Is it illegal to have a front california license plate if im registered in another state....?

Question

my car is registered in tennessee (a state which only requires a rear license plate) so i, like many others here, have a california (or another out of state) plate on the front of my car because it doesnt matter since my legal tag is from tennessee. im moving to san diego in 2 weeks and driving there. do i need to take my plate off my car or is it legal once i get into california so long as my rear tag is still legal?

Answer 1

Interesting!  Never saw anyone do that before?  You should be fine.

Answer 2

California requires both plates.  You cannot put a "misleading" or "confusing" plate on the front.

Answer 3

After moving to CA, you only have a certain amount of time to transfer registration from the previous state.  Although, not sure if Tennessee  laws requires a catalytic converter on their vehicles, but CA does.  

www.dmv.org



Welcome to California!

Answer 4

I have lived in three states, two of which only require a back tag.  In both of them, it was legal to have any kind of plate in front as long as it was not a currently registered plate (current sticker) in another state.  I'm gonna put my Michigan plate (as soon as it expires) on the front of my New Mexico-registered car.  I don't know if it's a good idea to drive around in California with a CA tag on front and a Tennessee one in back.  I lived in Southern CA for ten years and those cops are pretty mean--they even write tickets to each other.

J.D.

Answer 5

Actually it is illegal in every state an province to display a plate that is actually a current plate from another state or province.  So, if you aren't required to have a front plate, you can have a fun plate, or an old plate, but, if your California plate on the front is the same series as is current in California, you are committing a violation.

Answer 6

you will move in 2 weeks. Tenn doesn't require front and back plates. So leave it.

You will however need to make sure you remove the Tenn when you get to Cali.

You may have to buy new back and front plates for Cali if you didn't keep both plates from the first time. I would contact the DMV for Cali and you can do this before you move. Then you will know exactly what to do.

Best wishes!!!!   :)