Learn Me - Fly ‘n’ Drive logistics

Hey everyone,

One of my boys is scouring Facebook looking for cool cars to get for his first car. Lots of 80s Japanese cars, including spinning Doritos.  He is looking all over which has raised questions about how do you deal with the title/registration/insurance issues with a fly and drive?  If there is anyone who lives in Massachusetts who has done fly and drives with Mass' need for insurance, registration, plates, etc. My insurance agent said we'd have to take the plates out with us, but to get those I need the signed title, and I'm not getting that unless I bought it and then I'd want to drive it back

So, learn me please?

Most states will allow you to transport on the old plates for a period of time legally. Or they will sell you a 7 or 14 day temp tag. 
 

Check the Regs of the state you are buying it from.

Here in Maine you can get a transport plate

all you need to show is that the car is insured

I have picked up a few cars out of state that way.  I drove back with just the insurance card and bill of sale.  My town hall did warn me about a state that didn't like the method , but I can't remember which one.  I never was pulled over, so I don't know the state.

The cost of the transport plate was $20 or less.

The most important thing is to make sure your insurance company knows what's up, get the car on your insurance the day before you leave to pick it up so you have the card in hand.  Then, depending on the state, you can either get a temporary tag at the DMV (like I did in SC when I bought the TunaVan), or some will only require a signed bill of sale (CT) and/or title if available.

Make sure you have time in the trip budget to get to a DMV/title place if necessary for the state you're picking it up.

If the state you're buying from doesn't require a temp tag, and there's no signed title like an older vehicle from CT (the registration counts as the title), then, whatever you do, do NOT drive home on the wrong plate.  I've done multi-state trips home with no plate, just the signed bill of sale & insurance card in case you get pulled over.  Putting the wrong plate on changes the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony if you get pulled over for something.  It's highly unlikely you'd get stopped without a plate, but if you do, you're in much better shape than if you had the wrong plate on the car.

Oh, and the real most important thing to remember:. Yes, you now have the cost of a plane ticket and time into checking the car out, but don't let that cloud your judgement of a multi-thousand dollar issue if something isn't as presented.  Be willing to still walk away, a plane ride home is cheaper than getting a car straight again if the owner didn't disclose a major accident in its history...

WonkoTheSane said:

Oh, and the real most important thing to remember:. Yes, you now have the cost of a plane ticket and time into checking the car out, but don't let that cloud your judgement of a multi-thousand dollar issue if something isn't as presented.  Be willing to still walk away, a plane ride home is cheaper than getting a car straight again if the owner didn't disclose a major accident in its history...

Man, so true.  I've had a couple of road trips where they thought they had me over a barrel and changed fast when they knew I would walk.

Second the wrong plate. I almost used a plate that was for a mustang, but not the one I was buying. I know two people that got pulled over w the wrong plates and nightmares ensued.

I have always used the transport plates, $20 and peace of mind.

Delaware DMV has a form you download and print out to allow driving from point of purchase home, and then as needed to get registration.

As others have noted call your insurance company before and get temporary proof of insurance. That's what really counts.

Call your DMV and the DMV for the state where you're buying and just ask.  Here in PA, we can go to the DMV but it's super easy to use a DMV notary service.  Every town has multiple.  Quick, easy, no brainer.

Every state has different requirements for notarization.  You need to follow the rules based on the most restrictive set of rules.  For instance, in PA we require notary.  TX does not (or at least it didn't when I lived there).  I could fly to TX, the seller could sign the title, and I drive home and register/title the car in PA.  If the source state DOES require a notary, I have to have the title notarized there before I return.

When it comes to legally driving the car, there are multiple ways of doing it.  The first way is legal, but sketchy, but it can be made less sketchy.  Ask the seller to leave their plates on it and you agree to ship them back after your trip.  This can be an issue for the seller and many don't like to do that.  If you (for instance) blast through a speed camera, take a toll road that logs the plates, or use the car to rob a bank, it could mean loads of trouble for the seller.  In most situations a bill of sale will indemnify the seller from those charges. It's totally just as legal as if you borrowed a friend's car.  The plates aren't registered to you, but someone paid the tax and that's all they care about.  The second way is to see if either state (yours or the one where the car is) will issue a temp tag for the vehicle.  The third way is to just drive it without tags, which is a totally different ball of wax.  In some states, the bill of sale and signed title serve as a 30-day temporary registration.  You might get pulled over, but produce the documents and you should be good.  The problem comes when you're crossing multiple states.  Such was my problem when I bought a van in NC and wanted to bring it to PA.  PA doesn't do temp tags.  NC does, but it was during the pandemic and getting an appointment with a DMV notary was going to take months.  NC is pretty lenient about letting you drive without plates as long as you have the papers, but what about VA, WV, and MD?  Instead of diving deep on that bit of research, I just took a trailer and towed the van back.

