Reassure me: out of state dealer files for plates?

I'm gun shy from a Louisiana dealer screwing up my Louisiana plates a few years back.

I'm really close to buying a certified used car from a largish dealership in Jacksonville, Florida. I'm a Louisiana resident. They're charging for taxes, registration and plates, and fitting the car with a Florida temp tag. They've assured me that they're going to send me Louisiana plates by mail, and take care of all of the registration paperwork.

For some reason, this doesn't sit well. They're not close to Louisiana, and I figure this is outside of their experience, though the internet may have changed that. I guess they have to be doing this by mail.

Anyone ever do this? Am I worried for nothing? I'm trying to avoid a situation where I have an expired temp tag and no plates, or a situation where I've driven 8 hours to have some other dealership employee who really knows what's going on tell me that they're not doing that.

I do know you have to buy a temp tag in FLA. Usually, you pay taxes when you get back home to register it. I'm no expert.

would you have to buy temp tags if you were going to trailer the car back to Louisiana… i.e. not drive the car in FL ?

If the car isn't financed, skip it altogether. If it is and financing was originated at that dealership, it's may be a requirement of the underwriter.

In your current situation, I wouldn't be surprised if you get FL plates in the mail.

I bought a car in Texas and lived in Michigan. The states have laws with each other to require dealers to do cert on things. They are state by state agreements.

Michigan had an agreement with Texas that the dealer legal guy and I reviewed. It required him to take the Mi taxes from the sale and transfer them to the state of Michigan. The title was set up by the dealer as a Michigan title. Also the temporary Texas plates were required to be reported to the Secretary of State in Mi so the clock to get Mi registration started day one instead of when I entered the state.

So you would have to dive into the specific laws between LA and FL. The dealer may not have a choice.

Not to threadjack, but I wanted to buy a car in California, because it's significantly cheaper than Vegas, but I was told by 2 dealers that the only way they can sell a car to an out-of-state buyer was if they delivered it across state lines.

For which they will charge me a fee that negates most of the savings.

That's not true - they can sell you a car without delivery, but then they'll have to register it in CA for you and you end up having to pay CA reg and get CA plates, plus pay CA sales tax.

If you don't want to pay for CA reg and sales tax then they are correct, they'll have to deliver it to Searchlight or some other place on the right side of the NV border.

I was just having this exact discussion with a dealer down in LA who has a 996 in stock that I like and I was trying to figure out if it's cheaper to get it delivered or pick it up myself.

In reply to Tyler H:

This, you'll be getting FL plates in the mail 100% chance

My parents have bought two out of state (New Jersey) cars (in Virginia)and in both cases, it took 2 months for the plates to arrive. When the first temporary tag expires, they'll sent a second one. Overall, it worked out fine.

I bought my car in Jersey, they did all the paperwork and gave me a temp tag, then two weeks later I went back and they had my NY tags and sticker no problem.

virginia dealer screwed up my ohio plates. i never got them, called their people, and they said they couldn't figure it out, and mailed me a check made out to the ohio DMV for the plate amount. because it was later than my birthday, the check was for too much so the lady let me apply the $10 overage to my other truck renewal. win-win for me. they also screwed up and overcharged sales tax, so the title bureau gave me $58 cash back.

BoxheadTim wrote: That's not true - they can sell you a car without delivery, but then they'll have to register it in CA for you and you end up having to pay CA reg and get CA plates, plus pay CA sales tax. If you don't want to pay for CA reg and sales tax then they are correct, they'll have to deliver it to Searchlight or some other place on the right side of the NV border. I was just having this exact discussion with a dealer down in LA who has a 996 in stock that I like and I was trying to figure out if it's cheaper to get it delivered or pick it up myself.

(a) how would I register a car in CA without a CA address?

(b) if I got around that, I guess I wind up paying for a year of CA registration, and 30 days later pay for a year of NV registration? No thanks.

I guess I'll buy my next car in Phoenix.

Regarding (a), the dealer will register the car with the CA DMV using your NV address. That's why I happen to have both a now expired CA reg and a set of CA plates for the Evo (which we bought in CA).

(b) yes, you end up paying twice. Not my favourite thing to do and one of the reasons why I much prefer to buy a used car from a private seller in CA.

So, after the dealership gave me a ton of assurances, I bought the car. Now, something like 75 days later, I have a genuine Louisiana plate and registration. In the meantime, I burned through two sets of temp tags, and when the second 30 day Florida temp tag expired (which is apparently a hard limit) I took to calling them what averages out to about twice a day.

Nerve wracking hassle, but they came through. The registration seems to have gone through a Louisiana private "tag title and notary" shop an hour from my house, then back to Florida, then FedEx overnight Saturday delivery back to me.

I don't think I'd do it again for a car I need to rely on as primary transportation.