• From: Villa Park, IL
  • Registered: 2010-12-12
  • Posts: 1,338

Topic: Buying cars from out of state, mainly Arizona

I live in Illinois and I'm trying to buy a car in Arizona. I'm curious if anyone has any experience doing this type of thing. The original plan was for my sister who lives in Phoenix to get it for me and hang on to it until March. One of the problems is that it's three hours away. From what I'm hearing when you buy a car the buyer and seller go to the DMV and do the paperwork right away and you're done. By the time she gets out of work and drives three hours the DMV is closed and they aren't open on weekends. The seller insists on getting everything notarized which also can't be done after hours. How do you people deal with these things? Illinois is so different. We just sign the title and take your money.

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  • From: SF BayArea/Land of Enchantment
  • Registered: 2012-01-22
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Re: Buying cars from out of state, mainly Arizona

Rob O. (Type44 on this forum) is our resident Phoenix resident....(see what I did there?)

I'm sure he'll chime in with words of wisdom...

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  • gtopat
  • gtopat
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  • From: Langhorne, PA
  • Registered: 2010-06-25
  • Posts: 465

Re: Buying cars from out of state, mainly Arizona

My state, PA, is far from the most strict, but I've bought several vehicles out of state and as long as the previous seller signed the title at the time of purchase, I never had a problem transferring it.

Only time I had an issue was when I tried to junk a shell and the title was in the previous owners name. Even though it was signed, they wouldn't take it, and transferring the title would have cost more than the car was worth in scrap. I just tracked down another yard which was more "lenient" with their paperwork.

Top tip: Who is your insurance carrier? State farm offers free notary service to policy holders and they usually have more friendly hours than the tag place.

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  • From: Tustin, CA
  • Registered: 2010-12-30
  • Posts: 3,275

Re: Buying cars from out of state, mainly Arizona

Been years since I went to ASU but I believe the notary requirement is for an in-state transaction and I seem to recall  only the seller's sig needs to be notarized.  Seller might just being a stickler on details or doesnt want to be bothered later.

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  • Type44
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  • From: Phoenix, AZ
  • Registered: 2011-07-23
  • Posts: 1,696

Re: Buying cars from out of state, mainly Arizona

here we are sticklers for notarizing.... But the seller signing their interest away is all the DMV really cares about. i.e. Go to the bank (TCF is open 7 days a week!) and get it notarized with no names on the paperwork but the seller (leave buyer blank) and that is what we in AZ call an open title. I have bought numerous cars on weekends, you hand the seller money, he hands you a title with his notarized signature as seller, you write your name in the blanks, take to DMV, and register. I asked for a handwritten bill of sale for years, but they have never asked to see it when you have the notarized open title. Makes sense?

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  • From: Villa Park, IL
  • Registered: 2010-12-12
  • Posts: 1,338

Re: Buying cars from out of state, mainly Arizona

So it sounds like my issues are more with the seller and the way he's interpreting the rules? What you wrote Type44 is pretty much how we do it except for the notarizing part. Trying to find a notary in Tombstone AZ around 8:00 at night might be tough though.

I was looking at the AZDOT web site for info. Not much help, in fact it left me confused on something else. It says that once you sign the paperwork you're not allowed to drive the car until it's registered. Well I'm not registering it in Arizona so from what I'm seeing I'll have to buy a three day temp tag just so she can drive it home. Am I reading that right? She's going to store it in her garage until I come out and I'll have the Illinois tags with me so why register it in AZ?

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Re: Buying cars from out of state, mainly Arizona

Seller needs to quit overthinking this, get it notarized whenever he goes to the bank (say, three days before!) then hand the open title to your sis, she should get the three day pass to drive it home, then that's the end of the process. I have bought over 30 cars in AZ and doing the above will work, period.

Tradewinds Tribesmen Racing (The road goes on forever…)
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