[joekitch]

technically, MA does not recognize any temporary or transit plates from any other states
but how anal are the cops about it?
i had to let the CT dealer do the registration and now i have no idea how long it'll take them to get my plates ready and sent , so my car is essentially grounded (i got it home alright though, although it was late at night)

will cops pull you over immediately if they see a transit plate?


EDIT; to be clear, what I mean is can I drive around normally with transit plates without worry? and just claim I'm driving home from the dealer if I get pulled over? The car is already in my driveway, I got it last Thursday, its just the dealer hasn't gotten my plates yet..,

[NEFARIOUS]

Well, they're neighboring states so I don't see how it'd be such a monumental problem that they'd "punish" you for your new purchase... If you got your car from a far state like Florida or Wisconsin it'd raise an eyebrow, but then again I had a friend that drove around here in California for 3 months with Texas temp plates without incident, although that's not saying much for other states vs. Massachusetts.

[Sidewinderpb]

I had to drive my car(s) from VT, through MA, to where I reside in CT. No problemo. Don't speed.

[Rockwell]

I've been driving around Massachusetts for a month with temporary paper Indiana tags. No problems

[MickAv8r]

Mass does not recognize temp plates for Mass residents. If you are a CT resident then you are fine. If you are a Mass resident, you need plates. I know my dealer was scrambling on Friday with runners at Mass RMV's trying to secure plates for customers to pick up their cars over the weekend since the RMV was closing for the holiday.

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by Rockwell

I've been driving around Massachusetts for a month with temporary paper Indiana tags. No problems

well shoot

[Boston335xi]

Originally Posted by joekitch

technically, MA does not recognize any temporary or transit plates from any other states
but how anal are the cops about it?
i had to let the CT dealer do the registration and now i have no idea how long it'll take them to get my plates ready and sent , so my car is essentially grounded (i got it home alright though, although it was late at night)

will cops pull you over immediately if they see a transit plate?


EDIT; to be clear, what I mean is can I drive around normally with transit plates without worry? and just claim I'm driving home from the dealer if I get pulled over? The car is already in my driveway, I got it last Thursday, its just the dealer hasn't gotten my plates yet..,

Like they said...if you're a mass resident you need plates. You might get away with it, but if they do catch you, they will impound your car and treat it like you were driving with no plates at all. If you can get away with not driving it until the title comes in, I would.

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by Boston335xi

Like they said...if you're a mass resident you need plates. You might get away with it, but if they do catch you, they will impound your car and treat it like you were driving with no plates at all. If you can get away with not driving it until the title comes in, I would.

hmm, even if i carry with me in the glove box at all times
1) bill of sale from the dealer
2) CT transit plate registration
3) insurance information
?

turns out the person that does plates at this dealership came in this morning, then immediately had to leave because she was sick. and she is the ONLY person that does plates, nobody else has any clue about the process. i have no idea when this poor girl will get better or when the plates will be made

[Boston335xi]

Originally Posted by joekitch

hmm, even if i carry with me in the glove box at all times
1) bill of sale from the dealer
2) CT transit plate registration
3) insurance information
?

turns out the person that does plates at this dealership came in this morning, then immediately had to leave because she was sick. and she is the ONLY person that does plates, nobody else has any clue about the process. i have no idea when this poor girl will get better or when the plates will be made

Correct. I got my car from Ohio and didn't know the deal either.

All you need from the dealer is a title transferred to you. You should be able to go to the rmv and get your own plates.

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by Boston335xi

Correct. I got my car from Ohio and didn't know the deal either.

All you need from the dealer is a title transferred to you. You should be able to go to the rmv and get your own plates.

sadly no, because the car is financed they have to do it all in-dealer, presumably so the title doesn't get mis-applied or something that my credit union is worried about

[Boston335xi]

Originally Posted by joekitch

sadly no, because the car is financed they have to do it all in-dealer, presumably so the title doesn't get mis-applied or something that my credit union is worried about

Your title should have both your name and the creditors on it. The dealership is doing something funky. How are they going to get you mass plates? You need a mass title to get mass plates which requires going to the rmv. What is taking longer than a day to get the title? they should be able to go to the clerk and get it done the next business day.

You should get the title, bring it to the rmv, and then the rmv mails the new title(which is now a mass title) to the creditor. You get the plates to put on the car. End of story.

I would call the dealership tomorrow and call their bullshit. Whatever they need to do should only take one business day anyway.

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by Boston335xi

Your title should have both your name and the creditors on it. The dealership is doing something funky. How are they going to get you mass plates? You need a mass title to get mass plates which requires going to the rmv. What is taking longer than a day to get the title? they should be able to go to the clerk and get it done the next business day.

