I have a potential buyer for a car of mine and he hopes to drive the car back home to Vermont.
I have been looking at ways for him to get the car home as safely and legally as possible. I told him a trailer would be best obviously but he is persistent on driving it home. Ok so I am trying to help him to the best of my ability. I do not see any indication that NYS offers temp or transit tags to take a car across state lines.
What options can I relay to him as we move forward?
What are the legal ramifications of letting him keep a plate on the car under his insurance and drive home and mail me the plate back. He has offered a deposit fee to do that.
I will be purchasing another vehicle and transferring my plates prior to him picking up my car so essentially while the window stick/plate/inspection will all match and be “valid” they will be on another car while he is in travel.
This worked on RVs I sold, should work on cars too.
What is an in-transit permit?
An in-transit permit allows you to get your newly purchased, unregistered vehicle from Point A to Point B legally―as long as Point A begins somewhere in New York State. You can’t bring a vehicle into NY with an in-transit permit, but you can drive one out of NY.
These permits are valid for 30 days, are nonrenewable, and aren’t to be confused with temporary registrations. The NY DMV doesn’t offer temporary registrations.
In this case I typically have the buyer send me money. When the money enters my account I send the buyer the title. The buyer then registers the car and brings the plates with him when he picks it up.
The obligation to insure the car rests on the buyer the moment the title goes out of your name.
Plates or no plates, if the title is still in your name, (EVEN IF IT IS SIGNED BY THE ASSUMING BUYER) you assume responsibility for the car until it is transferred via DMV.
Insurance wise, it follows the vehicle, not the plate. If the new owner never titles it in their name, you are technically still the owner of it until the DMV is notified otherwise. Think about it, how else would they determine who the owner is? You have your receipt, but that isn’t documented anywhere until it goes to the DMV and is transferred.
Obviously it is one of those gray areas, but when I give my advice on insurance based questions, I err on the side of caution. Most people don’t think about liability issues. ie. requiring a cert. of insurance for any contractor doing work in your home. Most people don’t even know that they are supposed to do this, they just look for proof on insurance.
The title is clean and clear with no Liens so that’s not a problem
I am pretty sure Bobby is right…I remember when I was little my mom sold her Mustang to some teenager in like '85 The kid joyrode it, never registered it, it broke down and he left it in a parking lot and the cops came to our house and said we had to get the car out of wherever it was parked.
when I got my A3 in PA I couldn’t get temp tags because the private seller had lean which he paid off while I was there but it would be impossible to get a title until it’s mailed out and so there was zero chance of getting temp tags on the same day.
So just because you can get temp tags doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Luckily he let me drive it home on his plates.
That process can take forever though depending on the mail/banks/dmv hours…
Georgia had temp tags that lasted me a month before I had to get the car registered back in NY.
If it was me, I would just tell the guy to wire me $1000 (or some amount of money to cover gas & expenses) and then drive the car there for him, have him pay you the rest when you get it there when he agrees to buy it. Leave the car and take your plates. It’s only Vermont, could be done in a day.
NY has IN-Transit plates that the new owner can get at the DMV, I think they are good for 30 days. That is how I got my jeep back to Vermont to register with VT plates (since I was in college in NY but a VT resident.)
In law, a lien (UK /ˈliːən/ or US /ˈliːn/) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the lienor and the person who has the benefit of the lien is referred to as the lienee.