We moved to California but ds has a car in Michigan which I own. How do I handle smog check and vin verification in California since ds is not going to drive the car to California just for this if he goes to school in Michigan?
If you plan to register the car in CA, then you will have to go to a smog check station (test only, I believe for new vehicles to CA) and then go to the DMV and register it within 10 days of entering CA. The DMV will give you VIN verification paperwork and you and a DMV employee (VIN check only person) will go out to your car and verify the VIN #’s. In order to register your car in CA, the car must be present in CA for both the smog test and VIN verification.
Why not register it in Michigan?
If the car is in CA, it needs to be smog checked and registered. AAA in CA has DMV offices where you can get a variety of services, including smog checks and registration — that one of the main reason our kids like AAA membership (I like it because we all drive old cars and it gives me peace of mind).
I’d call AAA to be sure there is a AAA with DMV near you before you join AAA just for the DMV privileged. Of course the car can be sold or transported outside CA do you don’t have to deal with reg or smog checks.
But the car isn’t in California. I’d leave it registered in Michigan.
I was in Florida with a few people from California with their California registered cars. They didn’t want to transfer them to Florida because they had permanent homes in California and were returning to California. I think there is a way to get the re-registration done without a smog test if the car is OOS for an extended time (military, government business), but those were cars that had been tested sometime in California.