Recently bought an used car from my uncle?

He was stationed in North Carolina and bought the car there (has North Carolina plates and everything), he moved to California and that s where he sold me the car. I live in California and he resided here until he was restationed to A base near Seattle, WA.

I bought his 1999 Honda Civic from him with 169,000 miles on it for $1500, I consider it a reasonable amount.

Thing is, certificate of title is in North Carolina papers and I think I need it to be registered in California right?

My question is, what steps do I do to ensure I can drive the car legally and with all it's papers (aside from my license)?
I got the certificate of title notarized already. Do I send it to North Carolina or do I send it to my DMV?

I'll be like buying a car from another state. So you'll need it to pass smog and pay the state transfer fee with the new registration.

You just take the car & the title to the CA DMV. You will owe sales tax and a title fee. Tax can be up to 10%.

It has to pass smog before you can register it in CA.

You will also have to buy a tag.

So you could be looking at the $200-300 range for all that. Excluding the cost of smog and any repairs that it might need to pass smog. (Which could easily be that much or more IF it hasn't been passing smog regularly in NC)

I just googled it and it seems NC also has smog so you might be ok on that. Although CA smog is supposedly the toughest.

You get the vehicle registered in the jurisdiction in which you live. Always.

Go to the California DMV and show them the signed title. They'll take care of letting NC know.

Assuming your uncle kept North Carolina as his home state and did not become a California resident he was entitled to retain his North Carolina vehicle registration. You, however, must register the vehicle in California. The DMV has a very helpful web page which tells you everything you must do to register the "nonresident vehicle" in California. Spoiler alert: you need more than the title papers.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/...owto/htvr9" class='ext_link'>http://www.dmv.ca.gov/...owto/htvr9

Jeffery,

You are a resident of the state of California, correct? If so, you will need to title, insure, and register the Honda with the CA DMV. Before you will be eligible to register the Civic you will need to have it pass California emissions testing. Upon passing emissions the smog center will send their results electronically to the CA DMV.

Once you have the vehicle smogged take the signed over NC title, bill of sale, and proof of current vehicle insurance coverage to the CA DMV for title transfer and registration.

The following link will provider further information about the process and will include all of the forms you will need. Good luck.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9

First, you get the car smogged. Then you take the smog check certificate and the title to the California DMV in person. You do not send it.