temporay tags

[trond]

I have purchased a 1980 3.0SC on eBay, and have had it transported from seller in LA to a colleaugues place in Houston. Now I plan to travel to the US to scope it out, and drive it to another friends place in Maryland.

The questions are: as a tourist with Scandinavian passport only, will I be able to get temporary tags ? On the Texas DMV website it says; go to Council Tax offices with proof of insurance and pay $25 and thats it.

Can I do that as a tourist ? Can I get insurance ? Any showstoppers or advice before I buy the tickets ?

[tcar]

Are you going to export it to Scandanavia, or leave it in Maryland?

[trond]

I'll keep it in maryland for a couple of years, and come back maybe once a year and use it for vacations and hopefully see some of the USA. If I can drive it at all !!

[ljowdy]

If you're taking it to Maryland and leaving it, why don't you get permanent license plates from that state prior to going to Texas???
If they won't give you permanent plates, they can start the DMV process and probably give you a temporary operating permit

[cgarr]

From what I understand when you purchase a car you are allowed to drive it home and only home without any tags. I have done this before but I did get insurance on the car since that is required in our State.

[ljowdy]

Typically, most states require that the car be registered prior to operating it on the highway. This is done for several reasons, you're involved in an accident, you get stopped for a violation, the car is stolen etc etc.

I'd do some research prior to driving the vehicle on the highway without it being registered or having a temporary operating permit.

[trond]

previous owner removed the plates, and I can not imagine I would get away with driving the car almost 2000 miles with no plates.

Getting Maryland plates sounds like a good idea, but i assume this would require a technical inspection in Maryland. The plan is I will arrive to Houston from Norway, pick up the car and drive it to Maryland where I leave it and fly back to Norway.

Can I get temporary tags in Houston or I have to give it to someone who then get the tags for me ?

[84_Carrera]

In Michigan, I was able to have the previous owner pick up temp tags, which I drove home to RI with, when I bought my Taurus SHO there.

When I bought my 911, I brought my own plates (which wouldn't apply to you). I did this because RI doesn't pre-issue temp tags for a car coming into state. So, what I was "required" to do was (as told to me by the DMV), "fly out, pay for the car, fly back with the paperwork, then we can issue you temp tags, then fly out again, and drive the car back on the temp tags, get the police VIN check done, then come back to the registry to get your permanent tags".

I asked about the whole "put my plates from another car on it & drive that home" and was told that was only for if I was going to transfer the plates over to the new car. Um, if I get stopped by an Ohio Trooper on the way home (which I did), how is he going to know my intentions? He's going to see my plate which is assigned to me, my bill of sale, title, etc.


So, it'll vary from state to state who's allowed what, what tags you'll need, etc. As a tourist without a valid US-based driver's license, you might have a very difficult time with this one, not sure. Good luck!

[teenerted1]

good luck with your purchase of a nice looking car. you might have some different issues here since the car was transfered out of the state it was registered in.

might have to finish the title change in california first, and do temp tags from there.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/vr.htm
then do the stuff for texas so you can drive it there.
http://www.dmv.org/tx-texas/vehicle-registration.php
then get the car to maryland. when you get the car there you can worry about what you will need in your final destination.
http://www.marylandmva.com/VehicleServ/REG/NewtoMd.htm

another link might have all the info in one place
http://www.dmv.org/
the internet is your friend
when i sold a car to someone here in Washington they had to do temp tags so they could drive to New Mexico. they had to first do the title change in the state purchased. then got temp tags so they could drive it without doing any of the inspections needed. registered in NM when they arrived. temp tags maybe only good for a week before you have to get reissued.

[eauboy]

You are correct -- Maryland requires a state inspection to obtain a title.

See this page for information specific to your situation:

http://www.marylandmva.com/AboutMVA/INFO/27300-57T.htm

I purchased a vehicle that has not been safety inspected in Maryland. Can I obtain a temporary registration in order to drive the vehicle to an inspection station?

Yes, if you have a title for the vehicle, or are applying for a Maryland title at the same time, you may be eligible for a 30-day temporary registration. Note that the temporary registration is provided so that you can drive your vehicle to and from an authorized Maryland inspection station, weighing station, or repair facility in order to have the vehicle pass a Maryland safety inspection.

Best of luck!

[tcar]

So the car is still registered in Louisiana (LA)? But it's in Texas? You want to drive to Maryland?

And you're not a US citizen.

See if the seller in Louisiana can get a temp tag for it and mail it to you. (They're usually good for 1-2 months).

You'll need to contact an insurance company.

[tcar]

Just saw that some posters think LA means California (Los Angeles?); it's also the abreviation for Louisiana, which is what I assumed, since it's close to Houston.

Sounds like you can get a 30 day in MD (Maryland), but you probably have to show them the title which would mean going there first.

[teenerted1]

sorry what was i thinking LA info here
http://www.dps.state.la.us/omv/ttl/title.html