Registration

[jpnj2]

A friend of mine purchased a 2011 Thor class a diesel in Arizona. They gave him a 90 day paper (temp) license plate He went to Calif dmv to register the vehicle, and DMV registered out as a 2009 per his paper work,the chassis is a 2009, the house is a 2010 and sold as a 2011? I’m confused. His dealer paper work shows the coach is a 2011.

[Lt Keefer]

Does it really matter?

[jpnj2]

Originally Posted by Lt Keefer

Does it really matter?

I would think so. As for parts and insurance.

[coachray]

The house being a 2010 and the chassis a 2009 sounds right, but not sure why it was sold as a 2011. I was told the chassis is always a year older than the coach.

[gmc]

Originally Posted by jpnj2

A friend of mine purchased a 2011 Thor class a diesel in Arizona. They gave him a 90 day paper (temp) license plate He went to Calif dmv to register the vehicle, and DMV registered out as a 2009 per his paper work,the chassis is a 2009, the house is a 2010 and sold as a 2011? I’m confused. His dealer paper work shows the coach is a 2011.

Several threads about this in past - where chassis year doesn’t match house year.
While the VIN is assigned by the chassis manufacturer, it is the final assembly vendor (Thor) that sets the model year... there can easily be a 1 year difference, especially at beginning of a model year.

State DMV/Secretary of State, etc is supposed to use the data from the final assembly vendor.
It can be difficult to change later, so best to insure paperwork is correct when dealer submits for title.

On a used RV, what was on the previous title?

As for the house being 2010 and it being sold as a 2011 - something not sounding right there...
Again look at the paperwork provided by Thor that set the year of the final assembly.

[TurnerFam]

the RV MANUFACTURER has the last and final say in determining the MODEL YEAR of any vehicle they produce, not the original CHASSIS builder, or ANYTHING in between, per the national code - meaning that your local DMV should be using your BILL OF SALE to determine what 'year model' shows on your TITLE and REGISTRATION, etc., NOT the VIN number search, which only serves to pull up ORIGINAL chassis vehicle information.

Chassis' can be ordered and built WELL BEFORE an RV is actually produced on that chassis, and is most commonly MODIFIED by the end RV Manufacturer, which is why THEY have the final say of model year, though fighting this with a local DMV might be difficult.
I would show them the BILL OF SALE contract paperwork, or any defining details that will lead them to that end.

In the end, though, even if your TITLE or your Registration show an 'older' year model, any insurance or later sell of that RV should not be impacted. Your insurance policy will go on what YOU tell them - they don't look at Titles or Registration for that information. Any prospective 'buyer', down the road, should be shown the original BILL OF SALE, or BROCHURE, or paperwork proving the Manufacturer's year model.

[ducksface]

Sorta.
If it's not in dispute and nothing underhanded is suspected, Arizona goes by the frame number and Nevada the body number, or vice versa.
This is a STATE thing, not a federal thing as to how the vehicle year is determined.
There are non-existant 1966 Camaros out there per title, and Volkswagens fiberglas sandbuggies, identical to each other, built side by side, with one being registered a 1962 and another in anothet state registered as a 1977.
(I think a sandbuggy equates well to this situation. A marriage of a federal Vin to a body of some year, probably other)


The 2009,2010,2011 thing will depend on when sold and then what state decided
Frame vs body vs sold date.
Due to a body vs frame registration of mine recently in Arizona, once both vehicles were established as not stolen I had a choice to register it as a 1960, a 1979, new as a 2015. Mvd gave ME a choice of what went on title.

Arizona even had/has an option for a mobile home to be real estate or vehicle.
Arizona requires all used sales to use msrp as the basis for registration costs.
This means a 2018 being bought out of state, though 67,000 was paid, is registered at the full 128,000(or whatever it was) for a 24.1 axis.

If there was ever a state which couldn't care less about Arizona law, it's california.

So, the importance of the year might be due to the 'break' between msrp registered or year registered. 100,000 base vs 30,000 base. That $1,000 to register or $140 to register.

The 'friend' needs to go to mvd with a giant smile and a good attitude.
The rv itself is about as devalued as it can get for an rv and the year, in my opinion is far far far far outweighed by condition and miles.
Book value is a guideline and nothing else.
My blazer books for $800 bucks. It will pull $11,000 if sold.
My avalanche booked for $38,000 and I bought it at a dealer for $17,000.

