Registration question

[Dan-Hawaii]

We live in Hawai'i and would like to get an RV to use on the mainland. Here is our problem; Hawai'i requires an annual safety inspection to renew your plates. We would have to ship the RV back and forth to do the inspection.

We do not have a house or condo on the mainland to register the RV at. So it has to have Hawai'i plates.

Does anyone else have a similar issue and work around for an RV that never goes back to the state you are living in? We do not want to just set it up in an RV park and leave it. We want to just roam the country.

Maybe we are making a problem where it does exist, but How do you own a RV without an address, or out of state and get plates?

Thanks

 

[MapNerd]

Me thinks Montana LLC, maybe?

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

There are several states where you can establish an official residence without living there. South Dakota, Texas and Florida come to mind. There may be others.

The "Montana LLC" is not something that I think would benefit you since Montana has recently raised RV licensing costs significantly. And, you don't need an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) to establish a residence.

Take a look here...

Establishing an RV Home Base and Residency

Choosing a base takes careful planning, income taxes, park fees, and residency requirements are just some of the things you should look in to.

www.tripsavvy.com

...for some more information.

And, welcome toRVF; glad to have you join us.

TJ

 

[Dan-Hawaii]

There are several states where you can establish an official residence without living there. South Dakota, Texas and Florida come to mind. There may be others.

The "Montana LLC" is not something that I think would benefit you since Montana has recently raised RV licensing costs significantly. And, you don't need an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) to establish a residence.

Take a look here...

Establishing an RV Home Base and Residency

Choosing a base takes careful planning, income taxes, park fees, and residency requirements are just some of the things you should look in to.

www.tripsavvy.com

...for some more information.

And, welcome toRVF; glad to have you join us.

TJ

Thanks

We have an official residence. We do not intend to move. We just need to get plates for the RV.

The problem is that Hawai'i requires an annual inspection. If we could do the inspection at a dealership in the mainland we would be all set. It would be cost prohibitive to bring it back for the inspection to get the plates.

I will have to look at an llc. Not sure which state would work best.

 

[Neal]

Virginia requires state inspections but has nothing to do with the license plates, interesting they tie the inspections to plates. Can you not get 3 year plate registrations like we can here in VA?

 

[Dan-Hawaii]

Virginia requires state inspections but has nothing to do with the license plates, interesting they tie the inspections to plates. Can you not get 3 year plate registrations like we can here in VA?

As far as I know for a car it is year by year. It is done by the county, not the state. You need proof of insurance and a current inspection to get a plate.

Do not ask how you get an inspection if you do not have a plate.

We do things differently out here.

 

[Neal]

All I'm saying is I can get 3 year tag renewals. We do require inspections here as well. Does your DMV only offer 1 year renewals on license plates/registration?

 

[Dan-Hawaii]

All I'm saying is I can get 3 year tag renewals. We do require inspections here as well. Does your DMV only offer 1 year renewals on license plates/registration?

To the best of my knowledge, yes one year at a time.

Even if it is three years, it would still be expensive to pay over a $1,000 each way to have a vehicle shipped out here just to have it inspected.

Heck, it might be cheaper to pay to fly the inspector to the mainland. Oh wait they would have to self quarantine for 14 days when they came back (Well until the end of July anyway).

There has to be a way to do this.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Thanks

We have an official residence. We do not intend to move. We just need to get plates for the RV.

The problem is that Hawai'i requires an annual inspection. If we could do the inspection at a dealership in the mainland we would be all set. It would be cost prohibitive to bring it back for the inspection to get the plates.

I will have to look at an llc. Not sure which state would work best.

Why do you need to license your RV in Hawaii if it will never go there? We have bought two motorhomes in states where we did not reside. We chose not to license them in those states, but could have. If you need an address within the state, it is easy to set up a drop box where mail goes and is then forwarded to you.

I think a more important question is "Where to you plan to keep your RV when you are not using it?" Many states require you to license a vehicle in their state if it stays there for more than a short period; usually 60 days or so. You will need to research the vehicle licensing rules in the state where you plan to keep it,

TJ

 

[Dan-Hawaii]

Why do you need to license your RV in Hawaii if it will never go there? We have bought two motorhomes in states where we did not reside. We chose not to license them in those states, but could have. If you need an address within the state, it is easy to set up a drop box where mail goes and is then forwarded to you.

I think a more important question is "Where to you plan to keep your RV when you are not using it?" Many states require you to license a vehicle in their state if it stays there for more than a short period; usually 60 days or so. You will need to research the vehicle licensing rules in the state where you plan to keep it,

TJ

Okay great. Let's say we are going to park it in the Denver area. How do we license it in Colorado when we live in Hawai'i?