Out of State car purchasing ?'s

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 4:51 pm

As alot of you know, I recently bought my brother's 92 Miata off of him. Now comes the fun part, getting it from Tampa to Raleigh. I thought about towing it behind my Toyota Sienna, but found out that the towing capacity was not nearly enought. Then I though about trying to borrow an SUV (2 kids, wife and myself, trucks are out) and trailer from a fellow club member in exchange for the Mustang for the weekend, but they will all be in use in Roebling Road that weekend (June 18-21) . Then I thought about getting a hauling service to transport it here. Cheapest I found was $450!!!! Out of the question. So we are left with driving it back. Not what I wanted to do.

My question is this, what do I need to do about a lisence plate for the drive back? Do I need to get a temp from FL or a temp from NC or is there somekind of transport plate I could get? Has anybody done this? Please help.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 5:00 pm

Cut a rectangle out of a cardboard box and write "Plate applied for in (insert favorite state here)" with a large black marker.

I am only half joking.

I would think that you could title and insure the car here in NC prior to your trip down to FL and that there would be some type of provision for a temp NC plate.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 5:03 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

Cut a rectangle out of a cardboard box and write "Plate applied for in (insert favorite state here)" with a large black marker.

I've seen that before and wondered how legal that really is.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 5:22 pm

Todd Breakey wrote:

Richard Casto wrote:

Cut a rectangle out of a cardboard box and write "Plate applied for in (insert favorite state here)" with a large black marker.

I've seen that before and wondered how legal that really is.

Another creative method is to pull a legal plate off of one of your other vehicals and use it. No doubt that is not legal either, but probably would work or may work better than the cardboard plate idea (which I think would be a police magnet).

I am pretty sure at a minimum you need (and should have) insurance on the car and to do that you may need to have the car titled or a bill of sale. With all of the research on the "weighted" plates things for tow vehicales, I would assume one of those guys knows the answers or can point you in the right direction. I will shut up now as I know I am not helping much if at all.

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 5:28 pm

Drive it home with the FL tags on. When you get back, mail them back to your brother.

Or if you have time, you can get a tag for the it without the car being here. Simply take the notorized title to the DMV and presto, you get an NC tag. You then have 30 days to get it inspected.

Adam Ligon · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 5:48 pm

Todd Breakey wrote:

As alot of you know, I recently bought my brother's 92 Miata off of him. Now comes the fun part, getting it from Tampa to Raleigh. I thought about towing it behind my Toyota Sienna, but found out that the towing capacity was not nearly enought. Then I though about trying to borrow an SUV (2 kids, wife and myself, trucks are out) and trailer from a fellow club member in exchange for the Mustang for the weekend, but they will all be in use in Roebling Road that weekend (June 18-21) . Then I thought about getting a hauling service to transport it here. Cheapest I found was $450!!!! Out of the question. So we are left with driving it back. Not what I wanted to do.

My question is this, what do I need to do about a lisence plate for the drive back? Do I need to get a temp from FL or a temp from NC or is there somekind of transport plate I could get? Has anybody done this? Please help.

Really what is it rated to tow then? I have never seen one at less than 3000lbs. Tow dolly, not car trialer, maybe 300lbs plus a miata what 2500?

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2004 7:19 pm

Assuming it isn't licensed in Florida but you intend to license it in NC it would seem that you have enough time to insure and license it in NC before the trip. Then get it inspected as soon as you get here. With "fresh paperwork" you shouldn't have a problem with no inspection sticker if you get pulled over in NC unless you did something else to upset an "officer". We drove a car from California in 1986 when we moved here with NC plates that we purchased "mail order" so that we wouldn't have to pay another year of CA license fees. If you can't get the actual plate in time, just make sure you have the paperwork with you . . . just as if you bought a new car here and had to wait for the plate (I don't think NC does paper plates anymore . . .). As long as you've "paid the money" to NC I can't imagine any real problem even if you get pulled over along the way unless you are speeding, etc.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Wed May 26, 2004 3:03 pm

Adam Ligon wrote:

Really what is it rated to tow then? I have never seen one at less than 3000lbs. Tow dolly, not car trialer, maybe 300lbs plus a miata what 2500?

Since we did not opt for the towing package (stupid in hind sight) we are limited to 7200 lbs for the van, occupants, baggage, and the item being towed. Since the van weighs about 5600 lbs that only leaves us 1600 to play with. Not enough unfortunately.

I think I'm just going to drive home on the FL plates and mail them back. That seems like the most logical solution.

Thanks guys.

Ron Spencer · **Posted:** Thu May 27, 2004 8:27 am

If you have the title its really no big deal to getthe NC plate. They never ask to see the car. All you have to do is show proof of insurance.

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Thu May 27, 2004 8:35 am

Ron Spencer wrote:

If you have the title its really no big deal to getthe NC plate. They never ask to see the car. All you have to do is show proof of insurance.

And the car does not even have to be on the insurance. Provide them with your carrier and a policy number.

A cool little loop hole if you are a gambler.

Charlie Guthrie · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 8:14 pm **Posts:** 832

Jim wrote, "And the car does not even have to be on the insurance. Provide them with your carrier and a policy number.
A cool little loop hole if you are a gambler."

He's right about the "gambler" part. As I understand it, your insurance carrier must cover you on a car you just bought (you have 30 days to let them know), but the down side is that you are only covered for liability(diferent carriers may differ on the level of liability that they will automatically assume. It may only be the NC minimum or it may be whatever you have for liability on your other vehicles.) A quick call to your agent will establish a binder on the car for whatever level of coverage you want.
Charlie G

Frank Catena · **Joined:** Wed Aug 27, 2003 1:08 pm **Posts:** 418

We bought one of Miatae via a private sale in Md. Drove it back to NC. My insurance agent was positive that I was covered by my policy just make sure you have your policy number with you. We didn't have a problem, but we weren't stopped either

Frank

Charlie Guthrie · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 8:14 pm **Posts:** 832

Frank wrote, "My insurance agent was positive that I was covered by my policy." The agent is "correct," but mine added that I was covered, but only for the state required liability. If you just paid a bunch for a car do you want to write it off due to an uninsured driver or you own fault when you only have coverage for liability? Also, the liability may only be the minimum unless you specifically ask for higher coverage.
CG

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