<p>D2’s truck was totaled over three weeks ago and she just found out today the amount insurance will give her. H and I are thinking of using this an opportunity for him to get a new car, and we’d let her buy his car from us. I am thinking about driving the car out there, probably sooner rather than later (that’s a whole 'nother thread… making a trip from IL to CA by myself, but I’m kind of looking forward to it and I have time on my hands). So I’m wondering if anyone here (well, I’m sure someone has, but are they willing to share their experience) has done a title transfer from out-of-state plates into CA, getting CA plates… how difficult it is, what are the costs, etc. Would the California DMV be the place to get the answers? If this is going to be a bigger pain than it’s worth, then she will find something out there. I know CA has some pretty strict rules about cars.</p>
<p>If you have AAA, talk to them. I know several of my friends have gotten a lot of help with transfers that way.</p>
<p>Make sure the car will pass emissions testing. I’m not sure how you go about that, but CA is pretty strict on that. I had to get my '99 Chrysler smog-checked every other year in order to keep it registered. Newer cars might be a little less often.</p>
<p>Fees will depend on if you want specialized plates and a few other things that I don’t remember off the top of my head.</p>
<p>Yes, we do have AAA; I would have never thought of contacting them, though. Thanks! Will follow up with that tomorrow.</p>
<p>Pretty sure it will pass emissions test - I know it does here in IL, but I realize the standards are probably different in CA. It’s a 2007 small SUV - runs like brand new.</p>
<p>Should be fine then 
Even my '99 managed to pass every year!</p>
<p>pretty simple, really.</p>
<p>you need to get a smog check in Calif and just file the paperwork with the DMV (or a AAA office). The latter is highly recommended to reduce wait times at the DMV which can be hours-long without an appointment.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs%2Fbrochures/howto/htvr9.htm”>http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs%2Fbrochures/howto/htvr9.htm</a></p>
<p>Yes, in California, the AAA can handle title transfers and car registrations. Much, much better than going to the DMV. Taxes on the sale will depend on how much your D is paying for your car. They may want to see a bill of sale. It might be better to have a sale price than to say it’s a gift. As a gift it might be taxed at full blue book value. The California DMV has a website that could answer these questions.</p>
<p>Also if H is a joint owner of the SUV have him sign the portion of the title for title transfers before you leave home. Likely they will require the signature of both joint owners before they will transfer the title. I believe in Illinois it’s at the bottom of the car title. </p>
<p>Yes, AAA in CA is great for most DMV things. Our kids both used the AAA by USC to get their title transferred for their cars. They had the car pass smog check there as well. It was SO convenient and the folks there were very helpful. Would highly recommend it! It was a breeze–S’s car was fairly old but still passed the smog test. D’s car was newer and also passed. </p>
<p>One thing to be sure you do have is CA auto insurance–that was a small snag that D didn’t clarify with AAA DMV, so DMV sent her a ticket and bill but we clarified that her auto policy was a CA one and got a refund of the fee.</p>
<p>You could also buy AAA auto insurance there. </p>
<p>We got USAA insurance, which was significantly cheaper than AAA or the other quotes we received. Have been happy with that. OP sounds like she lives in CA, so she probably already has auto policies on her other vehicles. I think most policies cover any newly added vehicle for about 30 days or so before your vehicle is actually listed on your policy, but it’s best to read your policy or double-check with insurance agent to be sure. </p>
<p>By the way, since you’re planning such a long drive, I’d consider upgrading for the 100 mile tow package with AAA, just in case you are far from a good mechanic and experience a problem. We had our kids do that as well, since there can be a lot of space between good mechanics. In fact, both of our kids still have the extended tow package with AAA–it doesn’t cost that much more and they prefer to have cars towed to mechanics they have a relationship with instead of strangers.</p>
<p>We’ve had State Farm forever (it’s what my parents had when I turned 16), so will be sticking with that. They actually gave her a better price than we thought on the totaled-out truck, although it has taken them longer than wished for, to get that price to her. And they’ve only given her a total verbally; she might not see a check for at least another week. This is not a gift; she is paying us for the car with her settlement money. </p>
<p>I probably should have clarified… she’s been living there almost two years now, so she has all the pieces of doing this in place. I did text her last night and tell her she needed to call AAA today and get some details on what is involved. It still boggles my mind that that’s a service they provide out there. I would much prefer to deal with them than the DMV, even in IL.</p>
