[taffetawhitegsr]

Hello all

I have recently assumed a lease from a fellow member, but have a question regarding plates. The deal happened in Los Angeles, but the cars plates were New Jersey. After the assumption was complete, I picked up the car and the original lesee kept the jersey plates.

The kicker is, I am active military and moving to New Mexico, where the car will be registered. The car is under my name, but I do not have temp tags or anything like that. I do have insurance on the car.

Am I legal to drive the car? How do I transport it to New Mexico? Thanks!

Ian

[jmg]

Originally Posted by taffetawhitegsr

Hello all

I have recently assumed a lease from a fellow member, but have a question regarding plates. The deal happened in Los Angeles, but the cars plates were New Jersey. After the assumption was complete, I picked up the car and the original lesee kept the jersey plates.

The kicker is, I am active military and moving to New Mexico, where the car will be registered. The car is under my name, but I do not have temp tags or anything like that. I do have insurance on the car.

Am I legal to drive the car? How do I transport it to New Mexico? Thanks!

Ian

First of all, he was not supposed to keep the plates. What good are they to him? You have a set time to register the car after you assume a lease. If you were in the same state, the plates would not change. I assume that registering the car in a different state requires you to get new plates from the state in which it's registered. Regardless if you are moving, you must register the car within the specific amount of time, even if you have to re-register again in New Mexico. If I were you, I would call your lease assumption specialist at BMWFS and see what your options are. It's something like $20 to register here in CA, so not a big deal. If you are worried about not having plates, just carry your paperwork with you and go to the DMV as soon as you can.

[RickFLM4]

In FL you keep your plates when getting rid of your car to put them on your next car, including leased vehicles. It may vary by state but perhaps NJ is the same so the seller kept the plates.

As suggested above, you can contact BMWFS. You can also contact the DMV (or private tag agency if you have them like we have them in FL) where you are and in New Mexico to see where it makes the most sense to register. They probably also have info on their websites. Shouldn't be that difficult to sort out.

[DrtyJrze]

In NJ the plates are supposed to stay with the car on a leased vehicle.

The short answer is no, you should not drive the car without plates. You're inviting trouble for yourself.

OP I would register for plates wherever the car is (CA) and then register the car again when you move.

[Bch53211]

When you buy/lease a new or used vehicle you have the otion to keep your old plates or get new ones. I've never heard of keeping someone else's plates, pretty sure that doesn't happen anywhere. Definitely not the case in WI. Just contact the state where you plan to register the vehicle and ask them. I'm sure they will tell you what's required to transport/drive the car there.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by DrtyJrze

In NJ the plates are supposed to stay with the car on a leased vehicle.

The short answer is no, you should not drive the car without plates. You're inviting trouble for yourself.

OP I would register for plates wherever the car is (CA) and then register the car again when you move.

Also keep all the paperwork in the glovebox with you at all times. In the event you get stopped for something cops are much more forgiving if you can easily explain the situation and that you're in the process of registering the car properly.

[stevenc]

Many states allow you to print a temp tag from the DMV website if you fill in certain information. Maybe CA or NM have such a option on their website.

[Red Bread]

Whatever else you do, go get on a tollway and drive end to end and back again until you get bored.

[M5007]

Originally Posted by taffetawhitegsr

Hello all

I have recently assumed a lease from a fellow member, but have a question regarding plates. The deal happened in Los Angeles, but the cars plates were New Jersey. After the assumption was complete, I picked up the car and the original lesee kept the jersey plates.

The kicker is, I am active military and moving to New Mexico, where the car will be registered. The car is under my name, but I do not have temp tags or anything like that. I do have insurance on the car.

Am I legal to drive the car? How do I transport it to New Mexico? Thanks!

Ian

If you have AAA you can get a temporary permit to drive the car without any trouble. In some States the plates are the responsibility of the owner and can be used from car to car and they are kept with the original owner. I did this when I lived in Utah. I had custom plates and put them on two different BMW's, when I registered the car I indicated that I already have plates and re-used them (saved $25 too)

Now I am in CA and I know you have to get it registered within 10 days of operating the vehicle in CA as the new owner of the car. SMOG and possibly VIN check by CHP or DMV office will be required.

Depending on when you are moving to New Mexico, I would consider getting temporary tags from AAA or the DMV or registering the car in California as some of the fellow members have suggested.

Good luck and update us!

[Sinnakle]

Depends on the State.

I just purchased an M4 private in MD, but the car will be registered in Delaware. The DMV in Delaware told me that I can purchase "Transportation Tags" so you bring the information to the DMV and they gave me a 5 day Temp tag to bring the car to register for temporary tags. I also sold my previous car the next week and DMV told me if I trust the person that I sold the car to then I didn't need to keep the plates, but I could if I didn't trust the guy.

This website should help you out it's what I used when researching.

http://www.dmv.org/

[taffetawhitegsr]

Thanks all for the help! For future reference, you can go to the DMV in ca (cannot do this online) and get a "one trip temp registration" which allows you to drive the vehicle to wherever you are going to register it. It is $20 and you get a blank form so that you can fill in the exact dates.