Temporary Tag Virginia — 30 days from the dealer, three days on a trip permit.
In Virginia a temporary tag comes from one of two places. A licensed dealer issues 30-day temporary plates and a certificate of temporary registration at the sale, and may charge you no more than the $3 it paid the DMV for them. After a private sale there's no dealer tag to be had: the DMV issues a 3-day trip permit instead, valid from the date on your bill of sale. Here is how each works, what happens when the dealer can't produce the title, and how to spot a tag that isn't real, from the Code of Virginia.
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Quick Answer
- How long are temporary tags good for in Virginia?
- 30 days at most. Under § 46.2-1565 a dealer's temporary plates expire when your permanent plates arrive, when the purchase contract is rescinded, or 30 days after issue, whichever comes first. If the dealer can't produce the title in time, it may issue a second 30-day certificate after filing your title application, and after 60 days the DMV may extend temporary registration for up to 90 more.
- Can you get a temporary tag in Virginia after a private sale?
- Not a 30-day tag: § 46.2-1558 lets only licensed dealers issue temporary plates. A buyer from a private seller asks the DMV for a trip permit under § 46.2-651(B). It's valid for 3 days starting on the date of the original bill of sale, only once you have that bill of sale, and it must ride in the car with the bill of sale until the car is registered.
- How much is a temporary tag in Virginia?
- Dealers buy temporary plates from the DMV at $3 a set. They may give them to you free, but if they charge, § 46.2-1558 caps the charge at what the DMV charged them: $3. A DMV trip permit for an unregistered vehicle is $5; the Commissioner sets the fee for a prospective purchaser's permit.
Four things a Virginia temporary tag has to get right
The statute spells out what's printed, what you carry, and the deadline behind it.
- 1What's on the tagThe dealer's name, the issue and expiry dates, and the vehicle's make and VIN, written clearly and indelibly.
- 2What you carryA copy of the temporary registration certificate and a bona fide buyer's order, whenever you drive.
- 3The dealer's deadlinePresent the title or certificate of origin, or transfer ownership through the DMV's electronic titling program, within 30 days of the purchase.
- 4Then your platesOnce the title goes through, you move your current plates to the car or get new ones, and destroy the temporary tag.
Who Can Issue a Temporary Tag in Virginia
Three kinds of issuer, each with its own section. Licensed dealers issue temporary license plates and a certificate of temporary registration when they sell and deliver a car (§§ 46.2-1542 and 46.2-1558). Businesses licensed to run motor vehicle auctions may issue temporary certificates of registration to buyers at their auctions (§ 46.2-654). Everything else comes from the DMV: trip permits under § 46.2-651, temporary permits while a title application is processed under § 46.2-650, and, since 2012, a temporary registration for a buyer stuck without a title because the dealer who sold the car has gone out of business and someone else holds the title (§ 46.2-654.1).
The plates are the DMV's design. Section 46.2-1558 has dealers order them in at least 10 sets at a time, and § 46.2-1558.1 lets the DMV run a print-on-demand program instead: once it does, dealers licensed after the program begins may buy and issue only print-on-demand plates, with no minimum order. Either way, a dealer may not lend temporary plates to anyone for use on any vehicle, and may issue them only to the vehicle's bona fide buyer or owner.
Virginia Temporary Tags and Permits
From the Code of Virginia, read on 21 October 2026.
| Tag or permit | Who issues it | When | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer temporary plates and certificate | Licensed dealer | At the sale and delivery | 30 days, or until plates arrive or the sale is rescinded |
| Second temporary certificate | Dealer, with DMV authorization | Title not produced in the first 30 days | Another 30 days |
| Extended temporary registration | DMV, on the dealer's application | Still no title after 60 days | Up to 90 more days |
| Trip permit | DMV | Moving an unregistered vehicle | 3 days, $5 |
| Prospective purchaser's trip permit | DMV | Buying a car to register in Virginia | 3 days from the bill of sale date |
| Auction temporary certificate | Licensed auction | Buying at its auction | Set by DMV regulation |
| Temporary registration, dealer gone | DMV | Dealer out of business, title held by someone else | Set by DMV |
New residents aren't on this list because they don't need a tag: § 46.2-662 lets a car registered in another state run on those plates for the first 30 days of residency.
Buying From a Virginia Dealer
The certificate the dealer hands you carries its date of issue, your name and address, the VIN, the temporary registration number, the state where the car will be registered, and the name and address of whoever the dealer got the car from. You must have a copy of it, with a bona fide buyer's order, whenever you drive the car. The plates themselves show the dealer's name, the issue and expiry dates, and the make and VIN. While the certificate is in force, § 46.2-1542 gives you enough of an ownership interest to insure the car and to drive it as if you held full title.
The dealer then has 30 days to present the title or certificate of origin, or transfer ownership through the DMV's electronic titling program, under § 46.2-1561. Once that's done you transfer your current plates to the car or get permanent plates, and the temporary ones expire. Section 46.2-1564 tells you to destroy them on the 30th day after issue or as soon as the permanent plates come, whichever is first. Dealers may issue temporary plates free; if they charge, it can't be more than the $3 the DMV charged them.
At a Virginia dealer
- You get: temporary plates and a certificate.
- You carry: the certificate and the buyer's order.
- You pay: nothing, or at most $3.
- Dealer's deadline: the title within 30 days.
Virginia Temporary Tag Rules at a Glance
The dealer's tag, the extensions, the trip permit and the buyer's way out, on one card.
Every figure comes from the Code of Virginia sections listed under the sources, read on the date shown.
