I needed to complete my new car registration on my own, since I bought the car out-of-state - if you buy a car in-state from a dealership, they will complete this step for you but otherwise, you're on your own. Despite the fact that this was my first time purchasing a car out-of-state, I did my due diligence in researching and reading up on CA DMV rules and completed the forms beforehand. Even though I took the day off from work in preparation for suffering all day at DMV, DMV lines were still pretty long even in the early morning, with the most unhelpful, rude, and slow-working staff ever.
While standing in line in the miserable sun with 85ºF weather, I found Win A Car Auto on the CA DMV website that does new car registrations. I called them and they were able to squeeze me in an appointment on the same day (due to somebody else's cancellation), which I was grateful for since I needed to get this done and finished with. The owner was friendly, and helped me get my registration done, and even had my new license plates on hand. Be prepared to pay a steep $90 service provider fee (because of their partnership with DMV) in addition to a 6% credit card fee. I was told that the credit card fee was passed along to the customer from DMV and that Win A Car has no control over it. This was most surprising because I'm used to seeing 2-3% credit card fees, not 6%. After the transaction was done, I looked up CA DMV's credit card fee, which is 2.1%. Also, I couldn't find anywhere on the CA DMV website that the license plates, stickers, and VIN inspection fees were as high as what Win A Auto charged me. In fact, the DMV registration fee calculator for my car was a total of $635; with Win A Auto, the final amount that I paid was $917.96. Looking back, I'm feeling a little scalped here but fortunately I was able to afford this on my own and was willing to pay this amount because I really needed to get this car registration done on my only day off. Not everybody is able to do so though, so buyer beware.
Separately, this bit has nothing to do with my review, but in case anybody browsing here is in the same situation as me (out-of-state purchase of a new plug-in hybrid vehicle): contrary to DMV's vague wording, you are NOT exempt from the smog check requirement because the vehicle was purchased out-of-state. So keep your smog check coupons in handy, because I was caught by surprise that I couldn't pay the smog exemption fee for the new car purchase. I wish DMV's website was more clear on this. read more