MBfan21

I purchased the car on the 8th and nothing has come in the mail yet. The dealership tells me it takes 60 days for the title to come. Is this true? The temp tags expire next week so I am kind of nervous. I call the DMV and they have no information in their system regarding my purchase! They said they haven't received anything from the dealership yet. I asked my salesman and he said they wouldn't have the information yet and they use a different service to get the plates that eventually goes to the DMV.

ISPEEDM3

they should come in before your temp tags expire, hence the 30 days span on tags.. i received my perm. plates within 1 week and a half

RLE

<<I purchased the car on the 8th and nothing has come in the mail yet. The dealership tells me it takes 60 days for the title to come. Is this true? The temp tags expire next week so I am kind of nervous.>>

There is nothing to get excited about. If your plates/tabs/title don't show up, ask your salesman for a new temp tag.

It's been ten weeks for me and no title yet. The tabs showed up at about six weeks and I reused my personalized plates so the car looks normal. Well, except I haven't mounted the front plate and bracket as yet and won't until the cops tell me to do it. Looks so much nicer that way.

BTW, you did not reveal your state so the whole discussion doesn't mean much.

MBfan21

I live in PA but bought the car in NJ. The temp tags are good for only 19 days meaning they expire next week. I thought for sure the registration would come in yet. I can't get my car inspected without the registration.

430752

My actual plates came within 8 days. When I left the dealership with car, aka day one, they put the registration sticker on immediately. In NJ it is four years for a new car with no inspection You pay for four years registration up front, but no inspection for four years, no renewal fees, etc. Is great if you're gonna mod the car, no inspection if you delete the cat or etc. Not that I'd do this to my car, have not and won't, but for the aftermarket civics, etc., is a boon.

Now, with that said, I don'd think you ever get the title if financed or leased. Not sure, and forget with the last new car I bought, but don't recall it until I paid off the note. However, if I was paying cash, I ain't leaving the dealership without title!

ffejalink

This depends on where you live. The last 3 MB's I've purchase in Oregon had the plates on when I drove them off the lot. Apparently the dealer is permitted to keep a stock of plates on site. I'm sure it reduces their costs by not providing temp tags.

I purchased a 328i in San Diego, CA and the tags took almost 60 days to arrive. As a previous posted stated, you should contact your dealer for new temp tags if your plates have not arrived. You may also want to ensure that the paperwork has been submitted to DMV.

MondayQB

When I purchased my C300, the dealership issued my plate on the spot.

tanktube67

here in CA it took about 7 weeks for my plates to arrive and I haven't installed then yet.

jrct9454

As noted above, this question above all depends on where you bought the car - every jurisdiction is different.

We bought in Portland, Oregon, and also as noted above, if we had been Oregon residents, we could have had the plates on the car when we drove off the lot.

Because we live across the river in Washington, the dealer sent the docs to our neighborhood WA DMV; we had our plates less than a week from initial delivery, and the title came in another couple of weeks.

The other extreme....also as previously noted....all our other cars have been CA purchases, and I'm sorry to say that 4-8 weeks is not unusual in CA.

Anyway, there is no way to generalize the question - all depends on where you are.

CarGuru

Yeah, I live in Cali too. Got my car Aug 15 '07 ordered a vanity plate a month after we got the car. Our real plates came about 1 month and a week or so after the car but since I haven't received my custom plate ( C CLASS ) yet I haven't installed the plates. I've got the paper deal in the glass still so I'm good. Whats funny in Ca it's sort of a exotic car or high-end car trendy thing to leave the papers on as long as you can It's weird but I know a guy down the street has had a new S550 for about 8+ months still has his paper plates on... yeah it's risky and such but my uncle in Los Angeles has a 2+ year old 745LI and still has the papers on. Hes even been pulled over and tells the cops his plates got sent to his summer home and since the mail keeps piling up there they keep getting sent back to the post office??? Weird but he says it works. But his theory and why people in LA do it is because the traffic is horrible and they have traffic light cameras everywhere.

-Ryan

Savage c-300

60 days seems long. i got mines at 30 days.

elric

Mine took about 8 weeks. I was started to get concerned as well, but they finally showed up.

