To legally drive an unregistered vehicle in California for a single day, you need a one-day vehicle moving permit from the DMV. California actually offers two versions: a no-fee permit (form REG 172) for specific moves like repair shops, inspections, or dismantlers, and a $28 One-Trip Permit (form REG 402T) for broader single-trip movements such as driving a newly purchased car home. Both are good for exactly one day and one continuous trip.
Which Permit You Actually Need
The first question is why you’re moving the vehicle, because that determines whether you pay anything.
The free REG 172, authorized under Vehicle Code Section 4002, covers narrow purposes:
- Moving the vehicle to or from a repair shop for mechanical work or alterations
- Taking it to a dismantler or wrecking yard
- Driving it to a DMV or CHP inspection, VIN verification, or smog check
- Moving it between storage locations when it has Planned Non-Operation (PNO) status on file
- Taking it for a brake and lamp inspection
If your trip fits one of those categories, there’s no reason to pay.
The paid One-Trip Permit (REG 402T), authorized under Vehicle Code Section 4003, is what you need for everything else: driving a car you just bought across the state, transporting a vehicle to a new owner, or otherwise moving it point-to-point on public roads when it isn’t registered. It works as a temporary substitute for California registration on one specific date, along the most direct route between the two addresses you write on the form.
What It Costs and Where to Get It
The One-Trip Permit costs $28 at the counter. That figure reflects the base statutory fee under Vehicle Code Section 9258 plus the surcharges that apply to the transaction. The REG 172 is free.
You can pick up either permit at any DMV field office or from an authorized Business Partner, which includes licensed registration service companies. The date on the One-Trip Permit can be filled in and endorsed by you or by an authorized DMV, CHP, Auto Club (AAA), or Business Partner agent.
Information to Bring
Before you go, gather:
- The full 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
- The starting address where the vehicle currently sits
- The destination address
- Your name and address as the person responsible for the vehicle during the trip
Bring proof of ownership too, such as the title or a bill of sale. The statute doesn’t strictly require it for every transaction, but some issuing agents will ask, and coming back a second time defeats the point of a same-day permit.
Filling It Out and Posting It
You or the issuing agent enters the vehicle description, the origin and destination addresses, and the specific date you plan to move the vehicle. That date has to fall within 60 days of the permit’s issue date. Don’t leave the date blank thinking you’ll fill it in later. If you’re stopped and the date field is empty, the permit is invalid. The same goes for any permit with altered or illegible information.
Post the completed permit on the windshield or another prominent, visible spot on the vehicle. You can only drive on the single date written on it. If something delays your plans, you’ll need a new permit rather than a rewritten date.
The trip itself has to follow the most direct route between your two addresses. Detours or indirect paths void the permit.
Vehicles and Trips the Permit Won’t Cover
A One-Trip Permit is not available for:
- Cranes, whether laden or unladen
- Loaded commercial vehicles (the vehicle must be unladen, carrying nothing beyond its own equipment and occupants)
- Oversized vehicles that require a Caltrans oversize-load permit
- Trailer coaches owned by a California resident, which state law requires to carry full California registration for as long as they’re in the state
The trailer-coach rule catches people. A nonresident who buys a trailer coach in California and plans to take it out of the state can use the permit. Nonresident military personnel and their spouses also qualify. A California resident cannot use it for a trailer coach at all.
Interstate trips deserve a warning of their own. The One-Trip Permit does authorize you to leave California for an out-of-state destination, so the California leg is legal. Once you cross the state line, you’re in another state’s jurisdiction, and California can’t guarantee that Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, or anywhere else will honor its permit as a valid substitute for registration inside their borders. Check the destination state’s rules before you go.
Insurance Is Still Required
A moving permit replaces registration, not insurance. Vehicle Code Section 16028 requires every driver on a public road to carry evidence of financial responsibility, and a peace officer can demand to see it during any stop. Driving on a One-Trip Permit without insurance exposes you to the same fines and potential license suspension as driving any other uninsured vehicle.
This is the trap for vehicles that have been sitting on PNO status for months or years. The registration side is handled by the permit; the insurance side is not. Arrange coverage before the trip.
What Skipping the Permit Costs
Driving an unregistered vehicle without a valid permit is an infraction under Vehicle Code Section 4000(a). The base fine is modest, but California’s penalty assessments multiply it, and once court fees stack on, a single ticket routinely runs several hundred dollars out of pocket.
The DMV also charges registration penalties that grow the longer the vehicle goes unregistered. For vehicles previously registered in California:
- 1 to 10 days late: 10% of the vehicle license fee, plus $10 registration late fee, plus $10 CHP late fee
- 11 to 30 days late: 20% of the vehicle license fee, plus $15 registration late fee, plus $15 CHP late fee
- 31 days to one year late: 60% of the vehicle license fee, plus $30 registration late fee, plus $30 CHP late fee
- One to two years late: 80% of the vehicle license fee, plus $50 registration late fee, plus $50 CHP late fee
- More than two years late: 160% of the vehicle license fee, plus $100 registration late fee, plus $100 CHP late fee
Vehicles never previously registered in California follow a slightly different scale, starting at 40% of the vehicle license fee up to one year late and climbing to 160% after two years. There is no grace period, and these penalties come on top of the regular registration fees you owe when you eventually bring the vehicle into compliance.
Against those numbers, $28 for a single-day permit, or nothing at all for a qualifying REG 172 trip, is the straightforward move.