Boondoggle of registration issues for car purchased out of California

August 21, 2024 11:21 AM

I'm a California resident, but spending a large amount of time in Georgia. If I purchase a brand new car in Georgia, can I easily still register in California?

I've gotten mixed answers from dealerships, the DMV, and AAA. These are the different answers:
1. This won't be an issue; the car is brand new so exempt from needing smog checks. The dealer will register the car for you through the CA DMV, and will collect and pay CA taxes and other state fees.
2. The dealer will collect and pay CA taxes and fees and register, but you will still need to bring it to CA for an initial smog and vehicle check, and will not be issued registration and tags until then.

Note: I am a CA resident, so I'm unable to register it in GA.

posted by Unsomnambulist to Law & Government (10 answers total)

Best answer: I'm a Texas resident and bought a car in Alabama. The dealer collected/paid the taxes (they actually overcollected, so we got a check back after a month). We did have to have the car inspected in Texas, before we could get the registration and tags. So I had scenario 2. It's different states, but that's what I'd expect would happen to you.
posted by Spike Glee at 12:31 PM on August 21

Best answer: I think there's a bit of truth to both statements - I know that for me, bringing in a car that I had already owned for a couple years from out of state was the process outlined in answer 2, but since you're buying a car in another state and trying to act like you're actually buying it in California, that's a little strange. So, here's the page from the DMV that I was looking at when I brought my car in. But then I also know that my car isn't very old (2017) and you don't typically have to smog cars that are less than 8 years old, so I haven't had to get mine smogged since I first moved back to CA in 2022. Note this cautionary text on the out of state page though:

Caution: Unless the vehicle was originally manufactured to meet California emission standards or the owner or vehicle qualifies for an exemption, California law prohibits California residents or businesses from bringing into California or registering in California, a motor vehicle which is less than 2 years old and has less than 7,500 miles on the odometer at the time of purchase, trade, or acquisition.

So, if you're buying out of state make extra double sure it has 50-state emissions. I don't think I solved anything, just have more info, but I think your concerns are right where CA will want their sales tax for the purchase and won't want anyone bringing in a car that doesn't meet standards.
posted by LionIndex at 2:22 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm not acting like I'm buying in CA -- I am literally in GA and buying a new car here. Since I'm not a resident, I'm unable to register it here. And dealers are set up to register cars in the states the buyers are from (it would be cheaper for me to register here due to lower sales tax and other fees).

Its a brand new hybrid, so I assume it meets federal and state standards. If not, I'll be in a weird limbo where I have a car that I can't register anywhere!

The frustrating part continues to be that DMV reps are also unclear on any of this, and its confusing that this is all about saving emissions -- though to pass I'm required to drive the car cross country twice!
posted by Unsomnambulist at 3:04 PM on August 21

Its a brand new hybrid, so I assume it meets federal and state standards. If not, I'll be in a weird limbo where I have a car that I can't register anywhere!

California and some other states have more stringent emission standards than federal requirements - that warning is on the DMV page for a reason.
posted by LionIndex at 4:44 PM on August 21 [3 favorites]

California has enough unique requirements around emissions, taxes and residency that I wouldn't trust advice from someone without California experience specifically. And, speaking as a former resident, dealing with the CA DMV is its own special kind of hell, so sympathies.

Seconding the advice to make very, very sure that the vehicle is a 50-state-compliant vehicle. While I'd expect a hybrid to meet those standards, it's very worth checking. I expect you'll be required to pay California tax upon registration, but the details around how this will work with buying the vehicle out-of-state is not something I know.
posted by Aleyn at 6:59 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

I have purchased cars in a different state from where I had my residence on two occasions. One was when I lived in NY and crossed the border to buy a car in CT. It was essentially the same thing as buying in NY. The dealer took car of moving my custom plates and registration from my trade-in to the new truck. It was seemless.

I purchased a vehicle for my son in Virginia when he was in college and his residence was in NY. I am not sure the car has ever been in NY. The dealer should have contacted NY DMV, but they seemed in over their heads so, I got a temp registration in VA and immediately applied to transfer the registration to NY. I think they used his dorm address or the college registrar's office for the temp plates. Ironically enough, within a year, he moved to GA (Ft. Moore nee Benning) and got GA plates. He then went to Ft. Bliss in Texas and got TX plates. (Turns out if you are in the military, you can keep your registration in whatever state you want rather than chase all the changes in location.)

I know many decades ago when I was in college in Virginia but still a legal residence in NY, I registered the car in Virginia using my fraternity house's address. It had no affect on my legal residence. It did help having VA plates in Virginia rather than Yankee NY plates!

I don't get that you have to drive the car to California and back just to pass emissions. If the car is out of State, CA should waive the emissions test until it returns to CA. I would assume they would give you 30 days from the time the car returns to CA to get tested. When do you plan on returning to CA ex this requirement? You should be able to register the car in GA using your hotel or wherever you are staying address or even the dealer's address. It is where the car is being driven/used for the time being. I think the GA DMV is the weak link here. CA should not even know about the car until it returns to CA.

I can assure you that you are not the first person to purchase a car when you are out of California with the intention of one day driving it "home" at some point. Between the dealer and the GA DMV, you should be able to register the car in GA or at least get some temporary registration.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:04 PM on August 21

I think the first, most important question is whether the car that you want to buy is already designed to meet the California standards. I think some car companies just build those standards into all their American cars but I think there are others that have specific models designed for the California marketplace while the cars sold elsewhere don't. In the second case, it is not just a matter to doing a smog check, you would have to do some expensive retro-fitting to bring the car up to code.
posted by metahawk at 7:09 AM on August 22

Response by poster: The car does meet CA standards - there is one of those steel informational plaques under the hood that include the certification info.
posted by Unsomnambulist at 8:04 AM on August 22

Best answer: The things not suitable for sale (or registering in CA) is mostly cheap lawn equipment. Maybe up to some of those gas powered 4wheeler things.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:23 AM on August 22

Maybe just fly to California and buy the same car there and drive it back to Georgia or have it shipped?
posted by mareli at 5:00 PM on August 22