[Iamlemon]

Hey guys and gals, I just received the plates for my m2 after an almost 6-month wait. This is my first California registered car and I have a few questions about how California does things. I sent in my Bill of Sale and Title when I first registered my car and ordered plates. While my plates have come in, my title and bill of sale haven't. Does the DMV keep those? (They gave me photocopies at registration) Also, the tags for my brand new plates expire in 5 months. Will the Cali DMV send me new ones automatically, or will I have to call them to get a new set? Also, why did I have to wait 6 months for plates? My friend in Florida got his 3 weeks after registration. I also want to get custom plates for my car, but I cannot imagine how long those will take... Please let me know what's up. Thank you!

[lax01]

Is there a lien on the car? If so, CA is a paper-less title state until you pay off the car. Once you pay off the loan, the loan company notifies the DMV and then they send you a physical title

Pretty dumb and a pain in the ass when you want to sell a car with a loan...but most people in CA know this

You should have gotten the registration card with the license plates and stickers...no? I don't know about renewal and why your plates expire in 6 months - but you better believe that the State of CA will be trying to collect again!

[Iamlemon]

Originally Posted by lax01

Is there a lien on the car? If so, CA is a paper-less title state until you pay off the car. Once you pay off the loan, the loan company notifies the DMV and then they send you a physical title

Pretty dumb and a pain in the ass when you want to sell a car with a loan...but most people in CA know this

You should have gotten the registration card with the license plates and stickers...no? I don't know about renewal and why your plates expire in 6 months - but you better believe that the State of CA will be trying to collect again!

Hi! The car is bought outright from out of state. I had the title until I gave it to the DMV to get my plates. They sent me my plates back but no title.

[Zeese]

Originally Posted by Iamlemon

Hi! The car is bought outright from out of state. I had the title until I gave it to the DMV to get my plates. They sent me my plates back but no title.

You would surrender the out of state title to get a new California title.
Six months for plates? Crazy. Not normal.
Bill of sale? There's a form to fill out. Do you mean the DMV form? That will not be returned.
It's a bit confusing to me. I haven't registered a car from out-of-state in a bit. Certainly not during a pandemic.
Get a duplicate title from DMV. Join AAA for the odd vehicle and driver's license chores.

[redgs4]

Originally Posted by Zeese

Join AAA for the odd vehicle and driver's license chores.

This

[akkando]

Bought a car from Florida. Don't recall how long to get plates but not long. A month?

[Iamlemon]

Originally Posted by Zeese

You would surrender the out of state title to get a new California title.
Six months for plates? Crazy. Not normal.
Bill of sale? There's a form to fill out. Do you mean the DMV form? That will not be returned.
It's a bit confusing to me. I haven't registered a car from out-of-state in a bit. Certainly not during a pandemic.
Get a duplicate title from DMV. Join AAA for the odd vehicle and driver's license chores.

Alright, this was super helpful! Thank you. In regards to the six months, my neighbor who bought a Zonda at the same time as I bought my m2c received his plates today also! This is either a crazy coincidence or they are shipped out in batches. But I do not think I am alone in terms of waiting for plates. I have a question regarding the title though. I surrendered my out-of-state title, but have not received a Cali title yet. When did you get yours? Did it come with your plates?

[Zeese]

Originally Posted by Iamlemon

Alright, this was super helpful! Thank you. In regards to the six months, my neighbor who bought a Zonda at the same time as I bought my m2c received his plates today also! This is either a crazy coincidence or they are shipped out in batches. But I do not think I am alone in terms of waiting for plates. I have a question regarding the title though. I surrendered my out-of-state title, but have not received a Cali title yet. When did you get yours? Did it come with your plates?

There has been news re: production problems. Paywalled? Maybe.
See how Folsom Prison inmates churn out 50K CA license plates a day

Point being, COVID-19 has impacted production. The new norm?
Now, he said, it can take four to six months to get them.

Your missing title, the infamous Pink Slip, is a mystery. Something has gone wrong.

For contrast, pre-COVID-19, I visited a couple DMV offices, once with NM plates and once with MA plates, and had no problems. As I recall, AAA was not an option due to CA vs. 49-State emissions requirements.

Welcome to California!

[wahttf87]

Took me 4 months for mine.

Bill of sale goes to trash,
Pink slip unless you own it outright, you only get your registration in the mail. If you just got your plates, your title will come way later.

It took them 2 months for them to mail out my title after I paid off the bank and they sent it in to DMV for my truck. Lame as hell.

Also lot of people are in limbo with no registration or title because of their absolute trash online system that started when covid did. Some people have title stuck at the DMV.

[Iamlemon]

Originally Posted by wahttf87

Took me 4 months for mine.

Bill of sale goes to trash,
Pink slip unless you own it outright, you only get your registration in the mail. If you just got your plates, your title will come way later.

It took them 2 months for them to mail out my title after I paid off the bank and they sent it in to DMV for my truck. Lame as hell.

Also lot of people are in limbo with no registration or title because of their absolute trash online system that started when covid did. Some people have title stuck at the DMV.

Since I do own the car outright, I shouldn't get a pink slip? I did receive my registration though! Is that all I'm going to get? What if I want to sell the car down the line? How do I obtain my title? Thank you for responding!

[Iamlemon]

Originally Posted by Zeese

There has been news re: production problems. Paywalled? Maybe.
See how Folsom Prison inmates churn out 50K CA license plates a day

Point being, COVID-19 has impacted production. The new norm?
Now, he said, it can take four to six months to get them.

Your missing title, the infamous Pink Slip, is a mystery. Something has gone wrong.

For contrast, pre-COVID-19, I visited a couple DMV offices, once with NM plates and once with MA plates, and had no problems. As I recall, AAA was not an option due to CA vs. 49-State emissions requirements.

Welcome to California!

Hi, thank you for responding. Someone has stated that if I own the car outright (which I do) I won't receive a pink slip. Do you know if that is correct? I got my registration, so will that be everything I'm supposed to get?

[Zeese]

Originally Posted by Iamlemon

Hi, thank you for responding. Someone has stated that if I own the car outright (which I do) I won't receive a pink slip. Do you know if that is correct? I got my registration, so will that be everything I'm supposed to get?

You will get a pink slip. You should have received it by now. It's only held back by the DMV when there is a lienholder. You can fill out paperwork for a duplicate title. Depends on your patience and the urgency.
Pink Slip Example
A duplicate title will arrive in two weeks.

[CalAcacian]

Originally Posted by Iamlemon

Alright, this was super helpful! Thank you. In regards to the six months, my neighbor who bought a Zonda at the same time as I bought my m2c received his plates today also! This is either a crazy coincidence or they are shipped out in batches. But I do not think I am alone in terms of waiting for plates. I have a question regarding the title though. I surrendered my out-of-state title, but have not received a Cali title yet. When did you get yours? Did it come with your plates?

CA DMV is running extremely slowly right now in terms of getting plates out. I bought my M2 in July of 2020 and only recently received my permanent plates to replace the custom plates which where on the car previously (confusingly, the car was sold with paper temporary plates, which did not match the temporary registration, so I simply replaced them with the custom plates).

Even more confusingly, the plates and registration I received are not yet valid. They were issued in January, but do not become valid until late March.

I am still waiting for the CA DMV to reopen the customized plate ordering system, as I can't stand the blue and white color scheme on my car.