purchasing a car across the country, driving it legally

[lolcantturn]

hi my summer goal is to somehow get to california from jersey (i love traveling), but i'd like to go to cali with a "purpose," not just to be there like a tourist (cause that's no fun!)
that being said, I'm putting my E30 up for sale soon so I can travel across the country and pick up a sweet ass California E30. I'd like to know how I can legally drive it back to Jersey though, regarding plates?

[reelizmpro]

My buddy relocated to Jersey many years ago and drove his car out there. He had Cali plates for the longest time before finally transferring it over. It shouldn't be a problem.

[ak-]

Awh yeah.

[e30jake]

Trip permit. It's only valid for 3 days though IIRC, at least for VA. That plus contacting your insurance company

[stamar]

transfer the title in california, mailing it to your new jersey address.

( cant get a cali registration without a ca id)

your insurance should cover it for 30 days from purchase but check.

In new jersey bring the ca title with your name to the dmv and apply for new plates.

Dont keep the registration in cali it will cost lots of money. Wait until the tags expire possibly, but at at this point the cops know the cars not registered to you from other states so I wouldnt.


if it were a state OTHER than california, you could keep the plates registered there using a fake address forever. Like oregon or something, save lots of money. the states dont care either.

But california registration is the worst, youre upgrading with new jersey plates...and in some areas requires smogging every two years so its a non option.

[Threehz]

I didn't know you had to do anything. When I got my car in Cali, I just drove it right back with only the title, and the Cali plate. I figured that I'd show a cop that I just bought the car and had title.

Then again I was only driving about 500 miles..

[stamar]

ya actually you can go back with the title

what I was thinking of, is if you transfer and are missing the title,

you can go back with the title and tranfer it in nj dmv.

[PKR]

When I've bought a car out-of-state I've purchased a temporary or transit tag to get home. Cali should offer one. Some expire in 14 days, others in 39, so check it out ahead.

[ADlBOO]

Just get it added to your insurance and have the title and bill of sale with you filled out with the date you bought it. You can also just go to new jersey or cali's DMV site and see what they say.

[kway]

When I bought one of my 745s in Seattle years ago I paid up front with a certified check and had him send me the paperwork. Got it registered before flying out there so had a temp tag with me to drive it home on.

Leap of faith for sure, but I had some knowledge of the car before purchase. My boss did something similar, but set up an escrow account for the funds as a security measure, cost him less than $100. Still involved basically buying the car sight unseen though.

[lolcantturn]

Sounds good guys, NJ DMV allows me to buy a temp tag for the car if the bill of sale is present, but as kway pointed out, that involves buying the car sight unseen though. Any way to get around this?

Also, why NO to getting it registered in Cali? Extremely expensive? Wouldn't you need a proof of address instead of making it up?

[z31maniac]

When I bought my silver 318 a few years ago, I had the seller send me the title after I paid for it, I used that to register/tag/insure in Oklahoma. Then when I flew out to the GutenParts to pick it up, I had a tag/insurance and was ready to go.

[lolcantturn]

When I bought my silver 318 a few years ago, I had the seller send me the title after I paid for it, I used that to register/tag/insure in Oklahoma. Then when I flew out to the GutenParts to pick it up, I had a tag/insurance and was ready to go.

But that means you're buying the car basically blind :(

[Jonny Cash]

Ive done what youre about to do. its an awesome drive, alot of fun.
In 1999 i drove from frisco to NYC, taking the I-80 all the way. Bought the car in LA, drove up the PCH to frisco, then all the way across.

All i did was insure the car under my policy, but RI didnt require title for reg. over 10 yr old cars- That stuff varies state to state so you need to contact NJ dmv and get the details on a temp plate.

[KenC]

Just buy it, get the title and drive it back. If you have a bill of sale and a recently dated title then you're fine. Just take the title to the DMV in NJ. They'll issue you temp registration and mail you the NJ title with the reg.