Greed and the DMV

[bigdaveb12]

I purchased my '67 F-100 in December. I have gone to the CA DMV office twice to get it registered. It has not been registered since 1987 and has been sitting in the pervious owner's backyard for almost 19 years. On my first visit they want to charge me $547 to register it. Of course I didn't pay. That's about 1/2 the price I paid for the truck.

I did some research and found that I might be able to file a Statement of Fact and Cert. of Non-op. I went back with paperwork to file a week later, talked to the supervisor on duty, and 'lo and behold' my registration fee magically got larger - $619. (I bet if I go back again I can hit the $700 mark!)

Of course, both times I went the amount of the fee was non-negotiable- unless they feel I should pay more. Why does it seem like the DMV can arbitrarily apply fees to older cars on a whim. If anyone has any experience or input on this let me know.

"If they could tax the air we breathe, they would"

[spartman]

All I can say is that with abosulte power it corrupts abosultly.

Greedy B@#$ards

[FORDification]

Registration laws vary state-to-state. In some states (and apparently California is one) when you go to register a vehicle that hasn't been registered for a period of time, you need to 'catch up'...that is, pay for the registration for the time period where it just sat. Other states don't require this...it's just a fee based on the value of the vehicle, and oftentimes the year of the vehicle does comes into play...in that an older vehicle is exempt from many of the regulations which apply to newer vehicles.

I thought I had a link here to a site which listed those regulations in each state, but I can't seem to find it. I'll do some poking around and see what I can find.

[rjewkes]

I'd go back to the last owner and ask if he'll help you pay atleast half of the fee. If he says no take him to small claims.You may have to pay it off at dmv first. So you'll have proof of the exact cost.

[1970F250]

thats just the way it is here unfortunately . but we don't have to smog them so it kinda makes up for the fees. never buy any thing that isn't currently registered in CA.

its all

[rjewkes]

Yeah when i lived there i passed on several good cars becuase they hadn't been registered current.

[ToughOldFord]

Okay, there's something seriously wrong here. In California if a vehicle hasn't been registered in 6 or more years it is dropped off the books and is no longer in the computer. You pay a small fee for new title, registration, and plates. It will need to have it's VIN verified, but that doesn't cost anything. You need to go to a different DMV office as the one you are going to obviously doesn't know California laws.

[ToughOldFord]

In fact, it looks like that dropped down to four years:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr14.htm

[jzjames]

Some states make you pay a sales tax on the blue book value of the vehicle - not what you paid for it. These are people who we voted for and elected. They're just blatant crooks, and they know we are mostly chumps who will not follow through and make them accountable.
As for CA., registering a car that has been unregistered and stored for many years, check to see if they will allow you to get a notarized statement from the previous owner as proof of storage. Probably not, that is why you have to file forms and turn in the plates to store a vehicle and get out of paying the reg. fees. Of course they set it up in their favor so they can suck out our money into their pockets.
Call the Luitenant Governors office and ask for an exemption. Ask for the names of the people you are speaking to.

[Joe Kriston]

I'd have to agree with TOF....Try a different DMV or even somebody "upstairs"....In Az sometimes they'll make you sign an affidavit in similar cases,stating that the vehicle was inoperable and not in fact on the road...polluting the air and using the wonderful roads registration-free....The fact that you got two different amounts on the fees owed should tell you some flunky at DMV is not getting all their facts straight....

[bigdaveb12]

The only problem with that 'dropping off the computer' loophole is that my Ford was lucky enough to STILL be on the computer. And since the computer is the DMV god, no one wants to budge.

[Joe Kriston]

Dave,find out what the cost breakdown is for the actual registration fees and applicable 'late fees'....There is something seriously wrong(and probably unconstitutional) in the state of California if you are required to pay for the previous owner's failure to register the truck....Hell,I'd write a letter to The Governator...

[ToughOldFord]

You should find a different office and if they still give you the same garbage then you point out to them that it shouldn't even be in the system. There is no reason it should still be in the system after two decades. It's not a loop hole, it's a rule. They can't make you go back and pay fees for all of those years unless you've done something like told them it was being operated on public property during that time.
I've done this on several vehicles myself, if I get one that hasn't been tagged in a long time then I know it's an easy one to license. The workers at the DMVs here are very aware of the rule and never give me any problems.

[bigdaveb12]

The story with this truck is that it was sitting in the original owner's backyard (on private property) since its last registration in 1987. It hasn't seen so much as a surface street. I've told the DMV this and they still insist that I should pay for three years plus the back taxes and "penalties." I asked them why I should pay three years of registration for a vehicle that was never even parked on a public street in almost 19 years. Their response was that they had to- by their regulations, and since there was no non-op filed with the DMV, these fees become due. They probably need to re-read their own regs.

[ToughOldFord]

I think so. Not to mention that there was no such thing as filing a non-op in '87. In those days all that was required was a statement of non operation by anyone who know the vehicle wasn't operated.
Still think you should try a different DMV, what have you got to loose?