My state (SC) does not require registration of light trailers. Do Florida, Georgia , and North Carolina honor other state’s registration rules?
I will try to call the state DMV office tomorrow, but I know how well that works sometimes.
license plates
As long at the towing vehicle is licensed where a trailer plate is not required, you can drive anywhere.
SC has no licenscing requirement.
no title, no registration, no plates.
Register it
if only as proof of ownership.
your towing vehicle does.
Florida
Do you need to register and/or title small trailers that are pulled behind vehicles?
All trailers that will be pulled on Florida highways must be registered. However, not all trailers must be titled. Only trailers weighing 2,000 pounds or more are titled in Florida. Those with a net weight of 1,999 pounds or less are not titled, only registered.
https://ffdhsmv.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/174/kw/do%20you%20need%20tags%20for%20boat%20trailers
The real answer.
– Last Updated: Feb-12-13 5:31 PM EST –
If you will be taking it out of state, it will have to be titled and registered. The following is required to do so:
Trailer Title and Registration:
Title or Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin
Sales Tax (5% of sale price, not to exceed $300)
Form 400 (Forms and Manuals section of scdmvonline.com)
Proof of Insurance (for the vehicle that will be pulling the trailer)
$15 Title Fee
$75 Permanent Tag Fee
Final answer: Since the trailer was salvaged, I can't register it.
Trailer laws are a mess
Vary a lot from state to state, AND it can be difficult to get a straight answer from your state’s employees.
When I bought a kit trailer in 2011, my (former) state of Colorado had passed new laws that required all “homemade” trailers–which really meant any trailer not purchased from a trailer dealer–to go through a safety inspection plus paperwork check, scheduled only for limited hours and at only one location. The county’s registrar gave me a temporary license plate good for only 48 hrs. In that 48 hrs, I had to get the trailer inspected or else re-start the entire registration process. The inspector merely glanced at my rig as I drove in, then spent the entire time making sure I hadn’t stolen the trailer or bought a stolen one. There was NO safety inspection whatsoever. Next, he voided the manufacturer-assigned VIN and said I had to permanently affix a metal plate with Colorado’s own trailer VIN system number on it. (My trailer manufacturer says altering the metal VOIDS THE WARRANTY, so I did not attach the plate; I just carry the tag around with my registration papers and proof of insurance.) Only then was I allowed to obtain a regular license plate.
What really burns me up is that because the Colorado-assigned VIN was on the registration papers, when I moved to Washington, the registrar in my new county had to use Colorado’s number despite the fact that I had left the manufacturer’s VIN on the trailer. I still carry that damned metal tag around instead of being able to chuck it along with Colorado’s stupid trailer-law mess.
Oh, yeah, Colorado’s trailer registration fee went from under $20 for my trailer, to something like $150 for that first year.
Sounds like Florida is treating your salvaged trailer as “home-made” also. Do they not have any way for you to prove it is highway-worthy?
The person at the DMV said I was out
of luck. “Sorry”.