How long can i drive a car without plates?

1

You can drive it for a long while. If you get caught, just say it was just at a show and you're going home to put the plates back on (only if it's a relatively nice-looking car...this won't work for anything cheaper than a Lexus...if it is you'll have to bs it a little and say it was an antiques show or a *insert name here* brand show). Most cops either don't know what to do in this situation or will understand, depending on your area. I live in CA and own a POS old mercedes (I have to pour water in it every day to make it run) that was my grandma's from god knows how long ago and my best friend and I used to play a game where we'd drive around without plates to see if anybody said anything (we were 22 and desperately in need of something fun to do). We were pulled over seventeen times and all seventeen times we said we were just at a show and were bringing it home to put the plates back on. The cops let us off all seventeen times with a verbal warning to not let it happen again. We tried this with her Honda as well, and got pulled over much faster. We had to bs it a little and say it was a Honda show for prospective buyers, not a featurette show (or some crap like that) . The cops were so confused they asked for registration and told us off.

If you're bringing it home to register it, explain this to the cop and show them the paperwork. Most will let you off with a verbal warning or a fix-it ticket or a small fine.

Depends on how lucky you feel, how far you have to drive, and how many cops are between you and home. In all reality, most cops would probably understand if you just bought it hours ago and probably wouldn't hit you with a ticket even if you were caught so long as you had your bill of sale or some proof of recent purchase, and you were polite to the officer. But it is most definitely illegal to drive a motor vehicle on public roads without proof of registration and insurance. Is this your first vehicle? Usually the plates from the previous vehicle just get transferred to the new one, at least in most states now.

You can drive all you want without valid plates, right up until you get caught. Then you're done driving it until you put proper plates on it. Whether you bought the vehicle five months ago or five minutes ago makes no difference, because a vehicle either has valid plates or it doesn't. There is no middle grey area.

That's why most people line up the insurance and plates (temp tags count as valid) before they pick up a newly purchased vehicle.

It used to be "acceptable" to drive a car home and register it the next day. I think many cops would still let you go but it is certain they could give you a ticket. Until you register it it is still registered in the name of the previous owner, so you are driving it with his permission. But I don't know if this logic floats.

As to driving with NO plates, that there, you can drive as far as you want. Until you get caught.

No. You cannot drive an unplated car one foot legally.

You would have to wait until the next day, and then go to the DMV office when it's open (And, NOT in the unplated car), and do all of the registration paperwork, and then leave with a proper registration and a set of legal plates to put on the car.

What you can do with an unplated car is to have it towed to the place you want to bring it to. You will have to PAY the tow truck for that service, of course.

In some states when you purchase a car in a private sale you are required to get it inspected before you can get plates. The advice from my state's DMV is "Have the bill of sale with you when you drive to the inspection station. You probably will get stopped, but everything SHOULD be okay"

State law differs. Here in Ca you have ten days to handle it. The car normally has plates that show it's currently registered and legal for the road. When bought from a dealer without plates we have a piece of paper in the window and paper dealer advertisement plates where the plate belongs. Some states I remember a temporary paper plate in the plate location for dealer bought cars. Some states the plates follow the driver which would create an issue for a parked car where you are not there to show your paperwork.

Tell people where you live and maybe someone who knows the answer for sure will chime in. No one can give the correct answer without knowing what state laws you must abide by so ignore these people guessing, they have no clue.

The transfer of title is not your issue. Your problem is the vehicle cannot be legally driven without current registration. The wise thing to do would be to go to your nearest DMV offices today to purchase temporary registration. By doing so you would have a substantial window of time (90 days in most states) to take care of the transfer of title, full registration, etc.

If you get pulled over most likely you will get a ticket for expired plates. If you buy a car after the DMV closes then you will just need to wait until the next morning to get a renewal.