Vehicle registration conundrum

[dja4260]

Currently live in Chicago, IL.

Our vehicle plates are set to expire end of May. IL renewal cost $105 per vehicle, and last 12 months

We're moving June 12th to Greenville, SC.

South Carolina says I have 45 days to legally register vehicle, pay for plates, and pay vehicle tax.

I have a few options:

Option #1- renew IL plates for the 2 week gap, then pay SC to change plates again, with SC costs.

Option #2- Let my IL plate registration lapse and risk it for 2 weeks, then transfer everything in SC.

Option #3- renew my IL plates and do not register vehicles in SC until May 2018, when they're set to expire. This is the most cost effective option. SC DMV doesn't require much other then proof of insurance, titles, and payment of fees.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Can you not turn in your Illinois plates for a pro-rated refund?

Can you not register your vehicle with an address in Illinois that will still be available after your move (say, your mom's house)? Maybe you can then claim in SC that the vehicle is registered at your "other" residence, until it's time to change it over.

 

[BigD1]

Have to be careful now because states report to other states, and they will not register your car in the new state until fines or taxes are paid.

Was standing in line behind a woman at the DMV here in NC. She was from New Jersey, and she was wanting NC plate. The DMV person said to her that she could not give her one because NJ had a hold because she had unpaid taxes in NJ. She said she would pay the tax, but the NC DMV could not accept the payment on behalf of NJ. NC can block the tag on behalf of NJ, but they can't accept payment. They need to fix that.

 

[Leo99]

I'd do option 1 as it's the legal. I'm not going to skirt the law to save a few hundred.

 

[Donald]

Register at new address early?

 

[fdcg27]

I would not risk driving on expired tags simply because the cost of the ticket would exceed the cost of renewing your registration and you'll then be stuck with both the fine and the cost of renewal.
In at least some jurisdictions, the officer could have your vehicle towed to impound which would then involve considerable time and $$$ to recover.
Given that you probably have to renew your registration in IL, the question then becomes how long you can go on IL tags in SC. Bear in mind that you'll have to obtain a SC title to register the vehicle in SC which will probably require some sort of inspection if only to verify the VIN.
Cops are typically more observant than we give them credit for being and will notice a car on out of state tags that appears in the same location day after day for months. At some point, you might be cited for failure to register your vehicle in SC and you'll then have to register your car in SC in addition to paying the fine.
You have no good money-saving options here that I can see.
What's your risk tolerance/aversion level?

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Register at new address early?


This. You have to register at your "domicile" which is where you intend to live. Are you going through there before you officially move?

Do not run for a year on IL plates. SC will want their tax money, bad.

Going on expired plates sounds cool until you have to make the road trip through potentially small towns that love ticket revenue.

FWIW Maine has a codified one-month grace period for expired registrations where the driver can be warned but not cited.

 

[dja4260]

South Carolina gives me 45 days to register vehicles.

I'd love to register them early and change my drivers license over, but I won't be in the state until we move, June 12th+

 

[fdcg27]

A thought just occurred to me.
Will you be in SC prior to your move?
You're probably going to have to obtain an SC driver's license just to title and register your vehicle(s) in SC.
I wonder whether you might be able to bridge the gap by showing them your IL title(s) and obtaining temporary tags from SC to tide you over until you can complete the process of obtaining SC driver's license, vehicle titling and registration?
Worth a little internet time and a couple of phone calls to find out.
Surely you weren't planning on driving to SC on expired tags?

 

[Vern_in_IL]

About 6 months ago Illinois was not sending renewal notices, so people were driving around on expired plates.

Illinois is broke, don't renew here, we need bankruptcy badly. Let Chitcago suffer.

I know of many people in IL that have out of state plates, but live here for work, etc.

 

[OneEyeJack]

I let my vehicle registration get ahead of me. I'd been working nights and the day my registration expired I drove my Civic to work planning to get to DMV in the morning with an appointment all set up.

