[SD987]

I have my 2001 boxster up for sale and I'm not driving it in the meantime. It's parked with a cover on it. The tags are coming due in May and I'd really rather not pay for another year when the car is about to sell. This is in California, by the way. Does anyone know what my options are? Can I just not pay it? Should I pay for the Planned No Operation (PNO) tags? Or am I forced to renew the tags?

I'm thinking the alternatives to paying aren't such good ideas...

I got a ticket last month for having an expired registration on one of my cars while it was street-parked, although it didn't have a cover on it....by a meter maid.

If your car is driven (for example) during a test-drive or even parked on a street you don't qualify for PNO. If caught under these conditions, there's additional fees involved (on-top of the registration you didn't pay).

If your car sells past May and there are registration fees + late fees accruing, the onus then goes to the buyer to pay your delinquent fees, before re-registering. I don't think that's going to be a good selling point. Your car is 5-6 years old, so it's going to require a smog-check upon change of ownership anyway (which probably means you, if you sell it to a private party).

The two-sticker system makes out-of registration cars too easy to spot, I don't think it's really worth it to save < 200 bucks. But if it's a big deal, I'd be trying real hard to sell that car before May.