Getting my truck on the street asap

July 29, 2021 9:02 AM

I bought my friend's truck that hasn't been registered since 2018. Of course the first week I drive it, I get pulled over and cited. I have an appt set with the tax office for mid-August, which was the soonest I could get, but I really kind of need to use this car asap. How can I get this done quicker?

The order of operation I'm seeing right now is get my insurance transferred (done), take it to inspection, then get title transferred, then registration, then I deal w citation. I've never bought a car before, so figuring this out as I go. Is there a way to get the title and registration part done sooner than my appt w the tax office? My location is Austin, TX. I'm willing to pay for third party if it means I can have a car sooner.

posted by monologish to Law & Government (4 answers total)

I’m not from Texas so apologies if this is an oversight on my part, but I don’t see why you need an appointment. I can find instructions for appointments for renewing your license, but vehicle registration seems to be a go-and-wait-in-line kind of thing, as far as I can tell.

(I found the following on the make-an-appointment-page: “NOTE: TxDMV does not perform driver license, ID card, learner permit, disabled placard, registration renewal, or title transfer services. Appointments for these services will be cancelled.”)

If your vehcile has insurance and has passed an inspection (we’ll not ask how to got to/from the inspection site) then take yourself to the Tax office with all your paperrwork and wait in line.

If you HAVE to drive THAT vehicle to the tax office (or inspection site), you MAY be able to get a temporary permit (https://www.txdmv.gov/motorists/register-your-vehicle/temporary-permits) although the citatation you already got could prevent that.
posted by tiamat at 9:43 AM on July 29, 2021

I just recently had to get my car back on the road in Austin (after being stuck in Germany for over a year)...

Since your registration is expired for more than 9 months (I think that's the cutoff), you can't do it online or at an HEB. They have a drive-thru thing at the Airport office, but when went there, they were completely swamped (cars all the way around the parking lot, and not moving fast), so didn't try. That might be an option though if your AC works (mine doesn't). I'm pretty sure you won't get in any more trouble for using the unregistered truck for this. If you do this, make sure you have a printout of everything you need, including the inspection report.

But! Here's the good news (I think). The first time I tried to get an appointment online, it told me there was nothing until the end of August. The second time I tried there was suddenly an appointment for the next day! Probably somebody canceled and I got lucky. So trying the online appointment thing a couple of times seems promising.

What's annoying is that you'll have to wait inside (even though they say otherwise on their website), and they can't require masks. I only had to wait about 20 minutes, and most people were masked though. Good luck!
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 10:17 AM on July 29, 2021

Response by poster: Forgot one other thing, I can't register it until the title's in my name right? I assume this is the case.
posted by monologish at 10:25 AM on July 29, 2021

AFAIK the title change and registration renewal can happen at the same time. You might need a different kind of appointment though. What you will definitely need, though, is not only the original title, signed over to you, but also an "application for transfer of title" form (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called), signed by both you and your friend. Just mentioning this bc everybody in Texas seems to think that if you sign over the actual title, that's it. It's not.
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 10:33 AM on July 29, 2021 [1 favorite]