How long til car falls out of CA DMV records for expired reg?

[HyperTek]

Ok so I am looking at picking up a car, and the person tells me that it hasn't been registered since 2004, and they think it is out of the dmv system by now. Which would bring registration cost down vs paying years of late registration.

Does anyone know the magic number of years? Friends saying 5, 7 and another few saying they don't think stuff ever falls out of record.

[zerodameaon]

From what I was told last time I went to register a forgotten car it was 7 years from last entry/query in the system, so every time they slap on a late fee or someone checks on it that counter resets. The car I was looking to register had not been registered since 1998 and this was 2010 and it still had back fees.

[Nizmology]

It's been almost a decade? With how efficient, kind, and organized the DMV is, I am SURE they have it on record. Not. I would want to start fresh anyways with new forms. best of luck!

[zerodameaon]

Get the vin and license and go in and check, only real way to know.

[sw20>>s14]

Doesn't matter what the arbitrary magic number is, if it has fees, it has fees. Only real way to find out: Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorWeb/index.jsp)

[silverarrow27]

I guarantee the car is not out of the system yet. If it hasn't been registered since the 70s or 80s then I can agree with the seller that it's probably out of the DMV system because I did buy a 240z which was last registered in the early 80s and when trying to register it, it was not found in the DMV system.

In order to register the car, it had to pass a CHP inspection making sure everything works and just pay like a $50 registration fee.