My new "replacement" car...

[TVST*R]

My '77 was totalled in Dec, and I've been all over looking for a replacement car. Finally last week, I saw this one on CL San Francisco. Drove up the next day and found a primer gray '77 w/88k orig miles. Sooo, I bought it and drove it back to LA.
Pics:





Int is rough:

This car was at a smog shop where the previous owner (crack whore) could not pay the bill of $1300.00.
Has not been registered since '04.
RIP "Thunderbolt"
Welcome to the world "The Gibson" aka mad max.
Tom

[mbouse]

congrats... BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN !!

[So Cal Mark]

you should tell the Jack story, just to alert others about the situation

[katsi]

AHHH Yes, smog stations. I don't miss CA that much when I remember all the burocracy. Yet, it looks like a nice find.

By the way, how do you know it used to belong to a crack whore? Does the license plate say CRK HOR?

[RJ80]

So was the car put on non-op or does it have six years of back registration fees due?

[mbouse]

although i've not dealt with the california regs for vehicles... i actually understand that question.

and i thought i had it bad when i just considered to renew my vanity plates this year KNOWING that i won't be driving my car until the restoration project is complete !!

california must certainly be totally bankrupt if they actually believe it is necessary to penalize you for NOT driving your car. how long before you blokes grow a set and take back the control of your state?

[mdrburchette]

california must certainly be totally bankrupt if they actually believe it is necessary to penalize you for NOT driving your car. how long before you blokes grow a set and take back the control of your state?

This doesn't sound as bad as what I understood the law to be. Does California expect the new owner to pay registration fees for when the previous owner didn't drive the car? How much is the yearly fee for a Fiat?

[TVST*R]

DMV says there are no back fees owed...I do need to get it smogged though. I had the smog shop test it while I was picking it up and it is running clean.
The owner of the shop whos name is Moses and is a Pastor, said the previous owner was a crack whore (not his words)...she got busted for weed soon after giving Moses the Pink slip (title).
The color is 191..Rallye Red?..not sure.
I want to put it back Red with a glove stitch palamino interior,black carpet, and maybe a Red top (never liked the Tan top).
Tom

[RJ80]

That's good to hear, you must have lucked out. Or maybe the fees disappear if it's a lien sale? Congrats on the new car!

To answer other questions, in CA if a car is not put on non-operational status ($15 one-time fee) then back registration fees are still collectible from anywhere to 6-8 years. This means that if you buy a vehicle that wasn't put on non-op and hasn't been kept current on reg fees for the past five years, you'd have to pay those fees (and penalties for late payment) in addition to the current registration when you get the title transferred. My current registration is about $75/year, but we just took a huge fee jump in this state. It was around $30 last year, I think.

[katsi]

Having lived in CA for 35 years and being a tax guy by trade, I know that the DMV or registration fees are not fees at all. They are a tax and thus deductable in your income tax return. So, if you got an old 2 stroke motorcycle you actually pay the off road registration on it or an old trailor you use twice a year, then yes; you can deduct that from your 1040 because CA taxes vehicles based on purchase price and then sets a depreciation on it with a minimal residual value that it continues to base the tax on. Here in TX it is a flat FEE of 65 bucks or something no matter what car you drive and therefor, non deductable on your annual 1040 (you can even take a small discount if you register it in 2 year incriments). Yet, the smog inspection costs are inspection FEES and thus, non deductable from your annual 1040. Like how that works?

[eddy314]

Hey, can you post a closeup pic of those wheels? They look very interesting. Gold, just like certain Ferarri wheels.

[So Cal Mark]

in Ca back registration fees no longer disappear on a lien sale. I recently experienced that first-hand . They also keep cars on the books forever now, hoping to collect back fees at some point. It used to be that after 5 yrs they erased the records and back fees, but since we're out of money they're looking under every rock for a dollar

[htchevyii]

in Ca back registration fees no longer disappear on a lien sale. I recently experienced that first-hand . They also keep cars on the books forever now, hoping to collect back fees at some point. It used to be that after 5 yrs they erased the records and back fees, but since we're out of money they're looking under every rock for a dollar

Damn it, the lein thing and waiting 5-7 years were the only tricks that I knew Cancelling your registration if your insurance lapses is a neat new trick too, I used to drop the insurance on my hobby cars when they were parked, but now I can't without a bunch of B.S.

[So Cal Mark]

there is a procedure to put your registration in limbo and cancel your registration during the year the car is registered. A simple form you fill out and sign guaranteeing that you won't drive the car. It suspends your registration without cancelling it, which would require new fees when you want to get it active.

[Gunsmith]

Katsi,

Thanks for the heads up on that. I was wondering what the difference was between a so called "Fee" and a tax? That makes it a little more clear. In Palm Beach county they started a new boat ramp use fee, tax or whatever. So not only do you need to have a vessel registration, a vehicle registration, a trailer registration and they already tax the crap out of us to pay for the parks you now have to buy a boat ramp use sticker even if you are not going to leave your truck and trailer at the ramp. Or you can just pay $10 every time you want to put your boat in the water.

Man this stuff is really out of control. Can you imagine buying an old car where the owner swore they had the registration suspended and then your are told you have to pay an additional $500 for old fees to register it? I can see plenty of small claims cases being filed over this kind of stuff.

We will send a car hauler to California to pick up all of your Spiders so you don't have to worry about smog tests or registrations any more. Mark can you come with them to keep them all running?