They have a vehicle registration fee calculator on the California DMV website if you want to figure out how much it will cost. The state is pretty vigilant about getting out of state vehicles registered, but this will matter more if you are living in a small town (because you'll stick out more). Here is the info from the DMV site:
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Fees must be paid within 20 days of entry or residency to avoid penalties. Any vehicle owned by a California resident must be registered within 20 days of entry into California unless a special permit was obtained. Nonresidents whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state or jurisdiction may operate their vehicles in California until they:
- Accept gainful employment in California.
- Claim a homeowner's exemption in California.
- Rent or lease a residence in California.
- Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote). Â
- Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).
NOTE: Nonresident military personnel stationed in California or their spouses may operate their vehicles with valid out-of-state license plates from their home state or the state where the military person was last stationed.
Definitely agree that if you are in a small town and I know because I moved to one, changing plates and licenses is pretty much something to do right away. In our case we needed to get our bank account open, etc. So that is definitely a cost to plan for all, also as someone who lived in Chicago all my life till the move I was surprised at how much more costly car ownership can be in other parts of the country. In New England you have the pesky excise tax which I don't believe exists in CA which was way more than getting a city sticker. So I would definitely look into those so called smaller costs because they can add up.
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