DENVER (KDVR) — Everyone probably knows that you have to register your vehicle in Colorado and renew that registration every year.
Newcomers have 90 days to register after moving, and those with newly bought cars have 61 days.
People who need to renew have a 1-month grace period after their registration expires before fines start.
But what if you don’t, or for some reason can’t, drive your car?
Do you still have to register a vehicle you don’t or can’t drive?
Yes, you do.
The Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles website says that a vehicle that will not be used for a period of time, even if it is non-drivable and unused, still needs to be registered. The vehicle also needs to meet emissions standards.
And if the car doesn’t meet emissions standards it must be repaired so it can meet those standards before being registered.
The proof of insurance needed for renewal or registration can be replaced with a ‘Non-Use of Vehicle’ form. However, the period of non-use can’t exceed 12 months.
There’s no extra penalty for not registering a non-drivable car, so if it is caught, the punishment is the same as having an expired registration on an operable vehicle and you could be hit with a fine between $15 to $100.
Then, when you do register or renew your car’s registration, you will have to pay a fine of up to $100 as well as back taxes for the time you did not have up-to-date registration.