Do You Need A License To Buy A Car?
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Do you need a license to buy a car? This question can be a little confusing because the law is set in stone: You need a driver’s license to drive a car on any type of public road - no wiggle room there. But to purchase a car is a little different. If you have the cash, you can legally purchase just about any legal thing you like within reason.
If you purchase a car without a driver’s license, the hoops you will have to jump will most likely come when you want to register and put insurance on the car. If you have the means to finance a vehicle, you will come across even more roadblocks, but we’ll talk about that later.
[](<>)Let’s first look at why you would want to buy a car without a license
● You’re not of age to drive yet, but you’d like to purchase a car to work on while you wait for your driver’s license.
● You’re a business owner and you need a fleet of vehicles to run your business properly.
● You don’t need to drive because you have a private driver that drives you around, but you purchase the car they drive.
● You’re unable to drive, but you have a caregiver that needs a special accommodating vehicle to drive you around.
● You’re a car collector or a racecar driver.
● You’re buying a car for someone else as a gift.
NOT JUST FOR CAR SHOPPING
The CoPilot app isn’t just for buying a car - our new CoPilot for Owning tool will help you keep track of recalls and gives you advice on which scheduled maintenance tasks are most important.
[](<>)Getting a Car Registered
You cannot get a car registered in your name at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) if you don’t have a driver’s license. The only way to get your car registered with the state and obtain a license plate for it is if a licensed driver does it for you.
In this situation, you may want to think wisely about choosing someone to help you with this responsibility, because you will be giving up at least part ownership of that car. It’s recommended that if you go this route, you have complete trust in the person you are going to register the car’s name to.
If there is a falling out of any kind with the perosn that has their name on the title, things can get pretty sticky - and in some cases, the courts have to get involved.
It’s also important to note, if you don’t have your license you still don’t have the legal right to drive any vehicle on a public road, registered or not.
[](<>)Insuring a Car Without a Driver’s License
Here is another place you will have to jump through some hoops to get a car legal for road use. If you are going to be the owner of the policy, but you are going to have someone else drive the car, then both parties will have to be present.
You will need your photo ID and probably Social Security Number, and the driver will need their driver’s license. As the owner of the policy, you will be responsible for keeping the policy current. The driver will be listed as the primary driver for that car, and all policy premiums, both monthly or yearly, and all deductibles will be based on the driver’s driving record.
THE BEST USED LUXURY CARS ON THE MARKET
Buying a used or CPO luxury car is one of the smartest buys you can make - you can get a lot of car for not much money. You can pick up a three-year-old luxury car for about half of what you’d pay new. Check out this list of the best used luxury cars on the market to find the best deals.
[](<>)Financing a Car Without a Driver’s License
Let’s face it: Most of us don’t have the money to buy a car with cash in hand, so we go to dealerships. Unfortunately, this will bring you a whole new set of problems. Taking out a loan through a dealership usually means you will be taking out a loan through their financial department and the lenders they deal with regularly.
Here is where the biggest problem comes about. If you ask a salesperson if you need to have a license to buy a car, their ambitions on helping you will go from happy, excited, and pushy to basically giving you the cold shoulder.
Dealerships will work with all kinds of car purchasing problems. From bad credit and low budgets to no credit at all, but no driver’s license raises a salesperson’s red flags. They have to think about the problems listed above. How is this person asking the question going to get the car registered and insured?
Unless you know someone at the dealership who trusts you and knows what the situation is and is willing to put his neck on the line for you, you’re probably going to get turned away. Dealerships don’t like to give car loans to a person who doesn’t have a driver’s license because they know in order to make the vehicle legal to drive, the buyer will have to at least give up partial ownership of the car to get it registered.
You could apply for a third-party loan. Credit unions are known to work with people in these situations because their loan stipulations are different. Although this would be adding just that many more hoops to jump through, it might be your only way.
Third-party financial loan institutions usually like the car to be insured before they pass the loan through, just another hoop you’ll have to work out with the dealership, the insurance company, and the finical institution.
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[](<>)What About a Car That is Not Going to be Operated on Public Roads?
Let’s say you have a car collection that you want to add to or you have a vehicle that you only plan on racing on non-public roads. Do you still have to have that vehicle registered? Yes.
According to CarsDirect.com, you can go to the DMV and ask for a non-operational vehicle registration. It’s usually quite cheap and stays cheap to keep it updated. The reason you have to have this is so if the car is driven on a public road, the authorities know who they should give the big fat fine to.
You also may want to put some type of insurance on your non-operation vehicle like fire and theft. To do that, you are going to have to show proof of registration.
[](<>)So the cut and dry answer to the question: Do you need a license to buy a car?
The answer is NO. But you want to be prepared for all the extra obstacles you will have to face when you go through registration and insurance. Make sure you trust whomever you designate as the title owner and primary driver on the insurance policy.
If you plan on financing a vehicle, make sure your credit score is up to snuff and be prepared to get turned down at a dealership.
Get a curated list of the best used cars near you
Ready to buy that car, license or no license? The CoPilot car shopping app is the easiest way to buy a car. Tell us what you’re looking for and we’ll search the inventories of every dealership in your area to make you a personalized list of the best car listings in your area.
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The best part? CoPilot is built using the same technology that dealerships use to buy and sell their inventories, so we have more info on each vehicle than competitors. CoPilot doesn’t work with dealerships, so there are no sponsored posts or other shady practices - just the most info on the best cars. Check out our About Us page to see how CoPilot works.
