Move to PA - Car Registration (Allentown, Erie: sales, insurance, how much)

[MacRaven]

Hope someone can tell me what to expect when it comes to vehicle registration in PA from TN.

The vehicle is an 08 Chevy Colorado in excellent condition. It is financed by Ally, which is a remote bank - they have the actual title of course, I just have the registration.

How does this work to register the vehicle after I move. Specifically:

How long after residency do you have to get this done?
Will I need to present the actual title or does the state contact the holding bank?
Will I have to pay tax again because it is a new state? It was already paid to TN when I bought the vehicle.
How much does it cost? In TN is is like $35 or so (plus the sales tax)

Are there any catch 22's I need to be aware of, such as you have to have insurance to get a title but you have to have a title to get insurance, etc

Should I get a PA license before I register the vehicle?
How long is my TN license good for after I move?

Don't know if it makes a difference where in I will live, but I expect SE PA Harrisburg - York - Lancaster - maybe Allentown.

One more, what are the best insurance companies that people use - not the ones that have lots of TV ads, but the local gems - here in TN we have Direct General, by far the most helpful (and inexpensive) auto insurance providers, nut I don't think I ever saw a TV ad by them.

Thanks...

[toobusytoday]

This should help: PennDOT Driver and Vehicle Services - New Residents (http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/new_residents/index.shtml - broken link)

We use State Farm Insurance for everything from house to cars and are very satisfied.

[PeterRabbit]

2nd on State Farm

[PAhippo]

I use Erie. No complaints.

[MacRaven]

Thanks for the Link - dunno why I couldn't find that on PennDOT before.

Anyone here actually done this? - registered a financed vehicle from another state into PA - would be good to know the things the website does not tell you

Also, do you have a front and back plate, or just a rear plate like we have in TN?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by MacRaven

Also, do you have a front and back plate, or just a rear plate like we have in TN?

We just have a rear plate in PA.

[teachbeach]

You won't pay tax again..
They'll ask for proof of insurance and a driver's license. I registered my car with an out of state license because it was due for annual inspection in the other state, and I just decided to do registration and inspection here.
Don't know about the financed part, I imagine the insurance company carries this information and it's not important for registering your vehicle.
We have used Erie, now with Penn National for everything and very pleased.

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by MacRaven

Anyone here actually done this? - registered a financed vehicle from another state into PA - would be good to know the things the website does not tell you

I did but it's been 13 years ago now. It's not exactly an unknown occurrence.

The strangest thing to me was that when I went into the storefront "driver license center" they do NOT register cars there.

What you have to do is to either find a "full service notary" (try PAN: Find a Notary in Pennsylvania ) or go to an office in a borderline sketchy area of Harrisburg. I wound up going here: Sollenberger's Messenger Service Inc.

The PENNDOT website does say that but rather subtly.

One does need to pay a fee for the notary service over and above the state fees, back years ago I remember writing two checks.

One advantage of this system is that the notary clerks may be somewhat more attentive than the stereotypical "DMV" of other states.

So now we'll wait for the next questions, like "where do I buy wine?" "where do I buy beer?" and "where do I pay local taxes?"

[Ohiogirl81]

If you're a AAA member, go there to switch your registration. They'll take care of everything.

[SorryIMovedBack]

I had AAA do my vehicles, and that was a breeze. All are paid off, so PA had to send me new titles, and that took forever, like 2-3 months or something. They didn't hurry. And the trucks took longer than the cars. But since you don't have the title, anyway, that's not a problem for you.

I had more problems getting the driver's license, as I recall. I needed to take my drivers license from the previous state, my birth certificate, and also a copy of my divorce decree and name change or something weird like that, to get the drivers license. I don't recall what the process was, exactly, but it required two trips b/c I didn't take all that freight with me the first time. I kind of chalked it up to PA is a little retro on women's rights issues, lol. But they took a fetching photo of me.