No matter the how or what, dmv rules the day. Ask them. My/our opinion is of no value and surely you haven't the audacity and stupid to tell a dmv clerk:
'some guy on the internet in some unrelated state said you're wrong'.


Everything in this post is based on real personal experience in the state asked about.

[EA37TS]

Virginia will title a motor home based on the year the manufacturer states on the bill of sale. The reason is a 2015 motorhome on a 2014 chassis gets taxed every year as a 2015 and results in the owner paying a higher annual personal property tax than if it was registered with the chassis year. This means the state may get 3,000 the first year rather than 2,200.

Be careful what you ask for. You might get what you ask for and then suffer the consequences with the wallet.

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Virginia will title a motor home based on the year the manufacturer states on the bill of sale. The reason is a 2015 motorhome on a 2014 chassis gets taxed every year as a 2015 and results in the owner paying a higher annual personal property tax than if it was registered with the chassis year. This means the state may get 3,000 the first year rather than 2,200.

Be careful what you ask for. You might get what you ask for and then suffer the consequences with the wallet.

Forget all that other stuff I said. The quote above is what I meant all along.

[Bob Denman]

No matter what: it sure ain't a 2009 RV!

[pengoquin]

Look at your VIN, the 10th digit shows the vehicle year. The current 17 digit VIN system was established by NHTSA back in 1981. It is the primary identification for all motor vehicles, a fingerprint. The VIN is the only thing that the DMV in any state will go by.

[Judge]

I have a 2020 Magnitude SV34 I bought in October 2019. It came off the assembly line at Thor in April 2019. The chassis is a 2019 Ford F-550.

In PA they title and register it as a 2020 Thor Motorcoach.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by pengoquin

The VIN is the only thing that the DMV in any state will go by.

They should go by what's on the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin. It includes the V.I.N. of course; but also adds the final completion date of the vehicle.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by pengoquin

Look at your VIN, the 10th digit shows the vehicle year. The current 17 digit VIN system was established by NHTSA back in 1981. It is the primary identification for all motor vehicles, a fingerprint. The VIN is the only thing that the DMV in any state will go by.

Not true for cutaway chassis and completed motorhomes. The final manufacturer sets the model year for the completed motothomes. State DMVs know this, but not all employees at DMVs know this.

[GordSanClemente]

Not to hi-jack this thread but...
I saw the title and thought, this is about me?
Wasn't of course.
My problem is...
Purchased new to me RV in AZ in January. Need to register in CA.
Lots of time between AZ-DOT, the dealer giving the title to the wrong lender, etc etc.
Now I go to register in CA and when I look on line, it looks like the DMV's are pretty much closed due to the COVID.

Everything I read says that this can't be done on line since the VIN needs to be verified in person.

Anyone have this issue with registrations and the DMV?

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread...

[Bob Denman]

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/at...1&d=1586633217

[pengoquin]

While the VIN is your RV's fingerprint, there is the MCO that should be used for vehicle year for registration. Here is a good article on the issue.

https://www.rvtravel.com/different-m...sus-motorhome/

[Mr.Good]

My former MH was a 2017 Thor Citation on a 2016 MB Sprinter chassis.
DMV always titled it as 2017, but for chassis parts, I knew it was 2016 MB Sprinter 3500 from the vin lookup.

Google "vin decoder"

Here's one that shows a lot of info: https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/Decoder

[pengoquin]

Having spent a number of years working with various DMVs, mostly CA DMV while assigned to multi-jurisdictional auto-theft task forces I found a number of the clerks weren't very knowledgeable, but they were obstinate. The good news is that the office supervisors usually know what they are doing. Also going to a DMV office located near a number of RV dealers will up the odds of getting someone with a better knowledge of the correct registration for RVs, same goes for auction vehicles, boats, trailers, etc.

[Dilley Dilley]

Originally Posted by jpnj2

A friend of mine purchased a 2011 Thor class a diesel in Arizona. They gave him a 90 day paper (temp) license plate He went to Calif dmv to register the vehicle, and DMV registered out as a 2009 per his paper work,the chassis is a 2009, the house is a 2010 and sold as a 2011? I’m confused. His dealer paper work shows the coach is a 2011.

The following is taken from the California DMV site:

Manufactured motorhomes are registered under the make and year model of the motorhome manufacturer and the VIN of the chassis. For example, a motorhome manufactured by Southwind using a Dodge chassis is registered as Southwind (make) and year model with the Dodge chassis VIN.