[fastd]

My advice: I am guessing that you are buying this from a private individual. You could hire a lawyer for about $250, have him hold the funds in escrow, get the car registered successfully, then release the funds to the seller, pick up the car.

Having said that, if the car is already titled and registered in New York, you should be in very good shape. NY, unlike some other states, provides a title with a description of the car; if that description is pretty "clean" you should have no problem registering in NJ.