Auto Registration Cheaters (maintenance, exemption, license)

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by steel7

Are you a auto registration cheater ? I would never report anyone (unless i despise them).

You do realize you support each and every violator.
CA vehicle owners pay more registration fees for each non paying owner. If all violators were paid up CA auto registration would be less.

So, think about it. When you support a vehicle with a non supporting tax paying owner, You are paying their fees. You are supporting them!

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by ferretkona

CA vehicle owners pay more registration fees for each non paying owner. If all violators were paid up CA auto registration would be less.

So, think about it. When you support a vehicle with a non supporting tax paying owner, You are paying their fees. You are supporting them!

That seems false to me just on the face of it. Do you think that if every auto registration scofflaw paid their full California auto registration that the fees would drop for the rest of us? That's obviously false. The state is mining everybody they can get their hands on for as much as they can get. If they got more registrations the money would just go into the state's treasury and would get spent like all the rest of the money, and nobody would get any reductions.

MOD CUT

[EclecticEars]

Registration in California will not be much more for me, either initially or per annum, than it is in Kentucky, my current state of residence. When I move to CA, aside from the fact that I'll be living there (hopefully permanently, but even if it's temporarily for some unforeseen reason), I'll be registering the car in CA.

Now, I'm not sure I'd want to own a car six years or younger in CA. At the very least until I have a much higher net worth. The sales taxes, annual registration and smog abatement fees would be MOD CUT to contend with.

[steel7]

The bottom line is if you want to drive in ca you gotta pay the price. My car is 26 yrs old (85 olds) & my tags will increase from 67.00 to 79.00 this nov + i have a smog test. Im just hoping i pass it & i go to a test only shop in town. If i do pass it will cost me $45.00 total for the smog.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Just make sure you razor blade the heck out of your tags or it's bait for the hundreds of thousands of illegal drivers in the State.



After being burned by selling a car to someone with a fake DL does anyone know if you can call in the DL to verify it at the DMV?

[mileena]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

Just make sure you razor blade the heck out of your tags or it's bait for the hundreds of thousands of illegal drivers in the State.



After being burned by selling a car to someone with a fake DL does anyone know if you can call in the DL to verify it at the DMV?

Yes, you are safe if you filed the required "Notice to Transfer and Release of Liability" form with the state DMV. Here are the legal requirements of selling a car, by the CA DMV. The relevant part is at the end, "Protect Your Liability":

Vehicle Registration and Title Information

Requirements after selling a vehicle.

When selling a California registered vehicle, the registered owner of record must:

• Release ownership by signing on line one of the title.
  If the vehicle is, or was financed, the lienholder’s name appears in the legal owner section and their release with counter signature is required on line two.
• Provide the purchaser with evidence of a valid smog certification, if applicable.
  Smog certificates are good for 90 days from the date of inspection. The smog certification is not required if the owner or buyer signs a statement that smog certification was submitted with renewal fees within 90 days prior to the transfer date (a vehicle inspection report may be required for proof of certification).
  
  Recent legislation changed the requirements for vehicle transfers occurring on or after January 1, 2005. When you transfer a vehicle that is four or less model years old a smog certification will not be required. The four or less model years old rule does not apply to diesel powered vehicles. A smog transfer fee will be collected from the new owner. When a vehicle is more than four model years old, evidence of a current smog certification must be provided by a seller except when the following occurs:
  • The transfer occurs between a spouse, domestic partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, or grandchild.
  • A biennial smog certification was submitted to DMV within 90 days prior to the vehicle transfer date (a vehicle inspection report may be required for proof of certification).
• Provide the odometer mileage if the vehicle is less than 10 years old (Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form, REG 262). If the title does not have a designated space for this information, a REG 262 reporting the odometer mileage must be signed by both the seller and buyer. The REG 262 cannot be copied. An original must be submitted. To obtain a form by mail, call DMV's automated phone service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-777-0133. To speak to an operator call between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday - Friday, Pacific Standard Time, or pick one up from your local DMV.
• Protect Your Liability. Complete a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability. The seller is responsible for reporting the change of ownership to DMV within 5 days from the date of sale. After DMV updates the information from the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, you will be cleared from future liability on the vehicle. The purchaser is responsible for reporting the change of ownership to DMV within 10 days from the date of purchase.

