Buying a car off of Ebay

[TheNemesis]

I've already bought one off of ebay that was a very good deal, but I got very lucky and it was in my area. I recently found another great deal but this time it is across the country. If I had to pay to ship it the deal would be much less so I was wondering if it would be possible to fly there and drive it back? Who would I contact to get tags for it?

 

[Gravity]

caveat emptor == buyer beware!

 

[Kremlar]

Call your state registry, laws are different. In MA there's no legitimate way to do this until it is registered/insured in your name. I took my chances and moved the plates from my existing car and prayed I didn't get stopped.

Worked for me!

 

[Stifko]

Originally posted by: Kremlar
Call your state registry, laws are different. In MA there's no legitimate way to do this until it is registered/insured in your name. I took my chances and moved the plates from my existing car and prayed I didn't get stopped.

Worked for me!

I did that too once. The way I did it was not too smart, but it worked out. I drove to the Bronx from Tom's River NJ in a 84 Rabbit GTi that had NY tags and a NJ sticker. The toll boothe workers gave me some funny looks and I thought I was gonna get popped for sheezy.

 

[AMCRambler]

Anyone know if you can do it in NY? I'm looking to do sort of the same thing. Found a car in West Virginia I want to go buy and drive home. Don't know how to go about it though. I guess I can put my New York plates on the car, drive it back and pray I don't get stopped, but the inspection sticker probably looks very different from a NY one. Might work through Pennsylvania, but I think I'd get nailed in New York.

 

[Stifko]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Anyone know if you can do it in NY? I'm looking to do sort of the same thing. Found a car in West Virginia I want to go buy and drive home. Don't know how to go about it though. I guess I can put my New York plates on the car, drive it back and pray I don't get stopped, but the inspection sticker probably looks very different from a NY one. Might work through Pennsylvania, but I think I'd get nailed in New York.

If you do it, insure the car first. This way if you get pulled over, you can tell the officer what you are doing and be honest about it. You can tell him that its insured but not registered and that will help your case IMHO.

 

[RU482]

I bought a vehicle off ebay. I flew to Chicago to pick it up.

I SWEAR TO GOD the dealership was mafia run. I didn't pick the car apart like I normally would have, because I didn't want to wind up at the bottom of Lake Michigan with cement shoes. All and all, I got a decent deal, minus some nitpicky annoyances

 

[FrustratedUser]

Why is it illegal to drive your car home?

 

[Stifko]

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser
Why is it illegal to drive your car home?

He is trying to drive it home w/out registering and insuring it.

 

[Mr N8]

I got my car on ebay, and when I went to the bank to get the loan they issued me temporary tags. You can get them from you bank, DMV, and a lot of times those Check-N-Go places can issue them.