Registering an out-of-state car in California

Factual Questions
1

Okay, so here’s the deal, I’ve lived in California for about a year and a half now and never got around to registering my vehicle locally – yeah, I’m a gambling man. Anyway, my out of state tags are now expired as well, which means I’m easy fodder to be pulled over if a cop ever sees them, and thus I think I actually want to register the vehicle. But I’m confused by a few things I’ve found on CA’s DMV’s site, from here:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9.htm

#6) Regarding the inspection; what exactly do they expect? Could they nail me for my expired tags while there?

#7) “Smog certificate, if applicable” – how do I know if I’m applicable or not? Is this just an emissions test (like I had previously in WA)? I’ve seen a lot of “smog; test only” signs at gas stations all over, how do these come into play?

Also, using the calculator here , it seems it’s going to cost me $200 to register my 93 Eclipse; is that right? That’s pretty damn expensive.

Can anyone more savvy than me help make sense of this?

2

Wow that’s a crazy typo in my subject line – not quite sure what I was going for there. Could someone please report that so it’s fixed to “registering.”

3

Massagated a mod for you. Hope someone will come along soon and help you with your questions.

4

[del]Registrating? Spend much time in an office lately.:)[/del]

The inspection is probably a VIN inspection. It normally takes a minute or two and are checking that everything is in order. The inspectors probably won’t care about your tags, but the person inside who you pay the registration will probably charge a late fee. I had to pay a small late fee when I registered my CA car in NV. I don’t know if CA gets any of that money or not but it expired after I moved. In CA the penalties do max out at some point. They would not inform the cops that you were driving with expired tags.

You must get a smog test every 2 years in CA. It is probably mandatory if you are a new registry, but some counties might not require it. Because you live in the Bay Area, there is a 110% chance that it is mandatory. You go to one of those smog test places you mentioned before you go to the DMV. They give you a paper to bring when you register.

They don’t mention insurance on that page but I think you might need it first.

Yeah it is expensive. Welcome to California.

5

The inspection is a verification that the VIN is correct and not altered on the vehicle. About the expired tags, I don’t know, but they don’t need to walk outside to verify the expired tags, they can just look at your paperwork.
The smog test is required. It would not be applicable if your car was less than 6 years old or older than MY 1975. (When I bought my 2005 car in 2007 I did not need a smog cert)
Your fees? Probably correct. Welcome to California where we have really low property taxes, and really high every thing else fees. Buy a house and shut up. :smiley:

6

Thanks Tikki for reporting the post, and thelurkinghorror and Rick for the great info!

Just out of curiosity, what happens if my car fails the smog test? (also, what are the odds of that? It passed in WA, but I know standards are stricter here)

And just to appease my curious nature, why do the gas stations signs say “Smog Check: Test Only” – what’s with the “test only” part? Also, I find it odd that one can get their car checked for the smog test practically everywhere here, whereas in Washington, you had to go to one of the few government manned testing sites.

7

[QUOTE=Red Barchetta]
Thanks Tikki for reporting the post, and thelurkinghorror and Rick for the great info!

Just out of curiosity, what happens if my car fails the smog test? (also, what are the odds of that? It passed in WA, but I know standards are stricter here)

And just to appease my curious nature, why do the gas stations signs say “Smog Check: Test Only” – what’s with the “test only” part? Also, I find it odd that one can get their car checked for the smog test practically everywhere here, whereas in Washington, you had to go to one of the few government manned testing sites.
[/QUOTE]
Looks like** Rick** went to sleep, so I´ll take a quick stab at this one:
**
What happens if your car fails the smog test?** You need to fix whatever problem you have with your car that´s causing it to emit too much pollution. As I understand, it could be a multitude of things that cause the problem. After you get it fixed, you get it re-tested and get a clean smog test.

Why do the gas station signs say ¨Smog Check: Test Only¨? Basically there are two types of places: those that can only test your car, and those that can test your car and fix it if there is a problem causing it to fail the smog test.

At the ¨Test Only" places, if you pass the smog test, they give you a little piece of paper that says you passed the smog test. If you fail, then you have to take your car to a place that can fix the problem causing your car to emit too much pollution. Then (usually) you can take your car back to the ¨Test Only¨ place, and they will re-test your car for free and give you a little piece of paper that says you passed the smog test.

At the ¨Test + Fix""places, if you pass the smog test, they give you a little piece of paper that says you passed the smog test. If you fail, then they diagnose, fix, and re-test your car (with your permission of course). Then they give you a little piece of paper that says you passed the smog test.

In my limited experience, ¨Test Only¨ places tend to be cheaper. If you are relatively confident that your car will pass the test, then it´s probably a good idea to go to one of those. If you are not confident, I would go with a place that can test your car, as well as diagnose and fix any problems that might come up.

8

Awesome, thanks Doctor Who.

I guess I’ll take my chances and spring for the “Test Only” place – my '93’s not that old right, let’s see if she makes it :slight_smile:

9

[QUOTE=Red Barchetta]
Thanks Tikki for reporting the post, and thelurkinghorror and Rick for the great info!

Just out of curiosity, what happens if my car fails the smog test? (also, what are the odds of that? It passed in WA, but I know standards are stricter here)

And just to appease my curious nature, why do the gas stations signs say “Smog Check: Test Only” – what’s with the “test only” part? Also, I find it odd that one can get their car checked for the smog test practically everywhere here, whereas in Washington, you had to go to one of the few government manned testing sites.
[/QUOTE]

California had centralized testing back in the 1970’s. It was run via government contract. There were not enough stations, and 3-4 hour waits were common. :eek:
Under threat of death (I think) the legislature dumped central testing for private shops.
When OBD II testing came into being, Washington pushed for centralized testing. California pushed back and said NO WAY. Test only stations were a compromise. If your car fails at either a test only, or a test and repair it has to be repaired. The repair can be done anywhere, but cost limits will not apply if the repairs are not done by a licensed smog tech at a licensed shop.
Some cars that show pattern failures, and if your car was tagged previously as a gross polluter must be tested at a test only station. In addition a small percentage (chosen at random) will get a test only requirement on their renewals. This acts as a check to see if overall the same results are coming from test only shops, and test and repair shops (prevents cheating).

10

^ Very informative, thanks!

11

One last thing: It doesn’t normally cost $200 to register a 93 Eclispse; they charge extra to register an out-of-state vehicle for the first time.

Ed

12

Don’t out-of-state vehicles have to conform to Californian regulations? I seem to recall reading every now and then about ‘49-state’ cars that could be sold everywhere but California.

13

[QUOTE=Sunspace]
Don’t out-of-state vehicles have to conform to Californian regulations? I seem to recall reading every now and then about ‘49-state’ cars that could be sold everywhere but California.
[/QUOTE]

This is true only for new cars. Once they are used, they are OK. There used to be a $300 one time charge for registering a 49 state car, but that got struck down by the court a few years back IIRC.

14

If you itemize your taxes you will be able to write off part of your registration fee on your federal taxes. Part of it should be itemized as a taxes on the registration “bill”. Not much, but hey, every little bit helps.

15

$200?

You’re getting off cheap in California.

16

Thanks for asking this questions and that calculator in your OP was quite useful. I moved to Ca two years ago from Colorado and despite going in three different times to get my car registered something new and different has come up and its not registered. At least now I know I only owe 310 when I finally go because they only accept cash so you have to know ahead of time.

Heh post 123 cool