Vehicle Code section 10851, often called joyriding, makes it a crime to take or drive someone else's vehicle without consent, even temporarily, which grand theft auto does not cover. It is a wobbler: up to one year in county jail, or 16 months, 2, or 3 years as a felony. Since Proposition 47, taking a vehicle worth $950 or less generally must be a misdemeanor.
What the prosecution must prove
Vehicle Code section 10851 requires proof that you drove or took a vehicle that was not your own, that you did so without the owner's consent, and that you intended to deprive the owner of it, either permanently or just temporarily. Under subdivision (c), consent given for an earlier use of the car is not presumed or implied to carry over to a later, different taking by the same person or by someone else; each use has to be separately authorized, so a history of borrowing the car before does not automatically establish permission for the specific occasion charged.
Passengers and accomplices can be charged too
You do not have to be the one who actually drove the car to be charged under this statute. Subdivision (a) also covers "any person who is a party or an accessory to or an accomplice in the driving or unauthorized taking or stealing," which can reach a passenger who knew the vehicle was taken without permission and took part in using it. Simply riding in the car is not the same as being a party, accessory, or accomplice, so what you knew and what you did matter as much as where you were sitting.
Misdemeanor or felony: how that gets decided
Under subdivision (a), the same conduct can be filed as a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail, or as a felony under Penal Code section 1170(h), punishable by 16 months, 2, or 3 years, usually served in county jail; either way the fine can reach $5,000. Where the felony option remains available, prosecutors generally weigh the value and type of vehicle, your criminal history, and the circumstances of the taking, including whether anyone was put at risk while the vehicle was being used. Subdivision (b) makes the offense a felony, with 2, 3, or 4 years and a fine of up to $10,000, when the vehicle is an ambulance or a distinctively marked law enforcement or fire department vehicle taken while on an emergency call, with that fact known, or a vehicle modified for a disabled person that displays a disabled person placard or license plate, when that fact is known or should reasonably have been known, and that fact is alleged and proved. Whether the vehicle was later recovered undamaged does not change whether the offense was committed.
VC 10851 versus grand theft auto (PC 487(d)(1))
Penal Code section 487(d)(1) lists an automobile as grand theft without a dollar threshold, but Proposition 47 added Penal Code section 490.2, which makes theft of property worth $950 or less petty theft, punished as a misdemeanor, "Notwithstanding Section 487 or any other provision of law defining grand theft." The California Supreme Court applied that rule to car theft and to Vehicle Code 10851 in People v. Page (2017) 3 Cal.5th 1175 and People v. Lara (2019) 6 Cal.5th 1128, and in People v. Bullard (2020) 9 Cal.5th 94 it summarized the result: unless the conviction rests on posttheft driving, meaning driving separated from the vehicle's taking by a substantial break, a 10851 violation "must be punished as a misdemeanor theft offense if the vehicle is worth $950 or less," whether the taking was meant to be permanent or temporary. Posttheft driving remains a wobbler whatever the vehicle is worth, and section 490.2 still allows felony sentencing for a person with a prior conviction for an offense listed in Penal Code section 667(e)(2)(C)(iv) or for a registerable sex offense. In a case tried or sentenced after Proposition 47 took effect, the prosecution bears the burden of proving the facts that support a felony. Theft also requires intent to permanently deprive the owner, while 10851 covers borrowing a car without permission, which is why the two charges often appear together, with the outcome turning on value, intent, and whether the case is about the taking or later driving. The firm's pages on grand theft auto and vehicle theft cover the related charges in the same family.
Why people search this under both PC and VC
Section 10851 is frequently, and incorrectly, cited as "PC 10851." It is a Vehicle Code section, not a Penal Code section; there is no Penal Code section 10851, and the two codes are organized differently even where their subject matter overlaps. The mix-up matters if you are trying to look up the actual statute or compare it to your own citation or complaint, since searching the wrong code can turn up unrelated or nonexistent sections, or lead you to assume you are reading about a different charge than the one you actually face.
When a prior conviction increases the penalty
Under subdivision (e) of section 10851 and Penal Code section 666.5, a person with a prior felony conviction for 10851, felony grand theft of an automobile under section 487(d), or a felony violation of Penal Code section 496d, among other listed offenses, who is convicted again of one of those offenses faces 2, 3, or 4 years under section 1170(h), a $10,000 fine, or both, if the prior is alleged and admitted or found true. Separately, Penal Code section 666.1, added by Proposition 36 in 2024, allows a petty theft conviction to be punished by up to a year in county jail or as a felony when the person has two or more prior convictions for listed offenses, a list that includes Vehicle Code 10851. If you have an earlier vehicle theft conviction on your record, treat that history as a factor that can change your exposure on a new case, not just a detail from the past, and raise it with your lawyer early.
What to do if you are charged
Get the exact charging document and any citation to confirm whether you are charged under Vehicle Code 10851, Penal Code 487(d)(1), or both, since the defenses can differ depending on which intent the prosecution has to prove. Preserve anything showing permission to use the vehicle, such as messages, a loan agreement, or a witness who can describe the arrangement, gather anything showing what the vehicle was worth, since the $950 line can decide whether a felony is possible, and write down your own timeline of events while it is fresh, including who else was present and what each person said at the time. Discuss your specific situation, including your record, your role in the incident, and the vehicle involved, with a lawyer before deciding how to respond; the firm's page on joyriding defense covers the charge itself.