I'm asking this here because there are a lot of good people in this forum who are always more than willing to help. I've got a question about buying a used car in Pennsylvania that will be transported out of state to be registered and titled. I've been to the Commonwealth's DOT site and cannot find an answer.

We are in the process of buying a barely used car for my wife (2008 BMW 328i Convertible w/4500 miles). The owner, who is the father of one of her co-workers, owns the car. He and the car are located in PA. We live in NC.

The question is when we drive up to get the car, is there some way to go to PennDOT and leave with either a temporary tag or drive away permit so that we can get it home to register and title it in NC? If so, what is the cost?

I've looked on the PennDOT web site and can't find the answer for the above scenario. What I do not want to do is to is to get stuck paying the PA sales tax in order to get the temp/drive away permit, as NC will assess their sales tax when I attempt to register the car here.

NC requires that the car be inspected prior to registration. The two are now electronically linked so that the car has to have been inspected in NC within 90 days of registration for the registration or renewal process to be completed. As a result, doing the the paperwork for the transfer through the mail then taking a tag with us when we go up to get the car is not an option.

My other option is to ask the seller to leave his tag on the car for the trip, then my wife can give it to his son after we bring the car back down to NC. I'd prefer not to go that route. His delivering the car to NC is also not an option. This has all been set into motion because of some personal issues and I'd like to make it as easy as possible on the seller.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

You should be able to purchase / obtain an In-transit plate from your home state. The plate is only good for 15 days. Then all you need is to set up insurance so you're covered on the way home.

Talk to your insurance agent. They likely have dealt with this before and would be a good resource.

 

If possible rent a UHaul car dollie

 

It would seem to me that the in transit plate should be coming from the state where the car is presently titled/registered. Hoping someone who has done this in PA or is familiar with their DMV regs can chime in.


Don't want to do that. Too much hassle & expense when I should just be able to drive the car home. Isn't that what drive away / in transit plates are for?

 

I bought my Vette in Ga., drove it home on temp plates and then registered it in NC, NC DMV gave me a year to do the inspection since it was from out of state. I did pay the taxes in NC and not Ga. when I registered it.

 

Put insurance on the car prior to going after it. Take a current tag from another vehicle and drive the car home on that plate. Get the title signed and notorized there.

You have 30 days in north carolina to transfer a tag. Once you getbback from penn. take the title to the dmv (dummovuckers) and get your new tag or transfer the old.

Esay deal really.

 

I had the same issue the OP had. I called the Ohio BMV. Believe it or not, they actually told me to take one of my plates off another car and put it on. They said that I had 30 days to transfer the plate and just tell a police officer that in off chance I got questioned. First time ever in my life where someone at the DMV had common sense

 

This is not legal in all states.

When I did dealer delivers we got trip permits.
The challenge is the current owner has to get the trip permit in some states.
I got a trip permit in WA and CA. Just had to tell the state what I was doing.
They both gave me a 3 day trip permit.

In my state CO, you have till the next business day to get plates. If you pick a car up Friday night
you can drive it till Monday morning. I always try to plan my car moves on weekends so that
I can drive without plates. I have done this more then 5 times.

 

Call your DMV and see if they have a transport tag you can purchase. Or maybe a dealer in the purchasing state can sell you a temp tag. I don't know if they can or not but it's worth a shot.

 

I live here in PA and this is what I found for you:
"TEMPORARY LICENSE PLATES
When you purchase a vehicle from an individual and you do not have a license plate to be transferred, you
may obtain a temporary registration, valid for 90 days, from an authorized PennDOT agent."

"MOVING
If you are going to title your car in another state, you will be responsible for filing the forms required by that
state. Your car must have a current Pennsylvania license plate in order to legally drive it to the other state.
Insurance coverage must be maintained until you are properly titled and registered in another state."

Here is the link to the buying and selling cars fact sheet from DMV, it gives you all of the fees involved for PA:http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms...fs-buysell.pdf

Additional questions and answeres may be found at : http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/motorVehi...r/buying.shtml

Have a good night and good luck

 

^1 Exactly. You should have no trouble driving it home the day you buy it with a temp PA tag. You won't have to pay the taxes either, until you get home. You will however need to change it over to an NC tag within the required timeframe.

Good luck and enjoy your new ride!

 

Not sure how PA works, but when I bought my car in NJ, I went to the NJ DMV and got a temp tag. Drove the car home on it and then registered the car and paid the sales tax in MO. Just give the PA DMV a call an ask them about getting temp tags.

 

Thanks for all the responses and assistance. The seller is the father of one of my wife's co-worker. He has volunteered to leave his tags on the car so that I can transport it back to NC. My wife will then give the tag to his son. Works for me.

 

When the sale is done, you should make sure you have a dated and notarized Bill of Sale. If you are getting the PA Certificate of Title when you buy, the seller has to sign a statement that shows release of ownership and has to provide the name and address of the buyer.

With having the plates remain on the car, make sure you get the current registration form and make sure the plates have a current registration tab. All of this will show proof of ownership and you shouldn't have any problems if you get stopped.

It's a good idea to call your insurance company so the car can be added to your policy. Most insurance companies can fax a proof of insurance card or they can email a copy. While most companies will allow up to 30 days to add a car to a policy, doing it as soon as the purchase is done just gives that added cushion and having that proof of insurance card helps if you get stopped for whatever reason.

 

I recently had the same scenario and was told by the NC DMV counter person that a car purchased out of state did not have to be inspected until the next renewal. You get the first year as a grace period. I did not look up any laws, but maybe you could do some research in that direction. If you have already purchased the car, take the title to the DMV and try to buy tags based on that. If the purchase is based on final inspection, I don't think that will work since you won't have the title.
As far as current owner leaving his tags on the car, I think that would take a foolish person to agree to that. Do you have any friends in the used car business in NC? If so, they have seen just about every possibility for transfers and could help you with some advice, maybe even a temp tag.

 

When I bought my car in Florida, I called my insurance company and added the car even though I wouldn't change the registration until I got it home to Virginia. I proved to the owner that I had full coverage including liability and he let me keep his tag on the car for the drive home. I took the title to the DMV in VA and I got a temp registration - 1 month - from the DMV so I could get it inspected and registered. Talk to the owner and see if they will let you borrow the tag for the ride home.

 

I would think that you'd be okay driving the car home without plates. Obviously, you need to carry the Bill of Sale with you. You should also be able to provide the seller's phone number in case you get stopped and the officer has questions about the purchase/sale. Personally, I'd never sell a vehicle and leave the plates on it . . . regardless of the circumstances. I'd think a police officer might be curious why you're driving a vehicle that registers to someone else. I would. Most states have statutes which cover the fictitious use of license plates. Just food for thought in case you get stopped by an officer who's having a bad day.

You should also be covered under your current insurance policy, but you might want to get something in writing from your agent for the new vehicle.