If the car is in California and has not been registered or non-opt'd you
may well be liable for a bunch (and I mean a bunch) of penalties and
fees.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/faq/faq2.htm#BM2512 has the specifics that
include:
> California does not offer a grace period after your vehicle's
>registration expiration date. Be sure to pay your renewal fees on or
>before the date of expiration shown on your current registration >card.
Even though your plates have only the month and year, your >registration
expires on a specific day. Be sure and check the >registration card for
the actual day of expiration.
>Penalty fees on expired registration are:
> 10% if 1-10 days late
> 20% if 11-30 days late
> 60% if 31 days-1 year late
> If your registration is expired more than 1 year, the penalty fees
>will be:
> 60% for the first year
> 80% for the second year
> 160% for the third year
What I would suggest and what I did when I bought my long non-registered
Brickin is buy it subject to being able to register it without having to
pay penalties and/or make the seller (the non-registering person) pay
the penalties and fees.
There is another avenue and this is what happened in my case. It the
car is off the roll long enough, then it is as though it had never been
registered. What I did was go to: http://plates.ca.gov/search/ and
search for the plate that was on the car (I think that it searches all
plates, not just personalized ones). If the existing plate comes up as
available, then you know that the car is off the rolls and there will be
no penalties or extra fees.
> Also can someone help with this ? The prior owner had stored the car
>for the last five years and it has not been registered since 1993.I am
>almost ready to hit the streets, so I need to get legal. I suspect
I'll
>get hit with penalties as it's never been taken off the California
>registration roles. My concern is that I may need a current smog.
It's
>possible that the car may meet the 25-year-old exception for smog
>certification but if not, I will need a smog pump, as it was removed by
>the previous owner. Anyone in California or elsewhere that could shed
>some light on obtaining a new pump would be appreciated.
>
>Frank Darling VIN 588
>
>
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