hoffa

I am in the process of buying a car from Boston, and I am trying to figure out of MA will allow "in-transit" plates? or some other temporary plates so I can drive the car home. I tried searching the MA DMA website, but it wasn't too clear. Thanks in advance.

ltc

I've lived in MA all my life and have never seen temporary/in transit plates; normally you transfer your existing MA plates or go down to the RMV with your paperwork, pay your sales tax and are given your plates.

The other option is to use a dealer or repair plate.

hoffa

Thanks for the reply. I am an out of state buyer, so I would like to avoid paying sales tax. Shipping it may be the only option.

ltc

Since you're not registering the vehicle in MA, you would not pay sales tax, nor would you need a MA permanent plate.

Shipping it is probably the easiest way to get it across the border; otherwise if you could get a Canadian dealer or repair plate, you would only need your bill of sale to drive it across.

84_Carrera

You need to check the laws of where YOU'RE located. I regularly have bought vehicles out of state. Here in RI, they allow a few days of swapping your plates over to your "new" vehicle, on the premise that you're going to transfer the plates from the old car to the new car. Of course, no one is holding a gun to my head & walking me down to the registry to prove that's my true intention.

When I bought my 911, I drove out to Michigan with my plates, brought my proof of insurance (had a policy on the car prior to sale, faxed-over copies, etc.), & drove home on the bill of sale. Had no issues when I got pulled over in Ohio on the way home either.

Crossing the border between US / Canada is another matter, according to the officials there... on going west, I drove thru Canada. Upon re-entering, since I was doing a one-way rental w/ plates in the front seat, we had a nice long chat about what I was doing, etc. They told me that BOTH crossings (Michigan to Canada / Canada to NY) that the car could be impounded & held for a number of DAYS at each stop.

I chose to drive the extra couple of hours & stayed in the US instead, and as I mentioned, no issues.

Good luck!

SMTCapeCod

And bear in mind, the laws are one thing- your insurance company may have its own concerns/arrangements. Make sure you're covered if you drive it home.