When the Dealer Can't Produce the Title
Virginia has a timetable for this, and it ends with your money back. If the dealer can't deliver the title within the first 30 days, it must file your title application, a copy of the bill of sale, the fees and a written statement of what it did to find the title before the first certificate runs out. Only then may the DMV authorize a second 30-day certificate. If there's still no title after 60 days, the DMV may extend temporary registration by up to 90 days on the dealer's application.
If the title never turns up, your rights to the car may end, and § 46.2-1542(B) gives you the right to return it to the dealer for a full refund of what you paid, less any damage while it was yours and less a mileage charge of no more than half the IRS business rate. You have to tell the dealer you're returning it before the DMV issues a title. It cuts both ways: if either side cancels the contract before the title application goes in, the dealer may take the car back within 24 hours of notice, and if it comes back in the same condition, you're entitled to your trade-in and down payment.
The timetable
- Days 1–30: first certificate.
- Days 31–60: second certificate, title application filed.
- Up to 90 more: DMV extension.
- No title at the end: return the car for a refund.
Waiting on a Title From the Dealer?
A title that won't turn up is sometimes a title with a problem. Enter the VIN for a free preview of the title brands and junk and salvage records already on file.
After a Private Sale in Virginia
No dealer means no dealer tag. These are the routes the Code gives a private buyer.
Purchaser's trip permit
Issued by the DMV to a Virginia resident buying a car to register here. Valid 3 days from the date of the original bill of sale, and only once you have it.
Keep the bill of sale with it
The permit and the original bill of sale stay in the car at all times during the trip, until the car is registered with the DMV.
Ordinary trip permit: $5
For an owner moving an unregistered vehicle: 3 days, showing the dates, make, VIN, start point and destination. Trucks must run unladen.
Don't plan on the seller's plates
Section 46.2-1543 lets a seller move their plates and registration number to another vehicle titled in their name for $2. They're the seller's registration, not the car's.
Or register it straight away
Titling and registering the car at the DMV gets permanent plates and makes the trip permit unnecessary.
No 30-day tag
Only a licensed dealer can issue temporary plates. A private seller, or a website, offering one isn't issuing a real Virginia tag.
How to Spot a Fake Virginia Temporary Tag
The Code says exactly what a genuine one shows, which makes a fake easier to catch.
No dealer name
Section 46.2-1562 requires the issuing dealer's name on the face of every temporary plate, with the dates, make and VIN.
VIN doesn't match
The VIN on the plate and on the certificate must be the VIN on the car's dash and door jamb.
More than 30 days
A single temporary plate can't run longer than 30 days. A longer stretch needs a second certificate the DMV authorized.
No certificate in the car
The driver must carry the temporary registration certificate and a buyer's order. No paperwork, no proof.
False details
Issuing a temporary plate with any misstatement of fact, or knowingly writing false information on its face, is unlawful under § 46.2-1561.
Borrowed plates
Dealers may not lend temporary plates for use on any vehicle; they go only to the car's bona fide buyer or owner.
Dealer Temporary Tag or Trip Permit
Which one you get depends on who sold you the car, not on what you'd prefer.
Dealer temporary plates
- Only at a licensed dealer's sale.
- 30 days of normal driving.
- Free, or $3 at most.
- Backed by the dealer's duty to produce the title, and your refund right if it can't.
DMV trip permit
- For a private sale, or an unregistered car you own.
- 3 days, for the trip to registration.
- $5 for an owner's permit; purchaser's permit fee set by the DMV.
- Travels with the original bill of sale.
If you can register the car on the day you buy it, neither is needed.
Related Checks and Guides
The national temporary-tag guide, the other state pages, and the next steps of buying a car.
Where These Facts Come From
From the Code of Virginia as published by the Virginia Legislative Information System, read on 21 October 2026. The DMV's own pages refuse automated readers, so nothing here is taken from them; check with the DMV before you rely on a fee.
CarCheckerVIN is not affiliated with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and does not sell temporary tags. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Temporary Tag Virginia — Frequently Asked Questions
What Virginia buyers ask most.
Can I drive with expired temporary tags in Virginia?+
No. Temporary plates expire on the 30th day, and § 46.2-1564 says to destroy them then. If the dealer hasn't produced the title, it's the dealer's job to get a second certificate authorized before the first runs out; ask for it, and if the title never comes you have the right to return the car.
Can a Virginia dealer charge for temporary tags?+
Yes, but only up to what the DMV charged the dealer for them, $3 a set under § 46.2-1558. Dealers may also issue them free of charge.
What if the dealer never gives me the title?+
Under § 46.2-1542, once the temporary registration has run out without a title (after the first 30 days, the second 30 or the DMV's extension), your rights to the car may end and you may return it for a full refund, less any damage and a mileage charge capped at half the IRS business rate. Give the dealer notice before the DMV issues a title.
How do I drive home a car I bought from a private seller in Virginia?+
Get a DMV trip permit as a prospective purchaser. It's valid for 3 days from the date of the original bill of sale and must stay in the car with that bill of sale. The seller keeps their plates.
Do auctions issue temporary tags in Virginia?+
Licensed motor vehicle auctions may issue temporary certificates of registration to people who buy at their auctions, under § 46.2-654 and DMV regulations.
I just moved to Virginia. Do I need a temporary tag?+
No. A car registered in your old state can be driven on those plates for the first 30 days of residency. After that it must be registered in Virginia, and a locality may impose a penalty of up to $250 a year on a car that isn't.
Run the VIN Before the Temporary Tag Runs Out
Enter any 17-character VIN for a free preview. The full report lists title brands, NMVTIS junk and salvage records, insurance total-loss records, odometer readings, and auction records with the damage the auction recorded and its photos.
CarCheckerVIN is an independent vehicle-history service and is not affiliated with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Requirements are summarized from the Code of Virginia and are not legal advice. Records in our reports reflect what was reported to our data providers. Our reports do not include police or repair-shop accident entries.
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