Buying a new used car out of state, insurance question and potential title issues - CT to FL

Hey All,

Found a 2013 Ford Focus in Connecticut that I'm interested in purchasing. The car has a lien on it and although I really really want to fly up this weekend to pick it up, it sounds like the title won't be released to him in time. Are there any other options here that somehow gives me more reassurance to getting the title? Could I pay the bank directly and have them ship me the title? Otherwise I need to find another weekend to make this work.

My other question is about insurance. Do I just call my current provider and ask them to add the car to the insurance plan? My friend mentioned that you have 30 days to retroactively add insurance on any new car you buy but I've never heard that before.

Add insurance immediately after buying it.

The state may have a transit permit you get form the DMV that will allow you to drive it to Florida, but the insurance you have will have to match what CT requires, not Florida.

I am not sure about the best way to get the title.

You are going to have to wait on the title. If you pay the lien the title will then be released to the title holder NOT YOU! Then you could be out of the $$$$ and now that there is no lien on the car the owner could walk with a lien free car at your expence.

Re the insurance call your agent or the company they will be glad to take your $$$$ to insure another car. They will walk you through it. They may want a copy of the registration to get things rolling but they will tell you your options.

Sharpen your google fu and look at the DMV's site for and see what they say about temp tags.

If this does not work use that outdated thing called a phone and call the DMV and start asking questions.

Always better to run with no plates than the wrong plates, if it comes to that.

Personally, unless I knew the seller well, I would never fork over any money until the clear title in the seller's name with signature and notary stamp was in their hands ready to give to me in return. I have physically gone with a seller to their bank, given the money, received the lien release paperwork, and then walked with the seller directly to the courthouse to exercise the transfer, but that was all in-state.

Check with your insurance company, most have a grace period where any new vehicle you purchase is automatically covered for a certain amount of time. It isn't that hard to give them the VIN, though, and have them make it effective on the day you plan to pick up the car, so you might as well do that.

I have run into this twice now on long distance purchases on cars with leins. There is going to be a level of trust, no way around it. I have only done this with people on forums where I felt comfortable with the transaction. I wire the money directly to the lein holder after getting a contact name at the financial institution from the seller and then calling the fin. inst. myself to discuss the transaction. You'll also write a clear bill of sale that says that on x date you will wire x funds from x bank to y bank, and as soon as there is confirmation of funds received ownership of the car transfers. I've done this with cars that needed to be transported - at least you are talking about being there and taking possession on the spot, so you'll have the vehicle and a bill of sale.

Insurance is no problem, a transit tag might be based on what docs the local DMV needs and what can be available with this scenario. As others have said, at worst do it with no plate and have your paperwork. Don't borrow a plate off another car to make the run.

Just an FYI: I've done this before when I was sold a car that I still had a note on, and my credit union was perfectly happy to directly transfer/release the title to the person I was selling to. I took a notarized letter from both of us sent to them to authorize it, of course.

I know a shipper who makes two trips a week from Vermont to Florida with a three car trailer. They are fairly reasonable. They shipped my CRX from Connecticut to Maryland.

WonkoTheSane wrote: Just an FYI: I've done this before when I was sold a car that I still had a note on, and my credit union was perfectly happy to directly transfer/release the title to the person I was selling to. I took a notarized letter from both of us sent to them to authorize it, of course.

I've just done something similar when I sold the Evo, the small local bank that handled the loan for the buyer did also handle most of the admin work as it's in their interest to get their hands on the title quickly and without hassle.

In my case the buyer's bank made out two checks, one to me and one to the lienholder. The check made out to me was conditional on me delivering the title to them if the lienholder did mistakenly send it to me. That combined with the bill of sale and other paperwork should make it a comparatively safe transaction. There's not much point in having a lien-free title to a car when there's also paperwork that you as the seller signed to confirm that you sold the thing.

