Expiring temporary tag--thoughts?

[Laserboy1054]

Maybe one of you wise folks has a helpful suggestion: we took delivery of our R1T in Virginia and drove it home to Illinois almost a month ago. When we took delivery, the folks in Richmond did all the paperwork for the vehicle to be registered and titled in IL and attached a VA temporary tag to the truck. The temp expires on July 4 (I note that VA temp tags are good for 30 days while those issued in IL are good for 90 days). Apparently, there was some flub in the paperwork--Rivian contacted us this week and we re-did one form with an online, live video session with a notary!

So, here we are with only a few days left on our temp tag and my wife really needs to take the truck to do truck-stuff in Iowa on July 5. The idea of doing an interstate drive with expired temporary tags does not thrill me at all!

I know some of you have way more experience than I with the ins and outs of vehicle registration. Any suggestions? Is there a way to get an extension on the temp tags from VA?

I'll reach out to Rivian to see if they have anything they can do to help, but I figured I'd also see what the hive mind of this forum might propose.

Many thanks!

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[Hillbilly]

I don't smoke weed or do anything that would get me in trouble with the law if I got stopped, so I'd just drive and not worry about it.

 

[Riviot]

Contact Rivian, they'll overnight you Illinois tags good for 90 days.

Just curious: if you live in Illinois, why'd you take delivery in Virginia?

 

[picasso]

Had similar experience, preowned R1T bought in TN, some paperwork problem delayed title, dealer Fedex'ed another temporary tag good for 60 more days

 

[COdogman]

I would definitely not change your plans if the tags haven’t arrived. If you happen to get pulled over you can either play dumb or try to explain to the officer there was a paperwork SNAFU and you have new tags on the way.

Worst case scenario they give you a citation that you can pay or fight. Unless you have warrants out for your arrest?

 

[Wilsonos]

I had the same issue with buying out of state. They should be able to get you another temp tag. I just drove and figured what’s the worst that could happen, little fine or a day or two in jail? Keep bail money and you should be fine.

 

[Laserboy1054]

Contact Rivian, they'll overnight you Illinois tags good for 90 days.

Just curious: if you live in Illinois, why'd you take delivery in Virginia?

Thanks! I did reach out to Rivian this morning. The person I chatted with said they would pass along the issue to the "title and registration team," so I'm awaiting a callback from them. I hope you're correct about their ability to send the updated tag--will let you know.

The truck is a "demo" which was at the SC in Richmond. As a demo, it couldn't be shipped out of state (some postings on this forum have indicated that this policy has been relaxed--I dunno, they certainly were firm on it when I ordered the truck back in May). So, off to lovely Virginia, well aware of the irony that we drove hundreds of additional miles just to bring the truck back to the state in which it was born! (Saved a _lot_ by buying a demo _and_ got the "spinach omelette" color combo that I wanted. And the drive home was very pleasant.)

 

[Laserboy1054]

I just drove and figured what’s the worst that could happen, little fine or a day or two in jail? Keep bail money and you should be fine.

Yeah, I thought the same thing. But the fine is like a thousand dollars in Illinois! I mean, a day or so in the pokey is one thing, but a thousand bucks is quite another!

 

[Dave Cundiff]

Print out all the emails showing your good faith efforts to get tags in a timely way.

Make sure your insurance is valid regardless of whether the registration has lapsed or not. Keep that documentation too.

Make sure the police are inclined to trust you, if that's in your power (appearance suggesting European ancestry helps; lots of respect never hurts). Dress nicely.

Finally, trust Rivian's good intentions, while ALSO escalating as high within Rivian as you can to find the specific people who send out the paperwork. Deal with the decision-makers -- not the designated communicators, who may not know.

Very best wishes!

 

[dradam]

Had the same problem and drove on expired temporary tags for a couple days. No one noticed. My plates are all legal. No one noticed.

 

[Laserboy1054]

Print out all the emails showing your good faith efforts to get tags in a timely way.

Make sure your insurance is valid regardless of whether the registration has lapsed or not. Keep that documentation too.

Make sure the police are inclined to trust you, if that's in your power (appearance suggesting European ancestry helps; lots of respect never hurts). Dress nicely.

Finally, trust Rivian's good intentions, while ALSO escalating as high within Rivian as you can to find the specific people who send out the paperwork. Deal with the decision-makers -- not the designated communicators, who may not know.

Very best wishes!

All excellent suggestions and my thanks for them!

Good news is that my wife will be traveling without me--she's way more "legit" looking than I am! (I'm a retired, tenured Physics professor, she's a sculptor and part-time Art professor--I threw away all of my ties when I got tenure almost 20 years ago. I'm liable to get rounded up as a vagrant at any moment!) The bad news is that she's traveling to a gathering of people engaged in smelting and casting iron and steel. I'll let you all picture an assembly of artists focusing on molten iron and its alloys. It's a pretty punk crowd! (Can't wait to hear about their reaction to our Compass Yellow truck!) But I do believe that showing a folder full of good faith documentation will keep me from having to pay a massive fine to get my (far) better half out of hock!

 

[Laserboy1054]

Problem resolved! As @Riviot predicted, they are overnighting me new tags. They also e-mailed me .pdf versions which lack the dealer signature--if the signed tags that they're sending me happen not to arrive, I'm sure the unsigned ones will serve: nobody is going to look at temp tags too closely!

Anyway, all fixed! The new temps are good until Aug. 3. I'll reach out to Rivian for a new set in a few weeks if my full registration is still pending at that time.

Thanks for all the useful (and/or entertaining) suggestions!

 

[Mobius1]

Move to CA, few weeks ago we saw a guy driving on temp tags that expired in 2021 but seriously, don’t move here. There are some other posts where Rivian was able to send them new tags before the old ones expired, best of luck!!

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