Does a plaintiff have to delay filing a claim until after the statute of limitations has run out?

defendant notice of the claims against it so that it may gather and preserve evidence, and thereby satisfies the principal policy behind the statute of limitations" (ibid.)to protect defendants "from stale claims and deteriorated evidence." (Collier v. City of Pasadena (1983) 142 Cal.App.3d 917, 924-925.) To show good faith, the plaintiff must not additionally delay the filing of a claim "until the statute on that claim ha[s] nearly run, even after crediting the tolled period." (Id. at p. 926.)