Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

[eamarquardt]

You won't get away with it in the People's Republic:

Definition of a nonresident vehicle

A nonresident vehicle was last registered outside the state of California. Anyone who brings a vehicle into California, or purchases a nonresident vehicle while in California, should be aware of the registration requirements.

NOTE:California law prohibits California residents or businesses from importing and/or registering a new vehicle with less than 7,500 miles at the time of purchase unless it meets or is exempt from California emission standards. If you acquire a 49-State vehicle (manufactured for all states except California) from another state or country, you may not be able to register your vehicle in California.

Reference:Health & Safety Code Section 43151(A)

When fees are due

Fees must be paid within 20 days of entry or residency to avoid penalties. Any vehicle owned by a California resident must be registered within 20 days of entry into California unless a special permit was obtained. Nonresidents whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state or jurisdiction may operate their vehicles in California until they:

Accept gainful employment in California.
Claim a homeowner's exemption in California.
Rent or lease a residence in California.
Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote).
Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).

[TJinPgh]

One could only hope that a trailer would be exempt from the emissions laws in CA.

But then, this is CA we're talking about. Probably second only to the federal government when it comes to inane rules and regulations. The fine folks who kept us from getting a pneumatic powered car because it didn't meet federal emissions requirements.

[eamarquardt]

One could only hope that a trailer would be exempt from the emissions laws in CA.

But then, this is CA we're talking about. Probably second only to the federal government when it comes to inane rules and regulations. The fine folks who kept us from getting a pneumatic powered car because it didn't meet federal emissions requirements.

You'll find no one less enamored with the government in California than I am.

It irks me no end that you can buy a cat converter for a vehicle that is good enough for the Feds and 49/50 states for about $300. Here only an OEM converter, for $1,200 will get you past a smog inspection. Just went "there and done that" in case you wanna feel sorry for me.

We just visited China where they have all these "zero emission" (but there isn't really any such thing if you look at the big picture) electric motor scooters that can't get out of their own way (maybe 20 mph) but can get you around town very economically. Our government (both Fed and State) won't let you use em here as they register, regulate, and safely design you/them to death. But our "Fool in Chief" wants us to reduce our energy usage and "go green". To that end he has spent a lot of our tax money on "green energy follies" of which, as far as I can determine, none of which have panned out.

That said, I was raised in the San Fernando Valley (which was the "gold standard" for polluted air/smog) during the 60s and 70s. On a summer day you could rarely see the mountains that were only a few miles away. At the end of the day you could not take a deep breath w/o coughing and hacking.

Today, you can virtually always see the mountains, and reasonably well, during the summer months. I can't remember the last time I had difficulty breathing (and I have no respiratory issues) anywhere in the Valley or LA area. I did have trouble, last month, breathing in Beijing and Xian, China so I know I'm not "cured" of breathing polluted air. So, please lighten up on our California pollution regulations. I have found that I like seeing the mountains and also enjoy pain free breathing. Yeah I know it's cost a bundle to do so, but I think it was the right thing to do.

I read a bit about pneumatic cars and I'm "not entirely convinced" that the CARB requirements are responsible for the stillbirth of the pneumatic car. The CARB can save us Californians from ourselves, it cannot save the balance of the US's citizens from themselves. If the pneumatic car was such a good thing, the Feds and other 49 states would have lots of them running about giving off nothing but formerly compressed gas. Ain't so though.

Please don't take this overly seriously but it is all true to the best of my knowledge.

Cheers,

Gus

[harleymsn]

I read a bit about pneumatic cars and I'm "not entirely convinced" that the CARB requirements are responsible for the stillbirth of the pneumatic car. The CARB can save us Californians from ourselves, it cannot save the balance of the US's citizens from themselves. If the pneumatic car was such a good thing, the Feds and other 49 states would have lots of them running about giving off nothing but formerly compressed gas. Ain't so though.

Please don't take this overly seriously but it is all true to the best of my knowledge.

Cheers,

Gus

I've read a bit about the pneumatic cars too and I didn't see anywhere that they couldn't pass emission standards. What I did learn was that the original design by DMI would not pass Safety standards as the whole car was GLUED together. Then Tata got the rights and talked about putting it in the Nano which also could not meet Safety standards and the gasoline engine in it would not pass emissions standards.