Lakerz4sho

where can you get the front license plate holder that you can affix WITHOUT drilling holes? i would hate to hurt my girl.

MBfan21

I think at Pep Boys. They sell license plate holders. I'm sure some of them have little stickers you can stick to hold it.. maybe suction cups?

Baron Samedi

As has been stated, if you financed or leased the car, you won't be receiving the title any time soon. Did the NJ dealer arrange to do you PA title work for you? Did you pay PA sales tax? The holdup is probably at PENNDOT. They're notoriously slow. You said you called the DMV. Did you call NJDOT or PENNDOT? NJ will have no record of you.

Short term, the remedy is to have the dealer overnight you a new set of temp tags.

MBfan21

I called the PA DMV. They have no record of my purchase. They said they haven't received the information from the dealer. MBUSA doesn't have information on my purchase either. I went to the dealer to ask them to extend my temporary tags and they said they don't do that. I'm like, "But they expire on the 27th!!" They said I should get them by then.
I did pay PA sales tax. I have received nothing yet. :\

Baron Samedi

If you don't get them by the 27th, I don't think your dealer will have a choice. What are you supposed to do drive illegally because either your dealer sat on the paperwork for a few days or because PENNDOT is slow as molasses? AFAIK Penndot takes a minimum of 30 days to process title work.

MBfan21

Probably the dealership sat on the paperwork. As of today, still no plates have come in to him. He said he is having his girl look into it, and it's against the law to issue new temporary tags. I asked him what if it doesn't arrive by tomorrow, he said there's no choice but to wait.
I'm very furious about this. I have yet to get my car inspected. They will not inspect it without registration. I have to wait for the dealership to send registration as well and I've had this car for almost 20 days.
What if I get pulled over for having expired temporary tags? The dealership won't pay that fine.

Baron Samedi

I work in a PA dealership and asked our title clerk about your issue. She told me that if you ask PENNDOT how long it takes to process title work, they'll tell you 6-8 weeks. The reality seems to be 3-4 (maybe longer with Xmas and NY eve). She also told me (and I agree) that this is the dealership's problem, not yours. If you get a ticket for expired tags we believe the dealership's obligated to pay it.

Depending on how NJ tracks temporary tags, they may or may not be able to re-issue you a new temp. tag. In other words, if NJDOT doesn't log the issuance of each NJ temp tag, while not strictly legal, the dealer could issue another temp tag to tide you over.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

diamondblak05

In Wisconsin, you get your plate and sticker on the spot when you make the deal and your title comes in about a week. Also, if you move from another state to WI, the DMV can swap the plate, sticker, and print a new title right there. Now that's what I call speedy service.

Baron Samedi

Same in PA (and probably NJ) if you buy your car in the same state where you live. The problems happen when you buy a new car out of state.

egtgrant

Probably not in play here, but the dealers are motivated NOT to turn in your license and registration in a timely fashion. Those paper plates you're driving around with are free advertising for them.

I don't like advertising for anybody. As a result, I usually strip the dealer/paper plates immediately upon getting home.

To motivate the dealer, you could write "don't use..." or "...sucks" next to their name on the paper plates (make sure they are visible for them and other motorists to see) the next time you bring in your car. Let them know how you will be 'advertising' for them while they sit on your paperwork. Heck, if you aren't comfortable driving the car with lapsed registration, you could even leave it parked out front of the lot.

Bet you the plates come VERY quickly after that. They'd probably even figure out how to expedite the process through PA DOT.

just my childish $.02

aolsen

I got the plates, Registration Sticker, all the same day at the DMV. I had 10 days to get the car inspected after registering it, and when I did I got the Inspection sticker same day. Title can takes at least 3 months to come in though...

MBfan21

Thank you Baron for finding more concrete info from your clerk. I just want my stuff now. There are a lot of cops patroling the area where I live nightly. I know I am just bound to get pulled over for expired temp tags.

MBfan21

You make a very good point. Never thought that they are possibly delaying it for extra advertising. They even put their little metal logo on the back of my car next to my plates. I should remove that.