Florida People: Driving to buy a car then driving it home

Helping a buddy drive from Tampa to Miami on Friday afternoon to pick up a truck and have a couple questions:

First, I printed off a couple "Bill of Sale" docs from the DMV website and the seller has the title in hand that he will sign over, so I think we are good there.

We will be driving down together in his car, buying this truck, then we will split up to drive both back to Tampa that night. Since we can't leave here until 2, we probably won't get there until 7, at which point all DMV offices will be closed for the long weekend. So, how do we get this truck home?

He is calling his insurance to see what needs to happen that day for him to be covered, but do we drive it sans-tag and show the Title/Bill of Sale if we get pulled over? He will be transferring the tag from the car we drive down there, but not until the next week. I have a spare plate, but that almost seems like a worse idea if it were to get run by the cops on our way back.

So, how should we handle? Anybody have experience with this situation? I did buy a motorcycle once and drove home without a tag (didn't have one yet). I got pulled over, showed him my Bill of Sale and he let me go, but that was about 6 years ago.

Have seller give him the vin number. Use vin number to get a insurance binder. Completely fill out all the necessary blanks on the title. Drive home. If you get stopped, tell the police exactly what you are doing and present him the paperwork. You shouldn't have a problem.

Each state has different rules. Make sure that you have insurance(they will want the VIN to bind coverage)and I would slap a "current" tag on the vehicle(mainly because I would rather have the charge of failure to update registration citation rather than a failure to register citation if I was stopped). Generally, unless you drive thru DUI checkpoint or whatever they call it in Fla or have an accident, I doubt that you will encounter any issues. YMMV

Good point, I don't think he has the VIN yet so we'll need to get that prior to calling insurance.

Isn't there a rule where you get like 2-3 days from the "sale date" on the title to get it over to the DMV? They don't say that on their site but I feel like I've heard it before.

With my Ins company I have 30 days coverage when I get a new vehicle, you may not need the VIN right away. From what I have been told as long as you have the signed title and/or a BOS it is better to not have plates on the car than to have plates that belong to another car. YMMV

A quick call to the Highway Patrol would clear this up for your particular situation though.

Drive with no tag.

DO NOT use a tag that is not registered to the car.

Slippery wrote: Drive with no tag. DO NOT use a tag that is not registered to the car.

+1

Talked over with a highway patrol type here in MD no tag is minor, wrong tag is major.

go to the DMV ahead of time with insurance and get a temporary tag its only 5 dollars and good for 30 days. If you do drive without a tag avoid the tolls, theres a big problem in Miami with toll violations and cops here are cracking down on it

echoechoecho wrote: go to the DMV ahead of time with insurance and get a temporary tag its only 5 dollars and good for 30 days. If you do drive without a tag avoid the tolls, theres a big problem in Miami with toll violations and cops here are cracking down on it

Since he is buying a car already in FL, the DMV should be willing to issue a 30 day temp tag, as echox3 suggested. Recently, I bought another car before selling one (temporarily increasing the fleet size by 1). I transferred my existing FL tag to the new car and nicely asked for a 30 day temp tag for my existing car, explaining that I was in the process of selling it. Doing so took longer than 30 days, so, before the 1st 30 day temp tag expired, I went back to the DMV and politely asked for another. They'll give you up to 2 30 day temp tags.

And I agree with the don't put a tag from another car advice. Big no-no.

each state is different. FL requires a temp tag. Easy to get as dyintorace states above.

I now live in AL and you need proof of insurance and bill of sale but you have 20 days to get registered. No temp tag needed

A lot of states are funny about temp tags -- Kentucky won't issue a temp tag until you show up with the notarized title.

I just bought a motorhome from a private party about 4 hours away in Indiana and I drove it back with no tag, but all my purchase paperwork. I called my insurance guy before I left their driveway to get a policy written and he told me that my policy had me covered on any new vehicle purchase for collision and comp for 7 days and liability for 30 days automatically.

It's always been explained to me that putting the wrong tag on a vehicle is pretty serious, but having no tag at all is pretty minor. I'd never run with a tag from a different car.

I've driven 4 hours in FL no tag on a new vehicle. Not saying it was right but I went with the good title / bill of sale on hand. Also having an insurance card for the vesicle should help. They can email them to you.

echoechoecho wrote: go to the DMV ahead of time with insurance and get a temporary tag its only 5 dollars and good for 30 days. If you do drive without a tag avoid the tolls, theres a big problem in Miami with toll violations and cops here are cracking down on it

Hadn't even considered this, thanks for the heads-up.

I am in agreement on not using a different tag, and thanks for the feedback on getting a temp. I am going to ask him to drop by our DMV tomorrow and see if he can get one before we head south.

The 2 or 3 times I've bought a vehicle when I can't get to the DMV, I get insurance put on in a parking lot/ wherever I bought it, then drive home/around with a cardboard "Just Bought MM/DD" piece of cardboard in place of a license plate. I've driven by many cops without being pulled over. I keep the BOS with me of course, but it's just never been an issue that way. As long as you're (he is) insured for it you should be fine.

Awesome, thanks for all the replies guys, heading out in a few hours!

Good luck!

drive really fast

Fast attracts attention. Best to blend in with the crowd. Esp. on a holiday weekend.

Go with the flow.

Two vehicles? Smokey and the bandit style.

I was also going to mention make sure if you need a notary sig for your DMV on the title or bill of sale, get that before you leave FL. I think someone here recently ran into that doing a fly and drive.

LifeIsStout wrote: I was also going to mention make sure if you need a notary sig for your DMV on the title or bill of sale, get that before you leave FL. I think someone here recently ran into that doing a fly and drive.

I think they are buying a car in FL and live in FL. We don't need a notarized bill of sale here.

Update: We made it down in surprising time (had no idea it was "Urban Weekend" in Miami) which was nice. Unfortunately, the truck was not as nice. He mentioned the cab corners being replaced by his mechanic (with metal), but a magnet check told us otherwise, as it wouldn't even stick to the body at the cab corners. Alas, we had to walk, so drove our 4 hours back home empty handed. Until next time...

Bummer! At least he didn't buy it sight unseen and discover that post-purchase.