I suspect you’ll waste a lot time only to be told at RMV that you’re not a resident of the commonwealth.
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If not living here full time, probably not worth registering vehicle here, we are a college city with tons of out of state plates all around…
Annual Rmv registration fee is $60 every two years renewal. Title fee is $75 for first time registration.
It’s temp tags that are illegal. You can drive into MA with out of state (even country) plates.
Why not find a cheap turo or if you don’t drive a lot flexcar is a nice option for a longer term rental?
Thank you all for chiming in. I asked my CA-based insurance broker to contact my carrier and list a MA address as garage location for the car. She came back and said my carrier does not allow out of state garage address. She said I can drive it anywhere, obviously, but if the car is garaged and used in another state, especially long term, then I need to get insurance there.
Follow up question might be to ask if there are insurance carriers who will insure a CA registered vehicle being garaged and driven in MA ? For clarification, I am not moving to MA but do spend a few months a year there with family. The car will be used there long term, we do not plan on bringing it back to CA so it’s not a temporary move (like college student or snow birder).
Started this thread about excise tax but now I need more info now about registration.
Too many variables and we are there long stretches due to caretaking of family member(s). We also really like our car. Car rental this summer was painful. 50k-mile garbage Hyundai with warped brakes - paid $1,200 for 2 weeks and we had to get the car interior detailed b/c it smelled so bad. Pre-pandemic our 4 week rentals there were about $1,000. And cars were usually under 10k miles. Because we can garage with family, bringing our own car works better for us. Just need to figure out the cost (and now registration).
Thank you jeisensc. I don’t know what temp tags are, my CA registrations are always current. I’ve driven to OR, NV, AZ for vacation. This is a long term relocation for the car - it will be garaged and operated in MA permanently. Also would need to get EZPass for tolls and I assume they could track long term in state use.
Is it permanently or temporary? A lot of people have “snowbird” policy where they live outside of their home state for 50% of the year. If you are not planning on moving back to CA, then you should move everything over. I think in MA, you cannot register a car without MA license, which means you cannot insure it either.
I would just get a new insurance company. Geico has my cars registered in Montana with being garage in NC. They don’t care apparently as long you put your montana business name on the policy
Are you moving the car to city of Boston or a neighboring town? If in Boston, do you have an off street parking spot? Most neighborhoods in Boston are resident permit parking which require you to register the car in MA (need to show a MA reg and proof of residency at city hall to get the parking permit).
Nice for now but they and you may care when it comes time to pay large claims.
We are not relocating to MA - we will continue to be CA residents. The car will be in MA permanently, off street parking space (not garage). MA allows for non-resident to register the car. My original posting was about excise tax and how that is calculated. Now focusing on insurance. My current carrier does not cover out-of-state long term use which they categorize as … a vehicle that is required to be registered per that State’s regulation. We were told in MA, any vehicle that is in the state more than 30 days total requires MA registration.
Because we have off street parking, I could keep CA registration and drive in MA but we buy insurance for a reason. Aside from accident claim, what if a tree were to fall during a storm and total the car. Why was the car parked in MA, how long had the car been in MA ? I don’t want those thorny questions. That and EZPass will likely be able to track that the car simply lives in MA permanently.
I will be in MA again next month. I will visit RMV, ask about registration and then call Costco Connect to confirm policy eligibility.
Thank you all for your input, really helpful for me as I get ducks in a row. Next steps: need to decide to drive across country or use auto transport.
Correct - a car permanently garaged and operated in MA must be registered and therefore insured in MA. The owner can obviously be an out of state owner (just like for a lease the bank is an out of state owner). You should pay excise tax based on the year of the vehicle ie a 4 year old car will pay the 4 year excise rate.
Thanks @Dfg - excise tax info from MA website tripped me up but Forum members came through, very much appreciated.
As for auto insurance, or any insurance for that matter, I don’t want to be debating coverage after an accident so I always over disclose, over estimate and, likely, over pay. Feel fortunate enough to own a car so it’s part of the cost.
Also informed by CA neighbor who had OR registration and insurance - car was operated in CA long term. Obviously less expensive DMV and insurance through OR. Well, car was stolen off city street, crashed, resulting in “six figure claim from multiple people, property owners”. You guessed it. Entire claim denied after investigation - even threaten with insurance fraud. Lawyer told them if it were a $5k to $10k claim- this was 1999 - insurance would not look into it. But $100k claim makes it worth carrier’s time/resource to fight it - and they will win. Last we heard they mentioned their homeowners paid a little of it but had to take HELOC to settle. Another neighbor said to me “wow, they must have had a bad lawyer”. Who knows but that lesson sticks with me when I talk to insurance brokers.