[cb73]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

After being burned by selling a car to someone with a fake DL does anyone know if you can call in the DL to verify it at the DMV?

There's no current way to get any information about someone else's drivers license.

However, if you list all the information on the Release of Liability, and make sure the money they're paying is good, you'll be fine. The biggest issues are still paying with counterfeit casher's checks, bad regular checks, or sellers agreeing to take payments from total strangers that totally disappear.

I remember someone who sold their car, and then wrote down the buyer's drivers license number, name and address and the license plate number of the vehicle they drove up in. That went a long way to identify the buyer when it turned out they were using someone else's name for the deal.

[bentstrider]

My problem isn't paying the registration fees, I'm completely alright with that if that was just it and insurance.
My major gripe is having to get rid of a car I actually like all because it's not going to pass smog.
I haven't owned a car in CA since 2006 due to a smog place doing some other faulty things to it and making it run like a sick dog.
After nearly having an assault charge placed on me for going at it with the shop operator, I figured it would be cheaper for me to just get rides, rent cars, and use my bicycle until I've finally relocated to some place where smog-requirements are either lax or non-existent.
As for my beloved Bronco II, it was sadly junked after countless man-hours and money could not save it.
I may be seen as some type of ackward, anti-environmentalist, but when a polluting vehicle is relegated to the junkyard, the ARB is just contributing to the solid waste problem.

As they say, pay-to-play. So if you've got the money and the patience to deal with the countless bologna, then do so.

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by bentstrider

My problem isn't paying the registration fees, I'm completely alright with that if that was just it and insurance.
My major gripe is having to get rid of a car I actually like all because it's not going to pass smog.
I haven't owned a car in CA since 2006 due to a smog place doing some other faulty things to it and making it run like a sick dog.
After nearly having an assault charge placed on me for going at it with the shop operator, I figured it would be cheaper for me to just get rides, rent cars, and use my bicycle until I've finally relocated to some place where smog-requirements are either lax or non-existent.
As for my beloved Bronco II, it was sadly junked after countless man-hours and money could not save it.
I may be seen as some type of ackward, anti-environmentalist, but when a polluting vehicle is relegated to the junkyard, the ARB is just contributing to the solid waste problem.

As they say, pay-to-play. So if you've got the money and the patience to deal with the countless bologna, then do so.

I've owned eight or nine vehicles ranging from a 1973 Ford (Mercury) Capri with basic smog equipment, a 1975 Pinto that was full of vacuum lines used to control an array of emissions devices to the current 2007 Ford Ranger. I've never had a single one fail a smog check. I've had several friends over the years who have bought mid-70s through late-80s vehicles that didn't pass smog. I was able to help them get every one to pass and those were the worst years for smog equipment.

I'm inclined to think there were other reasons you couldn't get the Bronco II to pass. Like someone removed or tampered a device, at which point the CARB Regs will not allow an exemption. They will allow an exemption if a device fails and cannot be replaced. However, we are talking about a vehicle that would now be 21 years or older. I really have to wonder how long you think it should have lasted, and if you really wanted to keep driving it you always had the option to replace the old drive train and emissions with a later model drivetrain from a Ranger or Explorer, which is easy on a Bronco II. I know people who have done it.

California's smog laws aren't the reason you can't afford a vehicle. People who maintain their vehicles and don't tamper with the emissions equipment have very little trouble getting their vehicles to pass. The people who don't maintain their vehicles and fiddle with smog devices because they think unplugging the EGR valve is going to magically add 30 hp are the reason we have to take our cars in for smog checks.

[ZhugeLiang]

I've no opinion on this. Both times I moved back to CA, I waited until the last minute to register my vehicle in CA when the registration from my old state was nearly expired.

May as well get my money's worth. If anyone asks, just say you're a student.