STORY TIME: gettin ripped off

darthripley":an48z5fs said:

that's interesting.
here in TX you just sell it with the plates on there & when the car is titled you get new plates then.
as long as you get a bill of sale & other documents you're covered if the new owner turns out to be unscrupulous.
you just can't sell a car with a personalized plate.
i kept Vadar's Cali plates actually b/c they still had the original dealership plastic surround where the car was purchased in 1990.
i actually have a bunch of old car plates ... it's hell being a packrat

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I dunno.. you may be covered, but it seems like a lot of hassle to go through though.

On a side note........ after you give someone your old tag, and they get a new tag... would the tag office need to print another tag to replace the one that was 'lost'? Seems like an inefficient way to blow tax dollars.

There is actually a form you have to fill out and send in here in Texas that states you no longer own the car. Found that out after my brother sold his car and the new owner got a few tickets which came to my brother. Needless to say he wasnt very happy...

Every car I've ever purchased (4 total) the previous owners have taken the plates. I always just run plates from another car, so I don't stand out.

In maine/ny afaik, you buy the car, register/insure it and get plates for it- THEN you put them on the car and drive away.

-Towels

WarTowels":3dum41lw said:

In maine/ny afaik, you buy the car, register/insure it and get plates for it- THEN you put them on the car and drive away.

-Towels

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That seems very silly in my opinion. So if you buy a car from a dealership you have to wait till you register it before you drive it away? Or if you buy a car from a private owner on the weekend you have to wait until at least monday before you can drive the car? Seems rather unusual.

It's quite normal, actually.

Dealers give you temp plates. Private party's do not.

-Towels

dude bein a packrat is a very good thing IMO, ya never know when ya might need something or help someone else out along the way. ofcourse the storage of such treasure is always a hassle, heh

WarTowels":2nfzukss said:

It's quite normal, actually.

Dealers give you temp plates. Private party's do not.

-Towels

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So if you buy from a private party, you're just SOL till monday when you can register the car. Seems like the state gov favors dealers over private sellers.

^I guess so.

I don't think waiting a maximum of 2 days is the end of the world though.

And/or just drive it illegally.

We have less than 1.5 Million people in the entire state, so, sometimes the laws are either extremely cool, or very nonsensical.

-Towels

WarTowels":11uq4uy6 said:

Every car I've ever purchased (4 total) the previous owners have taken the plates. I always just run plates from another car, so I don't stand out.

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Sure, that helps the not standing out part, but if you do get pulled over for something and the cop runs the plate, which he certainly will, he won't even listen to an explanation, he'll just impound the car. At least, I've been told, that's the way it works around here.

Sometimes you get lucky buying a car out of state. I bought my gray 165 in California. The seller was cool about letting me keep the plates. He just needed the paperwork for the local DMV saying he didn't own the car anymore, a release of liability waiver or some such thing. I flew in to LAX, the seller picked me up there and we drove up the street to a branch of his bank where we exchanged paperwork. Then I was off to Colorado. No real problems. The car did suck down a huge amount of oil (it seems like I added 5qts), but somewhere between Richfield, UT and Grand Junction, CO it just quit using oil and hasn't used much since. Based on that experience, I'd say an occasional road trip is a good thing.

So, buying a used car out of state is like buying in-state. You still have to know what you are buying and expect a few problems.