You should get the title, bring it to the rmv, and then the rmv mails the new title(which is now a mass title) to the creditor. You get the plates to put on the car. End of story.

I would call the dealership tomorrow and call their bullshit. Whatever they need to do should only take one business day anyway.

supposedly; they only just got the title today (i called them a few hours ago), and they overnight it to some special DMV service, who does the processing, then overnights it back to the dealer with the plates, who then do something, then overnight it to me

but i'll give them a call and see if i can chew them out enough to just overnight the title TO ME instead

[Boston335xi]

Originally Posted by joekitch

supposedly; they only just got the title today (i called them a few hours ago), and they overnight it to some special DMV service, who does the processing, then overnights it back to the dealer with the plates, who then do something, then overnight it to me

but i'll give them a call and see if i can chew them out enough to just overnight the title TO ME instead

If they don't trust that you'll get the car registered properly, why did they give you a car on the cuff? The title will have their name on it, if they were the creditor. Seems like poor risk management either way you look at it...

[Mick the Quick]

My car is registered and titled in MA. I bought it as a CPO in New Jersey in January. It was a royal pain the ass to register in MA, even though the dealer already had the title (in its own name) in hand. The problem was that, like you, I financed with BMWFS and the dealer had to make sure that it appeared on the title as a lienholder and they wouldn't trust me to do it correctly at the RMV.

Note that MA has a 7-day grace period for those who are transferring an existing registration to a new/used vehicle. But this is not available if this would be a new registration. http://www.massrmv.com/rmv/regs/reg2.htm

I relied on this provision for a week, but the dealer wouldn't send me the RMV-1 and the title, kept saying "it's coming tomorrow" until I read them the riot act and harassed the folks who are handling this (multiple calls and emails every day). Took forever. Ultimately, they cut me a check for the MA sales tax they collected at the time of sale and gave me all the paperwork, including the title and RMV-1, which they probably weren't supposed to. I had to go the RMV twice (the first time I had to fix an error they made), and wasted so much time and experienced much aggravation.

Good luck, bro. Let me know if you have any questions.

Mick

P.S. Just like everything else, you can do whatever you want. But prepared to face the consequences, however unlikely. While a cop might let you off the hook (just like any other potential traffic violation), there can be no assurance. Just because individual members tell you that they got away with it, that doesn't mean that those anecdotal experience would necessarily apply to you. Ultimately, you have to weigh your need to drive the car (i.e., no other car available) against the potential (however small) of getting busted. If you get stopped and you think that the cop might give you a ticket for driving without registration, be sure to have a discussion when he comes up to your car the first time. They cannot "unwrite" a ticket once it is written.

[2Times]

I got mine from CT and had the paper plates on for a month no problemo. Actually went over the month as BMW had a problem with my title.

PS: As Mick said ^^ It was a gigantic pain even though BMW of Hartford was doing the "work" for me. After all my headache, I put a value on my time/effort/headache and I would have paid $2,500 more locally to avoid it. Lesson learned

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by 2Times

I got mine from CT and had the paper plates on for a month no problemo. Actually went over the month as BMW had a problem with my title.

PS: As Mick said ^^ It was a gigantic pain even though BMW of Hartford was doing the "work" for me. After all my headache, I put a value on my time/effort/headache and I would have paid $2,500 more locally to avoid it. Lesson learned

curses
all these anecdotal pieces of evidence are tempting me very badly
if the dealer screws up my registration somehow and i dont get my plates by next tuesday, i'm going to say "F this" and risk it. i'll have every possible document in the glove box and tell any officer that stops me the whole story

[bbbuzzy]

Originally Posted by joekitch

curses
all these anecdotal pieces of evidence are tempting me very badly
if the dealer screws up my registration somehow and i dont get my plates by next tuesday, i'm going to say "F this" and risk it. i'll have every possible document in the glove box and tell any officer that stops me the whole story

You are finding out the hard way about the challenges of buying a car, with the added complexity of it being from out of state. Never pay until you are being given the title. No title, no money. Simple.

If you choose to drive the vehicle without proper registration, make sure your insurance agent is ok with the "temp" tag, as driving an uninsured vehicle is a bad idea. Being stopped by a cop is not that big a deal. Be more concerned about the unforseen accident. Many people have done this, me included, at some point in their life (mostly when young and naive). It's fine until it isn't. If you are involved in an accident during this time, the insurance company who underwrites your policy has no obligation to support you, the driver of an unregistered, uninsured vehicle. Not a good idea. It's definitely a hassle, but you should just wait. Borrow or rent a car if you need transport until the dealer completes the deal. Live and learn.

Good luck.