Buying a used car in CA

[cisco]

Anyone know what forms and fees I need to take care of?

[Chris]

Just transfer the title and pay all the taxes and fees which are determined by weight, year, make, model and motor.

[havasu]

Private party vehicle purchases is a real PITA. Sign this, sign that, pay this, transfer that...This is one reason I'm glad to be a member of the Auto Club (www.aaa.com redirect). I just bring in the other party, and let them do their magic!

[jbolty]

two things.

Make sure the registration is paid up current or your will have to pay all the fees and late charges to bring it current.

The seller MUST provide a current smog cert. Plenty of people buy cars "as-is" and take their chances but technically there is no provision in the law for this. Seller must smog.

[anubiscrs]

just bought a truck on a trade had to pay taxes on the fair market value plus 30 to transfer title. cost me about 250 total on a value of 2000. yes the seller is the one that has to smog a car before the dmv will transfer title

[citrusfizz]

I love buying cars in CA usually no rust!

[stuckinmudd]

I have always purchased from private party. Not a hassle at all.

[wajoe]

Just be careful with smog. Seller is supposed to but often sells "as-is buyer smogs." I happily took that risk on my jeep 'cause the old lady selling it could have gotten much more for it if she waited a day for other people to see her listing Anything pre '75 is smog exempt but it's locked in there, used to be a rolling date but they stopped it so now a '76 will always need smog. If you know what you're looking at in a car, always do private sale. It'll save a lot of money.

Careful with project vehicles that need a lot of paperwork and inspections. I had an old Harley that needed safety and CHP inspections, and around here those are usually booked out past when your temp reg expires so you gotta deal with the DMV twice on top of the inspections...

[GrtApe]

Originally Posted by jbolty

Make sure the registration is paid up current or your will have to pay all the fees and late charges to bring it current.

x2

I bought a '48 CJ2A Jeep from a friend of my father. Supposedly current and up to date...but had been sitting for ~ 5 years. He couldn't find the current tags (stickers from the last 4 years were in a folder). Swore he had them somewhere.

It cost me over $1000 in back fees and fines to transfer the registration. Got him to return that money to me and we called it good...but buyer beware.

[anubiscrs]

as long as the value is low your fees will be low. Everyone else cover just about everything you need to watch out for.