So I'm planning on buying a car this weekend. My issue is I need to drive it 4 and a half hours home, but I'm not planning on registering it while I'm there, as it has to wait until my next paycheck. I live in north carolina, I'm 17, working 2 jobs. Now I believe I have to register it under my dad's name, but he won't be there for the purchase, a few friends are going with me. So how can I go about getting the car home without towing it. I just need to drive it straight home, Saturday only.
Call your insurance company and get a insurance binder emailed to your phone for proof of insurance. Fill out the title and bill of sale, and drive it home. There is a reasonable chance you will get stopped but depending on the officer, they might give you a pass or write you a ticket. Usually if you are on the up and up, they will give you a pass. If they write you a ticket, usually proof of registration will get it dropped. Just understand that what you are doing is probably not legal and you are taking your chances.
I drove SanFord from Wisconsin to South Carolina without plates and never got stopped. It's just the luck of the draw.
You should be good in nc. Dont be a dick, dont run the sellers plate, get insurance, titlework, and bill of sale. Leave on passengers side seat.
Done this a few times in our great state. Never at 17 though. As an older guy, ive never had a problem.
What part of nc are you in?
I've driven plenty of things home without tags before and never had a problem so I wouldn't sweat it. But there's a few presidents' worth of age difference between us, so that probably figures in to it in a big way. There's something about young male drivers that just attracts cops. That said, make sure you've got the insurance thing squared away and all the "I just bought this thing" paperwork, and then drive like you've got a dead hooker in the trunk.
The part that would worry me more than anything - especially if I were the seller - is that I was always under the impression that under 18 couldn't really enter into a binding contract or anything like that. Granted, my juris doctorate was issued by Dick Wolf from Law & Order University and my law enforcement experience is many hours of sitting on the couch watching my dog bark at Live PD, but maybe something to verify?
Most states have some provision for "driving it home". Look on the website of the Secretary of State/DMV/Whatevertheycallitinyourstate. If you need to drive it across state lines, check each states requirements, they can/will be different. I once looked at buying a car 2 states away. Here's what I found: In the state where the car was, it could be driven, but must have the seller's plate on it, in the state in the middle, it could be driven with a plate registered to me, for my "home state" - no plate, just a bill of sale. In my home state, upon officer inquiry, I'd have to be able to show I was driving from the point of purchase to my home by the most direct route.
This was a different part of the country and at least 10 years ago, so your rules may be/are different. My point is you can figure it out, and it is possible to be "within the rules", it just requires a fair amount of legwork. Print out the DMV/SOS rules for any state you're passing through and have them with you for 2 reasons: 1. Not all officers may know the rules. 2. It will show any officers you encounter that you are trying hard to follow the rules.
Also, as Dusterbd said, "Don't be a dick".
Some states will allow you to print a temp tag online to drive it home.
Either way with a bill of sale you should be able to drive it home without problems.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Jacksonville driving to Lenoir to pick up the car, then back.
Whenever I'm on a big trip, I always look to see if the state I'm buying from has a temporary transit tag available. When I bought my Dodge Caravan from Tuna last July, I stopped by the DMV on the way out of town and it cost $20 for a temp tag, which made me feel better driving it home to CT.
I often won't get a tag if I'm just going an hour or two away, but that was about 16 hours of driving or so.
Me and a buddy drove a Miata home from GA at 18/19 a few years back . No tags, had insurance and a bill of sale and a filled out title. I normally drive what I buy home with no tags, I have never been pulled over for no tags ironically, it is always something else.
In reply to Catlas_Se7en :
Sooooo....what did you buy?
Patientzero said:Some states will allow you to print a temp tag online to drive it home.
Either way with a bill of sale you should be able to drive it home without problems.
Look and see if your state DMV has a "transit tag" form you can download / print. They're usually good for 24 hours.
In Texas the seller goes on line and fills out a form saying he just sold the car and he puts the name of the buyer into the form.
You keep the old plate. When you do the registration they just make the transfer "official" when you pay the registration. No plate change required.
I bought a car 6 months ago and the seller did all this with his phone while we were standing in line at the bank to make the cash transfer.
What kind of car?
In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :
You'll see. Watch the forum come Saturday night - Sunday morning
Sadly, NC has no provision for driving it home. The only legal way to drive a car home is to register & plate it before driving it back.
That said, I agree with the above posters. Keep your signed title/bill of sale with you, proof of insurance and don't be a dick and you will probably be ok.
Catlas_Se7en said:In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :
You'll see. Watch the forum come Saturday night - Sunday morning
Check out the new kid with the veteran move. Kicks off the epic build thread with a "what car is it?" mystery. 
In reply to kazoospec :
I've been doing build threads since I was 14, just in different places 
, but I'll give y'all a hint. Gonna try something a bit new to me with one of the most legendary cars in the existing car world.
In reply to Catlas_Se7en :
... one of the most legendary cars in the existing car world.
I predict Maserati BiTurbo.
Plates won't be the only challenge in driving it home.
Catlas_Se7en said:In reply to kazoospec :
I've been doing build threads since I was 14, just in different places
Must be a 1970 Chevelle LS-6!
John Welsh said:In reply to Catlas_Se7en :
... one of the most legendary cars in the existing car world.
I predict Maserati BiTurbo.
Plates won't be the only challenge in driving it home.
Nope
In reply to SaltyDog :
Nope!
What do You mean by "existing car world"? Does that limit you to only current models?
In reply to John Welsh :
It can be anything from current model year all the way back to 1899
Catlas_Se7en said:John Welsh said:In reply to Catlas_Se7en :
... one of the most legendary cars in the existing car world.
I predict Maserati BiTurbo.
Plates won't be the only challenge in driving it home.
Nope
I think the Answer is the answer here.
In reply to Indy-Guy :
I can guarantee it's not an italian or german car
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