buying a car out of state

[yolatengo]

Hey DUer's, can you help?

I'll be in Illinois soon on business. I've been in contact with someone to
purchase a historic vehicle. I'd like to drive it home to Maryland. How do I
do it legally? It has a clear title, and I have a bill of sale form for Maryland,
but since I haven't bought it yet, I won't 'own' it until he transfers the title
to me, but then he'll want to take the plates.

I really just need to get it home; I can go straight to the MVA if I have to
with the title (I may register it Historic, I may get it fully inspected and
get regular plates) and at least get Temp Tags, but what to do in the
meantime (er, the 600 mile trip?).

thanks for any help,

Bigby

[LynneSin]

1. It should be just like buying a regular car out of state

You might need to take it someplace in Illinois to get a temporary license (a notoray I think) and then when you get back to Maryland you can apply for your permament state.

When I sold cars in Pennsylvania, we would get folks from NJ, DE and even NY to buy cars from our dealership. We would always provide them something temporary to use on their car until they get home

[BlueJazz]

2. I did the same thing (years ago)

What I did:

Since I wasn't absolutely sure that the car was "road worthy"
(this applies to all automobiles but ESPECIALLY an old car)...
I rented a U-haul truck...I think it was a 20 footer and cost me about 100 bucks for 1500 miles.
I drove the old car into the truck, tied it down and went my merry way.
The gas was only a little more...I'd would have had to have paid for fuel in the old car anyway but as a bonus, I also had insurance on the cargo (the old car)

On Edit: And of course, I didn't have to worry about the old car breaking down and being stuck in some remote region and having to depend on some garage trying to find parts for an out-of-date automobile.

[pagerbear]

3. Check the DMV web sites for both states

You might need a temporary registration to get it home, and then you can register it in your home state.