Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Orange County
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-08-2012, 12:43 PM
 
5 posts, read 10,416 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

We have a house in Oregon but are spending much of our time in California right now and also earning income down here. Our car is registered/titled in Oregon. Must we register it in California or can we just leave it as an Oregon car?

(One other consideration: we bought the car only a few months ago, so registering it in CA will get us slapped with that "use tax.").
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-08-2012, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,820,680 times
Reputation: 39453
You cna get away with an out of State car for quite a while. If you are in a small town, or park on the streets, leave it sitting for a long time, or otherwise attract attention, it could be a problem. If you get pulled over with a CA drivers license and Oregon registration, you may get cited. If you keep Oregon license, then you will be fine. They cannto prohibit you from driving back and forth between states n a regualr basis.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2012, 12:57 PM
 
5 posts, read 10,416 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
You cna get away with an out of State car for quite a while. If you are in a small town, or park on the streets, leave it sitting for a long time, or otherwise attract attention, it could be a problem. If you get pulled over with a CA drivers license and Oregon registration, you may get cited. If you keep Oregon license, then you will be fine. They cannto prohibit you from driving back and forth between states n a regualr basis.
Thanks. We're in the OC area (and tend to be here for long periods of time) and the car's usually in an off-the-street parking lot.

Yes, I have a valid Oregon Driver's license for 3 more years. Of course, my wife will likely need to get a California license in the near future. Hmm...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2012, 01:38 PM
 
5 posts, read 10,416 times
Reputation: 11
I should add that the car's already been through a CA smog test in preparation for registration, so there must be some record of the car in the DMV's system (thought that test is only valid for 90 days). Just now reconsidering whether I want to bother with registration and fees or if it's better to just let my out-of-state plates run their course.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2012, 01:51 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,820,680 times
Reputation: 39453
Whne I moved to CA (admittedly many decades ago), I kept my car registered out of state until the plates expered. Insurance was cheaper. After I moved away form Califronia, I kept a car there to use when I was in CA. When the plates expired, I registered the car in Michigan and put michigan plates on it. Even though Michigan insurnace was much higher, I could get better coverage and a better overall price by packaging the insurace wth several other cars and our house and boat.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2012, 03:42 PM
 
5 posts, read 10,416 times
Reputation: 11
I'll be happy if I can just make it to about this time next year. At least then I'd be out of range of this "use tax" nonsense.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2012, 10:09 AM
 
125 posts, read 495,928 times
Reputation: 63
Do you have to pay use tax if the car is leased and registered out of state? BTW, which car insurance company is usually the cheapest in So Cal?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2012, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
16,806 posts, read 39,950,586 times
Reputation: 17694
Quote:
Originally Posted by iCollective View Post
Of course, my wife will likely need to get a California license in the near future. Hmm...
You have 20 days to register the car in CA once that happens.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2012, 11:02 AM
 
Location: California / Maryland / Cape May
1,548 posts, read 3,034,241 times
Reputation: 1242
Quote:
Originally Posted by iCollective View Post
We have a house in Oregon but are spending much of our time in California right now and also earning income down here. Our car is registered/titled in Oregon. Must we register it in California or can we just leave it as an Oregon car?

(One other consideration: we bought the car only a few months ago, so registering it in CA will get us slapped with that "use tax.").
If you're between homes, is it possible to have a car for the OR house and a car for the CA house? Not sure what your full situation is, and while I wouldn't do that, I have relatives that do that with their vacation properties.

Or, just switch it over and be done with it so you don't have to worry.

We promptly switched our cars over when we arrived, but from my friends' past experience, CA can be sticklers for out of state tags.

Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2012, 12:31 PM
 
5 posts, read 10,416 times
Reputation: 11
@VeniceBeachCalifornia: You don't have to pay the use tax if the car is registered out of the state, but once you try to register it within CA (at least, within 365 days of purchase), they'll slap you with the tax.

We're near a university, so there are a fair number of out-of-state plates.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Orange County

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:24 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top