This will be a little long, so please bear with me. I have paid off my 2008 G37S Coupe (Premium, Sport, Automatic, 19" rims, 90k miles but in great condition) and have a blank pink slip in my hands. I live in California and don't even know if a "pink slip" is the same in other states.

This Thanksgiving I'd like to gift my mom my car and take over her beater Toyota Camry. Let's just say my parents have sacrificed a lot for me and I want to give something back. They've gone through many financial setbacks for the past few years, and I make decent money. Frankly, it doesn't sit well with me that I drive in a nice car and they're really suffering. My mom is 63 years old so she has no desire to drive around in this kind of sports car.

I'd like to show up that weekend with all the ownership transferred over to her, with the intention of going to a dealership to trade this used G37S for a used Kia Soul. She expressed interest in this car to me a couple of years ago so I know she likes it. From my KBB/Autotrader examinations, a lightly used Kia Soul is about the same value so I believe a straight trade would be feasible. I've never even done a trade-in with a dealership, so any insight there would be appreciated.

So my questions are:

1. Should I fill in the pink slip and send it in now? I know the DMV and government agencies can be very slow to respond, so I want to make sure the ownership is transferred before that weekend. Or am I missing something? I just want to make sure that all the paperwork is in order.

2. If there are any tips you have to accomplish what I've described above, please let me know what those tips are.

If it's of any use, my registration payment is due 12/8/15. I would think I could avoid this payment by transferring ownership. But if my mom has to incur this fee, I'd like to pay it for her. The back of the pink slip mentions proof of use tax and smog certificate prior to transfer of ownership. Do I have some regulatory obligations? Also, if the whole process is not possible this Thanksgiving, I can wait until December and handle all the registration fees or whatever else needs to be done.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-Chris

 

After thinking about it a bit, perhaps the better option would just be to get the Kia Soul now in my name with title and ownership under my name, and then show up with the Kia pink slip in hand to gift it to my mom. Is that a good idea?

I'd still like to know what I should do about the registration fees and whatever else I need for my existing G37 to make this as smooth a transition as possible.

 

If you belong to AAA, they do it for you, no lines!

 

I don't know about the whole title transfer thing in California (I can tell you how it works in Texas), but you are Son of the Year Chris.

 

My suggestion is to sell the car privately since you have a couple weeks before Thanksgiving so you can get more dollar for your car and then go buy the Kia Soul in cash and transfer it to her name when you gift it to her. Great to see you giving back to your parents as well, awesome job.

 

No tax, no smog in California, if gifting to a direct family member.

 

Just when you thought there was no hope in this world...

 

First off your a GREAT son to do this for your mom.!

You can also take the G with you and your mon like you planed to the Kia dealer, you then can trade you can in for the KIA and have all the ownership be in you moms name. I've done something similar here in MA. traded my car in for another one and everything was in the other persons name. I would think its the same as they can just show the trade in as "cash" on the paperwork.

GL man!