Paperwork when you buy a car in another state

The paperwork for a car bought in another state is the proof that you own it, the mileage statement the law requires, and a legal way to get it home. Shipping is optional. The paper is not. RideShipper can help you request a truck. It does not prepare a title, collect sales tax, or issue a temporary plate. Copy form numbers from the DMV page while you are filing. None are printed here, on purpose.

The four papers#

Bill of sale. Date, price, VIN, year, make, model, and the names of the buyer and seller. Both sides should sign if the state asks. Keep a copy even if the state does not demand one. It is the record of what you paid when the title is slow, and it is what you compare with the odometer.

Title. The certificate, in the seller's name, signed in the places that state marks. If the title is electronic, the selling state has a process to release it to you or to your home state. A lienholder on the title means the bank has to release its interest. A lease means the lessor owns the car. You cannot sign away a title you do not hold. See shipping a leased car.

Odometer disclosure. NHTSA says federal law requires a written disclosure of the mileage on the title when ownership transfers. If the mileage is wrong, the disclosure has to say so. NHTSA says a vehicle is exempt if it is 20 years old or older, or a model year 2010 vehicle or older. The state form may still have a box. Fill out what they hand you. Before you pay, compare the title mileage with the odometer, with service records, and with wear. NHTSA lists those checks because rolled-back odometers are a real fraud. Its page says tampering is a crime. If you suspect it, NHTSA points an individual case to the state enforcement agency, and large schemes to its hotline.

A way to move the car. That is either a carrier, or a temporary registration or trip permit from a motor vehicle agency, or plates the selling state says may stay on the car. Get the permit from the agency. Do not buy a temporary tag from a stranger. If you ship the car, the permit question may wait until it arrives, and then your home state's registration rule applies. The shipment itself is on shipping a car you bought out of state.

Checklist#

• [ ] VIN on the dash, the door, the title, and the ad all match. The VIN decoder reads the NHTSA record.
• [ ] Seller's name on the title matches the seller's ID, or the dealer has paperwork that explains why it does not.
• [ ] Lien is released, or the payoff is in writing.
• [ ] Bill of sale is signed, with the price and the date.
• [ ] Odometer disclosure is done if NHTSA's exemption does not cover this car, and the miles match what you see.
• [ ] I know whether the selling state wants the plates removed.
• [ ] I have either a carrier booked or a permit from an agency. I do not have a tag from an ad.
• [ ] My home state's "I bought a car" page is open, including tax and the number of days. California's handbook, for example, says 10 days to transfer ownership when you buy. That is California's sentence, not every state's.
• [ ] Insurance will cover the car on the day it is delivered or the day I drive it.
• [ ] The person releasing the car to a driver is named on a short written note, and they have the key.

What the driver needs, and what the driver is not#

The driver needs a person, a key, and a car that matches the dispatch. The driver does not notarize the title and does not decide if the odometer was altered. Photograph the VIN and the odometer at pickup if you are not there. Those photos support you. They do not replace the title.

Look up the carrier's MC or USDOT number before you pay a deposit. FMCSA's auto-transport advisory says interstate brokers and transporters must be registered. Use the company check. The purchase price of the car should not be wired to the shipping company. Pay the seller under the sale, and pay the shipper under the shipping contract.

If the car is going to another country instead of your driveway, stop and read CBP's export page. A title presentation at the port, at least 72 hours before a vessel export, is a different checklist. It is summarized on what RideShipper does not book overseas.

After the car is home, the registration order is on registering a car after you move. Use the "bought a vehicle" instructions if you did not also change residency. The two deadlines are not always the same.

What to do the week the car arrives#

The paper you collected in the other state is the packet you take to your home agency. Sort it before you stand in line.

• Title, signed, or the electronic release number the selling state gave you.
• Bill of sale.
• Odometer disclosure, if that car is not in the exemption NHTSA describes.
• Lien release, if there was a lien.
• Your ID.
• Insurance that meets your state's minimums, with this VIN.
• The inspection, if your state or county requires one before it will title the car. Do not assume a selling-state inspection counts.

Pay the tax and the title fee the home state assesses. The price on the bill of sale is usually what they look at. A shipping invoice is not the purchase price. Do not add the truck bill to the car price, and do not hide the car price. The agency's instructions say what figure they tax. If the seller was a dealer, they may have collected tax already. Bring that receipt so you are not taxed twice without a credit the state allows. We are not stating that every state gives the credit. Ask.

If the title does not arrive because the selling state is slow, ask your home agency what they accept in the meantime. Some will wait. Some will not let you drive. A trip permit from your home agency is the legal bridge if they offer one. A photo of the title on your phone is not a title.

Keep copies. A later damage claim on the shipment, a warranty argument with the seller, and a registration renewal can each ask for the same VIN page. The carrier will not store it for you. RideShipper will not store it unless you put it in your own account documents. The sale folder is yours.

Private seller, dealer, and a car you have not seen#

A private seller signs the title the way that title form instructs. A missed signature, a missing odometer box, or a name that does not match the seller's ID is a problem you will meet at your home agency, not at the pickup. Look at the title before you pay, or have someone you trust look, and compare the VIN on the title with the VIN on the car. NHTSA's page is about the mileage disclosure. It is not a title school. The selling state's instructions are.

A dealer may use the dealer's own temporary tag and may collect tax. Bring the dealer's receipt so your home state can see what was already paid. We are not saying every state credits it. A dealer in one state and a registration in another is still your home agency's process once the car arrives. The dealer's tag expires. Read the date on it. Do not plan a slow truck around a tag that dies mid-route without a backup from the state that issued it, or a trip permit from your home state if it offers one.

If you bought the car online and have not seen it, the paperwork can still be complete while the car is not the car in the photos. The title and the bill of sale prove the sale. They do not prove the condition. Pickup photos, taken before the car is loaded, are the condition record. Keep them with the title copies. If the VIN on the car does not match the title, do not load it. That is a sale failure, not a shipping failure.

A lien you did not expect is the other failure. The title shows it, or the state record does. A bill of sale that says "free and clear" does not erase a lien the title still lists. Get the release before the truck is booked, or agree in writing that the seller will deliver the release by a date your home state will accept. The driver cannot collect it for you.