<p>I also realize I need to go get the title out of the safe deposit box before I go ,and have H sign it; but, just now thinking, it might actually have just my name on it, since I co-signed with our older daughter when she bought the car in 2007. When she moved to Boston over a year later, she hung onto it for almost another year before she decided she didn’t want to have a car in Boston, so we then paid off the car, and it became ours, and H has been driving it. I know we took D1’s name off the title, but I don’t know if we transferred it to H, or left it in my name alone. </p>
<p>Just a caution: if the vehicle has less than 7,500 miles on it, California considers it a new car. In that case, there might be problems with registering it in California. California has stricter emission standards than most of the country; a few states have opted into the California standards, but I don’t believe Illinois is one of them. California doesn’t want California residents to evade California emission standards by going out of state to buy their new cars; so a California resident can’t register a new car (defined as one with less than 7,500 miles) purchased out-of-state unless that car has the kind of emission equipment it would need to be sold as a new car in California (some do, some don’t). They’re not as strict with used cars (7,500 miles or more), but a used car brought in from out of state still needs to pass the Smog Check test at a certified California site before it can be registered there.</p>
<p><a href=“http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr29.htm”>http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr29.htm</a></p>
<p>No problem… definitely MORE than 7,500 miles on it. Try that, times ten, and you’re closer to mileage on the vehicle. Plus I’ll be putting another 2,000 on, driving it out (if I don’t get too diverted by scenic viewpoint signs, then it could be more!)</p>
<p>So now I’ve gotten a text from D2 who says she’s texted my H and asked him to check under the hood for the emissions label and it should say whether it’s CA-certified, or 49-state. She found something on the DMV website that told her to do so. If it isn’t CA-certified, then I’m guessing it will be a deal-breaker because the cost to bring it up to CA standards would be too much.</p>
<p>Just heard from H. Car is California-certified. Looks like this might happen. But I still wish D would call AAA. </p>
<p>I did this exact thing last December. My IL mother shipped her '99 Toyota to us here in CA after she bought a new car. It doesn’t matter which emissions standards the car is certified for as long as it passes the smog test (and has more than 7,500 miles, as mentioned above). Make sure on the title application that your D marks the box indicating a transfer from relative to relative so that she doesn’t have to pay sales tax to the State on the value or price of the car. Definitely make sure all owners sign the IL title.</p>
<p>Yes, agree that the relative to relative transfer firm is important to avoid paying extra transfer taxes. We did that for both our kids too. </p>
<p>Agree that the important thing is to pass the smog check. If you don’t, AAA can recommend where it can be repaired to pass. DMV in AAA was great in CA. They are nice about forms and answering Qs too!</p>
<p>Should not be that hard. We sold a car to a relative whose son then drove it to CA and his parents were able to do the proper paperwork without trouble. Your situation is easier if you drive the car to CA then transfer the title. </p>
<p>Just to update, in case anyone digs up this thread to see how this worked out.</p>
<p>Went to AAA-Southern California; had to transfer D’s membership (which was still under our family plan of AAA-Chicago) from AAA-Chicago to AAA-Southern California. Basically, what that involved was sitting through a 45±minutes spiel of why we should buy AAA-Southern California auto insurance/rental insurance. It was quite annoying. We’ve had State Farm forever and weren’t interested in changing (when we did, indeed, go to State Farm to update D’s car purchase, their price for the same coverage blew AAA-Southern California out of the water - almost by half).</p>
<p>After we made the transfer of membership, we were queued up for the transfer of title and registration. We waited about fifteen minutes to get called up, and that employee took care of all the paper work. Because it was a family transfer, there was no issue with having to pay taxes. The employee went out to the car to check the odometer and look under the hood for the sticker that said the car was CA-approved. We thought we were in the home stretch. However, what they did at this point was, issue a temporary plate (piece of paper that goes on her back window) and instruct her to go to a smog test facility, have it tested, bring the results back, and they would issue her new plates to her there at AAA. </p>
<p>Because the AAA sales pitch lady kept us for so long, we didn’t want to get the test done that day, as we still needed time to get over to State Farm and update her information before their office closed. So she will take care of that next week - they give her 30 days. But I don’t expect it to have any problems passing. Most important thing - we were able to take care of everything so that I could bring the IL plates back with me so H will have them to put on his new car when it arrives next week.</p>
<p>This is all good to know. S1 may be moving to CA in Jan. Does anyone know, do you have to get a CA license before you can register your car in CA? Can you do that at AAA too or do you have to go to DMV?</p>