Buying a Vehicle FAQs
Answers to common questions about buying a vehicle in the US as a non-US resident.
Can I buy a motorcycle? A campervan? A motorhome?
You can buy any type of vehicle you want!
How is vehicle ownership transferred from one party to another in the US?
A vehicle’s official ownership document is called a title.
The title is a separate document from a registration.
In order to transfer a vehicle from one party to another, the owner(s) listed on the vehicle’s title must complete and sign the Seller’s Section of the vehicle’s title.
The new owner must complete the Buyer’s Section of the vehicle’s title and submit it to the registration authorities of the state in which the new owner will register the vehicle.
If I the vehicle will be owned by my Limited Liability Company, how should I complete the Buyer’s Section of the vehicle’s title?
You should list your Montana Limited Liability Company’s name and address in the vehicle’s Buyer’s Section.
Forming your Montana LLC should therefore happen before you purchase your vehicle.
Where the Buyer’s signature is required, sign as follows:
Example LLC by John Doe, president
What should I do with the title after completing the Buyer’s Section and Seller’s Section?
In order to register your vehicle, the vehicle’s title must be physically submitted to the registration authorities.
Images, photocopies, scans, etc. of the title are not accepted.
When you enter your vehicle’s details in the visitor.us Dashboard, we automatically generate and email a Fedex shipping label to you.
Forward this prepaid shipping label to the seller, or visit a Fedex Office location, to send your vehicle’s title to visitor.us for registration.
I cannot be physically present sign the vehicle’s title. What should I do?
You can authorize visitor.us to sign the title on behalf of your LLC.
Request the seller to write the name and address of your Limited Liability Company in blue or black ink in the Buyer’s Section of the title. (This ensures that nobody else can register your vehicle if your title is intercepted.)
With your authorization, visitor.us can sign on behalf of your Limited Liability Company.
Does my Limited Liability Company need a bank account to purchase a vehicle?
A bank account is not required to buy a vehicle via a Limited Liability Company.
It’s very common for one person to buy a vehicle for another person - a parent for a child, or example.
So US auto dealers don’t require the buyer’s details to exactly match the details on the payor’s bank account.
Can I buy a vehicle in Canada?
At this time, visitor.us supports Canadian vehicles in certain, limited circumstances.
Contact us to learn more.
The dealer is requesting my company’s tax identification number. What is it?
Your Montana Limited Liability Company has an eight-digit Montana Corporate Identifier that begins with the letter “C” which can be found in your visitor.us Dashboard and on your LLC's Certification Letter.
Provide your Limited Liability Company’s Montana Corporate Identifier to the dealer.
When can I drive my vehicle?
Once you’ve purchased your vehicle, you need registration and insurance to drive it on public roads.
See Step 3. Registration and Step 4. Insurance for more detail.
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