Title/License fee for out of state purchase

[masab321]

Hey guys

I am buying F82 from an out of state dealer and the car is going to be shipped to me. It's my first out of state purchase. The dealership has charged title and license fee and when I asked them , they said it's required to have 90 day temporary title for me to drive the car until I get new title and registration in my home state.

Is the 90 day temporary title required even with the car being shipped to the state of residence?

Thanks

[hC1001]

Each state has different laws. What state did you purchase it in?

I bought a car from Florida. The dealer signed over the FL car title to me. The dealer asked me if i wanted a temp license(FL), there was no fee. I only needed to show him that i had an existing insurance policy(not for the new car). The car was transported from FL to NY.

[ferrarifast]

Originally Posted by masab321

Hey guys

I am buying F82 from an out of state dealer and the car is going to be shipped to me. It's my first out of state purchase. The dealership has charged title and license fee and when I asked them , they said it's required to have 90 day temporary title for me to drive the car until I get new title and registration in my home state.

Is the 90 day temporary title required even with the car being shipped to the state of residence?

Thanks

I think certain states have that law. The way around it would be to have them hold the car while you do registration in your home state. Once you have proof of that, you can go pick up the car. This will probably add one or two weeks to the timeline.

[masab321]

I bought the car in Arizona and the dealer said that you must have temporary 90 day title/registration for all out of states to drive the car !!

Once I receive the car here in WV I will have to get my title and registration here within 30 days

[GarlicBread]

I'm sure every state is different. I bought a car out of state a month ago from Mass and they said the same thing. You need plates to drive it off. However I'm in Maine and DMV was closed. I have been driving with no plates for a month without any issues. They did charge me tax and title fees but the tax has to be then paid by them to your local dmv upon registration.

If your state is open you can get transit plates to drive the car from one place to the other without the need for registration. Here that costs $30

[jmciver]

As others have mentioned, laws for this topic will vary a bit by state. However, technically, you do not need plates/registration to ship a car. Think about it, cars, new and used, are shipped between dealers and auction all of the time without plates/registration. Registration, temporary or permanent, is only required if the car will be driven on the street. The dealer is operating from the perspective that you, the new owner, will drive the car once you receive it - which is the overwhelming majority of sales the dealer makes to a consumer. But in reality, once that car leaves the dealer, you are now responsible for the car (which is why you want to have insurance even during transport), but it does not need registration to leave the dealer lot.

If your intentions are to let the car sit in your driveway until you get your local tags, then you should be fine. But if you intend to drive the car until you get your local tags, then you will need some type of temp tag, either from the dealer or your state. The dealer may still want to charge you title/tag fees as that is a source of revenue for the dealer (as most extra fees are). You may need to talk to a manager to get rid of the title/tag fee as you are clearly not going to be registering or even driving the car in the state where you purchased it. While you may need to verify for yourself, the dealer stating that it is "the law" to have temp tags before it leaves the lot on a transport truck is BS, if your intentions are to not drive the car on the street.

As an example of what I am talking about, I recently bought a car (used) from a dealer in my current state of residence. However, I intended to have the car titled/registered in a different state. When I purchased the car, the dealer wanted to charge me for registration. However, when I told the dealer that I was going to title/register the car in a different state AND I was going to transport the car to my residence on a trailer (i.e. not drive it on local roads), I had the title/registration fee removed from the sale. I then loaded up the car on my trailer, brought it home, and had it sit in my driveway until the new title/registration came in the mail.

Good luck....

[Poiseuille]

dealer is correct, title has to go to your name in order for you to have the car covered by your insurance company including (even especially) during shipping. fee in most states is minimal.

[Darkmann]

Last 4 cars I purchased were out of state. The dealer is correct. The title may take several weeks to get to you, but once you get that, take to your MVA (along with whatever paperwork VW MVA needs) and you'll be OK to make it your very own M car. I'd contact MVA ahead of time and get all forms so you don't have to make multiple trips. I was overcharged some $120 because the out-of-state dealer didn't understand my local rules all the way, though I explained to them. They eventually refunded when my local tags came in and they realized their mistake.

The car should come with a temporary tag, temp registration and temporary everything you need to drive the car in public without getting stopped. If you are black, you may get stopped anyway just for driving a nice looking BMW!

If the title does not get to you before the 30 days, call the dealer and ask for an extension of your temporary tag.

How is the car shipped to you? Some companies offer to have the vehicle covered during shipping - I always decline this from a cost stand point.

When it gets to you, please don't get all emotional. Prior to it getting off the shipper, take photos at all angles. While on shipper, take time to look at the underside - unexpected leaks should be noted. Drive around parking lot a bit to make sure all essentials are working fine - no steering whine at full clocking, for example.. Avoid night time delivery - hard to see anything when emotionally charged! If you find anything way off than what you expected, don't take delivery - not minor stuff, please. Even some oil leaks are not vexingly unfixable, if under warranty. I got a X5 3 yrs ago with busted transfer case and didn't find out until a couple days later. Thank goodness it was still under factory warranty!

Good luck and have fun.

[Pseudolus]

Originally Posted by masab321

I bought the car in Arizona and the dealer said that you must have temporary 90 day title/registration for all out of states to drive the car !!

Once I receive the car here in WV I will have to get my title and registration here within 30 days

I just bought my first M3 five days ago from an Arizona dealer and they indicated the same thing.

Originally Posted by Darkmann

Last 4 cars I purchased were out of state. The dealer is correct. The title may take several weeks to get to you, but once you get that, take to your MVA (along with whatever paperwork VW MVA needs) and you'll be OK to make it your very own M car. I'd contact MVA ahead of time and get all forms so you don't have to make multiple trips. I was overcharged some $120 because the out-of-state dealer didn't understand my local rules all the way, though I explained to them. They eventually refunded when my local tags came in and they realized their mistake.

The car should come with a temporary tag, temp registration and temporary everything you need to drive the car in public without getting stopped. If you are black, you may get stopped anyway just for driving a nice looking BMW!

If the title does not get to you before the 30 days, call the dealer and ask for an extension of your temporary tag.

How is the car shipped to you? Some companies offer to have the vehicle covered during shipping - I always decline this from a cost stand point.

When it gets to you, please don't get all emotional. Prior to it getting off the shipper, take photos at all angles. While on shipper, take time to look at the underside - unexpected leaks should be noted. Drive around parking lot a bit to make sure all essentials are working fine - no steering whine at full clocking, for example.. Avoid night time delivery - hard to see anything when emotionally charged! If you find anything way off than what you expected, don't take delivery - not minor stuff, please. Even some oil leaks are not vexingly unfixable, if under warranty. I got a X5 3 yrs ago with busted transfer case and didn't find out until a couple days later. Thank goodness it was still under factory warranty!

Good luck and have fun.

Great advice! I was planning on playing some sort of music during the delivery but I’ll keep it cool and focus on inspecting it correctly instead!