Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Who made up this law?

One of my fellow workers made a trip to Brookings, Oregon recently and fell in love with a Harley that was on a car lot. It was a 2005 with low miles. He purchased the bike and towed it home to Arcata. When he tried to register the bike, he was informed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles that you can not register a used vehicle from Oregon with less than 7,500 miles! Period! He called the Oregon DMV and the California DMV to try to straighten what he thought was a misunderstanding and was given the run around. The car dealer he bought it from had no idea of the law either! They did buy the bike back though. Anyone out there know the purpose of this law?
at

8 comments:

  1. Tapperass10:10 PM

    Welcome to CA! Everything can be regulated. Why should CA used car dealers compete with dealers from neighboring states? Hey, they do not have to.

    -boy

    ReplyDelete
  2. rick mitchell3:30 AM

    Read this one.
    Something i must before i can drag anything back there.
    Rick

    http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr29.htm

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:20 AM

    Probably has to do with avoiding sales tax.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:53 AM

    I dont get that one, but I do know that many folks with motorhomes license their vehicles in oregon by maintaining a po box there. The reward? As much as 2000 bucks a year savings in registration fees over CA. The other state of choice is New Mexico.
    I thought if you bought a vehicle out of state you just had to pay sales tax when you brought it into the california.
    E.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous10:46 AM

    Richard is sounding more and more like a Republican in his last three posts.

    ReplyDelete
  6. samoasoftball11:40 AM

    6:53am-Only if you register it with the California DMV. I had neighbors that had two vehicles with Oregon plates and kept a PO box in Oregon. Clever way to avoid the California tax.

    10:46am-Ouch!

    ReplyDelete
  7. beachcomber5:49 PM

    It has to do with California emission requirements and I BELIEVE
    only kicks in if the vehicle is not 50-state compliant. It prevents
    people going into a neighboring state and purchasing a 49-state vehicle (one without California emission equipment) and bringing it back here. By requiring a vehicle have at least 7500 miles, it assures that it really
    was a used vehicle when purchased.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anon.R.mous11:35 AM

    Naw, it's the tax reason. You still have to pass CA smog to have CA plates. I pay enough in one year of DMV fees to make me cry sometimes.

    Just think of the BS "Weight fee" people get hit with.

    ReplyDelete