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I've seen a lot of questions and answers on this, but nothing has helped me figure my daughter's (Age 36) specific situation. She is a resident of NC and has a house and car there. She is going to be living in San Diego, CA for a while and wants to buy a car there instead of paying to rent one. She will be living in San Diego for about five months, working from where she rents there while taking trips back to the east coast to her company's office in NJ and to check on her house in NC. She wants to live there for a few months to determine if she wants to move permanently. Can she buy a car in CA and register it there even though she is a resident of NJ? Can she get insurance in CA for the car? It isn't feasible for her to have it registered in NC because she'd never drive it across country and back. Thanks for your help!
Some of them are weird like one I had when my kid went to college said they'd never cover him when he was away in college in another state. So I changed insurance companies.
For example, NJ has a temporary registration thing for non residents:
IMO, if she is living in California and buys a car there, she must register and license it there ... even if she only plans to be there for 5-months. Otherwise, anyone could avoid registering their vehicle and paying vehicle/license taxes, by simply declaring that they were planning to move soon ... whether they moved or not. She certainly wouldn't be able to register/license it in NC, if she bought it in Calif. and was living there for an extended period of time. Thus, she would otherwise be driving around in an unregistered vehicle.
Of course, this is only a common sense response; who knows what they are liable to do in California(?) With taxes being the primary issue here, I would suspect Calif. does whatever will allow them to collect the most taxes,
Thank you for the reply. She wanted to get a car to get around in and wants to do what is required. I just wasn't sure if you could own a car in two separate states. I appreciate your answer. Makes sense.
College kids usually leave teir vehicles registered in their state of permanent residence.
Wherever her official, permanet residence is, that should be her state of registration.
Here is what I would do. Buy the car in NC (or NJ), register it there and drive the car to CA. My bet is it would be much cheaper to buy a used car in NC than CA, so even if you had to ship it or hire a driver that is headed there anyway you'll make out ok, with less headache. She'll also have more time to look for a good deal. This is for a $10k plus car of course, not a $2k beater.
If she'll be driving a u-haul to CA just rent the car dolly too and tow the car behind.
OR, you can get a power of attorney written up with her before she leaves. That way if she buys a car there and overnights you the title you can register it in her name. Or, just register it in your name and send her the tags/reg/ins.
IMO, if she is living in California and buys a car there, she must register and license it there ... even if she only plans to be there for 5-months. Otherwise, anyone could avoid registering their vehicle and paying vehicle/license taxes, by simply declaring that they were planning to move soon ... whether they moved or not. She certainly wouldn't be able to register/license it in NC, if she bought it in Calif. and was living there for an extended period of time. Thus, she would otherwise be driving around in an unregistered vehicle.
Of course, this is only a common sense response; who knows what they are liable to do in California(?) With taxes being the primary issue here, I would suspect Calif. does whatever will allow them to collect the most taxes,
A person does not have to register a car they buy in the state they bought it, provided they are a resident of another state.
She can register it in NC while living in California, as long as she is a resident of NC.
I have bought a few cars over the years that I bought out of state. All you do is get a temp tag or the dealer will transfer your tags for you. You have to pay tax in the state it will be registered.
I just bought a new car out of state, traded my old one in, the dealer did the paperwork to transfer the tags over.
For private purchase, same issue just different steps have to follow.
I've seen a lot of questions and answers on this, but nothing has helped me figure my daughter's (Age 36) specific situation. She is a resident of NC and has a house and car there. She is going to be living in San Diego, CA for a while and wants to buy a car there instead of paying to rent one. She will be living in San Diego for about five months, working from where she rents there while taking trips back to the east coast to her company's office in NJ and to check on her house in NC. She wants to live there for a few months to determine if she wants to move permanently. Can she buy a car in CA and register it there even though she is a resident of NJ? Can she get insurance in CA for the car? It isn't feasible for her to have it registered in NC because she'd never drive it across country and back. Thanks for your help!
She probably should not buy a car if she does not know she is going to move there or not.
They have deals on monthly rentals, she should look around.
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