<p>Make sure your insurance company knows where the car is being driven so they can factor in the risk in the premium. If there is an accident and there is information on the police report or in a claim filed that doesn’t match what they have, they can deny coverage.</p>
<p>Timely thread, as I spoke to insurance company yesterday, and they urged me to have S register in CA ASAP. He has rented apt and is employed.</p>
<p>S still has CA plates that don’t expire until May, but he registered in MA last fall. Now he’s back in CA. No one seems to know if the MA registration canceled out the CA registration.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, there is a form on CA DMV site where one can report a car with out-of-state plates.</p>
<p>When I practiced law, my specialty was insurance coverage. The insurance companies were my clients and we just loved finding ways to deny coverage. Don’t assume your insurance carrier is excited by the idea of defending you in a law suit - they will do what they can to get out of it. If you are hiding anything from your insurance company and you have an accident and, in the taped interview with your carrier, you mention something that doesn’t go along with what they have on file, they can send out a denial of coverage letter and you may even have to hire your own lawyer. I’ll repeat, especially with teenagers on policies, call your company and increase your liability coverage to the maximum. Liability is not the most expensive part of your coverage but too little of it jeopardizes everything you have.</p>
<p>The California emissions standards are based on the age of the vehicle, so the 2001 car will not be held to the same standards as a newer car. If it does not pass, you are given a temporary registration with a grace period to get it fixed.</p>
<p>bclintonk–I am not so clear about the definitions of “residence” and “gainful employment” as specified in the law as it applies to an out of state student. All out of state students would have to register their cars in California, wouldn’t they, since very few of them are homeless–they live in some sort of residence? Is a temporary internship, paid or unpaid, gainful employment? I don’t know…</p>
<p>The way it was explained to me is that if you are living in the dorms, you are not “renting” - but if you move into an off campus apartment, you have become a renter and need to register your car. </p>
<p>Not sure about the employment but I would think that a job where you get a w2 and pay CA tax would probably be the qualifier.</p>
<p>P.S. I learned about this through a cousin - who learned it the hard way when he got in an accident - and having an unregistered car in CA was added onto already bad situation</p>
<p>The grad student I talked with said she is required to register in Ca since she is employed in the state. She lives in graduate student housing owned by the state.</p>
<p>timely:</p>
<p>If your S is gonna register in California, he had better hurry. The state is in the process of raising the reg fee (aka tax) significantly.</p>
<p>So you register your car in California because you have a campus job and you live off campus. Then you go home to Texas where you live at home and have a summer job. Seems like these kids would have to be registering and re-registering their cars at least twice a year. That would be expensive.</p>
<p>But what if the car is owned/registered by the parent in Texas and used by the student in California?
That is the route we may take when DD takes a car to school next year. But this will require a cross country drive.</p>
<p>Some states say that the car has to be re-registered once “the vehicle” is in the state for a certain amount of time. It doesn’t matter who owns the car - it is the presence of the car that matters. People will go crazy trying to follow all the different state rules as cars go in and out of state - they want the revenue so if you call and ask they will always tell you to re-register. That is why I say that the main concern is insurance - let the insurance company know where the car is so coverage is not an issue.</p>
<p>^^Yes, insurance is a must. We had a PA compliant policy issued for our VA parent owned vehicle when DD1 was at a PA university.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the helpful info. I saw the link on the Texas DMV website for out-of-state motorists but didn’t click on it because I assumed that meant motorists from other states who were driving in Texas. So, there you go.</p>
<p>I didn’t even think about the thing of what would make S a CA resident. It would seem that if you are a full-time student from out of state, it wouldn’t matter whether you live on or off campus. Hmmmmm… I wonder if the campus police at S’s school would be able to clarify.</p>
<p>Because he’ll be here some summers and there some summers, so that’s confusing.</p>
<p>But then he may be a “resident” for car purposes, but not a “resident” for in state tuition purposes or state tax purposes. The word “resident” is very fluid…</p>
<p>Scualum–was your cousin a full time out of state student when he got into his accident?</p>
<p>Yes. Lived in Oregon and went to school in Northern California. Lived off campus in an apartment but did not work.</p>
<p>Florida has no smog inspections, no safety inspections, cheaper insurance, and cheaper registration. As I am still a permanent resident of Florida, I have not and will not reregister my car in California until I graduate from College. </p>
<p>I’ve been pulled over three times in my time here and the cops have never said anything about it to me or my friends (with the exception of one of them, once, and that incident was clearly the error of the police). Since I have no official residence in California (I have a mailing address but it is nowhere registered with the government) and no permanent job I don’t consider the DMV’s policies to apply to me.</p>
<p>IIRC if you dig into the law behind the statement on the DMV page you’ll find the wording of the law is not nearly as strict as the wording on the DMV page–they are just trying to bully you into registering.</p>
<p>Edit: From California Vehicle Code Section 6700</p>
<p><a href=“a”>B</a> Except as provided in Section 6700.2, the owner of any
vehicle of a type otherwise subject to registration under this code,
other than a commercial vehicle registered in a foreign jurisdiction,
may operate the vehicle in this state until gainful employment is
accepted in this state or until residency is established in this
state, whichever occurs first, if the vehicle displays valid license
plates and has a valid registration issued to the owner, and the
owner was a resident of that state at the time of issuance.
Application to register the vehicle shall be made within 20 days
after gainful employment is accepted in this state or residency is
established in this state.
(b) A nonresident owner of a vehicle, otherwise exempt from
registration pursuant to this section or Section 6700.2, may operate
or permit operation of the vehicle in this state without registering
the vehicle in this state if the vehicle is registered in the place
of residence of the owner and displays upon it valid license plates
issued by that place.**</p>
<p>See! Nothing about “renting”. The gainful employment bit is still in there, but as long as you classify yourself primarily as a student you should be fine. And of course, we are not residents of the state of California.</p>
<p>Here I go again - the cheaper insurance thing is a clue. Your car insurance is rated based on your driving in Florida - you are driving in California. If you have an accident and have a California address, your insurance company could deny coverage.</p>
<p>lizzardfire - you are probably okay, unless you are paying in state tuition. I’m speaking of the registration requirement, no the insurance requirement - two different things.</p>
<p>Lizzardfire is at a private college, same one where my S works. Because S works, he should have registered his car in CA last month (according to insurance company). I only wish that he could keep car licensed in home state–far cheaper than shifting every few months. Also, while a full time student, his car was included under my plan.</p>