I currently live in Montana and telecommute for a software company in Mountain View, but they want to pay for me to move there. My Firebird is in the middle of a build and has permanent MT tags.

My question is: if I move there am I going to have to get PNO status on it, or can I just leave it in my garage with the MT tags until it's ready to be driven?

CA seems to be pretty stringent that you must register your vehicle(s) soon after moving, but I'm not sure if that applies if it's just being stored inside a garage. My concern is that a year or so later when it's done they'll try to hit me with penalties for not registering it right away. But, as far as they would need to know, it was in Montana the whole time.

 

Move it there but don't register it until you are ready. As long as you keep the registration current in MT, you should be ok. Only thing is, if you want to insure it while you are in CA due to earthquakes or any other unforeseen situation, you will need to have it registered in CA. If you decide to register it there, just file it as an inoperable vehicle to reduce the cost of registration.

 

Yeah pretty much what he said. Cali doesn't like out of state vehicles not being registered into california vehicles only because they ain't making any money off of it. but i would hold off as long as i can. and remember your montana vehicle will eventually have to pass california emissions laws

 

Wat about puttin it on nonop jus so its registered here then maybe you won't have to smog it when you actually get it tagged I had mine nonop for 4 years went to register it didn even need smog was really weird

 

As long as the address it is registered under is valid AND your licence matches to the same, you'll be fine. Just don't be like some people and put a local North Bay radio sticker on your car or load it down with tools and stuff that show you're working locally, you'll limit your exposure to getting pulled over.
It might be a problem with your insurance company if you don't report that you've moved to the Bay Area, should you be involved in an accident. Some areas around Mt. View have close to double the exposure coverage of a small town area and you might find yourself not covered in an accident if the insurance company found you moved and didn't report it to them. Just be aware of that possibility and maybe check with your insurance agent if they have a problem with you being transferred out of state 'temporarily', but keeping the same Montana State licence plates.
Mt. View is a really expensive area of real estate. Right now that city and general local is experiencing a building boom in housing and apartment building. House values have been skyrocketing upward this past year, so I hope the company you work for is compensating you heavily in that area. A 50 year old basic trac-home/3-4 bedroom/ranch home in Sunnyvale & Mt. View can easily cost $800k.
As was mentioned, the smog laws are vicious here; but if the local police can not prove that you live locally there shouldn't be an issue. Even students from out of state are legally required to register their cars into California Plates, but it's not like somehow the California State Police is going to spend several thousand dollars investigating how long you've stepped foot onto the State soil. There's no law against you working for the same company and having residency in two states. If you should happen to get pulled over here, just don't give the police a California address in which to send the ticket to. Nitro-Nicky

 

I can kinda relate to this in a way !!

For most of 2011 and 2012 I drove around in the SF bay area with out of state plates and never any problems with Leo's pulling me over !!!...Only issue was from the !#$%* SF City parking enforcement D-bags !!!!.And another minor thing was Thanksgiving of last year I pulled into a gas station in Daly City and a a$$"Clown" CHP officer pulled in and started to check out everyones car for any infractions !!! He walked up to me and asked where my front plates were and I told him i was from "out of state" and my state doesn't require front plate he just said OK thanks and then he goes over to this poor guy next to me getting gas and cites him for a damaged taillight or something !!! ALL IN A FRIFCKIN GAS STATION on "Turkey Day" !!!!!!!!


But ya,I never bothered with Cali registration due to **HIGH REG fee's and innsurance and my truck had a emissons evap problem aswell lol


Not really a "inop car" story,But a what if you were driving around with out of state plates kinda thing lol


Dave

 

I did the nearly same thing. I left the car in Oklahoma to drive while in the Reserves for a couple of years. When I finally brought the car to Cali, they still charged a penalty. If you can avoid getting a CA license, just it do all at once, lie like a rug and say you just moved here. Good luck.