Just wanted to add my story which is fairly similar bought my first "Trac" in michigan about two years ago off ebay from a guy who had one sittin around since before the wife and kids, he said it ran good the last time he had driven it which was like a year prior to him parking it! So my being yong and stupid I decided to go with some buddies in my jetta from north central Iowa and pick it up and drive it home! Hey it's only a 16 year old car(at the time) with over 190k on the odo what could go wrong. After gettin there and finding it had a bad battery I got a new one and took an around the block test drive, decided i was in love with it and handed over the check. Five minutes later I was on the interstate goin 125 having a ball. The trip thru Chicago was a blast, due to construction we got forced onto every toll road, the speed pass lane works very well when you don't care cause you don't have plates on the car. Then late at night just inside iowa we started running into trouble got pulled over twice once cause the lady cop thought my lights were flickering on and off(they worked fine i was just whipping 360's cause i was lost and pissed) and the second time cause of the no plates not a ticket from either and they didn't even check my liscense which was very lucky for me cause i had an intermediate license and it was invalid by that time of night. After that we got back on the avenue of the saints and my left front caliper fell off in the middle of a monsoon type thunderstorm also my sunroof wouldn't close and we didn't have any type of screwdriver to close it with. We kept on goin praying for the best and made it home somtime around sun-up!

Oh and about the license plate issue i've been using the plates from my old pick-up(now crushed) on my new truck(had a scraping title put on it from the previous owner) for about 5 years now and the government still hasn't figured it out, I guess Iowa is a little more relaxed than most states!

___Scott___":1hh71kn7 said:

Sure, that helps the not standing out part, but if you do get pulled over for something and the cop runs the plate, which he certainly will, he won't even listen to an explanation, he'll just impound the car. At least, I've been told, that's the way it works around here.

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You're missing the point entirely.

Both ways it's illegal. What do you think happens when you buy a car in a state that requires plates, and run without a plate?

Sure you could attempt to weasel out of it, but honestly- how many cops run EVERY plate they see, especially if you are obeying the rules of the road.

And how many cops do you think will pull you over for no plates?

Guessing all of them.

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And to the point above about Wisconsin and no plates, that point is irrelevant because you weren't in Wisconsin...

-Towels

Point about wisconsin was that I believe in some states no plates prolly is not a big deal if you just bought the car. It was a first hit off a google search. I did some digging through dmv laws and regs and its like reading the fine print of every legal disclaimer you encounter in day. More then I wanted to do... Anyway, I would go with no plates way over fake plates.
No plates you can plead ignorance especialy if your just passing through a state and not a resident. Cops don't blink at no plates here. But if you are running fake plates/borrowed plates... its gonna be your ass. That shows you are ACTIVELY attempting to defraud the authorities. I don't see anyone talking an officer outta that ticket and I'm sure the penalty is way more serious :shoots: then not having a plate for a car you just bought.

register/insure it and get plates for it- THEN you put them on the car and drive away.

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Can't register your car from someone's driveway here in California. Especially if your not even in the state. They want to see the vin#, the smog and the proof of insurance.

I'd say insure it and your gonna look like you are doing what a reasonable person would do. Esurance even lets you print out your proof so you have it in hand if asked. Drive it from where you bought it to your driveway then to the DMV. I wouldn't suggest screwing round in it and giving them a real reason to pull you over. Another point about fake plates is if you get in an accident they are gonna be way up in your ass about it when they run your plates against your no registration and vin#.

In a court of law, ignorance is never an excuse. It's your responsibility as a citizen to know the laws.

However, how cops interpret "the law" is often subject to their whim as we all know.

And I'll just have to disagree with you, I'd run a fake plate any day over no plate.

Simple excuse in the unlikely event you get pulled over with an insured car, an up to date plate, and an inspection sticker- simply say- I'm transferring the plate over but I was waiting till I got the car. Which works twice as well when you have a vanity plate.

That's just as good as... hey... I have no license plate? I........ didn't know I could do that. :twisted:

-Towels

In a court of law, ignorance is never an excuse. It's your responsibility as a citizen to know the laws.

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No, thats a lawyers responsibility. Ignorance may not get you far in a court of law but explaining why you did something on the street to an officer it pulls more weight then doing something deliberately shady. You could spend five years of your life reading the laws of all fifty states. I bet there is not a single person on earth that knows them all 100%. Look at your own state weird laws for a hoot. Apparently its illegal to step out of a plane in flight, you have to bring your firearm to church on sunday and god knows what sort of odd sex laws they have on the books. As a citizen its your responsibility to vote, pay taxes and register for the draft. And in the spirit of our declaration of independence its probably our responsibility to keep our government honest. And boy have we dropped the ball there throughout history.

