So I know there are a lot of people buying cars from all sorts of places on here.
As I can gather, GA has no temp tags for private sales, they allow 30 days with no plates as long as you have Bill of Sale and Title signed over. That might be all well and fine in GA, but what about all those states in between and NY? Has anyone had problems with this?
EDIT:I now realize that I should have made the title a question…
Definitely not worth the risk. I know in NC they have temp plates for $5.
I bought my truck in GA last year, however it was from a dealer.
They gave me a temp tag and just put it in the cab. I drove all the way back with no visible tag, no issues.
Just keep the bill of sale and title with you. I wouldn’t worry about it. I believe more states used to do it like this, not sure who else still does it like this but I don’t think they are it.
yea but even if he gets pulled over in NY they might impound/tow the vehicle for it not being registered, not to mention the other states with laws we are unaware of. Sure, you might make it, but you only need a drivers license if you get pulled over, right?
When I bought a car in Georgia I was given a 30 day temp tag by the dealer. Do not try to drive the car back without a plate.
I think driving back without a plate is asking for a lot of unwanted attention. If you’re 100% sure you’re buying this car you could always pay for it and get the title mailed here first, register it and bring the plates down there with you.
At the very lease I would get a white piece of card stock and clear tape the paperwork for the truck over it and mount that as a plate.
at least you could argue that’s what georgia requires.
You can get away without plates in a few states but I dont believe ny is one of them
When an out of state customer transfers a plate in NY they are given a paper temp tag to place in the window. They are not supposed to have the actual plate being transferred on there until the dmv paperwork goes through. You could call the paper temp tag a plate but there isn’t anything where the plate should be.
My thought, is that as long as you left the state you purchased it in in a legal manner you should be legal wherever you travel through to get home. You can’t do much more than that because you can’t be expected to go do the paperwork in another state, bring the title home and register it, and then go back with your state’s plates. Georgia may have different rules regarding temp tags for in state versus out of state transport. NY does.
If a temp tag is available, get one. Check with the Georgia DMV. Actually I’ll do it.
https://dor.georgia.gov/information-about-dealers-issuing-temporary-tags
If a state doesn’t offer a temp tag and allows you to drive it with a bill of sale I don’t see how that is any different than a temp tag from that state’s DMV. You are adhering to that state’s laws on the matter and a bill of sale is what they recognize as valid for 30 days or 45 days or whatever. What is the difference between recognizing that piece of paper or a different one? So if NY were to not recognize a bill of sale that is legal as a “temp tag” in the state issued, what is to stop them from not recognizing a temp tag that is legal in the state it was issued?
I’m with Deathproof on this one.
I bought my truck out of NV with a temp dealer tag, bill of sale, and proof of Ins and drove it back with nothing more than the 4"x3" piece of printed paper taped to the window.
Having a legitimate temp tag is way different than nothing, and waaaaayyyy different than trying to falsify a document. I guess if you HAVE to drive it back with no sort of plate/registration/whatever then print out something from the Georgia DMV website stating that they don’t offer temp plates, etc. I’d still not expect that to totally and legally cover your ass if you get a book following cop.
Call their DMV, Call NYS DMV and get the proper answer.
Also, make sure you have the vehicle insured in your name regardless of temp tags or free wheeling.
Or for the headache of going down there and spending the time and $, look in to a shipping company or put it on U-ship to see what the costs would be to avoid this entirely.
Have you tried asking the previous owner if he’ll let you drive it back on his plates and mail them back? I’ve bought two different cars out of state and both times once I offered to show proof of insurance and sign a CYA agreement that I’d pay any tickets or anything, they had no problem.
+1 I just did this a few months ago (Oklahoma doesn’t offer temp tags either) and had 0 problems.
I was referring to a BOS produced by a dealership. Some states actually go by this instead of issuing temp tags.
For a private party sale it is kind of crazy to think they would let dealers issue temp tags but not let individuals buy one, especially for people out of state. If they don’t issue temp tags for someone out of state buying a car private party they would be honoring a hand written bill of sale. That is sketchy. A dealer BOS would be a lot harder to forge than a private party BOS. Normally if you are legal in Georgia to leave the state with the vehicle you’d be good for the whole trip.
Since it seems that Georgia doesn’t give temp tags out for private party sales just get one from NY before you leave. You can get one for bringing a vehicle back to NY from another state.
You’ll want to read that section you linked again. NY will only provide an inter-state in-transit tag if you’re buying the car here and taking OUTSIDE NY. For cases where you’re buying a car outside NY and bringing it TO NY the DMV says you have to get the temp tag from the state of purchase.
I’ve done this in MI and NC but both were from dealers who handled getting the temp tags for me.
I totally forgot about that, I’ve done it before too. It’s only for vehicles originating in NY though:
I looked into this at the end of last year. Everything I saw said you could drive it back without a plate, but there are plenty of states who will stop and ticket you between GA and NY for fun. I believe NC is one state that doesn’t allow the no plate thing. I was not able to find a decent legal way to do it outside of trailering it, or staying down there and sending the title stuff back to NY for my wife to turn in, then mail the plates back.
Yup totally read it wrong. Was about to post that it doesn’t matter what NYS DMV says because they don’t give out temp tags for buying a car from another state and then I read it wrong haha. Thought maybe they changed it.