[justjim]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

As the title says, can you have cars licensed in Florida and you home state? I am finding conflicting information on line.

Ray

The answer is yes. I own a condo in Illinois and keep a car there to use during the summer or when I fly there to take care of business or see children. It is insured in Illinois. I own a home in TV and license a car in Florida and have a Florida drivers license and it is insured in Florida. No problems.

[Professor]

We have been doing this for years. We have a summer condo in Missouri and keep a car there registered in Missouri. We live in Florida full time and have a car registered in Florida. We maintain separate insurance policies on each (with the same insurance company) since state laws vary.

[Bill297]

Absolutely! I have a car in AZ (our second home) and it has AZ plates. It stays in the garage abd I use it when I visit AZ. I have two policies. One for FL and one for AZ. Same insurance company but two separate policies.

[J1ceasar]

Also keep in mind many states like New Jersey have inspections yearly or biological cars and us obviously have the car in Jersey for the inspection so if you register the car and have a jersey plate on the car you would have to make sure to drive it back during the month you're supposed to get an inspection. Florida does not have safety inspections. Also the police will definitely stop you much more often if you have an out of state plate on your car while you're driving in Florida and vice versa in the other states.

[Garwood1]

And you can’t get a Florida registration until you have proof of Florida insurance within 72 hours or the license will be suspended -transfer fee to register your auto is around $300-$400 ( I did this process 2 years ago )

[Up North]

We have one vehicle that's kept here and one that's kept in Wisconsin. The one here has a Florida license plate (this is our primary residence). The one kept in Wisconsin has a Wisconsin license plate. The biggest thing is making sure your insurance understands where each vehicle is housed and insures it appropriately. We have USAA and they cover both, some insurances may not cover a vehicle in another state. A problem we did have, was when we forwarded our mail, the insurance was notified and assumed all our vehicles went with us, which raised our rates dramatically. The insurance company must clearly understand where each vehicle stays, regardless of our travels back and forth.

[Tmarkwald]

Originally Posted by NavyNJ

Re: the bolded portion above - Yes, you CAN insure and register in different states. As an example, when my kids were in college, they took a vehicle registered in NJ in my name, to school (first in PA, then in WV) back to school with them. In both cases, working with my USAA agent, we figured out it was cheaper to insure them in those states versus NJ. Since one of the standard insurance questions is usually something like "Where will the vehicle be garaged?", it made sense to do it that way. Made it a bit of a pain to make sure kids brought the car home for inspections when needed, etc., but in the long run it saved a bundle!!

Perfect response - nearly the same thing with us. we have multiple vehicles, 2 kids in college, etc, but the cars the kids use stay registered in MD and they have their own insurance policy issued in MD on the cars. So, I have to maintain two policies, but that was simple and insurance company has no issue with it.

I think where is get sticky is trying to have have ONE insurance policy covering vehicles registered in multiple states.

[daca55]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I need to clarify. I plan to keep cars in Florida and at my home in St. Louis. Should the registration be the same as my drivers license, or should they be registered in the state where they are located?

Florida will let you register a car here even though your drivers license is in another state. Call the DMV in the county you live and they will explain. Your insurance has to be in State where the car is kept.

[lpkshop]

We have a car registered in NJ and one here in Florida.

[Saluce]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I need to clarify. I plan to keep cars in Florida and at my home in St. Louis. Should the registration be the same as my drivers license, or should they be registered in the state where they are located?

Your vehicle registration and drivers license should be where your primary residence is.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Saluce

Your vehicle registration and drivers license should be where your primary residence is.

Not really.

[maggie1]

Originally Posted by justjim

The answer is yes. I own a condo in Illinois and keep a car there to use during the summer or when I fly there to take care of business or see children. It is insured in Illinois. I own a home in TV and license a car in Florida and have a Florida drivers license and it is insured in Florida. No problems.

Very interesting! So, when you renew your registration in IL what address do you use as your primary residence? Or do you use the IL address for your registration there, and the FL address when registering your car in this state? I know a person can't hold two (or more) driver's licenses from different states, so I wondered if the same applied to vehicle registration - apparently it doesn't.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by maggie1

Very interesting! So, when you renew your registration in IL what address do you use as your primary residence? Or do you use the IL address for your registration there, and the FL address when registering your car in this state? I know a person can't hold two (or more) driver's licenses from different states, so I wondered if the same applied to vehicle registration - apparently it doesn't.

Not primary resident address.............Where the car is garaged the most.

[143666]

As a former notary public in PA with experience processing title work for 25 years, a person can only title and register vehicles in the state that matches their drivers license. That proves their residence. One way to get around this is if a husband or wife holds a license in one state and the other holds their license in the other. Auto insurance must be secured in each state for that vehicle. If a couple has 2 different state’s licenses, they can apply to put a title in both names as long as the first name listed on title is in the state they’re applying for title. Can’t speak for every state, but that’s how it works in PA.

[bilcon]

I had two cars when I first move here part -time. One car was registered and insured in NY and that is where it stayed. My other car was left at my Florida house and was registered and insured in Florida. No problem.