Expired Car Registration

Actinguy1

I am experiencing serious GoogleFail, hopefully you guys can help!

I bought a 2008 Jeep Liberty in March of 2009 from a used car dealer. Included in the price, of course, was title and registration fees. This occured in California.

Somewhere over the summer of 2009, I received a series of forms I had to fill out to renew my car registration. I was surprised it had expired already, just a few months after my having purchased the car (and paying registration fee). However, I had a series of TDY's (military business trips) for two months, and then I didn't have the money, and then I misplaced the form, and then it became something I would "get around to."

Again, that was the summer of 2009, and this is now nearly the summer of 2010, so you can see how quickly I got around to it.

I have since moved to Pennsylvania, and the car is with me, so my question is: How do I register my car in Pennsylvania when the previous registration is expired in California? I've tried PA's DMV website of course (and google) but nothing seems to cover this unusual situation.

Anyone have any thoughts?

tl;dr: Car registration expired in California, I now want to register the car in my new home in Pennsylvania. Advice?

FyreWulff

You should be fine, as long as the title is clear.

RUNN1NGMAN

You shouldn't need anything special--it shouldn't matter that your CA registration is expired. PA is just going to treat it as a new registration. It looks like this website lists everything you need.

http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/new_residents/motor_vehicle.shtml

Javen

Yeah, it shouldn't be an issue. Just bring in your title and insurance information and any other paperwork you'd need to register like normal. The expired registration probably won't come up, as long as it simply expired because it wasn't renewed, and not because of citations or insurance reasons.

iamthepieman

Make sure you bring the proof of tax paid from CA. I'm not sure about PA but both Vermont and Maryland tried to charge me tax on vehicles I had bought and registered in other states when I tried to register them. They waived the tax when I showed them that I had already paid it in another state.

Iceman.USAF

VA does the same. Didn't have the issue with MD, oddly enough. Or I don't remember.

matt has a problem

iamthepieman wrote: »

Make sure you bring the proof of tax paid from CA. I'm not sure about PA but both Vermont and Maryland tried to charge me tax on vehicles I had bought and registered in other states when I tried to register them. They waived the tax when I showed them that I had already paid it in another state.

Yep, this is how every state does it. You need the original bill of sale when you register a car for the first time in a state.

Iceman.USAF

matthasaproblem wrote: »

iamthepieman wrote: »

Make sure you bring the proof of tax paid from CA. I'm not sure about PA but both Vermont and Maryland tried to charge me tax on vehicles I had bought and registered in other states when I tried to register them. They waived the tax when I showed them that I had already paid it in another state.

Yep, this is how every state does it. You need the original bill of sale when you register a car for the first time in a state.

Not quite. I never had a bill of sale but i had the MA title, so that worked for them. Maryland that is.

Actinguy1

Great news! I was expecting a fine and a lot of paperwork. Awesome.

I definitely have the original bill of sale. I'm still making payments though, so I shouldn't have the title yet, right?

FyreWulff

You should have a copy of it.

Iceman.USAF

Actinguy1 wrote: »

Great news! I was expecting a fine and a lot of paperwork. Awesome.

I definitely have the original bill of sale. I'm still making payments though, so I shouldn't have the title yet, right?

State dependent I think. MD gives a copy to you and a copy to the bank. The bank has the 'real' copy and you basically have proof that they own it pending your payment.