Every other broker gets you the car, hands you a folder of paperwork, and wishes you luck. We don't — because we own a DMV-authorized registration office. Title, registration, transfers, plates: handled in-house, by our own people, before your car ever reaches your driveway.
A broker without a registration office can only do one thing with your paperwork: hand it to you, or mail it to a third-party service and hope. They have no visibility, no control, and no one to call when it stalls. That's not a criticism — it's just the structure of the business.
Onyx Auto Registration is our office. DMV-authorized, in Glendale, staffed by our people. When your title needs to move, it moves down the hall — not into someone else's queue.
You never visit a dealership. We negotiate, we structure the deal, we handle the finance paperwork securely.
Title and registration go straight to our own DMV-authorized office. Not a mailbox. Not a third party. Our desk.
By the time your car is in your driveway, the DMV side is finished or already in motion — and we can tell you exactly where it stands.
No appointment. No day off work. No forms. That's not a perk we added — it's a business we own.
Our office is open to the public. Title transfers, registration renewals, out-of-state transfers, plates, and the paperwork nobody wants to read — bring it to us and skip the DMV entirely.
And if you're driving something you're ready to be done with, ask while you're here. We're a car brokerage too — that part's free to talk about.
California's rules are specific and the deadlines are short. Everything below is how the DMV actually works — not how we would like it to work.
The buyer has 10 days from the date of sale to submit the transfer to the DMV. The seller has a separate and shorter deadline: 5 days to file a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (REG 138), which is what removes them from responsibility for the vehicle. Missing the buyer's 10-day window adds a penalty that grows the longer it goes unfiled.
No. We are a DMV-authorized registration office, which means the transfer is completed here at our counter in Glendale and submitted directly to the DMV — no appointment, no field office, no queue. Most straightforward transfers are done while you wait.
The Certificate of Title signed by the seller, the odometer reading (required on vehicles under 10 model years old), a smog certificate where one is required, proof of California insurance, and payment for the transfer fee and use tax. If the title has no space left for signatures, or has been lost, a REG 262 or REG 227 takes its place. A bill of sale is not always required by the DMV, but it settles disputes about price and date, so bring one.
Usually, and it is normally the seller's responsibility. A current smog certificate — issued within the previous 90 days — is required for most gasoline vehicles from 1976 onward that are more than four model years old. Vehicles four model years old or newer, fully electric vehicles, hybrids, and diesels from 1997 and earlier are generally exempt. Where no test is due, an $8 smog transfer fee applies instead.
The DMV transfer fee itself is $15. What makes the total vary is use tax, charged on the purchase price at your local rate — between 7.25% and 10.25% depending on the district — plus any registration fees and the vehicle license fee. On a $20,000 car the use tax alone is roughly $1,450 to $2,050. A smog certificate, if one is needed, is typically $30 to $80 and is paid to the smog station, not the DMV.
California applies a transfer penalty that escalates with delay — modest in the first 30 days, larger after 31, and significantly higher past 76 days. It is added to the ordinary title and registration fees. There is no grace period: the clock starts on the date of sale, not the date you get around to it.
File the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability within 5 days. Until that is on record, the vehicle is still associated with you — including tickets, tolls and anything worse. It can be filed online at dmv.ca.gov, or we can file it for you. Keep a copy.
Often not. A transfer between immediate family — parent, child, spouse, sibling, grandparent, grandchild — can qualify for a use tax exemption, claimed with a Statement of Facts (REG 256) declaring the transfer a gift. The transfer fee still applies. Bring both parties' details and we will complete the form with you.
Yes. An out-of-state vehicle needs a VIN verification, a California smog certification, and a REG 343 application in addition to the title. We handle VIN verification at the office, which is the step most people do not realise they need until the DMV turns them away.
Free, no-obligation quote. Any make, any model. And the DMV part — the part everyone hates — simply isn't your problem.
