Need some advise on out of state car buying while moving.

So here is the info. I am a resident of Illinois as far as the government cares, currently stationed in Missouri(where I can claim residency) and leaving to move to Arizona(where I will be able to claim residency) on friday this week. Seems like a good time to buy a new(to me) truck...

I found a dealer in Kansas that is close to the planed travel path and has a truck I would like to check out/buy. We would be trading in the MPV which we own.
The questions come up are;
How do I get it plated?
Can I get a temp plate until we are down in Tucson?
Should I just pass and wait?

Anybody done this before?

Well, I have never done this before. BUT!

You will likely have to pay sales tax based on your CURRENT ADDRESS - which I would guess would be Missouri or Illinois until you get an address in Arizona. Where you would like to pay sales tax may be a consideration.

Also, call the dealer. I think it varies state to state whether dealers give you a real license plate or a temp tag and your plate is mailed to you later. If the dealership is in the middle of kansas, they may not have much experience selling to out of state people and might take longer/screw it up.

It also seems unusual to me to trade in and buy a new car in the middle of a road trip - what draws you to that idea?

Varies from state to state but most states offer a temporary non-resident plate good for 20-30 days.

Looks like Kansas offers a 60 day, the info you want is on page 3 https://kdor.org/county/ctl/TRInfo/Manuals/ctm/reg/60DayTempReg.pdf

Another thing is are you military? If so you could get a temp plate from whatever state and so long as you meet your home state criteria you can have it registered to your home state.

Do you need the truck to move? Unless you want 4wd (harder to find in AZ) I would absolutely wait and get a rust-free AZ truck!

I am military. The MPV will be close to 170K by next week. We will be pulling the trailer with toys, around 2.5K lbs with the trailer. The van has pulled it before but just keep wondering for how long. Have been kind of looking for awhile, just haven't found what I wanted.
The truck I'm looking at is a '12, 4wd, 35K miles. Seems really clean and has the options I want.

You will not lose money buying a truck out of Arizona, bringing it here, and dumping it once in the state. Arizona is very truck happy.