Colorado Registration Problems - Please Help

[wgwhitacre]

Hello, Everyone

So, I finished my TD today, just in time for a big road trip I had planned for next week. After I finished it today I drove to the DMV to get it registered, and then the problems started. (I live in Denver, Colorado, by the way)

I bought a Northern Tool 5x8 bolt together trailer for my frame. It came with a certificate of origin and title in my name from the factory in China. I thought that because it had a VIN, all I had to do was get someone at the DMV sign some paper work.

Well, at the DMV today they told me that because it is a bolt together I need to get it a certified VIN from the Colorado Highway Patrol before they can give me licence plates. This is done by appointment only, and the soonest appointment is in on July 21st. This would completely mess up my vacation plans, and it is very hard for me to get time off of work.

So what do I do?

I have come up with a few options:

A) cancel the trip and get it done the proper way.
B) do the 10-day, multi-state trip without plates and hope for the best. I will bring the title with me in case I get pulled over (does anyone know the fine for this?).
C) Go on the trip put some old licence plates on the back of the trailer, to throw the cops off the scent. (I know this is illegal, but I don't know how illegal. Does anyone know?).
D) Sell it to my wife (who is coming on the trip) for $1. Colorado has a 60 day grace period for you to get a vehicle registered, so the rationale is that we would be "covered" the whole trip.

I am leaning towards option D. Any thoughts?

[GPW]

WG, that’s just ridiculous !!! ... Do what you have to ... Bureaucracies forget about the people they’re supposed to serve ...

[mustangcats]

Can you get a temporary tag that shows you are in the process of getting it registered?

[wgwhitacre]

No, I can't get a temporary tags. I could if it weren't home made, but for a home made TD they need to certify that its roadworthy first.

[DrCrash]

Wait until they tell you the whole of the sum is more than the parts and they hit you with a big tax bill.

[skybear4]

The Colorado DMV seems easily confused. I've registered two TD's with them. My last TD was purchased out of state and I was forced to
pay that state's tax. That tax amount should have been transferred to Colorado's tax total owed but I ended up paying 8%+ total in tax
after losing a "discussion" with the city of Centennial. Most of the employees's at DMV don't understand what a TD is and it's difficult to
educate most of them of the facts. Good luck with your decision. The $1 sale to your wife seems to be the best and easiest choice.

[Redneck Teepee]

Yep...sell it to the wife and have her pack a dated bill of sale. You might even go to your local RV dealer and get one of those "John Doe's RV World" paper plates that fit's in the license plate frame so it looks like a new purchase.

[mustangcats]

Could it be you gave them too much information? (How did they know the frame was bolted together?). If you still have time, you should try to go to another office and hand them the title only and tell them you need to register your utility trailer. Be careful what you say and maybe you'll succeed. If you have the sales receipt, you might want to take it along just in case they ask for one.

[WizardOfOdds]

Read this thread,
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=43004
it might be a way to legally get registered in time for your trip.
Good luck.
Let us know what you conclude.

PS... I recall reading not long ago that folks in PA have the same inspection problem. I think they find it easier to title & register in Maine and later retitle in PA because PA does not require the inspection for a trailer that already has a title in another state. If I can find that post, I will edit this to include a link.

Anyway, is there any problem with just using the ME registration? I doubt it - if you rent a U-Haul you often end up with a trailer registered in some far away state. Look at all those 18 wheelers, they almost never have plates from the same state on both the trailer and cab. You might check with local authority (lots of luck on that). You might even be able to complete both the ME registration and retitle to CO before your trip.

[HarleyCamper]

I bought a car from my wife for $1 while standing at the DMV counter because they were giving us trouble. She just rolled her eyes and said it's cost us the $4 processing fee (while saving us $30+ and all the time waiting on line). It's take option D if you don't think she'll pawn it[WINKING FACE]

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[bdosborn]

I registered my trailer before I built the camper on it. The DMV didn't have any problems issuing me a utility trailer plate for either the HF tools trailer (build 1) or the one I made (build 2). 5 years later I'm still using the same plate. Maybe go back and register a utility trailer instead of a teardrop? winky winky

Bruce in Littleton

[wgwhitacre]

So, I figured out a solution. I followed WizardOfOdds suggestion and got my trailer registered in Maine. Apparently Maine has some of the loosest trailer registration laws in the US, and there's an entire cottage industry set up to register out-of-state trailers.

All I had to do was call up the company linked below and email them a copy of my certificate of origin and a receipt from amazon.com, and pay them $99. A week later I got a Maine license plate and registration delivered to my house. It was amazing. Plus the tags on the plate are valid until 2021.

I am not sure if this is totally legal in Colorado, but I just finished a 1,500 mile road trip through the 4-corners area and I never got pulled over. So I think I am just going to keep the Maine plates on until a cop tells me otherwise.

If you need to register your bolt together trailer in a hurry, I would highly recommend this.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

https://mainetrailerregistrations.com/

[RPH]

Hi WGHITACRE,

I too don't understand why you are having problems in Colorado. I registered three trailers in Colorado with no inspection needed. The first was a small trailer I built but on a commercially built frame (no VIN). The second was a teardrop I completely built (no VIN) . The third was a Harbor Freight utility trailer. The HF took a little longer to register because it had a VIN number issued in China and according to the (very apologetic) clerk it was the first Chinese trailer she had registered.

I would suggest you do what bdosborn suggested and don't mention that it is anything but a utility trailer. There is a distinction between the various types of trailers In Colorado and your form will show this but the plates are all look the same with the works TLR written vertically on the left side.