jasserv

Pretty sure you still can. When I bought my civic a few years ago(SC to NC) i went through the same thing. Main thing that they wanted was that sigs matched and title and bill of sale filled out correctly.

RGNHD

Glad to hear it's not out of the norm. Do they have a specific form for Bills of sales here or are they just ones that you can write up yourself like we used to in Oklahoma.

RGNHD

Anyone know the specifics on how I can get a license plate or a temporary plate for the car I am going to buy?
Unfortunately the guy I'm buying it off of does not have a plate for it. He ended up just putting his truck plate on it anytime he had to drive it.

Since I would have the title in my hands would I be okay driving the car without a plate at least just to get it home?

will010100

I bought my car from SC in September 2010. I bought it on a Saturday, and the title was in the lock box at the bank.

The Friday before, I called my insurance agent to inform them I would likely make the purchase and they added a provisional somethingoranother that provided temporary coverage until I was able to show ownership.

We planned to go to Cherry Grove Beach the next day, and I wanted to take the S2000 home that day. So I made the purchase and drove the tagless car home with just a bill of sale and a promise the previous owner would FedEx the title to our beach house on Monday.

I drove to the beach with my BoS, and, on the next Tuesday, I drove back to the closest NCDOT with the title to get my new tag. I even took a screwdriver and mounted it in the lot.

So this really didn't answer your question. Driving without a tag any distance is illegal. The correct thing to do is drive another vehicle to the DMV with the new title in hand. The point of the story is that I really wanted to drive my new car, so I did. If I were stopped, I would have presented the BoS and told my story in hopes that he would have let me go. However, if I had been given a ticket, I was willing to accept the $65 fine to have my car at the beach for the week.

Driving without a tag has known fines that you may be willing to accept. The risk associated with driving uninsured is totally unacceptable, so check with your agent.

RGNHD

Wow. I'm glad to hear that the guy actually sent you your title. I wouldn't ever grab a car unless I had the title in hand.
If the ticket is only 65 I'll probably just take my chances. It should literally only be about a 10 minute drive.
Because I'm all by myself and if I get pulled over hopefully it'll make sense to the cop.

will010100

In SC, it seems the BoS is more important and the title is just a formality, so it was not as risky as it sounds.

The $65 was in 2010 and can vary from county to county. It is the minimum court cost fee. If you are ticketed for driving without tags, you have until your court date to get them. If you have tags before your court date inform the DAs office, and they will drop the violation and charge you a minimal cost of court fee. It's their way to collect fees without adding more cases to the court room.

silverstone_f22

I recently bought a TSX and drove it home 30 minutes without a tag. I see it all the time down here, where as in PA people were muuuch less prone to do it. Doesn't make it legal but I figure if you aren't doing anything else wrong and the car is insured and titled to you and you have proof of everything. Most likely if you get stopped you will *probably* be fine. That could be a stupid assumption but that's what I think.

RGNHD

That's pretty much how I feel as well. But at the same time if I get pulled over it all just depends on what cop I end up getting.
By all means the car will at least be insured. I know I would definitely get a ticket if I was caught without insurance.