Getting licensed in California

[Maury&Julie]

Hello fellow Golden State friends!

We pick up our 21 at the end of March and are planning about a week to come back along the coast.

I have read various things about licensing and come to the following strategy. Please let me know if I am off-base.

1. I go to my local DMV and get a temporary permit for around $20.

2. I go to Canada and drive the trailer back here.

3. I take the trailer back to the DMV, get an inspection, pay 8.4% or so, and get my plates in 30 to 60 days.

Sound about right?

[Mary Strasser]

At least you can get a temporary permit in CA, In CO, they require a visual check of the VIN number by the county you live in, before you can get any kind of permit. Read the threads on woe of registration, and you will see what you have is a piece of cake!

[Scuba55]

Originally Posted by Mary Strasser

At least you can get a temporary permit in CA, In CO, they require a visual check of the VIN number by the county you live in, before you can get any kind of permit. Read the threads on woe of registration, and you will see what you have is a piece of cake!

Nevada has the same inspection requirements prior to licensing, but they will give you a 30 day move permit for $1.00.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Maury&Julie

Hello fellow Golden State friends!

We pick up our 21 at the end of March and are planning about a week to come back along the coast.

I have read various things about licensing and come to the following strategy. Please let me know if I am off-base.

1. I go to my local DMV and get a temporary permit for around $20.

2. I go to Canada and drive the trailer back here.

3. I take the trailer back to the DMV, get an inspection, pay 8.4% or so, and get my plates in 30 to 60 days.

Sound about right?

We live in California and we couldn't get a permit . Told we have 20 days to register and they needed to see the trailer and check vin number . Called highway patrol and we were told just have all your papers in case and even with no license you will be fine . Many highway patrol and police passed us going home and never stopped us. Didn't come home right away stayed at daughters on Whidbey Island for 5 days then took 4 days to get home and that was the easy part . Will not get into DMV again . Someone suggested to go to small town DMV when you get in California and get trailer registered . I would do that if I was picking up again . Pat

[Maury&Julie]

Thanks, Pat. I won't bother with a permit then. (Since there is no such thing!) I was liking the looks of the Crescent City DMV. I may just stop there on the way home to avoid the big Bay Area DMV's. I appreciate the help!

[Maury&Julie]

I like the looks of this.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Maury&Julie

I like the looks of this.

That looks good to me ! Pat

[bdornbush]

Originally Posted by Maury&Julie

Thanks, Pat. I won't bother with a permit then. (Since there is no such thing!) I was liking the looks of the Crescent City DMV. I may just stop there on the way home to avoid the big Bay Area DMV's. I appreciate the help!

I got a one-trip permit at my CA DMV which they told me was available for just what I wanted to do. It is available, you have to ask for a one trip permit.

[bdornbush]

Originally Posted by Maury&Julie

Hello fellow Golden State friends!

We pick up our 21 at the end of March and are planning about a week to come back along the coast.

I have read various things about licensing and come to the following strategy. Please let me know if I am off-base.

1. I go to my local DMV and get a temporary permit for around $20.

2. I go to Canada and drive the trailer back here.

3. I take the trailer back to the DMV, get an inspection, pay 8.4% or so, and get my plates in 30 to 60 days.

Sound about right?

Yes, this is exactly what I did. The temporary permit is the "one trip permit." When you go back to the DMV, depending on the experience of the agent, they may not be sure how to do it or may say they cannot do it with the paperwork supplied by Escape. But it is sufficient. I had to be firm that they had what they needed and just needed to understand how to code it in their system.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by bdornbush

I got a one-trip permit at my CA DMV which they told me was available for just what I wanted to do. It is available, you have to ask for a one trip permit.

no permit for us .we did ask . You were lucky . Pat

[CADreamin]

We got the one-trip permit as well. Arriving home, we took SantaCruzer's advice and sought out a DMV in a small town (Hollister). Took the trailer there, walked right up to the counter, walked back to the trailer with the agent, spent the next 10 minutes discussing what a great trailer it was, went back in and had our plates and such in a matter of minutes.

[CADreamin]

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1...bk/ch25/ch25_3

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by CADreamin

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1...bk/ch25/ch25_3

We saw that however you need someone to give it to you . For some reason bringing in a trailer purchased from another country was a big problem . You are importing a trailer hence all the forms . Maybe you were just lucky . I can't answer and can only tell you our experience. As I said I would just have my papers as the highway patrol told us to have , and go to a small DMV right when I get into California and get it done . We didn't fall off of a turnip truck and having lived awhile do try to get all our ducks in a row . Pat

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

We didn't fall off of a turnip truck Pat

Sir, do you have a license for that truck? Registration and insurance please.

[Maury&Julie]

Sounds like we could probably get by without the permit but it might be worth going by the DMV to check. Thanks for this discussion. It would seem government agencies don't always speak with a unified voice. Go figure. Leaves us all scratching our heads.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Sir, do you have a license for that truck? Registration and insurance please.

Yep got it all . Here you go . Pat

[CADreamin]

Posted the link so that Maury&Julie would have something to reference when talking to the DMV. Most everyone tries to do what's right but, as Maury&Julie pointed out, not all agencies are on the same page.

[Sandra L]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

no permit for us .we did ask . You were lucky . Pat

I must have lucked out! All I knew (2009) was that I had to register it w/in 10 days...which I did. I also figured that the window would suffice for Washington and Oregon as I had all the paperwork and that my driver's license and car registration were Californian. I was also one of the earlier ones to get my Escape at the factory, and dealt with the border people, which was un-eventful.
I had never even heard of a temporary permit until I saw it discussed on this forum.

[santacruzer]

I never bothered with a California permit when I brought my 17 home several years ago. Think about this...If you were out of state and bought a vehicle spur-of-the moment you wouldn't be expected to return to California to get a temporary permit just to bring the vehicle back. And with a vehicle that's never been registered they have to expect this.

Good advice to visit a small town DMV, too! I coasted through the first time in Mt Shasta, California. With the 19 a year and a half ago I thought I was in the third circle of hell at the Capitola office!!

[Wldwalker]

We are picking up our 21 end of February and are holding our breathe thinking about DMV. We registered our, now re-homed, Casita in Woodland, Ca., home base and it took 6 trips before they could figure out how to register a trailer from Texas! California requires an inspection by our local police for VIN number, that was easy and pleasant and then DMV first issued us a PTR, then called us back, for mistake, then charged us an incorrect registration amount, called us back,and it just got worse from there. Maybe we will need to call around to California DMVs till we find one that is familiar with out of country registration.