Hello guys,

I will take a bus down to Virginia this weekend to complete a purchase on a 95 cab. I had some worries about driving the car back which is a 4 hour drive from my house, and did not have time get to the DMV with the plates and such, Is it legal to drive back a car purchased from a private seller, if you have the title, bill of sale, and insurance cards? Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks.

 

If you have all the papertrail you might not get hassled.

In Va, you can get a "transit" tag via internet (if you are a resident). This allows you 3-4 days to "move" the car before it would need to be registered. Does NY offer the same thing?

I don't think you can get actual plates WITHOUT presenting a title, so getting plates in NY before going might not be possible either.

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/register.htm#temporary and look for "in transit permit"

Virginia does NOT offer a trip permit to non state residents.

 

Check with the state you are buying it in to see what you need to produce to get a temporary tag issued. Or, check with your home state and see if they can issue you a temporary tag. Every state is different. Good luck!

 

I bought my car in Arizona and they had "in state" in-transit permits and "out of state" permits (their official names might be different). I bought the out of state permit and drove the 1700 miles home. I also got insurance prior to picking up the car although the insurance company usually covers you here, but, like the others said, check with the state DMV and your insurance company.

 

I bought a 993 last year in NJ and drove it home thru Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Each of those states have different rules and I spent a long time on the web and on hold trying to talk to BMV reps. Even within the same BMV, different agents had different opinions.

I finally decided to take the plate off my Boxster and brought it along with the Boxster's registration. Slapped the plate on the 993 and drove the speed limit all the way home along with the 993's title and bill-of-sale. No issues, arrived home in one piece. YMMV

Oh, the airline security check wouldn't let me have the plate in my carry-on so I had to go back and pay to have a bag checked. It's a plastic plate but the TSA guy said it had a sharp edge.

 

The last 2 cars I purchased out of State, the previous owner let me drive home on his plates. I had all the paperwork in hand but I could not Register in NJ as you need the Title to do so. If the car is owned by the bank. the bank may physically hold the title. If this is so, you could buy the car and have the bank send you the title directly. Register it and fly down with plates in hand. Good luck.

 

Great job.

 

yes, each State has it's own rules regarding temp tags. Make sure you give the vin to your insurance co BEFORE you get the car, so it's covered under your insurance.

Try to convince the previous owner to allow you to drive the car back home with his plates on it. Advise him that the car is insured by you also. Return his plates as soon as possible, and include a nice THANK YOU gift. I sent local BBQ sauce, and micro brews to my PO along with the plates.

That is the simplist route, without inconvienent DMV delays.

Good Luck!

 

I just drove 800 miles back from Florida with my car. The seller let me keep his tag on and I overnighted it back to him the day after I arrived home. I also had the signed sales contract, insurance cards and a copy of the sellers registration. This is the easiest way to do it IMHO. See if the seller will do this and put it in the contract

Mike

 

I purchased my '95 in Seattle back in '05. After paying for the car and receiving title, I drove it north to Vancouver, across Canada, back into the US through North Dakota, and then home to Maryland (3,200 miles). This was done on the seller's plates. Not a peep over the 5 days it took me to get home.


Andreas

 

I bought my car in West Palm and the PO let me use his plates to get home. When I took them off after I got home I noticed they had expired 6 months prior

 

If you have to drive without a plate go to the local auto parts store and buy a cheap license frame. Put it on the car with the cardboard insert still intact. Going down the road it will look like a dealers advertising plate and draw less attention than going plateless. I've even gone so far as to tape a small square of paper in the lower front corner of the windshield as well. Somewhat devious but rolling down the road it looks like a newly delivered car and most LEO's wouldn't give it a second thought. Of course, have all the proper documents on hand and have insurance papers in your name.

 

Take a chance, have all the documents ready if necessary. Hopefully the police will be busy catching the real criminals.....

 

I checked with my brother in Law (Oregon State Cop) and he advised it is much worse to use a plate from another car in most states. Georgia requires a hand written "Tag applied for" piece of paper or cardboard, while SC requires a temp tag. I have used just about everythying but have learned if you dont have a temp tag, nothing is the best option so you dont get nailed for false documents just to get the car home. Drove three cars over 1000 miles with nothing but the signed title or bill of sale. Yes, I got pulled over once but once the officer saw the bill of sale and insurance (blanket policy) he sent me on my way....except in Texas where I was demolishing the posted speed limit. (field test)

 

I picked my car up from Miami and drove it back to Atlanta with a piece of cardboard tag that I had hand written with a Sharpie that said "Tag Applied For". No issues.