Switching to Cali reg/lic/plates...and dealing with a ticket

[switchface]

Whats good guys...looking for some help/advice:

The Facts:
NJ license
Texas plates
Cali insurance
Texas registration (expired)

I was procrastinating getting new reg since i heard id have to pay sales tax on the car since i bought it while I was in Texas. But I got a speeding ticket for 80 in a 65 and at the same time she tagged me for no registration (total $342). [headbang]

So, i need to register the car here, get cali plates, cali license, and deal with the 2 tickets. They said they'll drop the reg if i can show proof (so obv i need to register it). My question is in the order to do things:

* should I pay the fine while i have a NJ license, then switch to Cali license?
* should I take traffic school, then pay, then switch to Cali license?
* should I register the car, get plates, the Cali license, then pay fine?

Not sure if any of this matters, but Id like to minimize costs and damages obviously. No clue what reg/plates/lic will cost. Any and all help is welcomed.

Thanks,
Chris

[B6driver]

option 3... you would probably want to get established first before dealing with fines...

on the other hand, you probably cant register your car if you have pending dues. (i know this due to a parking violation i forgot about, and came up during registration). not sure if they are the same with moving violations

[Carbon]

i'm pretty sure you don't have to pay sales tax on your car if you paid for it in tx

[switchface]

b6 - did you have a cali reg when you went to re-reg and the parking tickets came up? i had 2 tickets earlier in the year that were incorrect and I appealed them, but never heard back. Ive since moved Cali addresses...that'd be a bad suprise to see those creep up for some reason!

[B6driver]

i already have cali plates, but they pulled up every violation associated with the car (those uncleared), and tehy wouldnt let me renew my registration with pending violations.

[element256]

can't you just mail in and get a renew reg from TX and have that address forwarded via USPS to your new Cali address ?
You have to own the car 2yrs out of state to avoid paying CA taxes on it again.
I'd say handle the ticket 1st.
You won't get a point on your CA license since you have out of state license.

1. pay\fight ticket (I prefer fight since I've had 45 tix and still only 2pts on my record)
2. register car here (if you can't renew in TX)
3. Get CA license whenever your NJ expires and not a day before.
ALWAYS just say you're visiting and never admit to living or working or going to school here. That way any trouble that happens doesn't go on your record since it's out of state and different states have different laws and it can't follow you.
Once you get a CA License your fucked. Ask me how I know.
As long as you keep track of your tickets\problems and show to court when you're supposed to there's nothing they can do or say to make you switch over your license.

[dystynkt]

can't you just mail in and get a renew reg from TX and have that address forwarded via USPS to your new Cali address ?
You have to own the car 2yrs out of state to avoid paying CA taxes on it again.
I'd say handle the ticket 1st.
You won't get a point on your CA license since you have out of state license.

1. pay\fight ticket (I prefer fight since I've had 45 tix and still only 2pts on my record)
2. register car here (if you can't renew in TX)
3. Get CA license whenever your NJ expires and not a day before.
ALWAYS just say you're visiting and never admit to living or working or going to school here. That way any trouble that happens doesn't go on your record since it's out of state and different states have different laws and it can't follow you.
Once you get a CA License your fucked. Ask me how I know.
As long as you keep track of your tickets\problems and show to court when you're supposed to there's nothing they can do or say to make you switch over your license.

you must be pretty good at fighting those tickets! i haven't had that much luck! you dont have to own the car for 2yrs for taxes. you just need to pay the difference. for example if you paid say 5% tax in texas on the price of the car when you bought it you need to pay the remaining 3.25% here to make up cali's tax of 8.25%. just recently had to go thru all this last yr.

[switchface]

Hmmm...well I bought the car back in Sept '04 and ive been in Cali since Oct '05. I cant just renew my Texas reg because I have Cali insurance and the cop looked at me weird when i showed it to her (there goes the whole 'im visiting routine'). She said she couldve been a real bitch about things by writing more tickets but was being nice.

