California Registration

[rinshin]

Registered our trailmanor we purchased in Texas this Friday and spent almost all morning in the process at the DMV. Lots of confusion by the staff as so how to classify it. But, the staff helping us was good (inspector clueless though) and finally we have our license plate and registration.

I registered my TM for the first time a few months ago and found it interesting that they couldn't give me a permanent trailer tag, which I had on my old tent trailer, something about the classification. Not sure if it's just a Ca thing or not.

[B_and_D]

I know of at least one CA owner who was able to get a PTI for their TrailManor. We were told by the DMV that it wasn't eligible for PTI status because "we could live in it". It did take them a while and some consultation behind the desk to get it registered; they didn't seen sure about what to do with it.

[cochise]

Originally Posted by surfandgolf

I registered my TM for the first time a few months ago and found it interesting that they couldn't give me a permanent trailer tag, which I had on my old tent trailer, something about the classification. Not sure if it's just a Ca thing or not.

In CA, and many other states, if the trailer has cooking capability and a sink and toilet, it is actually considered "a house on wheels", and different criteria comes into play at the time of registration. When I lived in CA and worked for BOE (Board of Equalization) we regularly dealt with people that had bought RV's and trailers out of state, often to avoid sales tax. Many were p....d off that they had to pay. Some said that they had traveled in other states for 6 months but when asked could not produce ONE receipt for gas, food or other items from that other state. Here in AZ where I live now, it is a property tax that is based on the value of the trailer. It does go down a certain percentage every year as the value of the trailer goes down. Same thing with a car. In CA it is a fee (at least it was when I lived there), and not deductable in AZ it is a tax and therefore deductable.

Thanks for the info, I knew sales tax would be collected but just wanted the ease of only having to register the trailer once every 6(?) years with the PTI. I did ask for an explanation, nothing was said about it being considered livable, only that the VIN# started with an H or something and was classified differently from my tent trailer which also had a stove, sink, cassette toilet and shower. I explained that it was still a folding camper, and they just shrugged their shoulders. Don't know if it's worth pursuing the PTI tags or not, being that the trailer is a 98' registration was $90, not sure what PTI would be.

Help


PTI tags ??? What is PTI?

John

[Barb&Tim]

Permanent Trailer Identification

Trailers

What trailers are subject to Permanent Trailer Identification (PTI)?

All trailers except park trailers and trailer coaches are subject to PTI.

NOTE: A camp trailer or fifth-wheel trailer (depending upon maximum length, width, or size) can be registered as a trailer coach, or camp trailer. Camp trailers are subject to PTI, but trailer coaches are subject to annual registration and excluded from PTI.

V C Section 242 Camp Trailer
Camp Trailer

242. A "camp trailer" is a vehicle designed to be used on a highway, capable of human habitation for camping or recreational purposes, that does not exceed 16 feet in overall length from the foremost point of the trailer hitch to the rear extremity of the trailer body and does not exceed 96 inches in width and includes any tent trailer. Where a trailer telescopes for travel, the size shall apply to the trailer as fully extended. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a camp trailer shall not be deemed to be a trailer coach.

http://dmv.ca.gov/commercial/cvra.htm

Tim

And it all depends on who you get at DMV. I had a serious 'discussions' with the DMV person in the area I lived in Ca. I tried to explain to him that you could live in it, but he wouldn't budge. So PTI was out for me. Now a couple of folks here HAVE been able to get the permanent plates, but I think they are few and far between.

Mike Anderson

I registered my TM in CA a few months ago. The man processing the registration went back and forth to books, manuals, the computer and mangement several times to identify the correct classification. it was finally registered as a travel trailer, which requires yearly re-registration. I got a call later in the day from a reviewer with more questions about the construction of the TM. Bottom line: In CA, pop-up tent trailers are exempt from yearly registration, travel trailers are not. It does not depend on livibility, cooking, etc, just tent or travel. The TM is classified as a travel trailer and is not exempt. The registration tag on the side of the TM has the TT (travel trailer) designation stamped on it. The trailer can easily be mis-classified as a tent pop-up by the DMV processor. If i had used the words "pop-up" to describe the TM, that's how they probably would've classified it.

I wish I had been better prepared before registering, a couple of key words could have made the difference. It's completely dependent on who you get to "help" you at the DMV, calling it a folding camper didn't work. It must be the classification before manufacturing so that it's identified in the serial no., as there are a couple of folding campers like Apache that have no tent material but considered tent trailers.

Just saw the detailed explanation on Tim's post.
So it's based upon extended length, less than 16' = camp trailer, subject to PTI, over 16' = trailer coach, not subject to PTI. Seems pretty straight forward, I'm surprised there's still confusion with the DMV, or maybe not.