annual inspections & registration on extended trips

[cwdavis]

For you full-timing folks out there already,

Especially those who have made multi-year excursions from your home bases or starting points:

How have you managed your RV and car/truck inspections & registration when you can't or don't want to make the journey across country to take care of such 'trivial' matters?

The only thing I can think of is to re-license the vehicles in the years you are away from home base, but here I'm not entirely sure of the potential fallout on domicile matters.

Your thoughts, experiences, & ideas are all welcome,

[teamfamily5]

We just usually get our vehicles inspected in Amarillo Tx as we pass thru there fairly often on I40 on our way somewhere new just got everything inspected last month on my way to South Carolina then it's all online they post the inspections online as does the insurance so it's really easy 🙂

[cwdavis]

Thanks for the good responses, everyone,

NC is also a major military state, so we'll check to see if they accommodate their out-of-state citizens like Texas.

[2gypsies1]

For Texas, if you're out of state you can do it all online and just check the box to let them know you're out of state. No inspections are needed unless you come back to the state. Then you have three days to get it inspected. If you're just driving through and you can make the drive in 3 days (it's a BIG state), then just drive on through and no inspection is needed. It's simple.

Most full-timers have sold their house so they don't have a 'home base'. Their RV is their home and they're always home.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

This isn't an RV only problem. Tens of thousands of US military personnel are stationed in states far from their home state where their vehicles are registered and licensed. The same policies normally apply to RVs in many states.

For Texas - if your vehicle is out of state, you get the registration renewed by mail with a statement the vehicle is out of state and unavailable for inspection.

Then when you return to Texas, get the vehicle inspected.

[BarbaraOK]

Just did our registration for the car. We 'live' in Livingston, but have been out of state for the past 4 years. We do the renewal online, I certify that we are out of state and will have the car/motorhome inspected when we return to the state.

In the scheme of things, these are really pretty trivial and easy to work out.

Barb

[hermandutchman]

JoeGood988 wrote:
We became South Dakota residents and enlisted the service of a mail forwarding company. They take care of going down and getting my registration every year..send voting paperwork, send my mail every week and no inspections required on motorhome or vehicles...no state income tax or sales tax...save thousands every year

South Dakota does have sales tax, but on vehicle the tax is 4 percent.

[Nutinelse2do]

We have an Arizona address. We are in the County, so no inspections or smog checks. Our drivers licences are good for quite a few more years. Our truck is registered for 5 years, and the rv for 2 more.

Edit... All registrations are done via email, and paid through the MVD website.

[gbopp]

Tom N wrote:
For Pennsylvania's annual inspection you have 30 days after reentering the state to get 'er done.

You have 10 days to get it inspected if, the vehicle has been out of the Commonwealth continuously for 30 days or more.

[rekoj71]

Florida is about the same. After initial registration, renewals are by mail. I usually get my notice about 2 months before it's due and that is enough time to do the paperwork online and get the new tag in the mail. No inspections. Drivers License might need a trip back though.

[Tom_N]

For Pennsylvania's annual inspection you have 30 days after reentering the state to get 'er done.

Registration comes via US mail and I pay on online.

-Tom, W3TLN

[JoeGood988]

We became South Dakota residents and enlisted the service of a mail forwarding company. They take care of going down and getting my registration every year..send voting paperwork, send my mail every week and no inspections required on motorhome or vehicles...no state income tax or sales tax...save thousands every year

[aslakson]

As fulltimers, we don't have a "home base" - so we specifically chose South Dakota as our "domicile" state in part because SD doesn't ave annual vehicle inspections. And you can do the registration renewals on-line. In fact, if you choose the right mail forwarding service (We use America's Mailbox)they'll handle the initial registration for you. Of course, you still need to make a personal visit to get your driver's license and/or renew it, but that's just once every five years.

al