Buying out of state: registration and title questions

[metamatic]

It looks like I may have found a Prius. However, I've got to purchase it in another state. To make things more complicated, once I've got the car I'm immediately moving across the country to a third state.

In trying to work out what I should do, I've gone through the following reasoning:
[list]I can't register the car until I buy it.
[*]Once I buy it, I won't have time to register it in my current home state (MA), because they bundle registration and title as one transaction, and take 4-6 weeks to deal with the paperwork. Plus, I might not even return to my current home state after buying the car, and my postal address certainly won't be in that state by then.
[*]The state I'm moving to (TX) won't allow me to register the vehicle unless it is physically inspected by an approved mechanic in that state. So, I can't register the vehicle until I get to my final destination.[list]

What this suggests to me is that I'll be driving across the country in an unregistered vehicle with dealer plates. That can't be right, surely?

I know there are other people who have done this kind of thing. Advice, suggestions, reassurance?

[obiwan]

Are you SURE about Texas - it wasn't that way when I got here 5 years ago, but at that time my cars were registered in Lousianna......

[paprius4030]

It depends which state are you buying it in? For instance NY dealer will give you 30 day temp. plates. I bought my Prius in West Virginia and they gave me 60 day temp plates. Ask your dealer who your buying it from how long is the Temp. plates good for in that state.

[betshsu]

Hi Metamatic,
I don't think you have to have your car inspected to be registered in TX, you just have to have insurance. However, to pass inspection you have to have current registration as well as insurance. I'm pretty sure that's right... 'cause when I renew my registration, I just have to send in proof of insurance not proof of inspection.

Join the Central Texas local group. I've started a thread there about bring a new car into Texas. I'm not entirely clear on the inspection thing... if I have to get it re-insepcted once I get back to TX. There was talk of a "green sheet" that I give to the inspector and I can't recall the rest of the details... it's in the thread.

One thing you want to consider is that you're going to being paying sales tax in whatever state you register the car in. Sales tax in Texas is pretty steep becaue there is no income tax (it's 8.25%). Registering a car in Texas isn't too expensive, but I've never registered a brand new car here.

I may be end up doing the same thing as you, only in the opposite direction (I may move out of Texas soon after picking up my Prius in TN and I'm considering driving it to the new state directly and registering it there instead of bringing it back to TX).

[metamatic]

Hmm, well, the alternative to paying tax in Texas is paying in Taxachusetts, so it's a bit of a toss up :-)

I'm actually not worried about who ends up getting the tax, so long as I only have to pay it once. I'm more worried about getting stopped in Pennsylvania by a cop and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay because my paperwork is not in order...

[betshsu]

You should definitely only be paying tax in one state.

But paprius is right, your dealer should give you temp tags. I'm getting 30 day temp tags from TN. The only ridiculous case I've heard of is someone buying in CA, getting 2 day tags and having to pay CA tax even though they were registering in AZ (in a case like that, your home state should bill the original state for the taxes and you shouldn't have to pay your home state).

[rlcarr]

I live in MA, and just bought a Prius (though not out-of-state).

There's no timelag to get the car registered (aside from you (or the dealer's runner) having to wait in line at the RMV ). The car can be (and is almost always for new cars) registered without the title. There absolutely is no 4-6 week wait to get a car registered.

What does happen is that you (or the dealer's runner) has submit the Certificate of Origin (CO) along with an Application For Title (obviously, this is done at the same trip to the RMV as the registration). A few weeks later, the RMV will mail you your title certificate.

I would imagine that for an out-of-state purchase, you'd have to (a) pay the dealer for the car so the dealer will give you the bill-of-sale and the CO; ( go home (without the car) and register the car and submit the CO and title application; © take the plates you got when you registered the car back to the dealer, bolt them on the car, and drive back to MA; (d) get the car inspected in MA.

If you trust the dealer, you can probably figure out how to do (a) and ( by mail/fedex and save yourself a trip.

Some states (so I've heard) will also do "drive-out" temp plates. In that case, go to the dealer, buy the car, collect your paperwork, have him put on the "drive-out" plates, drive back to MA, and register the car.

To me, the big questions are (a) will TX let you register the car there without having a title certificate in hand, and if not, ( can you hang out in MA long enough for the title certificate to arrive?

[aarons12]

i bought my car in west virginia. i brought an insurance card with me from my current company, and the dealer in WV gave me a 60 day temporary plate/registration. I then drove it home and actually kept the temp plate on for the whole 60 days while i set about selling my other car.

you will not have to pay sales tax twice, just in the state where you end up registering it, though as some said, it may depend on the exact states involved. the dealers have guidebooks to the laws in the different states, and you can access DMV online for all the states to get confirming info.

[hdrygas]

My out of state purchase went very smoothly. One of the reasons was that I had 2 weeks before I could get there after the dealer had a VIN number. As soon as you have that you can start the process. In my case the dealer sent me the forms next day because they need to be signed at both ends on the original. Once I had the final forms I took them to the licensing agency. Got the paid the tax and fees, got the registration and in my case the plates. This latter will of course vary from state to state. The sales tax is complex and has to be looked up. In my case easy Montana has none and I just paid Washington tax. Many years ago I got a new car in Ohio and drove it to Washington. We were able to fill out forms in Ohio so we paid no tax. We paid a small fee for registration and temporary license in Ohio and got permanent registration and license in Washington. Those are my two experiences. Hope that helps. I have heard that sometimes you pay tax in the purchase state and any difference in the destination state. I have no heard of people paying tax twice. You may have to pay a registration fee twice as I did but the first was a reduced one.

[paprius4030]

aarons12, who did you get your car from? I got mine from University Toyota in Morgantown. I did the same thing too, kept my temp plates on the car for almost the whole 60 days.