Get VA License, keep Car in out of State? (vehicle registration, insurance)

[fmr djvento]

First question, is the car registered in your name, or your parents? Do you have a VA or NY license?

I had that same situation a few months back. My NY inspection was expired for about a month, and I was driving around here daily. I don't think it's something they'd stop you for like they would when they're looking at VA stickers, but if you were stopped for some other reason I think they could say something. But I didn't want to take a big chance either so I made a point to get it back for the inspection.

Originally Posted by Jtrain12

I have a similar situation to the OP. I live in Arlington, but my car is registered in NY to my parents address ( I bought the car while I still lived at home). My street isn't zoned, so I don't have a reason to get it registered in VA immediately, but my inspection sticker is set to expire in June. Can I get a ticket for having an expired inspection sticker, even if the car is out of state?

[fmr djvento]

Thanks for the info. I suppose it might depend on the state you're leaving too- if NY sees I moved to VA, but still have a car in my name would they throw a red flag? If you don't mind me asking, when you gained VA residency, your former state never said anything about you still having a car there?

I figured I wasn't the only one with this situation, thanks to everyone for the replies!

Originally Posted by smarterguy

Yes you can. Its pretty much against the county and state rules, but I did that for about three years. Of those three years, I parked on the street for about 11-12 months and moved my car every 10 days (I rarely drove). I see lot of out of state plates on the street and on private lots. I'm surely was not the only one doing it.

Just like you, I was looking at buying a new car, and didn't want to go to the trouble to change all that stuff over and then do it again. But it took me about 3 years to settle on new car, lol. And I now have VA plates, registration, stickers, and whatnot.

I also changed my insurance to reflect my VA address, which for some reason dropped my rates considerably.

Note that I was never pulled over by VA police so they could give you some trouble when you have a VA license but drive a out of state car in VA thats registered in your name. But who knows. I was pulled over once but a DC cop but he didn't care at all.

If you plan to do this longer than a year, it can be a hassle if you don't go back to NY often to do registration/inspection. DC was arresting people last year if their registration was expired, although they changed that law, thank god.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by Jtrain12

I have a similar situation to the OP. I live in Arlington, but my car is registered in NY to my parents address ( I bought the car while I still lived at home). My street isn't zoned, so I don't have a reason to get it registered in VA immediately, but my inspection sticker is set to expire in June. Can I get a ticket for having an expired inspection sticker, even if the car is out of state?

It doesn't matter if the car is registered to your parents. If it is parked in Arlington, you are supposed to register it in Arlington. My wife was using a car that belonged to her parents when she had just moved here out of college. It had PA plates and registration, but was on loan to her. She got a notice from the PW police and had to register the car with PW County.

[Jtrain12]

Car is registered to me. Has NY plates, I have NY license. I may just get it registered in VA at some point in the next few months, as I don't want to drive home just to get the inspection.

[Grsz11]

Originally Posted by Jtrain12

Car is registered to me. Has NY plates, I have NY license. I may just get it registered in VA at some point in the next few months, as I don't want to drive home just to get the inspection.

You have to show proof of residence to get a license or registration ie a copy of your lease. Since you don't have one, I'm not sure you would be able to get either.

[NintyFresh]

Originally Posted by tgbwc

It doesn't matter if the car is registered to your parents. If it is parked in Arlington, you are supposed to register it in Arlington. My wife was using a car that belonged to her parents when she had just moved here out of college. It had PA plates and registration, but was on loan to her. She got a notice from the PW police and had to register the car with PW County.

This is exactly the situation I was in. I was paying my parents monthly since the loan and registration was in their names and we didn't want to get a new loan in my name starting over, and I got hit with the $100 out of state fee in addition to the property tax in Arlington. Luckily I only had 2 more payments left and I got the car signed over to me and transferred the title to VA and don't have to pay that fee anymore.

Arlington didn't actually send the notice to me though, they sent it to my parents up in PA who then called me asking what was going on since it listed my residence in VA on the notice.

[scottfs]

Originally Posted by Grsz11

You have to show proof of residence to get a license or registration ie a copy of your lease. Since you don't have one, I'm not sure you would be able to get either.

You could just open a bank account and use the friends' house as the mailing address so when you get a statement, that would probably suffice. I think someone I know did that when she moved here and was staying with family rent-free.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by NintyFresh

This is exactly the situation I was in. I was paying my parents monthly since the loan and registration was in their names and we didn't want to get a new loan in my name starting over, and I got hit with the $100 out of state fee in addition to the property tax in Arlington. Luckily I only had 2 more payments left and I got the car signed over to me and transferred the title to VA and don't have to pay that fee anymore.

Arlington didn't actually send the notice to me though, they sent it to my parents up in PA who then called me asking what was going on since it listed my residence in VA on the notice.

It was very confusing for us. They wanted us to complete the registration using the address on the title, but they didn't want to accept it with a PA address. This was around 1994 or so and I remember going back and forth with the clerk at the County building. She actually said, "Well what are you waiting for? Why don't you switch over the title?". Wouldn't that be nice if I could just have others sign over the titles to their cars?

[metamorphosis]

I, too, think that you have 60 to register your car in Virginia. When I lived there, our apartment complex required that you have a valid VA plate and insurance on the vehicle(s). BTW, a VA insurance company will only insure a vehicle if it is plated and registered in VA.

Oh, and be prepared for a looonnnnggg wait at the DMV. I was there for 4 hours.

[smarterguy]

Originally Posted by metamorphosis

BTW, a VA insurance company will only insure a vehicle if it is plated and registered in VA.

Some insurance companies might have a policy like that, but I just changed my address from out of state one to my VA one. They never asked about VA plates or registration or anything like that.

And from what I hear from some motorcyclists, they don't even check to see if you have a motorcycle license before they insure your motorcycle.