Submitted by RI-Transplant t3_122ooxo in RhodeIsland

I’m going through hell, here. Little old lady selling us her car for really cheap. Turns out she had no idea where the title was. Did all the paperwork for that and finally have the title. Earliest appointment at Dmv is April 11th and that’s in Wakefield, Cranston isn’t even showing up. We already put it on our insurance but old lady has destroyed her license plate. Does this mean we can’t drive it until 4/11? We desperately need it for work. Is there anything we can do to speed this up? It’s so frustrating because we’ve been trying to get this done since we bought it in February.

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dickieb81 t1_jdr1viw wrote

Keep checking back on the DMV site. New appointment’s pop up pretty regularly and you should have no problem getting in before that

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buddhamanjpb t1_jdr22sg wrote

My neighbor just went to Wakefield on Friday and said he went to wait in line first thing in the morning. Didn't even make an appointment.

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weednpornnpolitics t1_jdr5kug wrote

Insure it, make a phone bill of sale every 3 days and throw random plates on it. It's a greasy little loophole. You're covered in an accident and as far as leo goes it's a clerical issue

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aquamarinemermaid23 t1_jdr6fo6 wrote

I know it’s a bit of a drive but Woonsocket always seems to have appointments

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canibringmydog t1_jdr6lrd wrote

Idk if this is an option as no one has suggested it but can AAA DMV services help with things like this?

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tokyoxplant t1_jdrawx0 wrote

I noticed that on Sundays, there are no Cranston slots, but if you check daily during the week, the slots will show up. Such a stupid system.

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tibbon t1_jdrbh5b wrote

Make sure you pay your taxes on the purchase ASAP. If you don't pay them within some time period (15 or 30 days of purchase, I cannot recall), they'll fine you additionally. Yes, even if you were waiting to pay at the DMV. They scolded me and told me if they were busy/unavailable, it was up to me to go to the tax office in Providence and manually pay it before going to the DMV.

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BVanner t1_jdrbi7n wrote

I think the dmv let’s you do two things with one appointment. Back in 2021 when I needed to register my car I made an appointment for research and inquiry. I said my appointment was for researching how to register my car.

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northernrefugee t1_jdrfx85 wrote

The Rhode Island DMV is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.

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daymanahhhahhhhhh t1_jdrguxs wrote

Keep checking the website for appointments. You might be able to snag a same day one like I did. They change hourly.

Do you have license plates from your other car?

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RickRI401 t1_jdrhxzt wrote

If you have a car that you're no longer going to be using that's registered, you can use your current plates for 5 business days on the newer car.

If the car is 2011 or newer, you'll need a VIN check prior to registering it. Check with your local PD for hours.

Things to keep in mind, keep the Bill of Sale and Title in the car if you're driving it before you go to the DMV.

The Bill of Sale and title will need to be notarized before you register it, you already have it insured, so that's OK.

You could also apply for a Temporary plate at the DMV if you can't get an appointment.

Once registered, you have 30 days to get the car inspected, even if the sticker is valid, that's the RI money grab.

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BitterStatus9 t1_jdrjz1e wrote

Middletown dmv seems less busy than West Bay locations.

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crazymanal t1_jdrnfto wrote

I got shafted with that. I bought a camper in the winter and waited a couple of months before registering it.

Funny thing is, when I was paying the penalty at the dmv I told the guy I should have made a fake bill of sale with a different date. He said “Oh yeah. A lot of people do that”.

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Dunder72 t1_jdrtr54 wrote

Considering I see so many ppl have those license plate covers where you can't even make out any letters or numbers even if directly behind them..perhaps buy one of those. Police evidently aren't pulling ppl enough for this based on how many I see on the road.

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RI-Transplant OP t1_jdrwbrq wrote

I didn’t see anything about title and bill of sale needing to be notarized, except if it’s a gift. And wouldn’t you need a reservation to get a temporary plate? Didn’t know that about the inspection, thanks for the heads up.

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RI02914 t1_jds4tsq wrote

You can use your existing plates if you have a handwritten bill of sale and the title in the car if you get pulled over. You have at least 2 weeks as long is it is on your insurance.

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nuclearninja115 t1_jds5hc4 wrote

Keep checking back daily and multiple times daily. The DMV often releases appointments each day but you need to keep checking back.

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RickRI401 t1_jds7zea wrote

I used to work for a PD. Questions like this were a regular circumstance. I still notarize bills of sale for registrations. I guess that those people would rather have that covered in the event that it's needed. It's been a long time since I've gone to the DMV, so I'm not 100% certain of their policies that seem to change on a whim.

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Synchwave1 t1_jdsced3 wrote

Everyone getting new plates with updated registrations. Can you borrow some plates for a couple days?

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pz-kpfw_VI t1_jdstg9x wrote

If vehicle is insured and you have a plate that is registered to you, you can put it on the vehicle a ride for 7 days after the dated bill of sale. Just re write your bill of sale after a week.

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crazymanal t1_jdv98gn wrote

This happened maybe 5 years ago so I don’t remember exactly. I think it was 10% of the owed tax plus a few extra dollars.

I only paid $2k for the camper so for me it wasn’t to bad. Tax, registration, fees, penalties, everything it was a little over $200. I bought the camper in February and registered it in April.

FYI. The guy telling me people use fake bills of sales was at the Wakefield office.

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