For misdemeanors (which usually just cost me money) you will get an automatic guilty plea. Doesn’t mean I did it, it means that the cost/benefit analysis indicates that there will be less damage with an immediate guilty plea, pay the fine, and go on about my life.

Felonies are another matter. Those involve jail time, I have to fight them. That can get expensive, but the cops can easily prove that I stole the car (all they have to do is to say so) but it is much more difficult to prove I owned it (requires pulling DMV records, getting the previous owner into court, etc. etc. etc.) (has happened three times so far). But you have to fight.

And even if you can prove you bought the car off a lot in Pasadena, here is the title in my name, here is the salesman who sold me the car, here is the cancelled check I paid for the car with, here is the insurance policy and registration, doesn’t mean you will win. And the cops know this.

It really all comes down to what you can afford, how much money you have.