Buy a car

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Which car is the best for you?

1 Get a driver's license
2 Importing a car
3 Finding a car
4 Before you buy
5 Buy it
6 Get an Insurance
7 Registration
8 Getting ready to drive
9 Parking permits
10 Maryland vehicle inspection emissions inspection
11 Repair your car
12 General maintenance
13 Find cheap gas
14 Links

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Get a driver's license

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Importing a car

For motor vehicles that never been titles or registered in the United States you must bring with you:

Title and registration documents from home country
Bill of sale
Insurance policy records
Car must meet U.S. highway safety standards

It is very expensive and difficult to import a motor vehicle. Contact the Motor Vehicle Administration for additional information: 410-424-3719.

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Finding a car

The first step in the process of buying a car is of course finding the car that you want to buy. Assuming you want to buy a used car you can start looking in the cars section of our classifieds (shameless plug). Another good online resource for finding used cars is http://www.autotrader.com/, one of the many used car sites out there. See the links section of our site for some more suggestions. The Sunday edition of the Washington Post contains a huge section with car classifieds. There are also a number of free newspapers available with only car classifieds, you can find them for example at supermarkets. You can find new cars at car dealerships, Gaithersburg has 27 of them, just have a look in the yellow pages.

Added: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/car/ website is also useful resouce to find a used car. Everybody can post selling article on this website, so you should be careful to buy a car on this website. It is necessary for buyer to check the vin number to find the car history.

One of the useful website that has many information about buying a new car or used one is http://www.carBuyingTips.com.

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Before you buy

If you have found a car you like there are a couple of important things to consider before you buy it:

Maryland, Virginia and DC all require a car to be safety inspected before a new owner can register it in his/her name. Sometimes it requires quite a lot of repairs to pass this inspection, so make sure that the seller had the car inspected or know what you are doing! The requirements of the safety inspection in the different states are not exactly the same, so if a car is inspected in Virginia it doesn't have to pass the inspection in Maryland.
Don't pay to much for it, check the value of the car in the Kelley Blue Book.
Make sure that the seller actually owns the car, ask to see the title, a certificate that states the owner of a car.
More valuable info about buying a car can be found at Maryland Office of the Attorney General

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Buy it

You and the seller fill out the back of the title, you give the seller cash or a check, both you and the seller sign the title and... congratulations you bought a car! Be sure that you get the inspection certificate if the car was inspected.

Sometimes you might find something critical to fix with the car. See these Federal Trade Commission pages about consumer protection before paying everything by yourself (car dealer may be responsible for the repair costs).

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Get an Insurance

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Registration

Great, now you've got everything you need to register the car in your name at your state's Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) or Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and get your license plates (tags). You will probably have to wait for a couple of hours, so be sure you have the time. Going on the opening of the MVA on the morning can save you a lot of time, as there will be less people waiting. After you pay the registration fee you should have your brand new tags and a tiny piece of paper they call a registration. In Maryland and DC you have to pay tax over the purchase price of the car when you register it. In Virginia you have to pay tax over the price of the car when you register it and you have to pay a yearly car tax. Don't forget to take the title of the car that you got from the previous owner, the inspection certificate, insurance information and your driver's license when you go to the MVA or DMV, otherwise you can wait all over again. Also make sure that all the information on the registration you get is correct. A couple of weeks after you registered your car the MVA or DMV should send you your title.

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Getting ready to drive

Put the tags on your car and you're ready to drive. Don't forget to have the registration with you all the time. If there is a car driving behind you with those flashing lights that's one of the things they want to see. You don't need the title until you're going to sell the car, so leave it at home.

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Parking permits

Don't forget to ask for a parking permit for your apartment complex if needed. It's not a nice surprise to see that your car is towed when you want to go to work one morning. Also check if you need a parking permit for NIST.

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Maryland vehicle inspection emissions inspection

You might receive one day a notice which requires you to take to vehicle to be tested for emissions. The inspection fee is $14.00. An additional $15 late fee will be assessed the day after the due date, and every four weeks (28 days) thereafter.

If you are unable to have your vehicle tested by the due date, you can request an extension on line at http://www.marylandmva.com or call VEIP 1-800-638-8347.

You can pay by cash, Visa / Mastercard, Travelers Check, money order or check (with 2 current ID's) made to VEIP.

Hours of operation:
Monday-Thursday-Friday: 8:30am - 5:00pm Tuesday-Wednesday: 7:00am - 7:00pm Saturday: 7:00am - 1:00pm

Thursday and Friday are the least busy days. All VEIP stations are closed on Sunday and on all State holidays observed by the Motor Vehicle Administration.

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