[olds-cool]

TJ, I believe I forgot to mention that I had a bill of sale and was asked to do a vin rubbing as well. As someone above mentioned though, the registration card acts the part of a title since the state I bought from (VT) did not issue titles. In those states, that is your proof of ownership. Coincidently, I don't believe a single piece of paper I got from the seller had been notarized. I did a quick search for the correct forms on the DMV site this morning but as I'm at work couldn't take much time to do so.

For those of you who have already went the Maine route, did any of you request a new vin for a homebuilt trailer or did you all use a pre-existing vin from a modified manufactured trailer?

[Oldragbaggers]

You can also fill out the Maine homebuilt trailer affidavit and register it as homebuilt which is what I will be doing as my frame came with no paperwork whatsoever. If need be, I had so much welding work done and bought so many parts for the frame, I am sure I could support the fact that it is homebuilt. I will also have all that paperwork to back me up if I have a problem in MD when I get around to transferring the ME registration to MD.

[TJinPgh]

I've read a bit about the pneumatic cars too and I didn't see anywhere that they couldn't pass emission standards. What I did learn was that the original design by DMI would not pass Safety standards as the whole car was GLUED together. Then Tata got the rights and talked about putting it in the Nano which also could not meet Safety standards and the gasoline engine in it would not pass emissions standards.

Well, a car being glued together is hardly an issue, providing we are talking body panels.

At any rate, I would need to look at what Tata was doing. If the gasoline engine is used the same way as it was in the original design, then my comment stands. The engine, so far as I can recall, isn't used to drive the car. It's merely used to pump air into the tanks on the fly.

There should be no need to have it meet the same emissions controls as a standard engine.

TJ, I believe I forgot to mention that I had a bill of sale and was asked to do a vin rubbing as well. As someone above mentioned though, the registration card acts the part of a title since the state I bought from (VT) did not issue titles. In those states, that is your proof of ownership. Coincidently, I don't believe a single piece of paper I got from the seller had been notarized. I did a quick search for the correct forms on the DMV site this morning but as I'm at work couldn't take much time to do so.

Ok. I can believe that they let it through with a bill of sale and vin verification. I knew there had to be at least a LITTLE more than just a registration card.

With respect to getting it notarized, you could be right. I know that I had the bill of sale notarized on the trailer because they required it on the bike. But, it's possible that, if the registration doesn't provide for a notary then it may not be required.

So, glad we got that confusion cleared up, at least.

All that said, it still doesn't change the details of this particular subject, IMHO. The regulations are there for trailers for other states and when they do and don't require being transferred to a PA registration/title.

Now, the question I have is, given your experience with the bike frame, where a bill of sale and registration (from a non-title state) was sufficient to get a title on the frame, would the bill of sale and trailer registration from Maine be sufficient to get a PA title on the trailer without getting the inspection.

As long as the required info is available (weight, etc) it would seem to make sense that it could be done the same way.

Anybody actually tried?

For those of you who have already went the Maine route, did any of you request a new vin for a homebuilt trailer or did you all use a pre-existing vin from a modified manufactured trailer?[/quote]

[harleymsn]

I've read a bit about the pneumatic cars too and I didn't see anywhere that they couldn't pass emission standards. What I did learn was that the original design by DMI would not pass Safety standards as the whole car was GLUED together. Then Tata got the rights and talked about putting it in the Nano which also could not meet Safety standards and the gasoline engine in it would not pass emissions standards.

Well, a car being glued together is hardly an issue, providing we are talking body panels.

At any rate, I would need to look at what Tata was doing. If the gasoline engine is used the same way as it was in the original design, then my comment stands. The engine, so far as I can recall, isn't used to drive the car. It's merely used to pump air into the tanks on the fly.

There should be no need to have it meet the same emissions controls as a standard engine.

The DMI DID have the body Glued together.
As for the Tata, they never did put the pneumatic engine in the Nano, however they are in the developmental stages of building a pneumatic van. As of today, there are no pneumatic vehicles in full production anywhere.

[Oldragbaggers]

Maybe the pneumatic car discussion should have its own thread. I think most of us who check back regularly on this thread are interested in the subject of sucessfully registering our trailers.

