How to purchase a vehicle from Virginia and get plates in NC

benmack1

benmack1

Well-Known Member
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Oct 13, 2010
Location
USA
Thinking of buying a truck that's currently registered in VA. Does anyone have experience on what hoops I need to jump through in NC to get it titled and a plate?

The inspection requirement has me confused. How do I drive it home for inspection before I can get a plate without a plate??? Seems like a catch-22 to me.

I saw an FAQ from the DMV that says the following but this would suggest I am the actual owner from out of state which I am of course not.

17. I’m moving to North Carolina from another state. Will my vehicle need to be
inspected before I obtain my North Carolina license plate?
You will be allowed to register the vehicle without an inspection. When your next annual
registration renewal is due, you must have the vehicle inspected to renew your
registration.


There was also an FAQ about getting a 10 day permit to drive it home, but I asked about this a few years ago and the state people had no clue WTF I was talking about. I am a bit worried that hasn't improved.

Does anyone have actual first hand experience doing this?
 
Don't know about VA but bought a truck from FL and all I needed was notarized title, a bill of sale and proof of insurance.
 
when the vehicle is coming from va to nc. you will need to have the title notarized. I just bought a truck from nc and all I needed here in va was a bill of sale to take to dmv. va doesn't require the title to be notarized. :beer:
 
I had to have the title notarized. I put it on my insurance and drove it home on his license plate with a bill of sale. Mailed his plate back to him. It had to be inspected within 30 days of the title transfer and new tags, but that was before they changed everything.
 
shawn said:
I had to have the title notarized. I put it on my insurance and drove it home on his license plate with a bill of sale. Mailed his plate back to him. It had to be inspected within 30 days of the title transfer and new tags, but that was before they changed everything.
Click to expand...


Yeah, my worry is it's all changed in the last 3-4 years. The darn inspection needs to happen before they'll issue a plate I think. Fawking NC!!! The morons at the DMV don't seem to think about these things - or rather I guess they don't care. I am thinking maybe I'll have to have the seller deliver it to me and then once I have it home I can manage to drive a couple miles to the inspection station and just hope I don't get stopped or wreck. I'd love to hear how anyone has done this in the last year or two. Just to be clear, this is from VA to NC. Not the other way around as a couple have mentioned.
 
I just went to VA and got my xj. Here is what you do. You buy it get a bill of sale and title. Title doesn't have to be notarized. If you purchase a vehicle out of state it doesn't have to be inspected to get a tag! ONLY IF YOU BUY THE VEHICLE OUT OF STATE!! Then you take the title down to the wonderful people at the tag office and you pay for your title tag and taxes. Then you drive off. When you tag runs out then you get it inspected!!
 
I think that if the vehicle is more than 10 years old, the title doesn't *have* to be notarized. Also, if it's less than 10 years old, the seller will have to sign an odometer disclosure form.

According to the DMV website, the title and the title application both need to be notarized.

http://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/vehicle/title/transfer/
 
the bigger concern is that the vehicle is insured, bill of sale and notarized title will support that it has just been purchased, you may still get a ticket for no tag/registration, which would (should) be nullified once you got inspected and tagged and went to court ( yeah, it's the long way around, but it's thier game )
 
Blkvoodoo said:
the bigger concern is that the vehicle is insured, bill of sale and notarized title will support that it has just been purchased, you may still get a ticket for no tag/registration, which would (should) be nullified once you got inspected and tagged and went to court ( yeah, it's the long way around, but it's thier game )
Click to expand...


Thanks, great advice/points. Much appreciated.
 
The basic thing I've been told, as for getting an out of state, or "un-inspected" vehicle, you may drive it, with title, to an Inspection Station. Pass inspection, the apply for tag, & new registration.
That's what my friend was told & did, upon purchase of a SC truck.
 
missingyj said:
I just went to VA and got my xj. Here is what you do. You buy it get a bill of sale and title. Title doesn't have to be notarized. If you purchase a vehicle out of state it doesn't have to be inspected to get a tag! ONLY IF YOU BUY THE VEHICLE OUT OF STATE!! Then you take the title down to the wonderful people at the tag office and you pay for your title tag and taxes. Then you drive off. When you tag runs out then you get it inspected!!
Click to expand...
This is correct. I've done it twice in the past year with SC and FL vehicles.
 
Bringing this back from the dead. On my way to VA in the next few weeks to pick up a 96 Tacoma. In reading this thread I see multiple answers. The only question I am concerned with is whether the notary is required on the VA title or not. Any answers from any of you who have done it recently?

Thanks in advance.
 
Title just has to be legal for the state it came from. If the state only requires a signature then that's all you need. Title and proof of insurance. I always found that registering cars from out of state is waaaaaaaaay easier than doing it in state.
 
just be sure it has a VA title, I just bought a truck in VA, but it had a title from LA (which requires a notarization....which you cannot get done in a small town on a sunday).

As stated, as long as the title meets the requirements of the state the current title is in, you are 100%.
 
shawn said:
I think that if the vehicle is more than 10 years old, the title doesn't *have* to be notarized. Also, if it's less than 10 years old, the seller will have to sign an odometer disclosure form.

According to the DMV website, the title and the title application both need to be notarized.

http://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/vehicle/title/transfer/
Click to expand...
NOT IF COMING FROM A NON NOTARIZATION STATE , LIKE SC .. ON INSPECTION YOU ARE GOOD FOR 1ST YEAR .




Sorry about caps at work
 
shelby27604 said:
just be sure it has a VA title, I just bought a truck in VA, but it had a title from LA (which requires a notarization....which you cannot get done in a small town on a sunday).

As stated, as long as the title meets the requirements of the state the current title is in, you are 100%.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that heads up. It is a VA title. Buying it from a buddy.
 
5 year update.

Anything changed? Heading to Va Sunday. If info here is still accurate I’m all set.
 
Not that I know of. On a VA title, just needs a signature. That's all I needed when I bought my Class C in VA. Owner signed the title, I went to the tag office in Reidsville and was good to go.

Doesn't need an inspection either for the current year.
 
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