First and foremost...don't ever put a tag on a vehicle that belongs to another vehicle. This is seen as intent to conceal the identity of a vehicle. Police can impound the vehicle if your story isn't believable.
Private car purchase out of state how to drive home
- Thread starter raaizin
- Start date
I did this ten years ago. I was debating whether to drive a low mileage, but then 42 year old collector car ~ 350 miles home after buying it. I decided to rent a U-haul trailer, and towed it with my buddy's F-150. The round trip trailer rental wasn't expensive. It turned out to be the right choice. The heat riser valve was frozen in the closed position. Driving it like that for a few hundred miles could have caused damage requiring repairs costing far more a trailering it.
Since I was going from the Detroit area to upstate NY, I drove across southern Ontario. This route is about 125 miles shorter, but requires two border crossings. Re-entering the US at about 02:00, the border agent climbed up on the trailer and wrote down the VIN. He then disappeared for a couple of minutes, presumably to check it against alert lists. The paperwork I had was a hand written bill of sale, the title signed over to me, and an insurance card in my name. Before I bought the car, I had DMV and a LEO friend run the VIN. I didn't want to get bad news when the seller already had my money.
So, if you feel lucky, just drive it. In my case, working to prevent a bad outcome was effective.
Since I was going from the Detroit area to upstate NY, I drove across southern Ontario. This route is about 125 miles shorter, but requires two border crossings. Re-entering the US at about 02:00, the border agent climbed up on the trailer and wrote down the VIN. He then disappeared for a couple of minutes, presumably to check it against alert lists. The paperwork I had was a hand written bill of sale, the title signed over to me, and an insurance card in my name. Before I bought the car, I had DMV and a LEO friend run the VIN. I didn't want to get bad news when the seller already had my money.
So, if you feel lucky, just drive it. In my case, working to prevent a bad outcome was effective.
10 and 2 ? Seriously though, it’s up to your state how to register it. Not a big deal
Last edited:
Be aware of a couple things.
If you buy in New York State and don’t want to pay NYS Taxes, have dealer get a “Certificate of Transit” that allows you to not pay the tax and you must get car out of state within thirty days. In my case, drove out next day. You then pay the tax in the State where you live. As a former NYS resident, I don’t have many good things to say about the state, however having a Certificate of Transit is one great thing about the state.
If you buy car in Florida, and you DRIVE car home, you must pay Florida state tax, even if you get a paper tag. Then your home state will have to fight Florida to get the tax money back. (I’ve heard horror stories how people ended up paying tax to both states). Only way to not pay Florida tax is to put car on trailer and tow it home.
Good luck.
If you buy in New York State and don’t want to pay NYS Taxes, have dealer get a “Certificate of Transit” that allows you to not pay the tax and you must get car out of state within thirty days. In my case, drove out next day. You then pay the tax in the State where you live. As a former NYS resident, I don’t have many good things to say about the state, however having a Certificate of Transit is one great thing about the state.
If you buy car in Florida, and you DRIVE car home, you must pay Florida state tax, even if you get a paper tag. Then your home state will have to fight Florida to get the tax money back. (I’ve heard horror stories how people ended up paying tax to both states). Only way to not pay Florida tax is to put car on trailer and tow it home.
Good luck.
Really depends on where you're buying, where you have to drive through, and your destination. I looked into this when looking at a vehicle in a part of TN that is most easily reached via GA. TN's rule was drive it straight home with your paperwork, GA was officer's discretion, anything from have a nice day to confiscating the vehicle, and AL doesn't care at all if you have insurance on it. Shipping is probably the safest, but I have heard many stories of successful drives home. Driving in AL with no tag doesn't bother me if the vehicle is on my insurance, but outside the state is a nope.
Can't you just get plates in your state and go down to Florida, slap the out of state plates on and drive it home?
While that is the simplest way and would be allowed in some states, in much of the east, you risk getting ticketed and the car impounded if pulled over. Ideally you would take the title to your home state to get it registered and get tags and THEN drive it home, but it would probably take 2 trips unless you're buying it online.
Similar threads