[wagondude]

Now, the question I have is, given your experience with the bike frame, where a bill of sale and registration (from a non-title state) was sufficient to get a title on the frame, would the bill of sale and trailer registration from Maine be sufficient to get a PA title on the trailer without getting the inspection.

As long as the required info is available (weight, etc) it would seem to make sense that it could be done the same way.

Anybody actually tried?

For those of you who have already went the Maine route, did any of you request a new vin for a homebuilt trailer or did you all use a pre-existing vin from a modified manufactured trailer?

[/quote]

While this may or may not help your situation, In Kansas, If you bring in a vehicle from another state (titled or not) with a valid regestration that is already in your name( AKA non-resident Maine regestration), the title/regestration is just transfered after the KHP perform a quick check of the "hot sheet". There is a little more (but not much) involved when transfering from another party across state lines. The point is, with the Maine regestration you already have valid proof of ownership and should be no different then transferring the title of a vehicle to the state when moving in from out of state.

Bill

[TJinPgh]

Should be are the operative words in that statement.

This is PA we're talking about here. They've made an art form out of standing on their collective heads and telling the rest of the world they're upside down.

[TJinPgh]

TJ, I believe I forgot to mention that I had a bill of sale and was asked to do a vin rubbing as well. As someone above mentioned though, the registration card acts the part of a title since the state I bought from (VT) did not issue titles. In those states, that is your proof of ownership. Coincidently, I don't believe a single piece of paper I got from the seller had been notarized. I did a quick search for the correct forms on the DMV site this morning but as I'm at work couldn't take much time to do so.

For those of you who have already went the Maine route, did any of you request a new vin for a homebuilt trailer or did you all use a pre-existing vin from a modified manufactured trailer?

I did want to follow up on this part of the conversation.

I've been seeing a number of utility trailers in Ohio that have registrations but not titles so I wanted to find out about this.

I went to a local notary that is pretty reputable and was told that a current registration and a notarized bill of sale would be sufficient to issue a title.

So, if you didn't get the bill of sale notarized they probably just let it slip through. Beyond that, though, it doesn't seem as though it should be a huge issue.

In the case of the camper I bought, it's worth pointing out that the reason why it needed the enhanced inspection was because the title didn't have the weight of the trailer listed on it. One would think that I could have simply had it weighed and that would have been sufficient but they required it to be a part of an enhanced inspection.

Anyway, in connection to the Maine registration. One would THINK that the Maine registration would be easy enough to transfer to a PA title. And one would HOPE that the fact that it's already in your name would be sufficient to bypass the notarized bill of sale part. But, who knows. It slipped my mind to ask about something that's already in your name.

I suspect the registration, along with the certificate of origin would be enough so long as it had all the necessary information.

By the time you paid Maine it's fees and then paid PA for theirs you might have spent enough to just do it here to begin with, though.

Might be able to skip the trip to the inspection station. So, there may be benefit to going the Maine route regardless.

[mexican tear]

In Arkansas all you have to do is tell them that it is a homemade trailer. They take you $23 and give you a title and a plate for life. All you have to do is permanently affix the new VIN and away you go.

[rowerwet]

Congrats guys!!! Glad this worked so well for you.

Your convict made plate comment reminded me of a sign that used to hang in a Denver DMV I went to.

"Writing a bad check for your license plates will lead to a career of making them"

like the old country song about the convict in NH stamping out plates that said "live free or die"

[rowerwet]

A wise friend of mine once taught me, "If something doesn't make sense, look at the money angle."

The states want their due, motorized or not. If they can collect fees they will not want you circumnavigating that and sending your money out of state. A bigger issue is probably the local property taxes. My town gets several hundred dollars from me each year after adding up all of my registered vehicles, boat included (not so for Maine, as I have no property there, don't think they have property taxes)

As a resident of ME for the past 11 years I can tell you they do have property taxes, $1,300/yr on my 3 br 1 bath, .25 acre. My town is the lowest in the area for property taxes, they are lower than they were in the 80's by careful spending, ditching our police dept. (speed trap was their only real job).
Despite our state becoming more and more North Massachusetts, most Govt. in ME is efficient and practical, even as the state went (D) things really didn't change, hopefully they stay that way.
"Maine, the way life should be" our states unofficial state motto.