I keep my old Alabama tags for that reason alone...

no matter what I can slap it on any car and get bookin, Its registered to an old crown vic but the plates are transferable, I wouldnt do it if VA didnt require you to have tags on the spot or pay for 3 days tags (30 day availible from dealers)

Saves me time and money, not to mention if you get any tags in VA you either have insurance (and I don't want to on a car that's probably gonna be sitting or on jack stands) or pay the 500 dollar uninsured fee (45 for 3 day tags, dunno the price for 30 day)...

Just my 2 cents, but check on tag transferals, I'd have some VA tags for that perpose but it's illegal to use them like I can my AL tags

WarTowels":gbnq2kk7 said:

In a court of law, ignorance is never an excuse. It's your responsibility as a citizen to know the laws.

However, how cops interpret "the law" is often subject to their whim as we all know.

And I'll just have to disagree with you, I'd run a fake plate any day over no plate.

Simple excuse in the unlikely event you get pulled over with an insured car, an up to date plate, and an inspection sticker- simply say- I'm transferring the plate over but I was waiting till I got the car. Which works twice as well when you have a vanity plate.

That's just as good as... hey... I have no license plate? I........ didn't know I could do that. :twisted:

-Towels

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I mostly agree with chaos, but I can surmise that the opinion on this topic has a lot to do with what state you live in and the laws therein. For states like mine in GA, running with no tag is no big deal, but you better have the bill of sale on you, and you had better not be riding around long like that. I can't speak for maine, but the laws there, might be more favorable to get away with bolting up any sort of plate until you get to the DMV. Just different strokes I guess.

Well then I disagree with both of you. And obviously, if your state doesn't require a plate, then by all means don't run a plate. But NY state does... and the laws of Wisconsin don't transfer over when you enter NY state.

And I laughed out loud when you said it was your lawyers responsibility's to know laws, and not your own. :roll:

-Towels

WarTowels":3gdzrsgx said:

Well then I disagree with both of you. And obviously, if your state doesn't require a plate, then by all means don't run a plate. But NY state does... and the laws of Wisconsin don't transfer over when you enter NY state.

And I laughed out loud when you said it was your lawyers responsibility's to know laws, and not your own. :roll:

-Towels

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It's not that GA doesn't require tags, it just that you have a 'grace period' after you buy a car, during which, tags are not required. Once that certain number of days is up, it's fair game if you get pulled over.

And a lawyer has nothing to do with an individual not knowing the law. If you're caught breaking the local law, and are found/plead guilty, you will get some sort of punishment. Ignorance is never an excuse.

WarTowels":13dlp0zl said:

Well then I disagree with both of you. And obviously, if your state doesn't require a plate, then by all means don't run a plate. But NY state does... and the laws of Wisconsin don't transfer over when you enter NY state.

And I laughed out loud when you said it was your lawyers responsibility's to know laws, and not your own. :roll:

-Towels

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If your state doesn't require a front plate, you don't have to run one just because you are going into another state. You only have to follow the registration requirements for the state the vehicle is registered in. In Idaho I can register a 4wheeler and drive it on public roads. I can then take that 4wheeler and drive it on Utah roads since it is technically now a road legal vehicle as long as I followed all the requirements to register it in my county. You do have to follow the rules of the road (legal u-turns, passing on the right in Texas, etc) of the state you are in but they can't give you a ticket for no front plate. And ignorance can get you out of alot of trouble depending on the circumstance.

etantshi":380gocsl said:

It's not that GA doesn't require tags, it just that you have a 'grace period' after you buy a car, during which, tags are not required. Once that certain number of days is up, it's fair game if you get pulled over.

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You have a grace period as long as you stay in the state. If you are going to be doing interstate travel it gets pretty messy and you should either get a temp from your state, or in the case of the OP, a transit registration to get to your home state.