Buying used car from owner in Ohio

[ArmedAviator]

I'm going to buy a second car for my expanding collection as a project/fun car. My problem is this....

The car I have my heart set on now is located 45 minutes away and the owner is not available until after the BMV closes. I don't have access to a towing method, and I am going to meet the seller. If I like the car in person, how can I get it back to my house? With BMV and Title offices closed, I can't transfer ownership, register, or get plates for the vehicle.

Would it be wrong of me to asl him to bring it to me so if I buy, it can atleast be parked at my house?

Even if I could leave it at his place, I leave the following morning for 4 days (until Daturday) for work and the next time tge BMV and Title offices will be open when I am home is Monday.

What do you recommend? Also, can I even insure it before the Title is transferred?

[Mr. Glock]

Ask to drive it home on his plates, then mail them back to him.

[AlanM]

Here in Virginia I bought a used Mazda MPV from a local and drove on his plates for a couple of days until I could get to the VA DMV office to transfer my HP plates off m previous Caravan to it.
I turned in the previous owner's plates to the DMV and they mailed him a rebate for the unused portion of the year of his registration fee.

[sodbuster95]

I'm going to buy a second car for my expanding collection as a project/fun car. My problem is this....

The car I have my heart set on now is located 45 minutes away and the owner is not available until after the BMV closes. I don't have access to a towing method, and I am going to meet the seller. If I like the car in person, how can I get it back to my house? With BMV and Title offices closed, I can't transfer ownership, register, or get plates for the vehicle.

Would it be wrong of me to asl him to bring it to me so if I buy, it can atleast be parked at my house?

Even if I could leave it at his place, I leave the following morning for 4 days (until Daturday) for work and the next time tge BMV and Title offices will be open when I am home is Monday.

What do you recommend? Also, can I even insure it before the Title is transferred?

I've driven newly purchased used vehicles on the prior owner's plates, as well as my (current) plates that I've simply slapped on there temporarily. Obviously, in either case, I've had a written bill of sale with me just in case, in addition to the signed title. Option #1 is the better option, but not all sellers care for that idea.

As to insurance; yes, you can insure it without transferring the title. Most insurance companies have automatic coverage for newly acquired vehicles for a certain period of time (usually 30 days or so). Technically, once the title is filled out and the sale completed, you own it. Transferring the title at the title bureau is not required for legal ownership or to gain an insurable interest.

[screwman]

He needs to find a notary, fill out his section of the title and have it notarized. When you pay him, he’ll have a clear title to hand you. You can either just drive it home with no tags or go get a temporary tag.

You’ll still have to fill out your part of the title and have a notary witness it, but any bank, or usually real estate offices will have someone certified.

[ArmedAviator]

Thabks for the tips. I ended up getting it home with the front plate of my current car on the back of the "nes" car (it's far from new). Thankfully he was able to meet early and we concluded business at the local PNC Bank just before close with which he had an account so we could use their notary services.

[schmieg]

Thabks for the tips. I ended up getting it home with the front plate of my current car on the back of the "nes" car (it's far from new). Thankfully he was able to meet early and we concluded business at the local PNC Bank just before close with which he had an account so we could use their notary services.

Good thing you didn't get stopped. That's a fictitious plates violation.

[ArmedAviator]

Fictitious?

[schmieg]

Fictitious?

Yes.

§ 4549.08. Fictitious license plates or identification number or mark

(A) No person shall operate or drive a motor vehicle upon the public roads and highways in this state if it displays a license plate or a distinctive number or identification mark that meets any of the following criteria:
(1) Is fictitious;
(2) Is a counterfeit or an unlawfully made copy of any distinctive number or identification mark;
(3) Belongs to another motor vehicle, provided that this section does not apply to a motor vehicle that is operated on the public roads and highways in this state when the motor vehicle displays license plates that originally were issued for a motor vehicle that previously was owned by the same person who owns the motor vehicle that is operated on the public roads and highways in this state, during the thirty-day period described in division (A)(4) of section 4503.12 of the Revised Code.
(B) A person who fails to comply with the transfer of registration provisions of section 4503.12 of the Revised Code and is charged with a violation of that section shall not be charged with a violation of this section.
(C) Whoever violates division (A)(1), (2), or (3) of this section is guilty of operating a motor vehicle bearing an invalid license plate or identification mark, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the third degree on each subsequent offense.

