So I've unfortunately been a NoVA resident for years.  Due to growth in family numbers I had to buy a van & sell another car (Carvana was offering stupid money).  But it's been so long since I went through the car process that I can't remember the DMV order of operations.

Relevant details are that I had to buy the vehicle out of state, and have a credit union loan (largely just to keep building credit).  

But my wife and I can't remember or tell if it's Inspections > Emissions > Registration > taxes > plates, or taxes > plates > registration > emissions > inspections, etc.

And for the car we sold to Carvana, is there a DMV order of operations so they stop taxing us?  Or do we just take the plates and registration in and tell them "we sold this, stop taxing us on it"?

Help would be appreciated.

I can't help you with the order of things but, you might want to see if you can take the plates from the car you sold and use them on the car you bought. The DMV might have a way of transferring them.

Turn the plates in.

The DMV (with infinite wisdom) believes the sold vehicle is still on the road.

PLUS - If you do not turn the plates in (or transfer to new vehicle) they will suspend your driver license for no insurance on the old vehicle (assuming you canceled the policy on old vehicle).

Jeebus, it's dumber than I thought.  But yes, I do have the plates still; I don't care if I turn them in or transfer them to the new vehicle, but apparently it sounds like a DMV clusterfuck.

I know that MD will do shit like this, but not so sure about VA.

Your best bet is to call DMV in Richmond and get the answers from them. Go to the DMV website and get the number to call.

depending on which section of the DMV website I'm looking at, it says that I either need to get the title first, or get the inspection first.  I guess I'm playing the odds of getting a DMV employee who is competent and knows how to answer my question.

Some of these things have nothing to do with the other.

Safety inspections has no bearing on the other items. Get it done. I think it used to be 30 days from date or purchase but not sure anymore about the time limit. But you can have it done just about anywhere that does them.

Emissions will need to be done before getting plates, if required. Emissions can be done at the same time you get safety inspection done, at most places.

Go to dmv. Turn in old plates, or transfer to new car if they still do that. DMV should notify your local jurisdiction of your new car for property taxes and you got rid of a car. However, I would still look up my local jurisdiction tax administration online to see how to make sure they are aware you got rid of the car. Easier to do it now then after you get the tax bill for the old car this coming fall.

You won’t get the title issued to you until you pay off the loan. The bank holds the title until then.

So, safety and emissions before plates.  That helps tremendously.  So, do those and then go for the registration/plates?  Even if it still has out of state temp plates on it?

Am I able to register it in VA if the bank has/should have the title?  (I'm planning to call the dealership and the bank on Tuesday to check the status on such things; the long weekend has really altered timelines).

The last time I had to screw with this was in a state where I was issued the title and the leinholder was listed on it; the idea that the bank has the title, rather than is merely listed on it, is strange to me.

ETA:  Holy shit it's worse than I thought.  I figured I could be proactive and get an appointment at a DMV, and every location within 20 miles is booked through august.  It may be impossible to comply with state law due to state idiocy.  What the actual fuck.

I think DMV requires a bill of sale if purchased out of state ,might check on that. You can cancel your old plates on DMV website. If 6 or more months remain on the tags you can get a few bucks back.

Check the dmv in Mineral. I had a buddy who's son bought a car last year and was able to do walk in at Mineral and get it registered.

Was able to get the Emissions and Inspections done today; thanks for the heads up on that.

DMV is closed today, so I can't take care of the old car's plates and registration.  It's doable online, but I would forfeit any refund from the registration if I do it that way.  And I want to make damn sure it's done ASAP so I can cancel my insurance without VA suspending my license if I cancel the insurance first

But I at least have two of the steps out of the way.  Now I just need to get ahold of the car dealer, the bank for the new car, and the bank for the old car.

There is a pseudo-DMV partner that I was able to schedule an appointment next week, but i also was able to get an actual appointment at the DMV in front Royal come august.

Only the DMV would make it physically impossible to comply with their regulations regarding timelines, by forcing appointments and then not offering any.

The DMV Select in Berryville is very helpful.  See if there is a DMV Select near you  https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/DMVLocator/DMV.aspx?LocationType=S.  Ours is a private enterprise, so not stereotype DMV employees/attitudes.

I bought a car in Michigan in February that I had to go through the hassle in Virginia/. I didn’t do it in any particular order.  My dmv appt let me title the car, register it, pay taxes, remove the old car, and change address all at the same time

I didn’t get the car inspected until after that appointment


I just moved out of Nova into fauqier so didn’t have to do emissions this time so I don’t know if that would have mattered. But the safety inspection was what I got done last.  Ended up driving the car for a week with the new plates but no inspection (it’s a sprinter van, so I had trouble finding a place to inspect it because of its height and weight…took me a week to get it into mercedes)

I finally got it all sorted; the DMV Select in Fairfax Town Hall was surprisingly helpful.

Thanks, all!