Can you buy a new car and not "title" it right away?

stanglife · Jan 17, 2018

Can you buy a car with say...cash... and just take it? First registered owner at a later date?

Patio208 · Jan 17, 2018

State laws differ to some degree but, no is the short answer. Either titled to a lien holder, or owner at purchase. You could transfer title latter for a fee if needed.

Nomadic · Jan 17, 2018

I assume you mean from a private party. In CA you have 10 days from the bill of sale/title transfer date to title it before getting penalized.

If the seller is smart, he'll have a DMV bill of sale printed out and mail in the new owner information with your signature immediately after the transaction.
That way the DMV has the information.

In summary, If I paid for a car in cash privately, I'd register it sooner than later.
At a dealership of course this is moot, as you fill out the DMV forms with them and they submit them.

stanglife · Jan 17, 2018

I mean, new - from a dealer. Every once in a while, I run across a car for sale that's a few years old but says "never titled" and seems to be from a private owner. How do they pull that off?

Tomster · Jan 17, 2018

stanglife said:
I mean, new - from a dealer. Every once in a while, I run across a car for sale that's a few years old but says "never titled" and seems to be from a private owner. How do they pull that off?

It depends upon if you know the dealer ;)

fpa1974 · Jan 17, 2018

When I got mine from a very small dealer in MN, they just gave me the MSO to do whatever I want with it once the funds cleared. No fees, no other paperwork other than the PO. I do not know if GA requires you to title it right away - I did because I wanted to drive it

aham23 · Jan 17, 2018

Well a dealer demo has miles but will be new because it’s never titled until sold to a customer.

krt22 · Jan 17, 2018

Nomadic said:
I assume you mean from a private party. In CA you have 10 days from the bill of sale/title transfer date to title it before getting penalized.

If the seller is smart, he'll have a DMV bill of sale printed out and mail in the new owner information with your signature immediately after the transaction.
That way the DMV has the information.

In summary, If I paid for a car in cash privately, I'd register it sooner than later.
At a dealership of course this is moot, as you fill out the DMV forms with them and they submit them.

I bought mine out of state with cash, I got the MSO instead of a title. I'm guessing I theoretically could have parked it and never registered it ?

Bender · Jan 18, 2018

krt22 said:
I bought mine out of state with cash, I got the MSO instead of a title. I'm guessing I theoretically could have parked it and never registered it ?

Yes. Some states however will not give the MSO to a private customer. However when I got my LB 17R from MI they sent me the MSO directly. I could of done the same, but I don't have the money to justify it.

EFI · Feb 1, 2018

Every once in a while, I run across a car for sale that's a few years old but says "never titled" and seems to be from a private owner.

Seems is a key word there, it probably isn't. That sounds like a demo car or one used by the GM for personal use while still being "new and untitled".

Can you buy a new car and not "title" it right away?

stanglife

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Patio208

GT350 Member

Nomadic

King of Europe

stanglife

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Tomster

Beware of idiots

fpa1974

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aham23

FPC 5.2

krt22

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Bender

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EFI

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