The Delaware Driver Manual says new residents must title and register their vehicles within 60 days after becoming a resident. An address change has to be reported to the Division of Motor Vehicles within 30 days. The manual puts the steps in order. Insurance is first. Inspection is second. The title application is third.
The insurance minimums in that manual are a personal injury protection minimum of $15,000 for any one person and $30,000 for all persons injured in any one crash, $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more persons, and $10,000 for injury to or destruction of property of others. The policy has to come from a company licensed by the Insurance Commissioner. The Insurance Department's consumer guide states the same bodily-injury, property-damage, and PIP figures.
What has to happen, in order
- Buy the Delaware liability policy and get proof DMV will accept. That is an original Delaware insurance identification card, the policy, or a written binder issued within the last 30 days on the company's letterhead. The card may be paper or electronic. It must show the coverage period and the insurer's NAIC number. Copies, laminated cards, and third-party faxes are rejected. A fax is accepted only when the insurer sends it directly to DMV.
- Have the vehicle inspected at one of the four DMV locations. Bring the certificate of title or the registration card. The manual says there is no charge for an inspection for a Delaware resident.
- Complete the application for a Delaware title and registration and pay the document fee and title fee. The fee table in the manual lists a title with a lien at $55 and a title without a lien at $35.
Inspections
The lane checks equipment, not only the VIN. The manual's failure list includes lights, a brake performance test, mirrors, wipers, hood and trunk latches, tires with at least 2/32 inch of tread in two adjacent grooves, door handles, the horn, the exhaust and a catalytic converter if one was original equipment, fluid leaks, seat belts, bumper height, and windshield damage. It says no tint may be applied to the windshield or the front side windows.
Two sentences in the same section need to be read together. One says passenger cars from 1968 and newer, and trucks from 1970 and newer, are tested for exhaust emissions, and that 1996 and newer vehicles use the onboard diagnostic test. Another says seven-year-old models and newer no longer require inspection, except a VIN inspection on a vehicle that has never been titled in Delaware. A car coming from another state has never been titled in Delaware, so the VIN sentence applies even if the broader inspection is waived for the model year. Because the manual states both rules, confirm at the lane which test your year of car will actually receive. The inspection-lane manual is linked from dmv.de.gov. Rejected items must be repaired and the vehicle passed before the title, registration, and plate are issued.
Tax and the 90-day credit
The document fee is 4.25 percent of the purchase price or the NADA book value, whichever is greater, and not less than $8. The manual's fee notes say Delaware law allows a credit for a sales tax, transfer tax, or similar levy paid to another state on the purchase of the vehicle within 90 days before you register in Delaware. The manual says that 90-day rule is strictly enforced. It does not describe a credit for tax paid earlier than that. A separate note allows a trade-in deduction when you trade a Delaware-titled vehicle, with limits described on form MV347. That trade-in credit is not the out-of-state tax credit.
Temporary tags and military
If a vehicle fails inspection for a reason that is not safety-related, and the registration is about to expire, the manual says the owner may be eligible for a temporary tag at a cost of $20. That sentence is about a failed inspection near expiration. The manual does not describe a trip permit for a newly arrived out-of-state car that has not been inspected yet. Active-duty members and dependents are spared late fees on a renewal or a process that ran past an expiration date if they were deployed or stationed outside Delaware, and they show military ID and orders. That note is about late fees, not a waiver of the 60-day new-resident title rule.
A shipped car
The 60 days run from becoming a resident. A car that arrives on a truck still has to go through a DMV inspection lane before the title is issued, except to the extent the seven-year rule limits that visit to a VIN inspection. You cannot complete that lane until the car is in Delaware, and the manual does not give you a pre-inspection permit for the drive from the delivery point to the lane. Ask DMV before you drive it. See car shipping in Delaware and the cost calculator.