I am planning to buy a car in GA and driving to another state which I am a resident of. Georgia does not do temporary driving permits for non-residents, and when I asked the authorities in my state, they said as long as you have the title and bill of sale, you can drive without plates. But isn’t driving without plates illegal? How do I drive the car back home?
I think you got your answer from Georgia. When you get home file for the title and pay the tax. All you normally det anyway is a 21 day sticker.
Sounds scary. But thanks for the insight. Might visit my local DMV too, just to see if they give temporary plates.
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It’s quite possible you’ll get pulled over, so make sure there’s nothing visible inside the car that could cause you trouble should the officer see it.
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There is a difference in driving a car home from where you just bought it and driving around town doing whatever, driving it straight from point a to point b with the signed tittle and some form of bill of sale should not be a problem… Maybe putting a sign in the window saying just purchased from out of state might be a good idea, so if you do get pulled over the LEO will see it as he/she is walking up to the car and of course have all your paper work in order and ready to give to them…
But hopefully you can get a temp tag from the local DMV…
Good luck and welcome to the forum…
BTW: The fine for driving without plates in TN is wayyyy cheaper then driving with the wrong plates… So never do that…
Driving laws vary from state to state. The answer Georgia gave may only be correct in Georgia. Without knowing what state you are in and what states you are going through plus the rules of each of those states, no one can answer your question.
You might be able to register the vehicle in your state and get plates for it with the vin, but then you would be in a pickle if you decide not to buy the car after you see it.
Also, what about insurance. Driving without insurance is illegal in almost all states and very foolish if you get in an accident.
In VA you can get a sticker from the DMV to get an out of state purchase home. I drove my car from CT to VA with just the sticker (no plates) with no problems. I doubt anyone even looked twice.
I bought a truck with no plates and drove 200miles and had no issues. Highway patrol passed me on interstate. Go for it. GA cops are nice.
In TN you have 30 days to contact your ins company, as long as you already have established ins (prof), you are covered… New/used car dealers will let you drive off as long as you show prof of ins, same for test drives…
But very valid points, the OP needs to make some real phone calls to the DMV(s) and ins company, not a forum that is not gonna help pay any fines or anything else if trouble happens…
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Maybe you can get temporary plates from your state to get it home. Do you have to cross state lines more than once? E.g., you live in Kentucky and have to drive through Tennessee to get there. Anyway, talk to your state DMV and see what they recommend.
+1
If I was in the OP’s situation, I would want something official, rather than ideas from random strangers with unknown agendas.
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Right. They said they already talked to Georgia dmv and was going to check with their home state. Not that complicated. I bought a used car in Wisconsin and registered it in Mn. Son bought a new car in pa and registered it in Ohio. Happens every day.
Yup! I bought my current vehicle in PA, and they took care of all of the necessary paperwork and obtaining license plates for me. I guess it helped that they were not very far from the NJ border.
That works at a dealership but not for a private sale. Given the troubles with stolen cars we read out lately I’m not sure I want to buy a car from a private party without vetting the VIN through my DMV or insurer first. I’d probably get a quicker response from the care insurer.
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I guess seeing that they were planning to buy a car, suggested at a dealership. Normally you don’t plan to buy a car from a private party, like you snooze you lose. You either buy it or you don’t cause it may be gone tomorrow. My bad if not a valid assumption.
I would highly recommend you also call your insurance carrier and get a policy on the car after you buy it… Normally when you buy a car near your home, you can easily get it registered and insured, even though most insurance companies give you a 30-day grace period to get the car on the policy.
However, you are driving an unfamiliar vehicle and if (Knock on wood) you have an accident, things might go much smoother if there is an active policy in place at the time of the accident.
Now, if you do not have an active auto insurance policy, that’s a whole different can of nuts…
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Yeah with State Farm you have an automatic 30 days of coverage on the new vehicle. All they want is the vin as soon as possible.
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I suspect that since you have a driver’s license from your State, that if you are legally driving the car under the rules of your State, that it is legal in any other State.
For instance Alaska doesn’t license trailers. So if you have an Alaska driver’s license, you can use the Alaska trailer in any State.