Unplated Cars (for sale, 2013, lease)

[AikenHorses]

What's with all the unplated cars being driven on NM streets? Are they car dealers? NM doesn't seem to have a dealer plate system like many other places (please correct me if I am wrong) so all I can conclude is that people in the car industry are driving their cars unplated... No?

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by AikenHorses

NM doesn't seem to have a dealer plate system like many other places (please correct me if I am wrong)

You are wrong. We have dealer plates... 66-3-401. Operation of vehicles under dealer plates. - New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association

[elkotronics]

I was given a plastic-covered paper temporary license while I waited for my plates during a recent car purchase. The dealer stapled it to the license plate area on my car. I bought that car in El Paso, TX, but the old process is the same everywhere, I would imagine.

You shouldn't see plate-less vehicles around NM, though. Something is up if that is occurring. Or they should have the paper on their license plate area or on the back window, like I mentioned above.

[AikenHorses]

There was definitely no paper on the back license plate area, but I may have missed it in the back window... Or not... I am not sure now. Will have to pay better attention next time.

Okay so for dealer plates... Up here, we have a general dealer plate. It is an actual plate, registered to the dealership, and we can slap it on literally any car in our inventory, from one we just purchased (after hours, at midnight if we wish) and are holding a bill of sale to, all the way up to a personal car we wish to keep for personal use indefinitely. Obviously in there we also put it on various cars to take to the shop, do test drives, etc. It is never registered to the cars themselves.

In NM, unless our definition of "dealer plate" is different, I don't get how a dealer has 2 or 3 plates and uses them to function. If every time the plate is used on a different car it must be registered to that car, it doesn't work. For example, if I drive Car A from the lot to the shop, then need to use the plate to get Car B (now done at the shop) back to the dealership before letting a customer test drive Car C, I am obviously not running to the DMV in between each plate transfer. So I am thinking the definition of "dealer plate" may be very different.

[funkymonkey]

Looks like you'll use a 'demonstration permit' (section F)

Section 66-3-6 - Temporary registration permits, demonstration permits and transport permits. (2007) :: 2013 New Mexico Statutes :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia

[AikenHorses]

Yes! Thank you! I think this is the applicable bit:

F.***The department shall issue demonstration permits to dealers licensed pursuant to Section 66-4-1 NMSA 1978.* Demonstration permits shall be used only on vehicles included in the inventory of the dealer to whom the demonstration permits are issued.* The demonstration permits shall be used to allow the operation of vehicles for the limited purposes of testing, demonstrating or preparing a vehicle for sale or lease.* Demonstration permits may not be used on work or service vehicles, as that term is defined in Section 66-3-401 NMSA 1978, that are owned, used or held in inventory by a dealer.* Use of the demonstration permits pursuant to this section shall be deemed compliance with the provisions of Section 66-3-4 NMSA 1978.* A demonstration permit, after being affixed to a specific vehicle, shall be valid for as long as the vehicle is held in the dealer's inventory.* A dealer who uses demonstration permits is required to maintain a list showing the date on which the dealer assigned the permit to a vehicle and the name and a description of the vehicle, including its make, model, model year and vehicle identification number.* A dealer shall maintain the list for three years from the end of the year in which the dealer issued the permit and must make it available to the department or its agents and to law enforcement officers during reasonable business hours.* When a vehicle is sold, the dealer shall keep demonstration permits with other records of the sale.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by AikenHorses

What's with all the unplated cars being driven on NM streets? Are they car

It goes beyond the question of missing license plates. How about missing/suspended/out of date driver's licenses, no proof of insurance, driver with multiple warrants for non-appearance, DWI, etc etc. And yet they keep on keeping on.

[prosopis]

Dealers usually have "mobile" plates that get stuck on for test drives and such. That's how they do it in AZ, but I've never bought a car here, so I'm not sure its the same.

Temporary post-sale plates (a paper version) are often stuck in the rear window where it is more protected from the elements - that may account for what you saw.

[GregW]

FWIW - When I buy a car and get "temporary plates" made of cardboard I cover them, back and front with clear plastic shipping tape. That protects them from our wetter climate.

I have often wondered how I could get a plate in NM that would allow me to drive a car purchased in NM back to my home in New Hampshire. Would NM DMV issue me a temporary plate if I did not have a residence in NM?

[elkotronics]

My temporary was paper covered in plastic that made it weather all types of weather for us. They just stapled it to the license plate area in the back of the vehicle.