Buying a car in Massachusetts and Registering it in Virginia??

[weatherbell (Ship 02 Div 932)]

My son is coming home for his first liberty after A School in a couple weeks and needs to buy a car.  He will be in Norfolk VA after liberty and needs to drive the car there.  Has anyone bought a car in one state and had it registered in another?  Any suggestions on how to do this quickly?  He will only be home for about a week!

[Lis&DansMom(Robin)]

We registered my daughter's car in our home state which is her permanent residence

[Angie]

She should be fine, though she will need to have insurance for the state she drives her vehicle in.  Also she needs to check with the DMV where her drivers liences is and see what the military rules are for that state, every state is different..how they handle people in the miltiary. 

[Craig]

He needs to make sure he's not violating the "three-state rule"...

Here is what I wrote before:

Wow, this will be hard to explain, but there is a rule call the "Three State Rule" that you can't violate. You can only have two states.  So you have

• (1) Your drivers license
• (2) Your car license plates (& registration),
• (3) Your duty station. 

You can mix and match them all you want, as long as it is two states.  But what is not allowed is if you have a Driver License from Oregon, your license plates from California, and your duty station being Florida.  Why? Because now three states are involved.   So you need to move one of them to make it only two states.  This is all part of the Soldier's and Sailors Relief Act which protects the serviceman's rights.  Does that make sense to you?  Not the rule, but the explanation?

 

http://www.militaryinstallations.dod.mil/pls/psgprod/f?p=MI:CONTENT...

Which says:

Registering Vehicles in California

Out of state license plates will generally be valid until their expiration date. The California DMV has a special form to be filled out by the service member to receive a military rate on the basic annual registration and vehicle fee. The three-state rule applies in California - a person cannot be a resident in one state, have a driver's license in another, and have his/her car registered in another.

If you are going to register your car in California, you may have to pay an additional transportation fee of $300 and some vehicles must be fitted with emission control devices.

Out-of-state vehicle registration for military personnel is valid until its regular expiration date. Upon expiration, the vehicle registration may be renewed in your home state or an application can be made for a California vehicle registration. DMV will request the out-of-state title, last issued registration and the license plates.

An odometer disclosure is required to register or transfer a motor vehicle. The law authorizes the DMV to refuse to register, renew or transfer a vehicle when the odometer reading is not provided.

Registering Vehicles on Base

Pass and Decal -- All military installations issue Department of Defense decals that are honored on all other stations. To get a decal for naval installations in the area, you'll need to go to the Pass and Decal Office at your particular base.

For either a decal or a temporary pass, you will need to show:

• your automobile registration
• driver's license
• military identification card
• proof of insurance

Liability insurance is mandatory in California, and you must be insured for a minimum of $15,000 bodily injury (per person), $30,000 bodily injury (per accident), and $10,000 property damage (per accident).

[glo2012]

My son didn't have any trouble registering cars as he switched to various states.  You just have to look up the instructions about how to register in the new state.  However, in Virginia you don't have your car registered in Virginia - you just need a copy of your orders in the vehicle...but there's a little too much to explain here so go to their website to see all the choices.  It's not hard:  dmv.virginia.gov, then download the military guide.

One of the best piece of advice I gave to my son was to buy an inexpensive but reliable car for his first purchase.  He was signed up for 6 years.  Then he traded it in when he only had a year to go for a new car.  Much better to have a new car leaving the Navy, than one that's 5 years old.