The secret is to research.  I see you're in MA, right?  Does MA have DMV notaries?  Or do you go straight to the DMV?  Or can any notary do it?  Find your resource and ask.

Another relatively reliable source is www.DMV.org.  It's a non-profit site that is kind of the Cliff's Notes of every state DMV.  It is not always correct, as it's hard to keep up with every law change in 50 states in real time, but it's a good start.

Check with your insurance agent, but for the most part your insurance laws in your state cover you where you go.  In PA, if I buy a car I have 30 days to inform my insurance company.  It is de facto covered (liability only) as long as a liability policy is in good standing on another one of my vehicles.  If you want collision or comp coverage for the return trip, make sure you talk to your agent about how the underwriters will or will not cover the elective part of the policy.  You also need to see how insurance plays with the other state when it comes to temp tags.  When I was asking about getting temp tags for the van I bought in NC, they don't just require an insurance card, they require an insurance card from a company that is licensed to underwrite in NC.  Fortunately I had State Farm which does, but if I had Mercury, I wouldn't have been able to get a temp tag.

I know I make it sound kinda simple, but I've done it so many times while living in 6 different states that it has become old hat.

The really important thing is to make sure you fill the requirements of the state where you live.  If they say you need a notarized title, a VIN check, the left testicle or breast from the seller, and a bill of sale from the transaction, make sure you do it.  Don't skimp.  I will still sometimes call and talk to two different people at the DMV/Notary and make sure I get the same answers.  The important part is what your state requires to register and title it at home.

Very rarely (and yet I seem to encounter it frequently) you will run into a niche, obscure thing.  I bought a boat from MD, and MD didn't require titles on boats older than a certain year.  PA didn't know that.  All they had in their list of rules was that MD requires titles for boats now, so I needed a title.  I found a sympathetic person at the MD department of boaty things who basically whipped up a fake title and sent it to me.  It was a month of phone calls, emails, and bullE36 M3, but I got it done.  My point in saying that is... whatever your state requires, make sure you can make it happen or you'll be in for a frustrating time of jumping through hoops.

In general, every state has a process, and every other state knows what the other's process is.  The important part is fulfilling the requirements of YOUR state.  If you do that, titling and registering will be a slam dunk, just like if you bought it from your neighbor down the street.

Another option is to rent a Uhaul dolly or trailer for the transportation part.  I suggest spending the extra couple dollars on the trailer, and I'll explain why.

In most states (but not all), the vehicle in question has to be registered if it touches the road.  If you put an vehicle on a dolly, most states require that the vehicle be registered.  If you rent a trailer that gets all four wheels off the road, you're good.

Of course, this only works if you have a tow vehicle that can take the weight.  You're spending the rental money anyway... either for renting a trailer or on gasoline to drive the purchased car.

You have 30 days to add a vehicle to your insurance. Insurance follows the driver, so it's not necessary to add the vehicle right away. 

Ive done probably 6 fly and drives, mass included in one. Ive never gotten a temp tag for any of them, and never had a single issue. I've been pulled over, but showed the bill of sale and vin and had no problem. 

I've added insurance on the way down.  Not going to drive uninsured again.

A signed title is still in the seller's name until your state makes it official through whatever process it has, so you should have no legal problem driving on their license plates.

Last time, I cheated and used a dealer plate I borrowed from work (we used it to drive unregistered cars for repair-related reasons).  Time before that, I dolly towed and was technically breaking the law because the car was unregistered.  And the time before that, I made two trips, one to get the title and I came back the second time with my own licence plate.

I'd never leave my plates on a car for a buyer. 

Agree with not allowing the plates to drive off with the car unless we're talking buying something in CA where the plates generally stay on the car.

One other thing to look into is the general availability of temp tags and the strings attached. Last time I checked in WV, I couldn't get temp tags as a "civilian", had to be a dealer.  Other states may want you to cough up the sales tax before they give you a temp tag, which can be an issue (for example, WV doesn't credit sales tax paid in other states so you get to pay it twice).

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Your take on the title is not true in every state. In Delaware there this a coupon on the bottom and the seller tears that off and both sign it. The rest of the title goes with the buyer and the car becomes 100% the buyer's responsibility as soon as the coupon is removed.

That being said, in DE the plate and even  current registration can go with the car or be kept by the seller; that's a point of negotiation during sale.  In the low-end market having valid tags on the car adds significant value.

As you can see by the responses its going to vary heavily state to state.  Ideally the state you are buying in does temporary transit tags.  NOT ALL STATES DO so check first.  NC will not do that I've found out.   

Make sure you are insured.  My policy automatically covers any new purchase for 30 days but not all policies do.

As others have noted and as was pointed out by a lawyer friend of mine when I bought a car from him, the fine for driving an unregistered vehicle is significantly less than driving an illegally registered vehicle (ie. using the plates from another car) Better to drive without a plate than a bad plate.

Thank you everyone.  Tons of great information.