A cop came through the parking lot at about 10:00 PM but I was okay because the actual expiration was not until midnight. What I did not find out until the next morning was that the cop came back at 12:30 AM and wrote me a ticket and had my poor Civic towed to the impound lot. This was not a meter maid but a regular patrol cop. I was upset about being stupid but also that a cop equipped to fight crime and serve the people went this far out of his way to come back and write that ticket and on top of that had my car towed away.

 

[FlyNavyP3]

Registration by mail for SC isn't difficult. You will have to pay the "property tax" to the county you'll be living in prior to paying the plate fees. They separate the two in SC which is somewhat annoying but not insurmountable.

I absolutely wouldn't intentionally violate SC laws by failing to register or risk driving on an expired IL plate.

What about a temporary tag to bridge the gap?

I've registered several vehicles in SC by mail, it's really quite easy and they were happy to send the plates to me out of state.

 

[cheech279]

Check your owner's registration. Are you sure you don't have a 15 day grace period after the tag itself expires? That's what NC does. That would give you until June 15. Or perhaps inquire if IL will let you renew for a shorter interval, like 6 months. Be sure to surrender your IL plates by mail if the state requires it, like many states do.

 

[Burt]

In Texas, if you are less than one month over due and you get a ticket, the judge will waive the fine if you prove that you promptly corrected it. Two weeks isn't enough time for Illinois to issue an overdue notice. Neither side knows exactly when you left and has more to worry about. I'd risk it particularly if your car is kept in a garage, but that is just me.

 

[JustinH]

My take, we moved from NY to Texas.

Wife had to renew her car registration a month before we left.

We paid for the renewal, then we went to Texas and had it inspected and titled down here.

When we cancelled the NY registration, and mailed the plates back to NY they sent me a pro rated check for whatever it was.

To register a car in Texas, I believe you need a Texas DL, to get a Texas DL, you need to have a Texas address, and need to prove it.

I think we needed to show an apartment rental agreement or something if you owned the home.

 

[Nick1994]

Here in AZ you can purchase a 30 day registration paper plate you tape in your back window. Only costs like $5. Get it through IL and then move and swap over.

 

[Delta]

I would just renew them in Illinois and run them in SC till they expire. Had the same situation before I moved from Mississippi to Pennsylvania in March '15. The tag on my Jetta expired in February. Ran the MS tag in PA for about 7 months. Notary didn't say anything about moving date. Luckily I didn't have to pay sales tax, just the notary fees (lein title) and regular registration fee.

 

[Dave Hess]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I let my vehicle registration get ahead of me. I'd been working nights and the day my registration expired I drove my Civic to work planning to get to DMV in the morning with an appointment all set up.

A cop came through the parking lot at about 10:00 PM but I was okay because the actual expiration was not until midnight. What I did not find out until the next morning was that the cop came back at 12:30 AM and wrote me a ticket and had my poor Civic towed to the impound lot. This was not a meter maid but a regular patrol cop. I was upset about being stupid but also that a cop equipped to fight crime and serve the people went this far out of his way to come back and write that ticket and on top of that had my car towed away.


Wow, what a jerk cop. No warning.

Must have been trying to meet his important quota and crack down on bad criminals like you.

 

[dishdude]

I would renew in IL and then leisurely register in SC when things settle down. You'll have a lot going on with the move, so I am sure postponing a trip to the DMV would help. Remember IL plates = IL auto insurance.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Originally Posted By: Delta
I would just renew them in Illinois and run them in SC till they expire. Had the same situation before I moved from Mississippi to Pennsylvania in March '15. The tag on my Jetta expired in February. Ran the MS tag in PA for about 7 months. Notary didn't say anything about moving date. Luckily I didn't have to pay sales tax, just the notary fees (lein title) and regular registration fee.


That's basically what I did when I moved from FL to WI. Brought the Liberty up here in April of 2011, LR3 in August of 2011 and registered them both in August. No issues.

Forgot to renew the Liberty one year. 4 or 5 months later, got a $400 ticket. Ouch.