Submitted by confusedspermotoza t3_yjx23w in Washington
I am moving out of state on 1st December and my vehicle registration is expiring 5th November. Since WA doesn't really refund the registration fee or let you register your vehicle for less than 1 year, how good of an idea it is to let it expire?
I am moving to CA. Am I going to get in trouble in CA when I go there to register my vehicle?
Is the cost of a potential ticket plus having to register anyhow less than the cost of registering in the first place? If it is, then yeah, it's a good idea to let your tabs expire.
If your month tab is 11 for November, chances are you won’t even get a second look. Unless you do something stupid to get pulled over and an LEO runs your registration, there isn’t anything to alert them.
I’d run it.
Based on all of the missing plates and expired plates around, I would probably roll the dice.
Driving to California on expired tabs is pretty dumb. Same as driving FROM California on expire tabs.
State troopers/highway patrol LOVE to ticket out of state folks with expired tabs.
The cost of a ticket in Oregon is around $100, and California is double that.
If it’s cheaper to renew in Washington it might be the better way to go.
I seriously doubt a trooper is going to pull you over for a Nov sticker on Dec 1.
yeah, based on the short time between expiration and your renewal in California, I'd risk the trip just to save the money otherwise wasted on the Washington renewal. Chances are if you get a ticket, the cost of the ticket for having expired tabs is gonna be less than what it woulda cost you to renew them and taken the loss anyways. Good luck
Getting a WA DOL trip permit to bridge the gap might be cheaper at $33 for 30 days, and you stay legit.
CA probably won’t care about expired out of state tags and will give you temporary permit (or same day plates) when you apply for registration there anyway
Never let your registration expire. If you ever get into an accident (knock on the wood it doesn't happen), your insurance will NOT cover a dime and you will be in severe trouble. Also, some insurances do not cover if you register your car in a different state, though they cover accidents in different state (so you may have to get a different insurance provider)
I used to live in CA they are so much annoying with paperwork, some DMVs in CA ask for proof of current out of state registration, if you don't they make you file additional paperwork & fees. IMHO, not worth the hassle. I know WA tabs cost $100 - $150 bucks, it sucks when you don't use them.
WA tabs costs $300 or so. But yeah, I see your point. It's maybe not worth the risk since I am going to actively use my car.
It seems it's $33 per permit and you can use it for 3 consecutive days. It's not per 30 days
Wow $300? I pay $99 & $120 for my 2 cars. What make/model year is your car If I may ask? Also if you are with PEMCO (many in WA are...) you will need to switch to a new car insurance provider who operates in CA (like Geico, State Farm etc...) and get a refund from WA insurance for the rest of the unused term.
Ah well, that’s dumb. I guess I should have read the whole page
Since tags just show the month, unless you get pulled over for something else, no one will really bother you about November tags in December
My tabs on my daily driver lapsed for a year. No one looked at me twice.
I am Mazda 6 2016 model. It's $250 to be precise; just checked. I am already with one of the big insurance providers. So that should be good.
AmericanRN t1_iuq9upj wrote
Drive to CA in November and get it registered before it expires.