Trade-In's Registration Renewal Timing

[Resist]

But it isn’t registered in a way that the buyer can even test drive it before purchase legally.

“Reasons for the one-day permit include a vehicle or smog inspection, a repair or alteration, permanent wrecking or movement to a new storage space.

The one-day permit bypasses the need to reinstate full registration and no additional fees are required. That said, none of these purposes are related to someone test-driving a car in PNO status in California for potential purchase.”

I never said anything about a test ride. Dealerships normally don't do test rides when it's a trade in vehicle and if they wanted to they could drive it around their lot.

 

[Resist]

Just got a registration renewal notice for another one of my vehicles and they want it smogged this time. It's a 2015 I bought new in late 2014 and this will be its first smog test since new, so 9 years of not being smogged and just paying the smog abatement registration fees. This is exactly why I say a vehicle that is on PNO status should not matter for a trade in purpose. Again a dealership doesn't need it smogged to take it on a trade, because they won't need to smog it to sell it and even if they did it's no big deal to them. And for a private part sale a vehicle on PNO status can still get smogged and has to before the sale but doesn't have to off the PNO status. It would make no sense for a seller to smog and remove the PNO, then sell a week later have to smog it again in order to sell it to a private party. Which is exactly why it's not required to take a vehicle off PNO status in order to sell it.

 

[jjrandorin]

Just got a registration renewal notice for another one of my vehicles and they want it smogged this time. It's a 2015 I bought new in late 2014 and this will be its first smog test since new, so 9 years of not being smogged and just paying the smog abatement registration fees. This is exactly why I say a vehicle that is on PNO status should not matter for a trade in purpose. Again a dealership doesn't need it smogged to take it on a trade, because they won't need to smog it to sell it and even if they did it's no big deal to them. And for a private part sale a vehicle on PNO status can still get smogged and has to before the sale but doesn't have to off the PNO status. It would make no sense for a seller to smog and remove the PNO, then sell a week later have to smog it again in order to sell it to a private party. Which is exactly why it's not required to take a vehicle off PNO status in order to sell it.

This is a whole lot of trying to self justify that you believe that a vehicle that is legal to drive on the street is the exact same as one that is not legal to drive on the street. its not.

 

[Resist]

This is a whole lot of trying to self justify that you believe that a vehicle that is legal to drive on the street is the exact same as one that is not legal to drive on the street. its not.

You spend a whole lot of time denying they are not the same, when in fact they are exactly the same, with regards to being a trade in or selling to a private party. Why can't you get that?

 

[jjrandorin]

You spend a whole lot of time denying they are not the same, when in fact they are exactly the same, with regards to being a trade in or selling to a private party. Why can't you get that?

Because they are not the same. Lots of reasons have been put forth already as to why that is. At the root, something that is legal to operate on the street is different than something that is not legal to operate. Thats so clear, I am confused as to why you keep saying they are the same.

 

[Resist]

Because they are not the same. Lots of reasons have been put forth already as to why that is. At the root, something that is legal to operate on the street is different than something that is not legal to operate. Thats so clear, I am confused as to why you keep saying they are the same.

And none of the reasons make sense, being legal for the street has nothing to do with it because it's as simple as filling out the form and for a private sale to pay the full registration. Again, it's not like the vehicle isn't registered with the DMV because it is. And yes again, this is not an issue for a dealership to accept a PNO's vehicle as they have less red tape to go through. It's not rocket science to understand that a PNO'd vehicle is sellable to anyone and perfectly legal to do so with zero risks. The whole point of the DMV having the PNO status was so owners of the vehicle didn't have to continue to pay registration fees (and insurance premiums), when it was stored and not driven on the road. But because it's still in the DMV system they charge a small fee to keep the record active.

 

[Kairide]

And none of the reasons make sense, being legal for the street has nothing to do with it because it's as simple as filling out the form and for a private sale to pay the full registration. Again, it's not like the vehicle isn't registered with the DMV because it is. And yes again, this is not an issue for a dealership to accept a PNO's vehicle as they have less red tape to go through. It's not rocket science to understand that a PNO'd vehicle is sellable to anyone and perfectly legal to do so with zero risks. The whole point of the DMV having the PNO status was so owners of the vehicle didn't have to continue to pay registration fees (and insurance premiums), when it was stored and not driven on the road. But because it's still in the DMV system they charge a small fee to keep the record active.

When you open your own car dealership you can accept PNO vehicles that need to be smogged.
Dealerships/Tesla have the right to accept or deny trade-ins based on their own discretion. You’re upset Tesla won’t take your trade-in, even though they have the right to do so.
If you’re not happy with Tesla, go take your car to CarMax, Carvana, etc.. and see if they accept it.
Or, sell it privately for more money. I have a feeling most buyers would be turned off once they find out the car hasn’t been registered for years and still needs to be smogged. That would set off red flags in any used car buyer’s mind. Even if your car is pristine, I would probably avoid buying it based on the registration and smog unknowns.
As you say, the car may be technically and legally ok to sell. That doesn’t mean anyone wants to touch it though.

 

[Resist]

When you open your own car dealership you can accept PNO vehicles that need to be smogged.
Dealerships/Tesla have the right to accept or deny trade-ins based on their own discretion. You’re upset Tesla won’t take your trade-in, even though they have the right to do so.
If you’re not happy with Tesla, go take your car to CarMax, Carvana, etc.. and see if they accept it.
Or, sell it privately for more money. I have a feeling most buyers would be turned off once they find out the car hasn’t been registered for years and still needs to be smogged. That would set off red flags in any used car buyer’s mind. Even if your car is pristine, I would probably avoid buying it based on the registration and smog unknowns.
As you say, the car may be technically and legally ok to sell. That doesn’t mean anyone wants to touch it though.

I'm not saying a deanship can say no to accepting a PNO'd vehicle, they don't have to take any vehicle. I'm saying there is no reason why they shouldn't. But all vehicles will need to be smogged by the dealership when traded in, even if the owner had just smogged it. There is no more risk for them than taking a trade in of a fully registered vehicle that hasn't been legally required to get a smog in 9 years.

And, a car not being registered to drive on the road yet is PNO'd is not the same as not being registered. It's still in the DMV system. People do this all the time when they want to store their vehicle and is why the DMV allows it. There is nothing red flagish about it.

And again, for a private sale the vehicle must be smogged first so not being smogged isn't an issue. And yet again, a vehicle sold while on PNO status has a ZERO risk to the new owner because they will register it like any other vehicle, with no problems from the DMV. The PNO status does not effect them the new owner. Now, if the vehicle was not even PNO'd then that would be a red flag can cause for concern.