[Otter74]

Thanks. Doing it in BC seems pretty straightforward - the plates belong to the seller and as long as the car is on them he is technically liable for it, but when a sale is done there he keeps the plates and turns them in, the province gives me temporary insurance and plates and off I go.

I spoke to someone with ICBC and the province doesn't care whether a car is sold in BC or in the US. If he sells it to me in WA I will have to mail him the plates back eventually as he cannot un-insure the car in BC until he returns them or puts them on another car. I would of course have my own insurance and could claim against that if needed on the journey home, though he would be *technically* liable.

He could mail me the title after I pay him, which would allow me to get an IL title and plates and show up in WA and put my own plates on the car, but when he crossed the border he would be driving a car he technically didn't own any more and could possibly be questioned. That's about all I've learned so far.