This is driving me crazy [or, insert your preferred car pun here]

June 25, 2009 9:59 AM

Where should I register my car?

So, I just finished my undergraduate degree (yay!). I went to school in upstate New York, but maintained my permanent address in CT with my parents. Because of this, I have maintained a CT driver's license, and I have been driving a car with Connecticut plates. The car is owned by my parents, and registered in Connecticut.

I am now going to graduate school on Long Island. I could feasibly continue claiming "I am a student" and maintain a permanent address in CT... except that the graduate program requires me to establish NY residency for tuition purposes (e.g. they will only waive my tuition if I am an in-state student).

Because of that stipulation, I need to get a NY driver's license, register to vote here, and so on and so forth. But I'm not sure what to do about my car, because I don't own it. So, my questions:

1) It seems from what I've read that the state requires NY residents to register their cars in NY, but I don't own this car. Does that make a difference as to whether or not I need to register this car in NY?

2) Can I get my NY license and legally still drive this car that is owned by my parents and registered in CT? Or does getting a NY license mean that the car I drive needs to be registered here as well?

3) Is there any way that the car can be owned by my parents in CT, under their insurance, but be registered in NY?

The main reason that this is an issue is, of course, money - trying to pay car insurance on my graduate stipend is a frightening thought, so it's something I'd like to avoid if possible. I fear, however, that I may just have to bite the bullet, have the ownership transferred to me, and start selling my organs to pay the insurance. What's your advice?

posted by pemberkins to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

You do not have proof of ownership of the car, so you cannot register it in NY. cite
posted by smackfu at 10:16 AM on June 25

(Given that, your parents could gift it you for $0, but then you would need to pay NY property tax and have NY insurance and you don't want that.)
posted by smackfu at 10:19 AM on June 25

I don't quite understand why you would need to transfer the ownership. It's not your car, so it has no bearing on your NY residency. You can still drive your parents' car if you live out of state, no matter where the car is registered.
posted by General Malaise at 10:28 AM on June 25

Can't you just get a NY state photo ID, register to vote, etc. But claim "student" status for car stuff, keeping your license and car registration in CT?
posted by necessitas at 10:46 AM on June 25

(assuming it is legal to have a state ID in one state, and a drivers license in another)
posted by necessitas at 10:47 AM on June 25

Car registration and drivers licensing are almost completely divorced. You may possibly turn up in an audit comparing licenses to cars, but the worst that would happen is they make you register the car in NY.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 11:01 AM on June 25 [1 favorite has favorites]

The only time it will really matter is if you're pulled over, in which case you can say you're borrowing your parents car. And since it's their car, I'm assuming that their names are on the registration so that will back up the story.
posted by Kimberly at 11:04 AM on June 25

Why would you register this car in NY? It's not your car to register, as smackfu has pointed out. NYSDMV doesn't require you to own a car/have a car ergistered to you to get a driver's license, so I'm not sure why you would want to do this? If you want, you can drive the car to Alaska, it will still work just fine.

Though your parents' insurance policy may dictate that the "students away from home at school" thing is only good until 21 years of age and may require you to get your own policy and base it on your residence, which will indeed by NY. And even if you kept your reisdency in CT, the fact that you spend 9 months out of the year here may require you under the policy to pay NY rates. Of course, you could not do these things and they may not find out if they don't research this, but if you get into an accident or otherwise need to make a claim, they will probably (and rightfully so) disclaim coverage. Accidents and claims in general are much more likely in metro NY than in CT, hence rates are higher. People who choose to rate jump force everyone else within the given geographic area to pay for it themselves by not "putting as much into the pool".
posted by Brian Puccio at 11:14 AM on June 25

To clarify - I know that I can't register a car that I don't own.

What I want to know is: how legitimate it is for me to be the primary (or really, only) driver of this vehicle for the next several years, given that I will have a license in NY and it is registered in CT? Or, SHOULD I have it transferred to me and get my own insurance policy (especially given the issues that Brian Puccio raised)?
posted by pemberkins at 11:24 AM on June 25

Seems like you can register a car that you don't own (with proof of owners permission+owners documents). The only problem with this is that you will need to be insured in NY in order to do this.

According to the NYSDMV, most students are normally not considered residents. So your student status should allow you to keep your CT registered car and license (assuming you can get a state photo ID from NY, and the school accepts that, which I'm sure they will, there are probably plenty of students w/o drivers licenses. Whether or not the state allows you to do this is another story, the site says it's for people w/o drivers licenses, but I don't know if that means NYS licenses or ANY license).

Even if you do register the car in NYS, and your parents still own the car, I'm pretty sure you can remain on their account even if the car is going to be in NY most of the time. When I broke up with an ex and moved out of state, my car was still titled under both of our names (the loan that was through his credit union and in his name, even though I paid it. He was just in a better position to get a better rate on a loan when I bought my car at the end of the lease). When I got a new insurance policy (I needed my own insurance, but wasn't going to bother retitling it or registering it in my state for another few months when the loan would be satisfied), the company called me and told me that I had to put him on the policy. So it's possible that you'll be able to stay on your parents policy. Call the insurance company and ask, the question can be general, you don't have to ask about your specific policy.
posted by necessitas at 11:58 AM on June 25

Yes, you can do what you want to do. Regardless of who drives the car, it is the owner's responsibility to maintain its registration. And that almost always needs to be done in the state where they live. If its legal and possible, you are probably better off leaving it registered in CT- changing registration can be costly.

And yes, having a drivers license in one state has no bearing on what car you can drive.

Remember this about car insurance: there are two kinds. Liability covers the driver, collision/theft/comprehensive covers the car.

The only pitfall you have to worry about is making sure that your parents insurance policy knows where the car is kept. If the car is "garaged" in NYC, but their policy says it's garaged in CT, and it gets stolen/damaged in NYC, they may not pay the claim. The reason is that insurance rates are dependent on where the car actually IS, not where the owner lives. That's usually the same place, but not in your case.

And then there is liability insurance. You'd have to check with your (parents) agent and see what the legalities are. Even if it's perfectly kosher for the car to be garaged in NYC and owned in CT and the policy covers that, you as the driver need to be insured properly for NY. You may have to either pay for extra insurance on their policy, or get your own libility policy in NY to cover you, the driver, while your parents maintain a policy covering their car from damage/theft.
posted by gjc at 12:20 PM on June 25

This kind of depends on your insurance policy, but you don't have to drive a car you own to get a license or anything like that in NY state. Lots of people in NY are legal residents and drive cars registered in other states (not claiming this is legal or a good idea or anything, just an observation). If it turns out that your policy isn't going to cover you living in another state even though the car is your parents, I am pretty sure that CT isn't known for its wildly cheaper car insurance policies .... and insurance companies certainly don't care who foots the bill.
posted by shownomercy at 12:29 PM on June 25

Plus, CT charges property tax on your car at the mill rate for the town it's registered in, based on a value they compute (I think age and model are the two main factors.) Last year I paid over 500 bucks on a 7-year-old car with over 200k miles on it (granted, in a high-mill-rate jurisdiction.) As far as I know, NY doesn't charge property tax on motor vehicles, though you will be liable for sales tax if you transfer ownership.
posted by Opposite George at 8:51 PM on June 25