DMV back fees??? What, you have to pay a fee for every year it was not registered until the current year?....What a Joke.....What a raquet....Just a way for the bankrupt state to try to get more money and try to keep more "older" cars off the road.........Glad I don't live in California....
yeah i hate our dmv fees my car used to be 43 bucks to reg.they suck.del,people talk about fresno? lolYeah it's stupid, but, it's not to keep older stuff off the road. It's about getting $$$$$. If you don't renew, they assume you're still driving it unless you go non-operational, one time fee of about $10-15.
My favorite back fee debacle. I bought a car, put plates on it. About 6-8 months later the DMV sends me a letter stating the registration is suspended for lack of "proof of insurance", I never got insurance on it, never drove it on a public road either. I park the car as it's a project, no biggie. About 3 years later, I get a letter requesting 450ish in back fees.... this after the DMV suspended the registration. Priceless reasoning there.
I bought a car with over 1200 in back fees one time. At the time it was less expensive to drag it to AZ, get a clear title for $8 and bring it back to CA.
2500 for that car is absolute dreamer territory... looks like a decent body sans bullet holes. There are decent drivers for that amount or less on occasion. I agree it's a $500-700 car at this point
So it might be a deal if you DON'T live in California? If you live out of state and get it registered in your home state are you still responsible for the fees?
Here is TWO ways to avoid the back DMV fees in CA.
1. Declare the car a total loss and then register it as a salvage vehicle.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr16.htm
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr13.htm
2. Get the buyer to agree to a lien sale.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/faq/faqliensale.htm
The key for the rest of us in California is to make sure that when we begin a project we file a one time CERTIFICATE OF NON-OPERATION. At one time you could retroactively declare non-op. No longer. The good news is once you declare non-op you don't have to pay ANY fees until you go to register the car, and then it is only for the current year.
Regards,
Joe Dokes