When I sold my S2000 that still had a lien, we mutually agreed to go to the bank holding the note and he would write two checks: one for the lien amount and one to me. The bank assured us that the new buyer would get the title (since he was writing the check), but of course it comes to me in the mail about a week later. I had to go drop it off to him, so would have been bad news if he was out of state (I guess I could have FedEx'ed it). Moral of the story, make sure you have your ducks in a row (and trust the seller in case things get flubbed up).

Just meet the seller at the bank. After signing the bill of sale, transfer the money for the lien . The bank will then sign off on the lien, then transfer the balance of the purchase price. The seller can sign the title over to you. All right there in the bank lobby. I bought a car in Chicago and brought it back to Michigan doing this. Insure it right away. With the bill of sale, and signed copy of the title, even if the state sends the previous owner the new, no lien copy, you still have proof of ownership. I simply brought the title with the signed off lien and the signed sale info to my secretary of states office and registered it. no problem.

As for the License, Michigan has a rule allowing you to drive a unplated directly home after a private party purchase. But that does not apply in another state, and each state will be different. So contact your DMV on the proper way to proceed.

Went through this a few months ago. My bank (USAA) had a letter that the seller signed that was then sent to his bank, it released the title to me.

However, once I had the title, I had to meet up with the seller to have him sign the title...

Well I am still working on this and very thankful the seller is willing to jump through my hoops. Unfortunately here is the situation:

Seller has the title now I've insured the car (havent purchased yet) I want to fly up this weekend and drive the car back. Unfortunately to get a temporary tag I need to go to a local CT DMV and provide them with the title, insurance , registration application, drivers license, and $21. Unfortunately I just read on the DMV site that he FL coverage does not meet the CT Minimum coverage so I'll have to bump up coverage. The other major issue is all of these places will be closed Friday so I'll have to go Saturday which is going to make for a hell of a drive home.

Maybe I should just hope it's in good shape and ship it.

In reply to Enyar:

Also: CTDMV has been doing some upgrades over the past couple of weeks and some offices are closed for an extra day here and there. I'm pretty sure there were two offices closed today and all are closed every Monday. Check the specific office before you plan to go.

Can you get a Florida transit tag? In Delaware, there is a form you download and print out to take with you, and carry along on the ride back.

Good luck!

Based on what my local DMV said they could provide a temporary tag if I was an out of state buyer driving out of FL, but CT would have to provide the temp tag for my situation.

So many hoops to jump through, no wonder people just buy from a dealership.

In reply to Enyar:

Is the seller willing to leave their plate on the car for your return trip? I know it's not a preferred solution and you would have some explaining to do if you got pulled over, but at least you wouldn't be driving without plates (and attracting the kind of attention you don't want.) A transferred title, proof of insurance and some wide-eyed ignorance might get you off. I definitely wouldn't bring my own plates and put them on, that would be an even bigger headache if you got pulled over.

I had to do something similar with a fly-and-drive last December. I had the route / timing planned to head straight to the DMV for a transit plate on my way home. However, the seller left their plate on the car, so I just rolled with it. Granted, my drive home was 5.5 hours and it looks like you will be more than triple the distance.

Either way, good luck.

I went through this when I bought the NB. Though the car was in AZ, the title was in Nebraska; seller was really cool, but it took several days to a week or so to get it all done. If I ever do something like it again, I'm going to set up an escrow for it - a few bucks and it keeps ugly thoughts from creeping in to your head; I couldn't drive the car until I could title and reg it anyway, would've been same same time wise.

Getting the regs straight between the states just so you can "legally" drive the car is a bit of a hassle. Sounds like you're relatively square on it all though.

Alternatively, I have a '12 Focus for sale that I own outright!

Well this is happening tomorrow and I'm going plateless unless I can convince the seller to let me borrow his! Wish me luck!

• Side note....I feel guilty every time I drive the TDI. I wonder if she knows that there will be someone else in my life soon.

Don't stress about the plate. Have the bill of sale and some form of proof of insurance (even a card from your other car) to show that you're a good citizen and enjoy the trip!

A few LEOs I have talked to said it is better to have no tag than the wrong one on a car. So you should be okay, just have the paperwork with you.