Buying a used car out of state?

rammstein · 06-11-2009, 06:51 PM

Lets say I was buying a used car from a private party out of state. Lets say that I want to buy it, and then drive it back. How do I do this legally? The Florida DMV site is not particularly helpful on this. I assume I would somehow have to register it and get plates for it ahead of time, but wouldn't I need to have the title in my possession in order to do this? Insurance seems easier- I think all they care about is a VIN#.

Does anybody have experience in this?

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

Short answer: every state is different. I don't know what it's like in Florida.

You have two concerns: cops and insurance.

If you get pulled over during transit, the car is obviously not yet titled/registered in your name. In my case, the PO of my Porsche was kind enough to keep the car titled under his name until I mailed the plates back. But that's a big extension of trust which is probably quite atypical. You'll have to call or visit your DMV to get the proper paperwork, if you want to do it the right way. Some states will allow you to have a temporary "plate" for a few days. I knew guys who used that as a 3-day pass to drive their non-street-legal race cars to and from the track for race weekends up in Washington. Easy answer is to just not get pulled over. But if you go bandito, it's worthwhile to have as much documentation (bill of sale, pink slip, etc.) in your possession.

For insurance, like you point out, usually a call to your agent the day before picking it up will have the car covered for x number of days until you bring it back home for proper registration/etc.

legion · 06-11-2009, 07:10 PM

Remember how I did this?

I threw a valid set of plates on the 951 at the airport and drove back to Illinois.

I highly doubted that the cops would know the difference between a Guards Red 1987 944S (the car the plates were registered to) and a Guards Red 1986 944 Turbo (the car I was buying).

Some state will issue a "drive away" plate, but you have to get that at the DMV at the state you are buying the car from. Maybe the seller can help you out with this. Not all states issue these.

When I bought the 944S, I bought it near Alton, IL and drove it home with no plates. I had a bill of sale and the title. But it is legal in Illinois to drive a recently purchased car home with no plates as you need the title to get plates.

legion · 06-11-2009, 07:11 PM

Most insurance companies will cover a new car on an existing auto policy for up to 30 days without notifying the insurer. I've never bothered to call the insurance company until I had the car home.

Jims5543 · 06-11-2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rammstein

Lets say I was buying a used car from a private party out of state. Lets say that I want to buy it, and then drive it back. How do I do this legally? The Florida DMV site is not particularly helpful on this. I assume I would somehow have to register it and get plates for it ahead of time, but wouldn't I need to have the title in my possession in order to do this? Insurance seems easier- I think all they care about is a VIN#.

Does anybody have experience in this?

Mikes E30 came from Rick V and Virginia. My FJ Cruiser came from Tennessee. My Porsche Came from Kansas City.

In every instance the seller kept the tag on the car for me so I could drive it home, then mail it back after I registered it here in Florida.

In Ricks case the tags died with the car and are now wall decorations in the garage.

Ask the seller to let you drive it back down (if your driving it) then send the tags back after you register it.

Insure it right away though.

Warning, if you drive to the tag office with no tag or a Florida tag that does not belong on the car, the cop can give you a lot of trouble. You will have to have a VIN check done by a cop either at the DMV or you can call the police station and, believe it or not, they will send someone to you to do the check. Well, at least they will up here where there is little crime.

I showed my son the E30, he likes it a LOT.

rammstein · 07:19 PM

Yeah, I'm trying to go legit.

Edit- thanks Jim. Helps that you are in state.

OK- so assuming that I can convince the seller to let me borrow the plates to get it down here, I'd be able to insure it right away.

So then when I get here, I cannot actually take the car to the DMV for a VIN check, because that would be illegal... so therefore, I'd have to have a cop come do it at my apartment. HA- that is ridiculous. Oh well... so long as the seller is amenable to this, I should be ok.

Jims5543 · 06-11-2009, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rammstein

Yeah, I'm trying to go legit.

It is just mind boggling to me that the DMV site isn't clear about this. It says that I have to bring in the title to get the car registered. Seems a bit difficult. Going to the DMV will probably require a partial lobodomy for me to get through it. Nothing is worse than the DMV. Ugh...

