How to buy a new car out of state?
 

We're Florida residents but spend Summer in New York. We have a vehicle registered and insured in both places. The Florida one we use when we are here, although we drive it to NY for the Summer. The New York one stays there full time. The New York vehicle is going to need to be replaced in a year or two and when we buy the new one, we want it to become our Florida car (and the former Florida car to become our New York car). I am planning to buy the new car in New York. I'm trying to figure out how best to accomplish this, registration and insurance wise. Thoughts?
--
bc

If I understand your post, I would buy the new car in Florida, not in New York. Then, you can just register and insure it in Florida. And, if the timing is right, you could also do a tag transfer in Florida, and not need to pay over $200 for a new Florida tag. You can transfer your Florida tag from one car to another for about $45. Since you already have Florida auto insurance, the new car will automatically be insured when you buy it.

Last year the lease for the car that was registered in Florida was ending. My daughter worked for a car dealership in Massachusetts. I returned my leased Nissan in Massachusetts that had Florida plates and leased a Jeep from my daughter's dealership was able to register my new lease in Florida. I drove the Jeep lease back to Florida with my Florida plates. The dealership handeld it. NO PROBLEMS.

I have done this a few times. If you are buying from a dealer it should be no problem.

The Florida DMV website has some very useful links to help you do this. I had a similar situation, however in PA, once we both became FL residents, I wasn't allowed to register a car in PA. I used forms I found on line, went to local police station who did a VIN verification and signed the form that I sent back to FL DMV. In about a week I had FL tags to put on the car. Good luck.

Recently bought a second car in Massachusetts to use there periodically. My dilemma was in which state do I register and insure it legally?

The answer I received from our local villages insurance company AND two Massachusetts insurance companies was:
The car must be registered and insured in the state that it lives most of the time.

That worked out well because was much cheaper to register and insure there. ($50 for new title and either $30 or 35 to register and get the new plates) although must now get annual inspection sticker and pay an excise tax each year.

In Florida you must pay a $225. fee for "new wheels on the road" in addition to other fees. The previous poster about transferring the registration from old to the new car in FL is good advice. Would have to figure out how to get the car to FL though, but I think you can get a temporary tag to do that.

I don't know about Massachusetts, but, if you use the car in Florida for more than 90 days during the year (not consecutively) then Florida law requires you to have Florida registration and insurance. There is another detailed thread on this topic.

I don't plan on doing that and you could very well be right.
That would mean then, if I drive it to Florida, on the 91st day I would have to cancel the insurance and registration in MA, then re-title and insure and register in FL.
Then re-do all upon return to MA.
There is something wrong with that picture.
Thanks for info.

I just realized that that would be contrary to the information I received from the insurance companies. (The car must be registered in the state that it lives most of the time)

Here is a link that will explain the Florida law. If you received contrary information from a Florida insurance agent, then they gave you incorrect information.

Car Insurance for Snowbirds | Fox Business

Our situation is similar to that of the OP but your post is most similar to what we have experienced. We have one car in Florida with FL tags and a second car in NJ with NJ tags. Both cars are insured with Geico but insured in the particular states where the cars reside. We buy our cars in NJ for a host of reasons but a major one has been price.

Bought a new car in Rochester NY. Better deal especially if you are looking for all wheel drive. Dealer had a third party that for roughly $100 extra took care of all the Florida paperwork and plates. Make sure the dealer does not mount the front license plate holder unless you want them to. They can be ugly and leave holes if you remove it. Florida insurance is more expensive. When I asked Amica why the reply was insurance fraud.

Hmmm, very interesting about Amica. We have 2 cars with Amica Insurance. One car is insured and registered in Rhode Island and the other insured and registered here in Florida. RI insurance is more expensive because in our town because it borders Providence where there is a high theft rate. What’s really nuts is if we moved 3 miles to the north in another town the rate would decrease because it’s further away from Providence.