How to buy a car out of state and drive it home

Each state sets its own rules for cars bought somewhere else. Before you send money or book a trip, call:

1. Your home state's motor vehicle agency. Ask what proof of ownership it accepts from the other state, which inspections or VIN checks you need, how much tax you'll owe, and your deadline to title and register.
2. The motor vehicle agency in the seller's state. Ask how a buyer from out of state gets a trip permit or temporary tag, and what the seller has to sign.
3. Your insurer. Ask how to add the car by its VIN so you're covered from the moment you drive it, and get proof you can carry in the car.

Find both states' agencies on USA.gov.

Once you've driven hours to see a car, it's harder to walk away. Do what you can from home first:

• Get the VIN and run the VIN check above before you book anything.
• Ask for a photo of the front of the title. The name should match the seller's ID, and the VIN should match the car. If a lender is listed, read how to check for a lien.
• Line up an independent inspection with a mechanic near the seller, one you pick yourself. The inspection planner helps you note what to ask.
• Watch for scam signs. The FTC warns about sellers who won't meet or let you inspect the car, sometimes with an excuse like a job transfer or military deployment, who want gift cards or a wire transfer, or who ask for more money for “shipping.” More in private-seller scams.

A title brand, like salvage or flood, marks a car that was badly damaged. The Justice Department explains that a brand can be washed off when the car is re-titled in a state that doesn't check with the state that branded it. States also brand differently: one may mark a car as flood-damaged when another has no flood brand at all.

After Hurricane Katrina, authorities reported truckloads of flooded cars taken from Louisiana to other states, as far away as the upper Midwest. They were dried out, cleaned up, and readied for sale in states that don't brand flood cars.

NMVTIS, the federal title database, keeps every brand a state reported, so moving the car doesn't erase it there. The title-history report in the VIN check above includes NMVTIS data. Learn the signs of a washed title, and how to check whether a car was totaled or in an accident.

• Get the original title, not a copy, signed over to you. California, for example, wants the out-of-state title signed by the seller, with any lender's release on the title or on a separate form.
• Lost title? A duplicate has to come from the state that issued it, so the seller should get one before the sale. Don't pay on a promise to mail it later.
• Get a bill of sale with the date, price, VIN, mileage, and both signatures. It's your proof of what you paid and when.
• Older car with no title? The Justice Department notes that some states don't title cars past a certain age. Ask your home state what it accepts instead. New York, for example, accepts a transferable registration as proof of ownership.
• A loan on the car? The lender's lien has to be paid off and released. If the seller still owes money, pay the lender directly, never through the seller, and agree in writing how the title gets to you. See how to buy safely when the seller still owes money.

The seller's plates and registration aren't yours. In Texas, for example, a seller can keep the plates. You need your own permit or registration before you drive. Your choices:

• A permit from the state where you buy. New York tells its own residents who buy a car in another state to get a temporary plate and registration from that state. Texas sells a One-Trip Permit for $5 plus a $4.75 processing fee, good for one trip within 15 days. California sells a one-trip permit, in place of California registration, to drive a car out of the state by the most direct route. New York sells buyers from other states a 30-day in-transit permit for $12.50.
• Registration from your home state first. New York lets its residents apply by mail from out of state. It mails the plates and a 10-day inspection sticker for when you enter the state. But you mail in the original title, and New York says to allow 6 weeks.
• Have it shipped. Choose and pay the carrier yourself. The FTC warns that fake sellers demand extra money for “shipping.”

Insurance: Texas and New York both require proof of insurance for their permits. Texas wants liability coverage from a company allowed to sell insurance in Texas. New York asks buyers from other states for an insurance letter or binder that lists the car's VIN. Call your insurer before you pay, and keep the proof in the car.

When you buy from a private seller in another state, you pay the tax yourself, generally to your home state when you title and register the car. It's sometimes called use tax. Each state sets its own rate, the price it taxes, and its credit for tax paid elsewhere. Three examples:

• Texas: Texas residents who bring in a car bought in another state owe 6.25% motor vehicle use tax at the county tax office, within 30 days of bringing the car into Texas. For a car from a private seller, Texas taxes the higher of the price you paid or 80% of the car's “standard presumptive value,” unless you get a certified appraisal. Texas gives dollar-for-dollar credit for sales tax paid to another state if you show a receipt with your name on it.
• California: If you buy from anyone who isn't a California dealer, you generally owe use tax, paid to the DMV when you register. The rate depends on the address where the car will be registered. If you paid sales tax in another state, you can generally get credit for it and pay only the difference, if any.
• Florida: The 6% state tax, plus any county surtax, is due when you bring the car in and register or title it in Florida. Florida credits a similar tax paid to another state. If you paid 4% there, you pay the other 2% plus any county surtax.

So in these states, buying where the tax is lower doesn't avoid your home state's tax. Expect title and registration fees on top.

The seller's state may not tax you at all. California, for example, doesn't charge its use tax to a buyer from a California private seller if the buyer's only use of the car in California is driving it out, such as on a one-trip permit, and the car is used only outside California after that.

Your home state may need to see the car before it registers it. Three examples:

• California: You need a VIN verification by the DMV, a law enforcement officer, or a licensed verifier, and a smog certification for most cars, including gas cars from 1976 and newer. California also won't let a resident register a car that's less than 2 years old with under 7,500 miles unless it was built to California emission standards, with a few exceptions. Check the emission label under the hood. It should say the car meets California rules or is legal for sale in California.
• Texas: Get the car titled in your name within 30 days of the sale, and registered within 30 days of bringing it into Texas. If you live in one of 17 counties, including Dallas, Harris, and Travis, a personal car must pass an emissions test first. Otherwise, you certify the VIN yourself on the title application.
• New York: When you buy from a private seller, you get a 10-day inspection extension from the date you register. The car then needs a New York inspection. The seller's old inspection doesn't count.

Find your state's motor vehicle agency on USA.gov and ask what it requires before you buy.

A dealer may handle more of the paperwork for you, but don't assume. The Texas Comptroller notes that many states require the selling dealer to collect tax at the sale, even when the car will be registered somewhere else. Florida, for example, has its dealers charge you your home state's rate if it's lower than Florida's 6%. You sign a notarized state form and register the car at home within 45 days.

Ask the dealer, and get the answers in writing:

• Which state's tax it's collecting, and how much. Keep the receipt. Your home state may credit it.
• Whether it will send the title paperwork to your state, or hand you the title and a temporary tag.
• Whether the temporary tag is good for your whole drive home.

Federal rules still apply: dealers must display the FTC's Buyers Guide in every used car they offer for sale. See the full used-car dealer checklist.