I am in Georgia and have a question regarding registering a car. I am buying a used car out of state and will be shipping it out of the country for use at my vacation home. Do I have to register the car in Georgia? The state says you have 30 days to register a car, but it will be out of the state and country within 30 days of purchase. Thanks in advance!
pilottim
If the car is properly licensed and registered somewhere – anywhere – you may drive it in Georgia for up to 30 days. After that you must obtain GA registration to drive it.
If the car is not properly registered somewhere you cannot drive it on any public road. You may store it for as long as you like without registering it, but to move it around it must be towed.
P.S. – I’m not a lawyer, the above information is merely a layman’s interpretation of state law. Caveat emptor.
You need to check with Georgia DMV, but in many states (notably Missouri and Kansas), if the car is being taken out of state, then there is no requirement to register the car and obtain license plates. You may obtain a temporary permit to transport the vehicle to the state where it will be domiciled. Georgia may very well have similar rules.
You also need to find out what import paperwork is required in the country where you are taking the vehicle. That may take more than 30 days if you haven’t started the process, so it may be expedient to register the car in your state of domicile and then complete the import paperwork.
Be very careful to do your homework. The car may or may not be legal where you are going to ship it. For example, the exterior lighting may be wrong for the area you are sending it to.