out of state registration question

[ballr858]

from what i understand if you get your car registered in another state you would need to get a drivers licence from that state as well in order to not get in trouble with the law. am i leaving anything out?

now my question is what if you have a family member out of state and put the car under their name, get it registered in their state, but you will be the one still driving it? sorta like when you borrow mom or dad's car, you will be "borrowing" your car from whoever it's registered under. would this work or would the car have to be registered in the state that it's being used in? my dad lives in florida and i thought maybe we could do this and i can just pay him for insurance. i hope i'm making sence...it's 7am here and i haven't gone to sleep yet. but going to sleep now...

[wingsnthangs]

Eventually, you'll have to register the car in the state it is being operated in. I believe there is a limited number of days that out-of-state plates can stay on a car being driven in California. In other words, if you drive it here and you are a California resident, you must register it here. If the person who owns the vehicle lives in FL, but the car is being regularly driven in CA, he must register the car in CA.

If you are a CA resident who wants to register an out-of-state car in CA, the car must (1) have over 7500mi on the odometer and (2) meet emissions requirements. If you are a non-CA resident when you bought the vehicle, you can bring your car in regardless of mileage so long as it passes emissions. Your drivers license will reflect your residency.

Be careful, if you try to register the out-of-state car at a CA DMV, and you are (for whatever reason) unsuccessful, your car will be banned from California forever. Read: FOREVER. It's a one-strike deal. You would have to get rid of it somehow (sell it to someone in another state) asap.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures...cts/ffvr29.htm

I had an issue with this last week and it was a nightmare. Fortunately, I succeeded.

[the head]

Yet another reason CA sucks balls any other state this is quite possible

basically you need to register your Drivers LIC out of state as well...use the same address for both then CA has no annex thier state laws do not apply

[Kn1ves]

so wait, ive got this neighbor thats had texas state plates for like 5 years and counting...

[!Zar!]

If you have a license in california, and your car is registered in another state, you can only drive it around for twenty days. Any more and you risk getting in trouble.

I agree that some people have driven cars in california longer, but if you want to have a modded car, then cops will notice you more.


Grandma's out of state car won't attract attnetion.

[MELLO*SOS]

What is your goal by doing this... It's just going to attract suspicion and sooner or later, you're going to be forced to make a choice of where you "live" and where the car "lives".

A story: If the car has out of state registration and plates, there are certain advantages when in california, such as how the "no front license plate" law is often used for PC. If you receive a ticket for several things, but the officers note their PC as not having a front plate, it can be later argued the local police do not know the out-of-state vehicle law where the car is registered, and therefore cannot stop the car solely for something that is california specific (like front plate law). Other PC, like your unsafe speed, etc are probably dealt with differently and this may not apply (it's not legal in any state to drive 110mph on the freeway). This may or may not allow (you|your attorney) to get the remainder of the charges against you dropped.

Even if you're successful in getting the original charge(s) dropped this way you're still going to have to explain to the DA or the judge why you're driving this out of state vehicle with out of state insurance, but you're obviously living in state. There are laws against this, and eventually you're going to win a trip to the DMV to straighten everything out... Might as well take care of it at your lesiure instead of putting off the inevitable (and paying court fines).

This "trick" only "works" once.

[HalveBlue]

Just call the DMV and find out directly from them. Afterall, they should know the ins and outs of registering cars.

[wingsnthangs]

Originally Posted by HalveBlue

Just call the DMV and find out directly from them. Afterall, they should know the ins and outs of registering cars.

One would assume so. But apparently from my experience from calling several agents from the 800 number and the Sacramento DMV headquarters number, a good number of them interpret the laws incorrectly. I don't blame them completely, the laws aren't as straightforward as you might think.

Your best bet is to thoroughly read the subject matter in the California Vehicle Code, have it ready when you call them, and politely refer them to the CVC when you think there is a problem. If you have to call several numbers several times, do it. Patience and persistence wins.

[ceniack]

if you are a college student, just say your permanent residence is in florida or whatever...

[cc4usmc]

Wow. So i kinda lucked out. I gotta Washington State dl and my car is also registered in WA.

[wingsnthangs]

If you're a college student with a permanent residence in FL, same rule applies. You can only drive around a car with FL plates temporarily. If you continue to drive it in CA beyond the limited time and you get caught, you may be subject to a citation. Also, I doubt the government will be so naive to think that you're spending 2-4 years in a CA university and not consider yourself as a "permanent resident" (aka recipient of mail at a CA residence).

If you're active military personnel, I'm pretty sure another set of out-of-state registration rules apply.

[samms95s14se]

Of course you can register the car out of state in someone elses name without a drivers license from that state, the key is don't get pulled over! If you do you can try and say... they are visiting here from out of state and you are using it to go to the store or where ever, how can they say you are lying unless the same cop keeps seeing you week after week!
My wife and I moved to Portland Oregon back in 1999 and we drove her car around there for 2 years without getting pulled over before we decided to get Oregon plates and that was because we couldn't get current tags because we needed to get it smoged again in California. But in other states where you don't have to go to a smog station every couple of years it wouldn't of been a problem providing you never get pulled over.

[ranisron]

Looks like it's more of a trouble with the state of CA. When I was at IU, there were tons of kids with IL, NY, NJ plates attending Indiana Univ. Cops never give a big deal about it - rather it is a pain in the ass getting pulled over.

I am in Chicagoland right now, still running my DARE Indiana plate I will probably switch my DL and Plate once the license is about to expire (3/15/07)

[redsuns3838]

i think his reasoning for doing this is so he cant get a ref ticket. so when cop pops ur hood you arent violating CA-emissions because you have a car that has out of state plates from like AZ where they dont do jack for emissions.

i was wondering howmany days it would take this thread to make its way over here from hondatech.

[axiomatik]

^^^ what are you talking about? this topic has been covered many times here on zilvia.

I went to grad school in Cali for one year. I considered my permanent address to be back home in AZ, so I didn't register my car or change my license, kept both AZ. I was pulled over twice in the spring, after I had been living there for 6 months or so. My car was lowered, aftermarket wheels, N1 Dual exhaust, SR, etc., and neither time did the cop ask me about my car. Nor did they ask how long I had been in the state or question my residency. I am pretty sure that college students aren't considered permanent residents, there were plenty of non-CA plates in the parking lots.

[ranisron]

^^^ I wish I were considered PR for the State of Indiana - could have saved SO MUCH MONEY...

Out of state plate = the shit...

just be careful with insurance though.