Grace Period for Registration After Purchase?

[ridetechy]

I will be buying my first camper, a 16ft Scamp, next weekend. I will be traveling out of state to pick it up (private sale), and the plan is to tow it back home. The trip home should take 2 days and our first overnight with it will be in some Walmart lot (thanks C19).

Obviously since I am purchasing out-of-state where I will then obtain the title necessary for registration...I have to get it home first before I can register for a trailer plate. Not to mention, our DMVs are all shut down until April 23 (thanks C19)

So my question...what do I need to do to legally get this puppy home? Is there typically a grace period after a sale for these issues or something I need to do/get locally (Virginia) before heading up to pick it up? Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by ridetechy

I will be buying my first camper, a 16ft Scamp, next weekend. I will be traveling out of state to pick it up (private sale), and the plan is to tow it back home. The trip home should take 2 days and our first overnight with it will be in some Walmart lot (thanks C19).

Obviously since I am purchasing out-of-state where I will then obtain the title necessary for registration...I have to get it home first before I can register for a trailer plate. Not to mention, our DMVs are all shut down until April 23 (thanks C19)

So my question...what do I need to do to legally get this puppy home? Is there typically a grace period after a sale for these issues or something I need to do/get locally (Virginia) before heading up to pick it up? Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I have done this several dozen times, I simply get a dated bill of sale and an open title.
I have never been questioned in transit, nor have I had any difficulty at my DMV. (Illinois)

For a private sale Illinois allows 30 days to register and transfer your title.
Most states have extended that time until the Covid response is over.


You can consult your states rules on their website for more specific info.


Some titles have an attached mail in notification of sale which your seller may want you to send in, that's no problem.
In what state is the trailer currently registered?

[Ed Harris]

Make sure you get a signed Title in exchange for the Money and a Bill of Sale from the owner before you leave and I am sure that you will be fine on the way home.

All states are different but as an example my state has extended everything DMV or State office related for 60 days and I am sure they will continue until this thing is all over.
All State offices are closed anyway so there is simply no way to conduct that business until they are back open,I imagine Virginia is the same.

Have fun and remember to keep distance between yours and any other FGRV that you might encounter on the trip!

[ridetechy]

Thanks! Very excited.

[ridetechy]

Originally Posted by floyd

I have done this several dozen times, I simply get a dated bill of sale and an open title.
I have never been questioned in transit, nor have I had any difficulty at my DMV. (Illinois)

For a private sale Illinois allows 30 days to register and transfer your title.
Most states have extended that time until the Covid response is over.


You can consult your states rules on their website for more specific info.


Some titles have an attached mail in notification of sale which your seller may want you to send in, that's no problem.
In what state is the trailer currently registered?

I am in Virginia and the trailer is currently in NY. (Sorry if there are multiple replies, still getting the hang of these forums)

[ShelbyM]

Check with your insurance company too.

[Jon in AZ]

Your tow vehicle’s liability insurance covers the trailer when towing, but only for liability.

No additional insurance is required, but if you want full coverage on the trailer (to cover damage to the trailer from an at-fault traffic accident, backing into a pole, falling tree limb, fire, theft, vandalism, hit-and-run driver, uninsured motorist...) then yes, contact your agent. You will need the VIN from the seller to purchase a policy before your pickup trip.

Depends on the value of the trailer and your tolerance for risk.

[WaltP]

I think you have all the answer(s) you need on the registration, but I thought I'd mention a possible insurance issue. Fiberglass trailers hold their value much higher than most other trailers of the same age, and the average insurance company will not be aware of that and not be willing to insure it at its true market worth. Keep that in mind when you shop for insurance. I think Good Sam is one to look at but there are certainly others.
That's a particularly nice model you have there and you'll have a real gem once you restore it. Please keep us up to date with pics, etc. as you progress with it.

Walt

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by ridetechy

I will be buying my first camper, a 16ft Scamp, next weekend. I will be traveling out of state to pick it up (private sale), and the plan is to tow it back home. The trip home should take 2 days and our first overnight with it will be in some Walmart lot (thanks C19).

Obviously since I am purchasing out-of-state where I will then obtain the title necessary for registration...I have to get it home first before I can register for a trailer plate. Not to mention, our DMVs are all shut down until April 23 (thanks C19)

So my question...what do I need to do to legally get this puppy home? Is there typically a grace period after a sale for these issues or something I need to do/get locally (Virginia) before heading up to pick it up? Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I know you asked about registration, etc and got answers. I would like to address the long distance of towing the trailer. Are the tires good and not outdated. They may have tread but be bad. Do you have the brake controller for the trailer in your vehicle if the trailer has brakes. Have you seen the trailer and know its condition? Do the lights work? In some states the cops are looking to get people and in others they are very nice. Hope it all goes well. Is the trailer currently licensed. If so then will the owner let you tow it with his plates on it until you get home. We did that one time with a car so we wouldn't have to get license out of state then at home also. Picked it up on a holiday. Then we sent him his plates so he would know we weren't using them illegally.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

Then we sent him his plates so he would know we weren't using them illegally.

