We are in the process of buying a motor home in Illinois. After the purchase, it will be titled and licensed in New York State. The question is, how do I logistically make this happen?In an ideal world where gas was cheap and I have lots of spare time, I would:1) make the 11 hour drive to Illinois2) hand the current owners a check in exchange for the title3) drive the 11 hours back to New York State4) get NY plates for the RV5) get the RV insured (our local insurance agent can only write policies on vehicles titled in NY6) drive the 11 hours back to Illinois7) drive away in the RVNY does not issue temporary plates. Nor can I find any evidence of Illinois doing the same. I'm hesitant to mail a check to Illinois for the purchase of the RV and hope I get a title back in the mail (this is a private sale, but I 99.9% trust the current owners).Have others faced the type of situation? How did you handle it? Will big insurance companies insure vehicles that are not yet licensed in the destination state? Thanks for any and all suggestions.

No temporary tags in IL? Kinda hard to believe. It will be rather difficult sans that.Don't mail a check, wire the money. Or, many banks have 'pay a person' features.

I would call the state of NY and tell them what you are looking at doing. They will tell you what will work for NY. I would think that it is just a case of driving there and registering it. Before you go call your insurance company and tell them what you are thinking of doing. If you do hand over a cashier check call them with the Vin number before you drive it and get assurance that you are insured. Then take it to be serviced before you drive it home as you do not want to damage what you have purchased. In fact you should have a garage that knows about rvs look it over brfore you buy it. Also make sure that the tires are in good shape and that the DOT date is 8 years or newer. You don't want to chance a blow out. If the tires are 8 years old you will probably want for them to lower the price by the cost of new tires; usually about $3500. Hope it all works out for you.

make the trip, never buy a big bucks item without inspecting it first hand.

I may be missing something here??? but it seems to me that you take your check book and a friend, drive to Illinois, buy the RV, get a bill of sale have it notarized and then take the title and bill of sale and return with the RV and your friend driving the other vehicle and return to New York and visit your local tag agency and pay all applicable taxes and receive your New York Tag and enjoy. The sellers insurance will remain in force during the transaction up to three days, and your insurance should cover you if you are driving the RV.

IL does issue a temporary tag. We were in the process of purchasing one in that state and long story, but after having an agreed upon price, owners tried to get us into a bidding war with another couple who showed up and wanted it, so we walked away. We had researched and next step would have been to take newly signed title to DMV with our drivers licenses from our home state and purchase the temporary tags to get it home where we could properly title and register and plate it.

How do I buy Illinois RV and get it to New York?

22 Replies

Snowman9000
Explorer
Jan 08, 2014
Unlike say CA, and maybe OR it sounds like, in IL the tags stay with the owner, not the vehicle. Now, the seller could leave the IL plates on, if he was not going to re-register them to another RV. But that's not a smart thing for him to do. I don't know if IL issues something for temporary use. They have a temporary plate for use till the permanent plates come, that much I do know.

I would drive it home but then again I like to question authority. :)
Nvr_lost
Explorer
Jan 08, 2014
When I sold my class C, we agreed on the price over the phone. He and his wife flew in from Philadelphia. I met them at the airport. He brought a cashier's check for the agreed amount. (My title was clear). We went over the RV and I gave them a 2 hour tutorial on the RV. We went to my bank, he gave me the check and I deposited it. I signed the title and gave him the title after the bank notarized my signature. I then took him to the local Ohio licensing bureau where bought a temporary Ohio tag. They drove away with the RV after that. It was followed by my sadness the rest of the day.
riven1950
Explorer
Jan 08, 2014
You can get a temporary transport slip, even in NY. I bought a Mazda MX5 online, flew to Long Island one morning, inspected the vehicle, paid and got the title signed over ( was even actually a Maryland title ), went to NY DMV, had my insurance company fax info to DMV, got a temp tag to transport from NY to NC and was on the road home before 3:00 pm. Just contact your ins company and local DMV in advance. I think you can do it and drive it home.
donn0128
Explorer II
Jan 08, 2014
As long as it has current tags and you have a bill of sale and title in your hand, I would not hesitate to simply drive, buy and drive it back home. IMHO your making more out of this than is necessary.
We_Cant_Wait
Explorer
Jan 08, 2014
NYS does have a 1 time temporary transport plate good for 1 trip from 1 location to another.
JnJnKatiebug
Explorer
Jan 08, 2014
Maybe I did mine wrong. I live in AR and bought mine from a private seller in TX. I drove down in my car, looked it over and made the deal. I gave my insurance company the VIN and they gave me an insurance certificate. I drove the Jeep back down, handed him a certified check and he gave me the signed title and a bill of sale. I hooked the Jeep up and drove home. When I got home I went to the DMV and got the tags. Maybe I am wrong, but I though if you had a bill of sale you had x amount of days to get the tag. Maybe I was just lucky and did not get stopped.

That's how it is in AR. I bought a Jeep a few years ago and was stopped on the way home because it did not have a tag on it. I showed the officer the bill of sale and the insurance certificate and he said have a nice day and walked away.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Jan 08, 2014
Is it currently licensed in Illinois? If yes your insurance agent should be able to write a trip policy for the trip to NY, if not then possibility an agent for the same carrier in Illinois should be able to do that.
I think I would fly back and forth unless you are both far from airports.
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Jan 08, 2014
IL does issue a temporary tag. We were in the process of purchasing one in that state and long story, but after having an agreed upon price, owners tried to get us into a bidding war with another couple who showed up and wanted it, so we walked away. We had researched and next step would have been to take newly signed title to DMV with our drivers licenses from our home state and purchase the temporary tags to get it home where we could properly title and register and plate it.
square_dancers
Explorer
Jan 08, 2014
I may be missing something here??? but it seems to me that you take your check book and a friend, drive to Illinois, buy the RV, get a bill of sale have it notarized and then take the title and bill of sale and return with the RV and your friend driving the other vehicle and return to New York and visit your local tag agency and pay all applicable taxes and receive your New York Tag and enjoy. The sellers insurance will remain in force during the transaction up to three days, and your insurance should cover you if you are driving the RV.
midnightsadie
Explorer II
Jan 08, 2014
make the trip, never buy a big bucks item without inspecting it first hand.

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How do I buy Illinois RV and get it to New York?

22 Replies

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