I had a similar situation in 1990. My husband and I bought a used car in Oklahoma while he was in the military. I drove it home to Washington with the temporary license. The dealer didn't send the license plates before the temp expired. When I tried to register it in Washington it was going to cost over $500. The very nice lady at the licensing agent told me that if the car didn't have an expired out of state plate, things would be easier. I had my husband register the car in Oklahoma and send me the plates. With a current out state plate it only cost $60 to register the car in Washington.