Except you were using them illegally to get home.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

... Is the trailer currently licensed. If so then will the owner let you tow it with his plates on it until you get home...

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Except you were using them illegally to get home.

That is in fact true.. once the title is signed over you own it, and whatever plates used to be on it are no longer valid for the new owner. You are more likely to get into trouble using someone else's plates (even if they did once belong on the trailer) then you are going without a plate but having title, bill of sale, etc. Plus, as a seller I would never want to let my plates go.. they could get lost, stolen, used in a drive-by murder. And in my state I need to turn in my plate or keep paying property tax since they tax according to DMV records.

Different states have different rules... some will issue you a temporary plate for example. But most cops are pretty reasonable (regardless of which state they are in) and if you are going straight home with a trailer you just bought, and have the title and bill of sale, there is little chance you will have a problem. But don't use the old plates.. that looks like you are being less than honest or trying to hide something.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by gordon2

That is in fact true.. once the title is signed over you own it, and whatever plates used to be on it are no longer valid for the new owner. You are more likely to get into trouble using someone else's plates (even if they did once belong on the trailer) then you are going without a plate but having title, bill of sale, etc. Plus, as a seller I would never want to let my plates go.. they could get lost, stolen, used in a drive-by murder. And in my state I need to turn in my plate or keep paying property tax since they tax according to DMV records.

Different states have different rules... some will issue you a temporary plate for example. But most cops are pretty reasonable (regardless of which state they are in) and if you are going straight home with a trailer you just bought, and have the title and bill of sale, there is little chance you will have a problem. But don't use the old plates.. that looks like you are being less than honest or trying to hide something.

Might have been illegal but we had the registration and would not have had to tell the cops we bought it. Plans was to tell them we were borrowing it and he would have agreed if called. We couldn't get any kind of plates and knew without anything we'd get stopped. In some states the plates go with the vehicle also. Which I didn't know at one time.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

Might have been illegal but we had the registration and would not have had to tell the cops we bought it. Plans was to tell them we were borrowing it and he would have agreed if called. We couldn't get any kind of plates and knew without anything we'd get stopped. In some states the plates go with the vehicle also. Which I didn't know at one time.

PM sent

[mary and bob]

I'm in New York. After we sold our Uhaul camper last year I took the plate to DMV to turn it in. The lady clerk told me I didn't have to turn it in. I could keep it and use it to register another trailer if I got one. Kind of surprised me as I thought I had to show I no longer owned that trailer. I had already received the registration renewal in the mail. The clerk said "just throw that away". I had signed the title over to the new owner. I haven't seen the OP post the year of the Scamp he is buying so the comment of condition, tires, and lights is a good question. Probably best idea is to tow it home with no plate, or make a cardboard plate that says "IN Transit". We all know how fiberglass trailers hold their value, and any "book" values are meaningless, but I have not found any insurance company that would insure an older FG trailer unless they had all my insurance.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

I'm in New York. ...The lady clerk told me I .... could keep it and use it to register another trailer if I got one. ...

Similar here.. we can transfer a plate and that is usually done when trading in a vehicle and buying a replacement at the same time (usually at a dealer). But when selling a vehicle (or trailer), you need to transfer the plate and pay tax on the new vehicle, or turn the plate in to avoid being taxed on the sold vehicle. In fact, turning in the plate results in a refund of taxes pro-rated for the remainder of the year for the sold vehicle.

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Similar here.. we can transfer a plate and that is usually done when trading in a vehicle and buying a replacement at the same time (usually at a dealer). But when selling a vehicle (or trailer), you need to transfer the plate and pay tax on the new vehicle, or turn the plate in to avoid being taxed on the sold vehicle. In fact, turning in the plate results in a refund of taxes pro-rated for the remainder of the year for the sold vehicle.

We only pay sales tax when we first register a vehicle or trailer, no tax ever after that. I know some states have an annual excise tax but NY does not.

[WaltP]

In Virginia it's called a personal property tax but same thing.

Walt

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

We only pay sales tax when we first register a vehicle or trailer, no tax ever after that. I know some states have an annual excise tax but NY does not.

Wait a minute.. you mean North Carolina has a tax that New York does not have!?? Well I guess since every other tax rate in NY is so much higher they can afford to skip one. BTW, I have lived about half my life in NY and half in NC. My family is mostly in NY. My brother's real property tax rate on his house in upstate NY is three times the rate I have. Yes, I pay personal property tax every year for vehicles and some other things but it is just a fraction of the tax on the house.

According to Wallethub, NY has the highest tax burden of all the states... NC comes in right at the middle.

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by gordon2

According to [U

Wallethub[/U], NY has the highest tax burden of all the states... NC comes in right at the middle.

I know NY has the reputation of high taxes but we live in a very small town in Upstate NY so property taxes are not too bad. Plus we get a Senior discount on our annual town taxes. No doubt we are higher than NC, but it's where we choose to live. Been on this same property, ( that has been in my family for 100 years) for almost all of my 73 years. Too late to move now.

[lables]

rob call me for vin get ins