[switchface]

So is this the general consensus:

1) Pay speeding ticket $162 (traffic school not needed as id still have a NJ license and points wouldnt transfer, right?)
2) register car in CA (thus nulling the 'no registration' ticket), get plates & license @ DMV
3) this should leave me with a new CA license with no points/record, a new registration, new CA plate (no front for me please!), but probably out a grand...so much for Stasis coils.

Sound like the right steps? Thanks for everyone's help so far.

[GTO]

The only problem i can see off the top of my head is, to get California insurance, your car should of been registered in the State of California. You first order of business should be to registar the car in California, and then your insurance can be properly written, you should be able to switch your license without much of a problem.

[switchface]

Ive had CA insurance for a year and a half no wih no problems.

[switchface]

Update (if anyone cares):

Still had NJ license, Texas tags, Texas reg, and Cali insurance...when my reg expired. Figured i needed to switch everything to Cali but was procrastinating because I would have to pay like $2000 for everything (you have to pay sales tax on whats owed on the car too). Well i got a speeding ticket (pussy one 70 something in a 55 highway) and she gave me an expired reg ticket. Said when I show my new reg it will go away for $10. She said i had 2 months before my court date. This was like 35 days ago.

So....last night im leaving the gym and right when i pull out of the lot, a cop pulls on the street right behind me. No worries, Im not doing anything wrong, but you always feel nervous. Follows me and pulls me over. Says I have an expired reg. I tell him I know, check the system, I already got a ticket for this and I have an appointment to switch everything on tuesday and a court date next week. He then takes 25 mins in his car, of course this is the busiest bar-filled street, and 3 cops have to show up like im fucking Tony Montana and all. He finally comes up to the car and says Im writing you a ticket for no reg...I said I already got one of those a few days ago and its being fixed in the allotted time. He says, well no worries then, when you fix the other one this will go away too for $10. Im thinking thats like double jeopardy or something, def pointless, but whatever at least i can get home and have my protein shake, fuck its getting late. Then he tells me he's impouding my baby. WHAT!?!??! He says i cannot drive without reg. I said if thats the case why didnt the previous officer tell me this when she wrote the first ticket. She made it seem as if I had till my court date, he told me i shouldnt be on the road period. WTF, he says "I dunno why she didnt tell you" so its my fault that she misinformed me?! As the S is going onto the tow truck, the cops and tow guy are all laughing it up saying how slow tonight is, so at least 'this' is giving them something to do because they were bored...i shit you not!

Car gets impounded, i miss work, $350 for the tow, spent the whole day at dmv, now i have Cali plates/reg/smog/insurance/license/etc.

FWIW:

* The written test has some oddly tough questions, shit you just wouldnt know...Id spend a few reading up. I only got 2 wrong, your allowed to get 6 wrong (outta 30ish total questions).

* GIAC/Milltek stage 2 passed smog with flying colors

* As for the costs, they asked how long the car had been in the state; I told them id been here but not permanently for a little (sorta true). She asked when I became permanent...I said "well...my job made me official full-time benefits eligable April 1st" she said use that. So I used that date and only had to pay $220 to register opposed to the just south of $2000 if I had said October of 2005.

Arnold is now officially my governator...

[minira]

holy crap man, what bad luck. why the hell didn't the first cop tell you that? i mean i know expired tags is not legal, but she should've told you not to drive it. what a bunch of pricks. at least it all worked out. did it cost you as much as you thought it would've?

[switchface]

holy crap man, what bad luck. why the hell didn't the first cop tell you that? i mean i know expired tags is not legal, but she should've told you not to drive it. what a bunch of pricks. at least it all worked out. did it cost you as much as you thought it would've?

I have no clue why she didnt tell me. [confused] I mean, I guess ultimatly its my fault for not knowing the law, but sheesh, if it was that cut & dry mega-important you'd think she might have mentioned it. [down]

As for cost:

$27 license (as expected)
$220 reg (this was the big one, i thought i was paying around $2000)
$39 smog (had no clue, but this is normal)
$350 tow (bullshit, they had the car like 6 hours...$102 extra b/c a cop called it in)
$152 speeding (eh, NJ was more)
$10 X 2 for fix it tickets (whatcha gonna do...at least its done)

A lot of weight off my shoulders...