After you turn in the car you go on CA dmv website and say you traded the car into the dealer you grounded it with. That covers your registration.
Also you cannot get a refund of DMV fees, i tried on a 39m lease and they said tough luck
That’s not how registration works in CA. It’s tied to the vehicle, not the plates, so paying it would just be lighting $500+ on fire.
Forgot to mention, remove the plates when you turn the car in, those belong to you
Depends on the state. Plates go with the car in CA.
Half correct, Poster is in CA and has Personalized plates, Poster has the right to remove personalized plates in California.
If they weren’t personalized then they go with the car.
If you want to keep the plates and/or reassign them to a new car- remove the plates from the car, use dmv form, I think Reg-17. Fill it out as retention and send to DMV with $43 check to keep them in your name for next year.
If you are getting a new car from the same dealer, they should be able to do the same for for you but do reassignment and submit to DMV with new car registration fees and you should get registration and stickers for your personalized plates.
Is this the “Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability”?
If yes, it asked for:
- the “buyer’s” information - is this the dealer’s name or car manufacturer?
- selling price - not sure what to make of this…
I am not getting a new car from them, just a simple lease return. I will take the personalized plate.
Will the dealer notify DMV that the car is no longer registered to me?
That’s what I thought, too. Will there be a paperwork given by the dealer to show that the car is no longer registered to me?
I want to make sure DMV will not suddenly go after me for the registration after I return the car.
You can use this form to retain interest in plates:
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/uploads/2020/06/reg17.pdf
Use this link to release liability:
Fill out a release of liability as soon as you turn it in
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Depends on which plate-retention fee is $38 on the ELP 
I retained mine and only paid $38
*Correction: Mine was a 1960’s Legacy Plate
So the next person that buys that car gets the same plates? (if they weren’t personalized)
Correct. The plate stays with the car.
Looking at that form, what do I fill on these section:
- the “buyer’s” information - is this the dealer’s name or car manufacturer?
- selling price - not sure what to make of this since this is a lease return, not “selling”
I put GMFS as buyer name-it’s just a formality at this point (Chevy Equinox)
I left it blank on mine I believe
Interesting. I looked at the Notice of Release from my last car and it was filled out by the dealership. This was a lease trade-in (got another lease and the dealer took the old car in) and the buyer’s name was the dealer name.
Now that I think about it, when I do return the car and NOT buying/leasing another one, wouldn’t the dealer fill out the form and gave it to me?
That is corrrect.
I put the Buyer = Dealer I dropped it off at
I put the Selling Price = 0, because no money transferred hands (Or you might owe taxes on this amount)
DMV has never asked me a question beyond this. But the one time I didn’t fill this out, oh yeah, lots of notices in the mail.
BTW it’s the responsibility of BOTH parties to fill this out. Not just the dealers. One time I traded in a car, and the dealer sent the car to Auction in Oregon and I was getting notices about lapse in registration since the car is now registered in Oregon. That’s when I found out we both have to do it.
Btw Filing Reg-17 Means you intend to reuse the plates on another car to reserve them in your name.
You don’t have to fill out this form if you just want the plates to hang on your wall.
By not filling this out, the Plates can be requested by another person and you cannot put the same plates on another car if they are ‘taken’ this way.
The dealer has no obligation to do so. They may as a courtesy, but it is ultimately your responsibility to do.
Nope-it would be your responsibility to notify DMV
When I sold my 2017 Hellcat to a Toyota dealer, they gave me a release of liability form filed by them-so I didn’t do it…but Chevy dealer only gave me a release form and at bottom it stated that I need to notify DMV myself…