[Jim-in-Toledo]

Fictitious?

Yes.

§ 4549.08. Fictitious license plates or identification number or mark

(A) No person shall operate or drive a motor vehicle upon the public roads and highways in this state if it displays a license plate or a distinctive number or identification mark that meets any of the following criteria:
(1) Is fictitious;
(2) Is a counterfeit or an unlawfully made copy of any distinctive number or identification mark;
(3) Belongs to another motor vehicle, provided that this section does not apply to a motor vehicle that is operated on the public roads and highways in this state when the motor vehicle displays license plates that originally were issued for a motor vehicle that previously was owned by the same person who owns the motor vehicle that is operated on the public roads and highways in this state, during the thirty-day period described in division (A)(4) of section 4503.12 of the Revised Code.
(B) A person who fails to comply with the transfer of registration provisions of section 4503.12 of the Revised Code and is charged with a violation of that section shall not be charged with a violation of this section.
(C) Whoever violates division (A)(1), (2), or (3) of this section is guilty of operating a motor vehicle bearing an invalid license plate or identification mark, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the third degree on each subsequent offense.

Wouldn't (A)(3) apply in this situation?

[schmieg]

Fictitious?

Yes.

§ 4549.08. Fictitious license plates or identification number or mark

(A) No person shall operate or drive a motor vehicle upon the public roads and highways in this state if it displays a license plate or a distinctive number or identification mark that meets any of the following criteria:
(1) Is fictitious;
(2) Is a counterfeit or an unlawfully made copy of any distinctive number or identification mark;
(3) Belongs to another motor vehicle, provided that this section does not apply to a motor vehicle that is operated on the public roads and highways in this state when the motor vehicle displays license plates that originally were issued for a motor vehicle that previously was owned by the same person who owns the motor vehicle that is operated on the public roads and highways in this state, during the thirty-day period described in division (A)(4) of section 4503.12 of the Revised Code.
(B) A person who fails to comply with the transfer of registration provisions of section 4503.12 of the Revised Code and is charged with a violation of that section shall not be charged with a violation of this section.
(C) Whoever violates division (A)(1), (2), or (3) of this section is guilty of operating a motor vehicle bearing an invalid license plate or identification mark, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the third degree on each subsequent offense.

Wouldn't (A)(3) apply in this situation?

No. That refers to the plates on a car you have sold or otherwise removed from service.

§ 4503.12. Transfer of ownership and registration

(A) Upon the transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle, the registration of the motor vehicle expires, and the original owner immediately shall remove the license plates from the motor vehicle, except that: ...

(4) If the original owner of a motor vehicle that has been transferred makes application for the registration of another motor vehicle at any time during the remainder of the registration period for which the transferred motor vehicle was registered, the owner may file an application for transfer of the registration and, where applicable, the license plates. The transfer of the registration and, where applicable, the license plates from the motor vehicle for which they originally were issued to a succeeding motor vehicle purchased by the same person in whose name the original registration and license plates were issued shall be done within a period not to exceed thirty days. During that thirty-day period, the license plates from the motor vehicle for which they originally were issued may be displayed on the succeeding motor vehicle, and the succeeding motor vehicle may be operated on the public roads and highways in this state.

At the time of application for transfer, the registrar shall compute and collect the amount of tax due on the succeeding motor vehicle, based upon the amount that would be due on a new registration as of the date on which the transfer is made less a credit for the unused portion of the original registration beginning on that date. If the credit exceeds the amount of tax due on the new registration, no refund shall be made. In computing the amount of tax due and credits to be allowed under this division, the provisions of division (B)(1)(a) and (b) of section 4503.11 of the Revised Code shall apply. As to passenger cars, noncommercial vehicles, motor homes, and motorcycles, transfers within or between these classes of motor vehicles only shall be allowed. If the succeeding motor vehicle is of a different class than the motor vehicle for which the registration originally was issued, new license plates also shall be issued upon the surrender of the license plates originally issued and payment of the fees provided in divisions (C) and (D) of section 4503.10 of the Revised Code.

Note the language of "succeeding motor vehicle."