I live about 40 minutes from the Tacoma port so I'll be picking up in person and driving home. I thought about catching the bus to the port or getting a ride and stopping by the department of licensing on the way home. Do you think having fresh customs import paperwork would be good enough to show that I recently got the vehicle and am on the way to the DOL or would I need to go to the DOL first to get a trip pass? I'm guessing I can't get a trip pass without first getting all the paperwork done at customs. I want to avoid having to drive a vehicle there or inconveniencing a friend by driving me around. It isn't a big deal when you buy a normal used vehicle but one of these comes without any sort of prior registration.
Do you really want to take a vehicle that has been sitting for at least 30 days, that you can't get parts local for on a 40 mile journey right off the bat?
30 days isn't that long to sit... I'll probably bring some basic tools in a backpack just in case but I don't imagine I'd have any problems. I'm only looking at low mileage excellent condition ones and I'll be going through an exporter that will be doing a full test drive and additional inspection before shipping.
To get a better idea of how I roll though, I once flew down to Santa Barbara to buy a 1974 Porsche 914 and drive it back up. It only broke down three times on the way back and was pretty fun. This is 25 miles and I have roadside assistance.
I wouldn't think twice about the mechanical part, but I might worry about the plates. I once bought a car in Colorado Springs, CO while on a business trip out there, and drove it back to NY. I had no tools with me, and it turned out just fine. I'd gotten the VIN ahead of time and had insurance all set, but I bought it on a Saturday night and couldn't get into CO DMV to get an in-transit until Monday morning. CO law actually has a provision for in transit under a bill of sale for I think it's 48 hours, but the officer that pulled me over between Colorado Springs and Denver on Saturday night around midnight wasn't familiar with that provision. I showed my proof of insurance, signed title, and the bill of sale, and he let me go after running the VIN and my license – but definitely be prepared for that sort of roadside conversation, particularly in a rare/unique vehicle that is going to catch the eye and have some additional scrutiny. Check with the DMV to see if you can get an in transit permit or temporary tag ahead of your trip to the port – but if you don't already have customs paperwork in hand I can't imagine that will be possible. I've never dealt with a port pickup, I don't know if they would give you any static at the port attempting to drive out but I'd be a bit concerned about that too if I didn't have a backup plan in place.
That's the thing, I know when you buy any other vehicle you have some time to get it registered, and my insurance automatically covers new purchases until I get them the VIN. I'll even have the VIN ahead of time to give to the insurance company. With any other car bought locally I wouldn't hesitate to drive it right away, because it's still registered somewhere, even if not to me. This wouldn't be registered at all, anywhere lol. I see there's a DOL pretty close to the port, I would imagine I'd be fine driving there with fresh customs paperwork.
40 miles is a short drive, I drove my 91 sambar over 600km in the dead of winter on highway when I bought it and just had my 97 partially shipped from port yesterday and drove the rest of the 350km. They can handle it, my 91 it was close to 7 hours straight with only fuel stops Registration is up to You, usually I get insurance and just grab a spare license plate to get home.
Grabbing a spare license plate that isn't associating with the vehicle is worse than not having a license plate, and just explaining the situation to an officer if you get hassled.
depends where you are i guess, here if you have a bill of sale within the last day or two the cops dont care as long as you have insurance. no insurance is where you get in trouble
Fair enough, but I can't imagine a cop would be friendly towards someone who was being deceitful by using a license plate from a different vehicle. They might even initially think the car is stolen.
I just drove my 90 Honda Acty high mileage, home from Portland 100+ miles, but back roads only under 50mph. and it did fine. I did get a trip permit $30 for peace of mind. almost made it all the way with seeing a cop, and at the last mile, one pulled up be side me. So it was a good idea. The bigger problem was all the head turnings., and cars slowing down next to me to, looky loo.
It's definitely harder to fly under the radar in something like these even on back roads! Glad it went smoothly