license plates on sold/bought cars

[CC]

I'm buying my sister's car and donating my car to a charity. Am I supposed to keep the original plates with the cars? I'd rather not get rid of my car with its plates for fear that the new owners will get a ticket and I'll be responsible. Our secretary of state's office is rife with corruption and inefficiency, and I'm reluctant to even try to find someone there who knows how to help. Any ideas, dopers?

[Turbo Dog]

Depends on where you live. In some places the plates stay with the vehicle and in others, the plates stay with you. You could try calling the charity that you are going to donate it to and see if they know what will be required as far as paperwork and stuff.

[ratatoskK]

I'm in a similar situation, as far as I know it's the title that's important (showing that you own the car and are entitled to donate it). The plate just means the car is legal to drive. The charity would get a new plate. But check with the charity to be sure.

[Bryan Ekers]

Around here, the plate (and the car's registration) link a specific owner to a specific car. When the car is sold, the seller can sign over the registration to the buyer, but sooner or later (i.e. when the registration expires) the new owner will have to get his own registration and new plate. The registration form in Quebec is green (unlike the "pink slip" favoured in some venues) and has a place on the back to be filled out and signed by the seller and buyer.

The main reason to change the registration right away is so the seller can qualify for a partial refund. A typical annual registration fee is $255, so if I sold my car with six months to go, I can have my registration cancelled and receive about $125, or a half-refund. The plate will have to be removed at this time and the new owner will have to make his own arangements, including a new plate.

Since you're donating your car to charity, you might not bother trying to get some of your registration fee back. If your pink slip has a place where you can transfer ownership, make a photocopy of it with your signature and that of the charity official. This will be proof that you legally terminated your ownership of (and responsibility for) the vehicle. In any event, if this charity has accepted vehicle donations in the past, they should be up on the procedure.

[gsteinma]

In Michigan you always keep the plate - the plate is registered to both you and to the car, and can be transferred to a new car when you sell the old one. I know that in California the plate always stays with the car, from when it is first sold until it is junked, as long as it is in California. I believe that MOST states are like Michigan, and you should keep the plate.

[Mr2001]

In Washington it stays with the car - my last car had the same license plate before I bought it, I just had to register it to my name. And I was able to recognize the car after someone else bought it from a lot, because it still had the same plate.

[neutron star]

I bought a used car from a friend recently here in Louisiana. The plates were switched.

When I got rid of my old car (sent it away to the junkyard), I removed the old plate and turned it into the DMV as the law requires. I'm not sure how it is in other states, but apparently you can be saddled with a hefty fine here if you don't turn in your old plate.