I just registered my FJ today and it took 15 minutes.

Painless process honestly.

The seller seems more than accommodating, I am sure he will let you keep the tag with the car until you register it.

RacerX1166 · 06-11-2009, 07:26 PM

As noted, it depends on the state. Most states offer 'transit tags' for just such a purpose. Some states offer them for you as a resident, others offer them to the buyer from out of state.

I can tell you MA has neither....

I'd call a notary or messenger service either in your home state or the state in which you're purchasing the car.

legion · 06-11-2009, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rammstein

Yeah, I'm trying to go legit.

It is just mind boggling to me that the DMV site isn't clear about this. It says that I have to bring in the title to get the car registered. Seems a bit difficult. Going to the DMV will probably require a partial lobodomy for me to get through it. Nothing is worse than the DMV. Ugh...

When I bought my truck in Florida, the dealership gave me Florida temporary tags.

The dealership wanted to register the car for me in Illinois, but couldn't figure out how--they'd never dealt with the Illinois DMV before. Apparently most other states allow a dealership to apply for plates online, or by mail. Illinois allows neither. The DMV in Illinois refused to give the dealership a mailing address. I believe the exact quote was: "We don't accept mail." Nope, the only way to register a vehicle in Illinois is with the title in hand at a DMV office.

Should be easy, right?

Wrong. According to the dealership, Florida law prevents them from giving the title to the vehicle owner when there is still a lien in place. That's right, the Illinois DMV created a wonderful catch-22 for me. (Actually, it was one particular DMV employee that I call the "Title Nazi" as she has always created a problem for me when titling a vehicle. She knows me, and she has even walked up to other employees that were helping me, ripped the paperwork out of their hands, and said: "I'm helping you now." And then it goes pear-shaped from there.) I can't title the truck without the title in hand, but the dealership can't send the title to me.

After weeks of trying to navigate the Illinois DMV by phone, the dealership in Florida finally decided to break the law and send the title to me...

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

(Actually, it was one particular DMV employee that I call the "Title Nazi" as she has always created a problem for me when titling a vehicle. She knows me, and she has even walked up to other employees that were helping me, ripped the paperwork out of their hands, and said: "I'm helping you now." And then it goes pear-shaped from there.) I can't title the truck without the title in hand, but the dealership can't send the title to me.

Sounds like she's got her eye out for you, big guy!

Quote:

After weeks of trying to navigate the Illinois DMV by phone, the dealership in Florida finally decided to break the law and send the title to me...

Oooh. Oooh. Now call them back and ask for another $500 off, or you're calling, um, someone in authority on them.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Chris, you need to go ahead and let her have a little taste of the old 11 and 3/4 inch tanned banana splendor, problem solved

rammstein · 06-11-2009, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jims5543

I showed my son the E30, he likes it a LOT.

Well, I didn't explicitly say that's the car in question......

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Just call and have it added to your policy before you pick it up. Thats how my dad has always done it. Run tagless but have all the proper paperwork. In OK all you need is the car and title to get a tag. The Tag "agencies" are small town operations that work for the DMV. The local one is also an insurance agent. Its a pretty sweet setup for us.

Jims5543 · 06-12-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rammstein

So then when I get here, I cannot actually take the car to the DMV for a VIN check, because that would be illegal... so therefore, I'd have to have a cop come do it at my apartment. HA- that is ridiculous. Oh well... so long as the seller is amenable to this, I should be ok.

Take it to the tag office with the other guys plate on it, have the vin checked while you are there, this is what I did. Then they will issue a new tag, put it on and drive away.

Send old tag back to seller.

strupgolf · 06-12-2009, 05:06 PM

I bought many cars out of state. Buy it, have seller issue a bill of sale (handwritten ok), keep plates on car or not, drive back. Never any problems for me.

serge944 · serge944's Garage

Shouldn't be a problem. Your insurance usually covers a new car purchase for 30 days. As long as the registration is current, who cares who's name it's in?

ChemMan · ChemMan's Garage

When I bought the slk in South Carolina from a private party, I called my insurance company. They opened a policy on the vehicle. When I got down to SC, I went to the DMV and got temporary plates. Drove back to MI with those.