Using existing plates on a newly bought car?
 

I know this was shortly discusses not that long ago here but for he life of me I can't find the thread. So I'll ask: If I buy a used vehicle from a dealer and put insurance on it, can I drive the car for a short period of time to get it safetied? If yes, is or where is this in the HTA?
Appreciate any help ahead of time.

"A Safety standards certificate is a document that certifies a vehicle's fitness. You can buy and register a vehicle without a safety certificate, but you cannot put your own plates on the vehicle or drive it without one" from the Ontario.ca website. I was curious as well.

Adam knows better than anyone here but in my experience if it was previously fit and didn't have 2 temp permits since registered, you can get a temp sticker which lasts 7 or 8days and put it on your existing or new plates.

Yep, and in that case the permit is titled as TEMP, you pay your taxes, plates and $15 for the T sticker and then come back with the safety to get a regular sticker and a FIT permit. But again I'm not on the desk much so I differ to our clerks.

If anyone wants a specific number plate like 928, 997, 996, 993 as your digits PM me and I can put aside for you. :)

This is how I knew all this before too but, there was a discussion where a couple of people insisted that you can legally use an exiting plate from a car that you own and has a valid sticker/registration, as long as you have insurance on the car that you just bought. And this can be done for ~7 days. Is this an urban myth then?

I've used my plates from my current car when buying a used one, but I doubt it's legal.
You do not need insurance for the 1st 7 days (maybe more) on a car you have purchased if you have another car with insurance. This is government regulated and I have unfortunately had to test this law.

Urban myth. That 7 day rule only applies to insurance coverage, basically you can buy a car and you do not need to even tell your insurance company. (although they will never tell you that)

Driving with plates not registered to the vehicle can produce a ticket. But I have always done it like that and figure if you have all the paper work and insurance the cop would have to be a prick to ticket you. But with the way things are going around here, not sure I would continue to risk it.

I believe it is not an urban myth but the way things used to work. not anymore.

I believe you used to be able to obtain a temp paper permit, without having the vehicle in your name.
I believe current rule is.... you must get ownership, pay the tax, get unfit ownership.... then they will issue you a trip permit.
With this un fit ownership, you can get insurance from your provider.

For me, not owning the car on paper? No insurance? Any liability? I just flat bed my new toy. Not worth the risk.
My rule. Don't test your luck. Find out for sure, yourself. Don't trust US.

In Alberta:

You can use your existing licence plate and vehicle registration on another vehicle for up to 14 days. You must also carry your proof of ownership document and insurance until you transfer the registration and licence plate.

Yes that is true, we do still have the paper special permits but they are now only used for out of province customers that are bringing a car to Ontario. Back in the day all you needed to show was insurance and you got a special permit, did your stuff and came back to register.

You are correct with he new process, you register, pay taxes, buy plates and a T sticker. But the car is registered as a TEMP (not unfit). Then you come back with the safety to get your normal sticker and a new FIT permit. And if over 15 years old you need an appraisal if purchased privately.

:)

Slightly off topic but I thought this story was worth sharing.

A couple of years ago I decided to move my license sticker from my 996 (which was being stored for the winter) to my winter beater. Since my birthday is in March I only needed a sticker for a month and I figured I paid for the yearly license anyway. Getting a sticker for one month would have required visiting the ministry service office twice. I did a bit of searching online and couldn't find any clear rules on moving a sticker from one car to another. I figured that it probably wasn't quite legal, but the worst case was that I would get fined the same as if I didn't purchase a sticker for the vehicle at all.

Wrong.

My commute to work takes about 3 minutes, but one lucky day I ended up with a police car behind me. He pulled me over, asked me to get out of the car, handcuffed me, and made me sit in the back of his cruiser so I could explain why my license plates weren't stolen. Apparently moving your license sticker is treated the same way as if you had stolen license plates. It isn't a simple fine and requires going to court to be sentenced. Long story short, the prosecutor said that in my case the charge was stupid and he requested a $50 dollar fine. I did have to sit through and entire morning in the courtroom listening to traffic related cases.

Sadly one of my colleagues happened to see me getting handcuffed since it occurred right outside of my office. I still get teased about it.

Yep, the sticker is actually useless. It's your plate being valid in the system that counts. :) And the current plan is to stop selling stickers all together, but don't worry the MTO will still charge you the same and they will save the production costs. LOL