Buying a car in Massachusetts: what the registry wants

The one rule to remember

In Massachusetts, the insurance goes with the plates. A policy on a car that isn’t registered yet doesn’t cover that car on the road. The plates are the finish line, not the policy. So the order is:

1. Call us.
2. We start the insurance and stamp the form.
3. The car gets registered.
4. Then you drive it.

The form: the RMV-1

The Registry’s Application for Registration and Title — the RMV-1, sometimes called the RTA — is the form every new registration, transfer and title runs on. It needs an insurance agent’s stamp before the Registry will take it.

We stamp it the same day, usually within the hour. Send us these, and we can fill out and stamp the whole form for you:

• The buyer’s license
• The VIN
• The purchase price and date
• The odometer reading

Buying from a dealer

Most dealers register the car for you electronically. What they need from us is the insurance. What they need from you is a call to us before you sign.

Tell us the car and the day you’re picking it up. We add it to your policy and send the dealer what they ask for.

Don’t let the dealership’s finance office quote you insurance in the meantime. It’s one company at one price, and usually not the best one.

Buying from a private seller

You need:

• The signed-over title (or the previous registration, for an older car that never had a title)
• A bill of sale
• The stamped RMV-1

Then go to a Registry service center, pay the sales tax and fees, and leave with plates and a registration. Insure first, register second, drive third.

Moving your old plates to the new car

In many cases, you can move the plates from the car you’re getting rid of to the one you’re buying. That saves a trip and a fee. There are conditions, so ask us before you drive the new car on the old plates.

New to Massachusetts

Just moved here with a car registered in another state? You have to register it here, and until you do, a Massachusetts policy doesn’t cover it. Make the Registry trip a priority. Your out-of-state license is fine on the form.

If a bank holds your title, the Registry doesn’t need the paper title. Bring:

• Your current out-of-state registration
• One document showing the lien: a copy of the title, the loan agreement, or a recent record from your old state’s motor vehicle office

The new Massachusetts title goes straight to the lender. A few states give the title to the owner even with a loan. If yours did, bring it.

Getting rid of the old car

1. Cancel the registration first.
2. Then we cancel the insurance.

If the insurance comes off first, the Registry revokes the registration, and there are fees to undo it.

The Registry no longer takes plates back. Cancel online with the plate number, keep the cancellation receipt, send us a copy, and cut up the plates. You may be able to get part of the year’s excise tax back from your town.

What stops a registration cold

Unpaid parking tickets, excise tax or tolls put a non-renewal mark on the registration. Nothing on our side can clear it — not a stamped form, not a new policy.

You pay the town or authority that placed it. They report it cleared. Then the registration goes through. If the Registry tells you there’s a hold, deal with that first.

Teen drivers

A learner’s permit doesn’t put your teen on the policy. When the license is issued, send us the license number and the date, and we’ll add them then. The price will change at that point, and we’ll show you the number.

Read next

• Insurance in Hingham, Rockland, Weymouth, Norwell and across the South Shore
• Need a form? See our forms page.