Just to clarify, I do have the insurance already, I took care of that yesterday. Driving through Canada would save me about an hour per Google maps, so 11 hours vs. 12. Not the end of the world if I have to stay in the US.
I'm thinking I'll just put the plate from my truck on it and stay within 3 mph of the speed limit.
If there wasn't 2 feet of concrete-hard snow in my back yard, I could get back there to get my trailer and I wouldn't have to deal with this BS. 
International border with plates not matching the state that issued your driver's licence sounds like a surefire way to get your car town apart by customs.
Would almost certainly cost you way more than an hour.
My miata was plated in California but residing in Canada.
PO wanted me to drive up, test drive/inspect in Canada, then drive a (Cali Plated) car that wasn't yet in my name back into Washington.
I repeated this back to him and he realized how dumb it sounded, he brought it across the line and took the bus back up north.
Being from MI, I understand that you can drive the vehicle home, provided it has insurance on it. I have been pulled over and issued a ticket for doing exactly that. I had the plate I was transferring in the passenger seat, along with the bill of sale, the proof of insurance and the title. I would've never been pulled over if I drove the car home with the plate on it. I tried to do the letter of the law thing and ended up wasting a day in court getting it fixed.
Since then I have bought about fifteen vehicles and bolted on a plate from another vehicle every time with no problems.
note: How do you buy a vehicle from a car dealership in the state of RI? do they issue the plate at the dealership at the time of purchase? Any chance you could call a dealership for help. It's a small state, I am sure any dealership there has sold many cars out of state.
I've done this in about 10 states, so this is a big generalization.
If the vehicle is currently registered (by that I mean the tags haven't expired), and if the driver is insured, it doesn't matter a hill of beans. As far as the law is concerned, it needs to be registered and legally insured. Period. Have you ever driven your friend's car? Its the same concept. You are insured as a driver. Your friend's car is registered. Its legal.
In some states, the plates are primarily registered to the person. In PA, a new plate is required for all transfers that aren't to a family member. Other states, the plates are linked to the vehicle. You can tell the general trend on this by looking at a used car lot. In some states, used car lots are full of cars with plates. In states like PA, the lots are full of "naked" cars and the dealer uses a magnetic dealer plate for test drives. If the seller needs the plates back, just sign a little napkin that says you'll send the plates back when you get your own.
As far as border crossing, don't sweat it. I have driven my parents' cars, my grandparents' cars, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. I drove across the NY/ONT border with my CA license in my friend's TX car. As long as its all US stuff and all in order, don't worry. The border patrol is worried about three things: guns, alcohol, and tobacco. If you had a US license and a Canadian plate, different story. Worst case scenario is that you get selected for a random search and they call the registered owner... who would say, "yeah, I just sold it to him yesterday."
The border is not an issue. Period. They have absolutely no jurisdiction over vehicle registration between two US states. That would be like getting pulled over for speeding by the NSA.
mazdeuce wrote: I know the Canadian border can run a stupid fast check of the plates. I used to go to school there and their cameras would grab my plates when crossing and I got the super extra good talking to. It was as quick as "hello, please pull over to that door". You may end up losing as much time at the border as you gain by taking the shortcut.
I agree, you also have to watch leaving the U.S. or Canada.. They both have cameras which pickup outgoing plates as well. Believe it or not both sides of the border are in contact with each other. Canada customs (not a restoration shop) will have no problem taking a tip from their American counterparts and vise versa.. Your best bet is to avoid a border crossing..
I would avoid going through Canada, just too much risk in that. I've done the drive home, mail the plates thing several times within the US. That way the car is still legally registered, you'll have the signed-over title and bill of sale in your possession to show that you have a right to be driving the car, and you'll have a current insurance card showing the car's VIN.
So, it sounds like the LEGAL way to do it is just to go without a plate and have the signed title, proof of insurance, and bill of sale with me (which I will, of course). At least, for some states. Of course, I'll be passing through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio before getting to Michigan. Lord knows what kind of laws they all have regarding a car with no plates. OTOH, a car with a valid, current Michigan plate probably wouldn't warrant a second glance if I'm not driving like an idiot. Especially if I avoid the border crossing.
I'd stay way the bork away from an international crossing. Just drive plateless and go through that place that links Pennsylvania to Michigan and don't piss off the flying donut patrol. I don't see you are doing anything illegal.
Either that or promise the seller you will Fed-ex his plate back when you hit civilization again.
Looking along your route home, as long as you make it by early afternoon on Saturday I'd say you're in the clear snow wise.
Tom_Spangler wrote: So, it sounds like the LEGAL way to do it is just to go without a plate and have the signed title, proof of insurance, and bill of sale with me (which I will, of course). At least, for --some-- all states.
FTFY. If your car is legal in its home state, it's legal in all states as long as you're travelling through and not staying. This applies to front plates, emissions, kit cars, private sale plate issues, insurance minimums, and just about anything else.
Tom_Spangler wrote: so 11 hours vs. 12. Not the end of the world if I have to stay in the US.
