Car Inspection or Cancel Registration

[twingles]

You will have to pay all the start up costs when you re-register it (HUT) but I'm guessing the savings on yearly tax, registration and insurance will be worth it.

However, don't expect that car to run like a top after a few years. You're going to have problems if you don't drive it, running it is not enough. I'd only keep a car that has known longevity.

[meanieme]

Thanks for all the input, let me consolidate my comments.

1) Even then, when I returned here 3 years later, Wake county _tried_ to tell me I didn't pay and charged taxes for 3 years (save vehicles) and I had to show them receipts that I lived and registered elsewhere.

2) Technically you are supposed to pay personal property tax. They usually do not enforce that but if they do you would have had to pay it if you keep the plate on.

Are you saying even if I return the plate and registration, I have to keep paying taxes on the car? I thought the tax payment is part of the annual registration. Or are you saying when I get it re-registered I have to pay back taxes? This is new news to me.

you only have to keep your insurance current on currently registered vehicles?

Yes my understanding is I can cancel insurance if I return the plate and registration.

Oh and once you swap out the battery, that check engine light should reset. Get it inspected shortly thereafter.

Except that I have to run the car for 70-100 miles before it can be ready for inspection, and that check engine light may come back on.

Batteries don't just drain in cars that are parked long term. They also die and have to be replaced. New batteries are Expensive. Get a battery cutoff switch....

Can I simply unplug the battery when not in use? Or will that still drain?

A known good used car is a very rare thing. I wasn't expecting the vehicle scarcity scam to run as long as it has so far.

Now this is an interesting observation. I have also noticed used car values going on. I don't know why. My car is an SUV. It's about 10 years old. It's brand/model/design I like and I don't like any of the SUV designs on the road right now. It's got all the bells and whistles I want. It's just that we already have another, more practical SUV. And after downsizing, we don't have parking for more than 2 vehicles. So this SUV sits at my dads house. I hate to sell it because it'd be even harder to find one like it when I'm ready to repurchase. Value wise, I'm not sure it's worth more than $5K now but who knows.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by meanieme

...

Can I simply unplug the battery when not in use? Or will that still drain?
....

Sure. That will work. Remove both terminal leads.

I actually LIKE the switch. Cheap and easy and never need a tool once it is installed..

[udelslayer]

No. We didnt pay anything. I moved away for 3 years and when I returned, I had the same vehicles. They tried to bill us after re-registering the vehicles here for a "lapse" and we had to correct them. Keep your paperwork. I'm not surprised, the DMV here is janky.

70-100 miles, but several restarts. You have to reset the readiness monitors that the OBD scan looks for. This is in addition to not having a CEL, but you dont see the readiness monitors for O2, misfires, exhaust system leaks, etc without a scanner. Those monitors increase in number as the car is newer. My 2003 subaru had 6 that had to be "ready" but I think 2010 cars have 8 or more that have to clear. Thats why you cant just reset a CEL and pass inspection immediately.

Its not about draining the battery, its about cycling the battery. Cars and houses that sit without regular use, rot. You can unplug or even remove the battery and store it indoors to avoid temperature swings. IMHO, no car should sit longer than ~2 months without being run and moved even if just in a storage lot. Acidic compounds evaporating from fluids inside build up in "dry" places. Seals and bearings need to be wetted periodically. Its good to run petrol motors and basically keep the inside "washed" and why you're encouraged to change oil when its warmed up.


Like nothing else on the road? So a Pontiac Aztek...j/k. I love those things! Every SUV looks the same and I guess the car designers need to get off the Zoloft and stop painting them all those boring grey derivatives.

Maybe I'm over thinking it. Then again, you outright own the vehicle which is the real value.

[cheapdad00]

Originally Posted by meanieme

Thanks for all the input, let me consolidate my comments.



Are you saying even if I return the plate and registration, I have to keep paying taxes on the car? I thought the tax payment is part of the annual registration. Or are you saying when I get it re-registered I have to pay back taxes? This is new news to me.




Yes my understanding is I can cancel insurance if I return the plate and registration.



Except that I have to run the car for 70-100 miles before it can be ready for inspection, and that check engine light may come back on.



Can I simply unplug the battery when not in use? Or will that still drain?



Now this is an interesting observation. I have also noticed used car values going on. I don't know why. My car is an SUV. It's about 10 years old. It's brand/model/design I like and I don't like any of the SUV designs on the road right now. It's got all the bells and whistles I want. It's just that we already have another, more practical SUV. And after downsizing, we don't have parking for more than 2 vehicles. So this SUV sits at my dads house. I hate to sell it because it'd be even harder to find one like it when I'm ready to repurchase. Value wise, I'm not sure it's worth more than $5K now but who knows.

Since you dont need this car now, find out how much it is worth (KBB, local ads, Carvana/Vroom/Carmax) and then use that to assist in making your determination. Why is the Check Engine light on? If it's for something material, you would need to fix that before selling (or expect buyer to want a discount). My opinion is if it's not a collector item and you know you wont need it for 3 years, just sell it and re-evaluate when 3 years is up. As has been mentioned, having the vehicle sit around and not be used is bad for it - even if you think you know it now (and it does have a check engine light on currently) it won't be the same car after sitting for 3 years, especially if it gets moved outside and critters start using it for a nest.

[Jkgourmet]

Maybe I'm frivolous, but the radical advances in safety features would convince me to replace it without any hesitation.


Oh wait - I'm not so frivolous. We have a 2015 Camry and a 2020 Corolla that replaced a 2015 Hyundai (that we ONLY replaced because of the insanely good deal I got in the first week of Covid shutdown and dealers were in a panic trying to dump their new car inventory.)

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Maybe I'm frivolous, but the radical advances in safety features would convince me to replace it without any hesitation.


Oh wait - I'm not so frivolous. We have a 2015 Camry and a 2020 Corolla that replaced a 2015 Hyundai (that we ONLY replaced because of the insanely good deal I got in the first week of Covid shutdown and dealers were in a panic trying to dump their new car inventory.)

Yup.
Safety (and then frills)...
Led me to move from my 1998 F-150 with 169,000 miles on it to a 2022 model.