drivers’ license. However, I don’t recall if that was due to my military status or not…
Tell you what, though, you shoulda seen the CT cop’s face that pulled me over for speeding just before I got to the plant one day. I’m in Connecticut, carrying a FL driver’s license that had a TN address (my official home address of record in the Navy), in a car registered in MASS.
He looked at everything for about 60 seconds then said “Son, I don’t have the @#@ time to figure this @#@# out. Do you promise not to speed again in my jurisdiction?”
“Absolutely, officer”
“OK. Here’s your license - get out of here”
critter42
I had insurance in Pennsylvania with a Texas driver’s license and a car with Texas plates. Then, I got my PA license and still had Texas plates. Now, I’m in the process of getting my car registered in PA (hallelujah!).
As far as insurance goes, talk to one of the major companies, like Allstate or State Farm, that do business in all 50 states. I’m sure there’s a way around the insurance issue.
Robin
Could you lease a car with the lease agreement written to make the leasing company responsible for registration and insurance?
Why don’t you try to get one of those International Drivers Licenses? (or is that just a scam?)