Probably a stupid question, but here goes - is there any law about selling a used car to someone from another country? They are just visiting for the winter and want to avoid paying for a rental car. After they’re done with it, I’m sure they will try to sell it and recoup some of the money they spent, which makes sense to me. If they have a local address and interntational drivers’ license, it should be OK, right? What about insurance - does their
original country policy cover this car???
Don’t tell me to call the DMV. I had to navigate their phone system, then was on hold forever. They must all be out on break or something, cuz nobody seems to want to answer the phone. Big surprise.
They have big leafy wads of cash! I want to sell this car right now, but I need to know if it’s a legal deal.
It shouldn’t be a problem for you to sell the thing. I know tons of students from other countries who don’t have US citizenship, and they’ve bought and registered cars without a problem. They drive around town perfectly legally. I have no idea what bureaucratic hoops they have to jump through to get their driver’s licences, but everyone I’ve known has managed to do it.
I’d bet that the international student’s organization–or the Office of International Education, or whatever it’s called–at the nearest university would be willing to tell you what’s up. And, really, unless the prospective buyers of your car are kinda slimy or are totally out to lunch, they’ve already looked into what they need to do to legally own a car and drive. Getting sent home to the clink is not anyone’s idea of a good time. IMHE, many people from abroad are warier of US law than Americans are, because they don’t know a lot about how official institutions work, and they want to make sure that they keep their residency permits, get their visas renewed, etc.
I mistakenly wrote:
What I meant to say was “Getting sent home or going to the clink is not anyone’s idea of a good time.” I didn’t mean to say that someone who violated US driving laws would necessarily do jail time in their native country.
I guess it depends also on the state you live in : in MA you need a driver’s licence to own a car. Maybe not by law, but at least by the way the procedure is asked at the DMV.