Title Issues Buying Car in Fl and Taking to Ohio

JThw8 wrote:

bravenrace wrote: My plan was to take plates with me to use on the way back. I know this isn't legal, but I've done it many times without incident. The plates are registered to me and one of my cars, and they are current. I'm mainly concerned about anything that may need done at the DMV in Florida, since I'll be there on the weekend and they are closed.

I used to do this too until a lawyer friend of mine explained that driving an unregistered car is a much more minor offense than driving a fraudulently registered car (which is how the po po views it when you just use plates from another car)

uh, not so much. If the plate is in your name you are good. I've been pulled over NUMEROUS times with plates from another car. Simple answer is the paperwork hasn't caught up yet. It's the truth and if you have a dated title with you to prove why you haven't transfered it yet. The plates will also reduce the chance of the police stopping you in the first place.

if florida is a notary state, then you need a signed notarized title. if not it just needs signed. the ohio title office has a list of which states(most) that require notarization of signature on title.

take your title to license bureau, pay them $2 or so for out of state inspection which checks vin against title and records exact mileage. then go to title office and get it put in your name. easy stuff, i have done it several times. two times i got signed titles mailed to me with deposit on the car so i could get an ohio temp tag in my name and drive back on it.

internetautomart wrote:

JThw8 wrote:

bravenrace wrote: My plan was to take plates with me to use on the way back. I know this isn't legal, but I've done it many times without incident. The plates are registered to me and one of my cars, and they are current. I'm mainly concerned about anything that may need done at the DMV in Florida, since I'll be there on the weekend and they are closed.

I used to do this too until a lawyer friend of mine explained that driving an unregistered car is a much more minor offense than driving a fraudulently registered car (which is how the po po views it when you just use plates from another car)

uh, not so much. If the plate is in your name you are good. I've been pulled over NUMEROUS times with plates from another car. Simple answer is the paperwork hasn't caught up yet. It's the truth and if you have a dated title with you to prove why you haven't transfered it yet. The plates will also reduce the chance of the police stopping you in the first place.

Im not saying most po po wont let ya get away with it but the truth is putting tags from another car on one to transport it is fraud and if they want to nail you to the wall they can and will. I did it constantly until I bought a car from said lawyer friend who wouldnt let me take it home that way. He was, at the time, the assistant DA in his area and said he'd nail me to the wall on fraud charges if it came up in court. Well, technically he'd let me skate, cause we're friends, but ya know what I mean.

whenever i read threads like this, i feel so grateful i live in MN.. all we need to do is bring the signed title in to the deputy registrar, fill out the paperwork to register it in MN, pay the title fees ($39.95 for any older vehicle, plus plates and tabs, so maybe about $100 total), and walk out the door with a shiny new set of plates to bolt onto the car. as of that moment, it's yours- the title shows up in your mail box in a couple of months.. we also don't have to turn in license plates when we sell a car or anything stupid like that- the plates stay with the car and only that car, unless they are vanity plates and you want to pay a fee to transfer them over to another of your vehicles.. but there is a small section on the title that the buyer fills out and leaves with the seller, who is then supposed to mail that into the state saying that the vehicle is no longer yours if they rob a bank or something with it before they transfer the title..

Been there done that, my brother got a S10 from FL from his dad, it keep blowing holes in the oil filter, so i got it. The oil filter thing was the transmission mount not being bolted in fully, so the motor rocked and punctured the filter...it was weird and hard to find...

I had to register it, all i needed was my FL title with all the right info, signatures blah blah blah, maybe a notarization i dont remember. But fill it out like FL wants you too, or whats blank on the title.

Take the vehicle and title to the BMV and they will look at the POS...er car and vin and give you a new OH-IO title.

Its actually not that bad, and pretty quick as long as the car has a clean FL title.

~Alex

In reply to Rustspecs13:

How do you take it to the DMV without legitimate plates? I've got the car here now and just need to transfer the title and register it. I can't register it until I transfer the title, and I can't legally drive it until I have it registered. ??

In reply to bravenrace:

I got the title for the Jeep that was signed off by the buyer and notorized, then had it put in my name. I then took my registration from my Crx (still good for 8 months) and had them transfer the plates over to the Jeep for $4.50. If you don't have plates, you would just have to take the title( in your name) in and get new ones I think..right? Oh, and where are the pics??????? Hurry.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Rustspecs13: How do you take it to the DMV without legitimate plates? I've got the car here now and just need to transfer the title and register it. I can't register it until I transfer the title, and I can't legally drive it until I have it registered. ??

In FL they just kindof ignore the fact that the car somehow got to the DMV parking lot.

MrJoshua wrote:

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Rustspecs13: How do you take it to the DMV without legitimate plates? I've got the car here now and just need to transfer the title and register it. I can't register it until I transfer the title, and I can't legally drive it until I have it registered. ??

In FL they just kindof ignore the fact that the car somehow got to the DMV parking lot.

Josh can vouch that in Florida, the ol' fresh bill of sale, freshly signed title, no tag works for transporting a vehicle. He was there for that one!

Florida doesn't require a notary on a title.

