My wife is getting her mother’s 1951 dodge handed down to her. It has just been rebuilt and is ready to drive home. Good title in her moms name in Wisconsin. Has not been registered in 50 years. We will be driving it home to Colorado. How should we handle temporary registration until we can get it here to perform vin verification? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Register it in Wisconsin, drive it to Colorado, and then apply for a Colorado title when you get to Colorado.
Every state is different, this is from the Wisconsin DMV site: "Out of state residents buying a vehicle in Wisconsin may purchase a temporary plate that is valid for 30 days from the first date of operation from DMV customer service centers offering registration services. The fee is $3 plus a service fee up to $5. Out of state residents with valid transferable plates from their home state may use their plates while operating in Wisconsin." Here in CT an out of state resident can get a transport plate that's only valid for a limited amount of time. Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The one time I bought an out of state rod, I took a plate from my daily driver with me. Mounted plate and carried signed title from seller. Drove 1000 miles home. Thankfully I wasn't stopped or have any breakdowns.
......You were fortunate there, Phil. I can see me trying to explain my way out of that situation with a State gendarme!
Some states do have "Dealer" or "Transporter" plates. If you know someone who has one of those in your state, maybe you could borrow it. The legalities may be a bit fuzzy, but dealers often use them when purchasing cars from auctions or private parties out of state.
I wonder what an insurance company would think of Driving an Unregistered car out of state and having an accident?
When I bought my 40 Ford sedan, I used the antique plates that were on it, informed AAA that I was buying the car and driving it home from Washington state to Missouri. Only had one minor problem on the way home; then I mailed the plates back to the guy I bought the car from. One of the most memorable trips that the wife and I ever took. I've done that many times.
Couple weeks ago I asked my ins. guy how long I had to add a new car, one week. Called the tag office, how long to apply for new tags? Five business days. Might be different in your state so why not ask the pros? I asked cause I wondered about driving it home.
I drove an OT Corvette home from Murfreesboro TN without a tag on it, didn't have any problems. It was covered under my insurance as a new purchase as soon as I bought it, check with your insurance company on how it deals with that. All I had in my possession was the bill of sale and TN title signed over to me. Of course, the wife was behind me in her car all the way, except when we changed vehicles a time or two so she could drive it.
Try a temporary moving permit. It has been years but a 7 day grace period for getting the registration transferred use the norm. This may draw unwanted attention though.
I know here in CT, which requires a vin check for out of state purchases, you can go into the dmv, go through the registartion process and recieve a temporary plate. Once you complete your vin check you then return to recieve the permanent plates. But on the paper plate its registered and insured and totally legit legal. You'll have to check with your dmv
No way I'd pay the fees to register a car in the state I bought it, and then register again when I got home! Almost every state has less expensive trip permits, and I'd buy whatever trip permit allowed me enough time to drive home. Some sell them by the month, and some have 7 day trip permits.
8 bucks for a Wisconsin transport plate sounds pretty cheap. If her mom is alive and able I'd just take her down to the local Wisconsin car license office and register it. Or even transfer the title to your wife then and there. That might cost a bit more but save hassles in Colorado. The other is check with your local Colorado about a temp transportation permit. Usually for a fee you can get a permit for X number of days. If you need more days you need a second permit. Now days all states seem to want the make, model, year and vin of the vehicle that you are getting the permit for. A legit temp permit. Note: some states let you fill in the start day while others put the travel days on the permit. Insurance is still the main thing. I'd get that squared away with my insurance company before I left Colorado. Usually all you need is make, model and Vin with most insurance companies. I can't see why anyone would risk fines and possible impoundment by running tags off another vehicle. You not only get the car impounded you loose the tags all together. Been there, done that when I was young and stupid and thought I was too broke to afford tags for a rig. Cost me two registrations, a tow bill and a ticket.
I did this a few year back. Bought a car in AZ. In AZ the owner keeps the plates. So you can’t just buy a vehicle and drive it without transferring. So I started the transfer process to CA. Got insurance. Asked for a moving permit, got one of the ghetto month numbers you tape to the rear window. And drive back to CA. Got VIN verified and got plates. Done and done. In CA there is moving permits and permits for extensions to get registration done. Check with the DMV. state your leaving and the state you are going into. if it were up to me. Register in Wisconsin. Easier to explain inheritance vs no papers in Colorado. When you transfer all the papers will be ready. otherwise have some form of a document showing the inheritance proof for Colorado.
When I bought my T Bird, I paid for it, took the title home, transferred the tags and insurance from my T roadster to the Bird, then went back installed the tags and drove it home legally. Piece of cake in Maryland. (No inspection required!)
Maybe you could get the title mailed to you (properly signed of course. ) then insure and tag it. With Hagerty, it just took a quick phone call to transfer the insurance...
You might want to register it in Wisconsin first because it’s from there. Here in Arizona something that old and not registered for that long is no longer in their system. If you register it in Wisconsin I’m thinking that there wouldn’t be an inspection required, and then when you go to register it when you get to Colorado their system can talk to Wisconsin and see that it is currently registered it will be easier hopefully!
I agree with the previous posters that it is a very good idea to get it registered in Wisconsin. Unforeseen troubles can come up with registering a vehicle that's been out of the system so long, and going through a difficult registration process will be more difficult the more steps away from the original source you take.
Good advice. We will have her mom get the temp tags (30 days) out there. Looks like the WI DMV is still closed for Covid. So she will have to mail in the paperwork and $3 and wait for them to mail it back. But- the car is ready to go!!
In Wisconsin they pay by mail,and tape a copy of the check,or money order in the rear window.Cops know the registration has been applied for. Its also one of the easier states as far as cars being out of the system.I bought a 1917 T coupe that had been off the road since WW2,and I did the dmv by mail,and there was no inspection of the car.
It might be advantageous to register in WI if they have a no tax transfer from mother to a daughter. Many states do this between relatives. Then once titled in your name and registration in WI, your CO transfer should be no tax. Alternatively CO may have the relative no tax transfer. In that case get a transport temp tag from either WI or CO.
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