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Cal. VEH § 4601

This is the official text of Cal. VEH § 4601, part of California’s Vehicle Code — governs traffic laws, driver's licenses, and vehicle registration.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this code, every vehicle registration and registration card expires at midnight on the expiration date designated by the director pursuant to Section 1651.5, and shall be renewed prior to the expiration of the registration year. The department may, upon payment of the proper fees, renew the registration of vehicles.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, renewal of registration for any vehicle that is either currently registered or for which a certification pursuant to Section 4604 has been filed may be obtained not more than 75 days prior to the expiration of the current registration or certification.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) or any other law, commencing upon the effective date of the act that added this subdivision, the renewal of registration for a vehicle that expires on or before June 30, 2011, may be obtained not more than 75 days prior to the expiration of the current registration or certification and the renewal of registration for a vehicle that expires on or after July 1, 2011, or for which a certification, pursuant to Section 4604, has been filed, may not be obtained until the expiration of the current registration or certification or until the department has issued a notice of renewal, whichever occurs first. This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2012.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.