You'll kill more then an hour waiting in line to get into Canada and then waiting in line to get back to the States. The shortcut ain't worth it IMO.
cliff95 wrote:Tom_Spangler wrote: so 11 hours vs. 12. Not the end of the world if I have to stay in the US.You'll kill more then an hour waiting in line to get into Canada and then waiting in line to get back to the States. The shortcut ain't worth it IMO.
We did the same crossing last summer and breezed through pretty quickly.
Anyhow, it's all academic. The seller let me use his plates, I came home via Buffalo and then down around Lake Erie, and the car is home safe:
Nice car.
One of the greatest cars ever built by GM. Too bad they didnt build the rest of them to that quality.
This thread interests me as I will be doing something similar in a little while. The thing is I will be importing my Delica from Canada into the US, and was hoping to fly into Ontario, and drive it across the border in either MI, or NY(likely), and then drive to my home state of MA which is similar if not even more strict than RI whom we border. MA doesn't issue temp plates, but I know that you have 7 days to transfer plates/registration on cars bought through dealers here in MA. I have done this on private sales as well, but I am not sure I was on the up and up when doing it.
When my 77 RX-3 was totaled 6 days after I bought it with my 74 RX-4 plates, and registration the police officer that responded to the accident didn't give it a second look when I showed him I had the bill of sale,title,etc in my possesion in the car. I am not certain how legal I was with regard to the letter of the law, but the LEO didn't care, and the insurance company paid me out whole.
What I am worried about is if I did the same thing with the Delica during import will the border patrol care, and will it land me or the van in the clink? My other problem is MA will not allow me to register it ahead of time before import as I need a lot of paperwork that I won't be able to get until I import it. Kind of a catch-22 I guess. Maybe I can have my importer plate it in Ontario, but then how do I legally import it into the states with ON plates on it? Maybe it would be best to have it shipped to Montreal, and go get it with my truck, and a borrowed trailer?
Any input?
By the way nive GTO! I love the color!
Chris
Tom_Spangler wrote: Blah blah blah blah
Ohhh me likey!!!
Just an FYI: A friend of mine got a fairly hefty ticket ($350? $400) because he was driving his newly purchased car home to PA with swapped plates. He bought the car in NY, and a profit officer pulled him over a little inside of the PA border.
I'd recommend leaving the plate off if anyone does this through PA...
Nice goat!
In reply to Mazdax605:
Chris, I would recommend having the PO of the Delica drive it across the border and flip him a $20 for a bus ride home and load the car on the trailer. You can borrow mine and if you time it right I might be able to take the ride with you.
Thanks. It has all the grime of it's 750 mile trip home on it in that pic. It needs a bit of cosmetic attention. Nothing major, just some stone chips on the front and paint that could use some attention from a buffer. The PO removed the spoiler when he bought it, but he gave it to me, I'm going to put it back on. I'll look better than the plugs he put in, anyhow. But, $10.5k for a one-owner car with 85k on it and a fat stack of records, I'll take it. It's even stock other than an aftermarket shifter.
whenry wrote: One of the greatest cars ever built by GM. Too bad they didnt build the rest of them to that quality.
that's because it is a Holden. Still, pretty car and glad everything turned out for the best
I've got a question, what if you were going to do a fly and drive, only with a loan? You need a purchase and sales agreement for the bank but want to look at the car before going through with the deal. Is there a way you can do all that without two flights? Ideas?
carbon wrote: I've got a question, what if you were going to do a fly and drive, only with a loan? You need a purchase and sales agreement for the bank but want to look at the car before going through with the deal. Is there a way you can do all that without two flights? Ideas?
Well, I'm not getting on a plane unless I'm pretty darn sure I'm getting the car. I had extensive correspondence with the seller with lots of pics, and I had the car inspected at a local Chevy dealer. I mean, I had a one-way ticket, so I was kinda stuck if there turned out to be some kind of major issue. So I guess what I'm saying is that the only way to do it would be to get the loan beforehand and hope the car is what it's purported to be. I've sold a couple of cars to people who were coming from other states and had to get loans, it worked out fine.
I've driven a LOT of miles with various forms of questionable paperwork/ tags on newly purchased cars, including crossing several dozen state lines.
There is NO WAY I'd consider crossing an international border like that.
Glad you made it- nice car.
carbon wrote: I've got a question, what if you were going to do a fly and drive, only with a loan? You need a purchase and sales agreement for the bank but want to look at the car before going through with the deal. Is there a way you can do all that without two flights? Ideas?
I did this when I bought my 4Runner in January. It was in Austin 500 miles away.
The seller provided me with all the info/pics I wanted, I got the loan with the appropriate paperwork sorted and purchased a flight.
I had a check made out to the seller, but if the vehicle hadn't been as presented, I was prepared to rent a vehicle (yay for corporate discount through work) and drive home. Thankfully it was as presented, so I flew down in the morning and was home by 8 that evening.
Reminds me, I need to go by the tag since the temp one expires in 2 weeks.
I've purchased 3 other cars out of state, but under different circumstances, they all worked fine.
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