I towed one mini from South Carolina so it didn't need anything for transport on the trailer. When I went to transfer the title and get it registered in Ohio, the Deputy Registrar issued a temporary tag so I could legally drive the car to the inspection where they verified the VIN on the out-of-state title against the one on the car. It might have been a waste of money and for sure generated more income for the state, but it kept it all legal.

Fletch1 wrote: In reply to bravenrace: I got the title for the Jeep that was signed off by the buyer and notorized, then had it put in my name. I then took my registration from my Crx (still good for 8 months) and had them transfer the plates over to the Jeep for $4.50. If you don't have plates, you would just have to take the title( in your name) in and get new ones I think..right? Oh, and where are the pics??????? Hurry.

It has to be inspected because it's from out of state. I probably won't have pics until next week. I'm pretty busy with other things and haven't had time to do anything with it.

I just got some temp tags. It was $20 and I drove around for most of a month to get my use out of them. At least with temp tags you dont have a stupid front plate. Stupid things.

My friends have done less legal things so YMMV and the dmv for the most part just cares they can look at it, not so much how it got there.

~Alex

Thanks to all of you for the information. I went down to the BMV this morning. They gave me a temp tag so that I could bring the car down to verify the VIN. Then I can get the title transferred. No big deal as it turns out. Thanks again.

Sorry to dredge up a very old topic, but this is exactly what I'm looking at doing soon. Sounds like Bravenrace, pat, and Evan have all been successful, but I just wanted to double check. Here's my plan:

Take a truck/trailer to FL. Pick up a car, and get the signed title (Florida Titles don't get notarized, AFAIK). Trailer it back to Ohio to a BMV for an out of state inspection. Go to the clerk of courts to get the title transferred to Ohio, and into my name. Is that pretty much what you've done, and been successful with?

Ohio just tends to be such a stickler for notarizing documents, I want to make sure I can get away without it this time. Another option is to go to the FL DMV and they'll transfer it into my name, then I can come home, and transfer the title from FL to OH, but I don't plan on being in FL while their DMV offices are open, and I'd rather not pay title fees in two different states, either.

No need to get it notarized in Fl.

Just make sure the seller signs the title in the proper spot and be on your way.

Slippery wrote: No need to get it notarized in Fl. Just make sure the seller signs the title in the proper spot and be on your way.

That's the impression I got. The vehicle I'm looking at has a signed title already, but I don't think the person currently in possession of it has filled out the buyer info, so I should be in the clear there. It's the Ohio side of things I'm mostly worried about.

Correct. They follow the law of the land the car is coming from. Since this original thread i bought a FL car and have another waiting for me. No notary, just get it signed and take it to bmv.

Bmv does out of state title verification (check miles and vin to title) and title bureau takes it from there and puts it in your name.

In reply to patgizz:

Awesome, thanks!

Is Jeremy involved?
I've bought 3 vehicles with his involvement, all FL to Ohio. I have had no trouble with any.

Take your FL title to OH title office. The Ohio title office will look at the Vin and Odometer, only.

The FL title is pretty clear about where to sign, etc.

Super easy, just like Pat described.

In all my cases I just had the cars shipped right to me via Uship for 45-55 cents per mile.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

Yup, buying from Jeremy. Thanks, glad to hear it should go pretty smoothly.

It does. I've bought three cars from out of state now, they just look at the VIN to verify it is what it is. When I bought the white Quantum, it was kind of funny since I was loaded for bear with the proper documentation - even had the MI title notarized, which is not necessary, but I'm nothing if not thorough with paperwork - and the deputy/whatever her title is sighed and said "Oh GOOD, you have all of the paperwork you need!"

I do forget how I got the car home, if I drove on the PO's plates and mailed them back, or if I went up to MI with temp tags, or if I drove it home with no plates on the car. When we brought my friend's '79 RX-7 home from Grand Rapids, we drove it with no plates.

There are some people who will do title inspection at your house. I need to do this for my most recent out of state vehicle as I feel uneasy waiting to make it mobile before I can do the title transfer.

FL titles are simple fill out and sign the front. No notary needed. No need for the DMV in FL. I do suggest a bill of sale to show price and miles at transfer.

In reply to Knurled:

Fortunately/unfortunately this one's not roadworthy, so no need to get tags for it, but wae and I will likely be running down there with his van and trailer soon.

In reply to eastsidemav:

That makes it more "fun" since you need to get it to the title bureau for the VIN inspection, unless you find someone who can do one on your property.

I think Evan towed his Mini to the title bureau with his Miata, which made an awesome photo but is technically illegal since if the tires touch the road then it must have current registration. Thus why I made sure to get plates for my GTI before I even put the towbar on it.

Meanwhile, I think I just figured out how to get the latest acquisition home from Alabama. I need to buy another towbar and borrow someone's Miata to tow it home with.

In reply to Knurled:

My plan is to see if I can keep his rig for a bit, and tow it to the BMW on a Monday to be inspected, but I'm also wondering if I just don't fill out the date on the title until I get the thing running, I can just nab a paper tag for it, and drive it there for an inspection.