Hey guys, I am in the process of buying an used vehicle for my sister. I found a car that I like and is suitable of what I am looking for. The owner advised me that the car isn't currently register because the owner doesn't really drive the vehicle. My question is

Will it be a problem for me to register the vehicle?

About how much will I pay for tax/license?

Any more information would he appreciated guys/gals?

~Robert

 

my understanding is that the default is that seller is responsible for getting the car registered, unless you otherwise agree with him/her. getting it registered should mean getting it smogged and then paying the old registration fees to get it current, whatever they may be. if the seller doesn't want to do it, you should take the cost off the purchase price, in my opinion.

good place to start would be with the dmv to find out how long it hasn't been registered and what the fees/penalties will be to bring it up to date (license fees are a function of the make/model/year of the car)

 

Hi robert, if you go on the DMV site, you can estimate the cost using the Fee Calculator:
https://mv.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorWeb/index.jsp

 

Awesome!!! Thanks guys, the information you guys provided is very helpful

~Robert

 

i have a question too, what if you sold your vehicle about a month after you paid for registration, is there any way to get any of that money back from the DMV?

 

Nope. The buyer was pretty lucky, in this case.

 

damn that sucks... thanks though noooorb

 

Right, depending on the year/value of the car...the reg fees can vary greatly. Mine was like $350 or something inc custom plates.

If the car you want hasn't been registered in a while, they might try to stick you with the bogus "Use Tax"...essentially sales tax on the car just to register it. It blows...but is typically for registering an out-of-state car in CA so it might not apply here. But if the Fee Calculator throws some large number at you like $1k then that's what's going on.

 

Fees will also change depending on whether the previous person filed to have the car non-opt or not. If they didn't, count on paying heavy late fees.