buying car with no permanent address (Pahoa: rental, car insurance, vacation home)

[Bamaken]

I ran into small problem with planning our move.
We are renting a vacation home for 2 months until find home too buy.
Problem is we where planning to buy few used cars when arrived in first couple days.
But did not realize we have no permanent address for legal transfer , tags and drivers
license change.

Any idea's on subject would be helpful.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Bamaken

But did not realize we have no permanent address for legal transfer , tags and drivers license change.

Unless you don't have a valid drivers license now, I don't see a problem.

You don't need a permanent address or a drivers license to buy a car or transfer title. Use your vacation rental address, then remember to submit a change of address once you move.

In order to register the car you will need a car insurance policy issued by a licensed Hawaiian company. They may have different requirements, but I imagine that whatever address you give them will be fine, with the same caveat about submitting a change of address once you get settled. They will, however, almost certainly ask for your current DL # to research your driving record. But unless you don't have a valid DL at present, that shouldn't be a problem. It does not have to be a Hawai'i license.

Once you are settled, and can fulfill the new Hawai'i requirements to prove you are legally entitled to be in the US, and can confirm a valid Hawai'i address with a long term lease or mortgage, utility bill, bank statement or any of the other options, then you can get a Hawai'i DL. But you won't really have to worry about that for a while.

Good luck!

Department of Transportation | Hawaii’s Legal Presence Law

[Badlanding]

I can vouch for that. I had no problem using the rental house address when I bought a car to use while I waited for mine to ship. The dealer which was on the Kona side and handled most of it for me and the transfer was a simple thing once I bought a house. However make sure you have a all the paperwork required before you make a trip to the dept. motor vehicles. I would call them. Websites are a little slow to update in Hawaii. Also go early, especially if you go to Pahoa to have it done. They often only have two people working there and they can close for lunch! I know, it made me laugh in disbelief but its true. I mean, you gotta eat lunch right Good luck.