bought new camry - licence plates

No.

If you drive around with the seller's old plates, yes.

Yes, or you may also be able to get it done at a currency exchange.

Your question is best directed to your local office of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). But, in California, the plates (non-vanity type) remain on the car from one owner to the next, so I _think_ you should leave the plates on. If you are a member of the Automobile Club (AAA), then you should go to the local office and they will help you with your registration requirements. If you are not a member of the AAA, then you have to go to the DMV to get the registration paper work completed.

Carry the transfer papers with you as you operate the vehicle, so that if you are stopped for any reason, you can demonstrate ownership. In CA, you must complete the registration within either 5 or 10 days, I forget which. Once you have the registration completed, keep the title (pink slip) in a safe place -- such as a fire proof box, or a safety deposit box at the bank.

And don't forget to make sure the car is insured, at least w/liability insurance if not full coverage. It is a requirement and in many states you need to show proof if you're ever pulled over.

Also when you register the car with the DMV you'll be turning in the title given to you when you bought the car, and a new title will be issued in your name. Until this is done, in the eyes of the DMV you are not yet the owner of this car. Their records will still show the previous owner.

-Dave

Unless you are an illegal alien....

Illinois requires a driver to be able to produce proof of insurance if pulled over. There is usually an insurance agency near the secretary of state offices in Illinois if drivers do not already carry insurance.

A receipt showing payment for title transfer and registration is good enough if pulled over in Illinois.

When I bought my 93, I had to take the title in on Jan 2 1999 to the Thompson Center and pay the RUT-25 tax and transfer my plates from my old truck to the Corolla. Technically the old plates belong to the old owner, and legally he's supposed to either transfer them to a new vehicle, or turn them in to the SOS Office.

Charles of Schaumburg.

Sorry, Jeff, but Illinois is not a (V) state it's an (O) state on the DOT chart. Plates go with the Owner. Here in Illinois, the Secretary of State's office handles vehicle registrations. Quaint, but then again, Illinois has a lot of things like that. You're supposed to go to the SOS office and they give you a Temporary plate until the permanent plates are mailed to you. Some of them do plates OTC, the one up in Lake county does, for instance. Also, many currency exchanges in the Chicago area handle SOS things like titles, new registrations, etc. and they will issue a temporary plate (right now they're in the xxx H xxx series.)

You think that's bad? In Arkansas, I used to have to take 2-3 hours to get my car tags renewed. You had to get a card from the insurance company, get the vehicle inspected, then go to the county courthouse and get a statement from the county that you owed no taxes for that vehicle for that year, or they had to validate your reciept for that year, then you had to go to the Arkansas Department of Revenue office and turn all that paperwork in. Then, for your money, all you got was two new stickers and a temporary registration slip. (It had the permanent expiration date on it, but the permanent registration card was mailed out from Little Rock.) For some years I never got a permanent registration slip.

Titles in Illinois are not pink slips, they are rather an intricate looking document that is separate from the vehicle registration. Most of them are held by banks these days.

Charles of Schaumburg

its a LITTLE easier now in Arkansas.

no inspections since 1997

dealer gives you temp plate ( since January 1, 2006), giving you 30 days to register car with state

if you have a plate from an old car, you can transfer it for under $10.00 (transfer fees, and new title fee).

but, yeah, still have to have it on your assessment with the county treasurer, and proof of liability insurance before you go to DMV.

Is that in Little Rock, or does that apply to the other 74 counties, too?

I lived in three middle size counties (well, for Arkansas, anyway. In Illinois, they'd be considered downright small.) Toward the end of my time in Arkansas, you carried the insurance cards with you at all times, so you didn't have to go get proof when you got your card, and if you had a property tax statement marked paid already you didn't have to go to the courthouse, but you still had to pay 3:25 to get your car inspected, (what a joke) and you still had to wait in line at the Arkansas Department of Revenue. (With the aversion to "Revenooers" in Arkansas, you would have thought they would have called it something else.)

Charles of Schaumburg.

Unless that title was signed by the owner(s) in front of an authorized transfer agent, proving the own actually signed it, I doubt you own it no mater what plate it exhibits. ;)

mike

Ok, that'll work. No rush to get the title but I'd assume the purchaser would like to eventually get a clean title.

-Dave

It is not necessary to sign the title over in front of an authorized transfer agent in Illinois.

I live in Sevier County... De Queen, SW arkansas

I keep insurance card in glove box , and one in billfold

state inspections were totally done away with sometime in 1997, according to the people I rent from, all the inspection stickers I see still on windshields are 1997.

I go add car to assessment, and go get new insurance card at State Farm, it takes maybe an hour to transfer a car here in a small town.

Really? Then how does one know the person that signed the transfer area on the title is the actual owner? In the states of which I am aware the owners signature must be notarized, otherwise the title is automatically voided.

mike

Also one of the many reasons of having a document notarized.

-Dave

I do not know how the Illinois Secretary of State's office can know if the person that signed the transfer area on the title is the actual owner, and have often wondered why there is not more widespread abuse in this state. The lack of safeguards is why we keep all of our titles in a safe place. ;-)

Really? Every title state provides for owner verification by an agent or notary. One can get a copy of your title quite easily. Send a change of address card to the DMV, then copy your VIN through the dash and send for a duplicate title to be mailed to the new address. The ONLY thing stopping me form selling your car is the fact I can not prove I'm you, if I try to do a transfer. ;)

mike

You can't do that with my '92 Corolla Wagon... You can't read the VIN thru the windshield...so I'm safe from your tricks, mike..

I'll check the back of our titles when I get home, but I have never had a title notarized when selling or buying a vehicle in Illinois. After working in the car business in California and Mass, I thought Illinois' system was very antiquated when I moved back here, and still do.

And yes, the opportunity for fraud and theft is high, but this seems to be SOP in Illinois.