The August 2024 “Legal Files” about California cracking down on Montana-registered cars produced quite a response. We received more letters about this topic than for any other recent column, so we’re revisiting the subject this month. The surprise was that almost all the letter-writers were unsympathetic to this practice. Many […]
HI John,
I’m a call collector based in california. (I have 2 cars, one is just old but worthless and the 2nd has some value.) I just ran across your article today after searching and having my interest peaked from a facebook video on registering your car in montana to have a never expire registration. I’ve had both of my cars for 10+ years each. They are fully paid off. So for a variation of these ?, my buddy lives in GA. We both have diesel trucks. His registration is < $100/year and mine if approximately $400/year. Does the same rule apply for a regularly driven vehicle that it has to be registered in the state in the first 90 days?
I imported a fully restored Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato from the Netherlands last year. My local DMV office rejected all the paperwork I submitted for registration and sent me to the Foreign Car Title Unit at DMV HQ in Trenton, NJ. I completed the forms and sent in my check for sales tax and thought I was on my way. I was surprised when my check was returned with a letter insisting I obtain the original title from a gentleman in Italy who owned the car in 1982. Calls to the Foreign Car Title Unit were met with a very unhelpful response and comments that I would never be able to obtain a title or drive the car in NJ without the 1982 title – something that the European seller could solve nor could the overseas carrier whose paperwork usually does the trick with registration of cars they ship to the US. The solution would be to petition the court for relief requiring an attorney, considerable time and a pretty iffy possibility of success I was advised. So, I turned to John Bennett’s firm and his very capable hands and am now driving my car here in NJ with Montana plates. I carry the letter from the Foreign Car Title Unit with the returned check in my glovebox in case I am stopped to, hopefully, support my tale of woe and need for Montana plates and appeal for leniency. You might ask why I don’t now register the car here in NJ with a clean Montana title? My fear is the Foreign Car Title Unit has my VIN and the very challenging exchanges I had with the Foreign Car Title Unit give me pause that I will somehow lose the ability to drive my car with Montana plates and still be unable to register it in NJ. I’m not evading taxes and not completely comfortable with feeling that I am somehow a “scofflaw” but I made considerable effort to follow correct procedures, and I did send a check but became stuck in a pretty unreasonable bureaucratic double bind that prevented me from driving my car for several months. Anyway, I drive it now but will avoid cars and coffee events per your advice.
All the best,
Tom