Buying MH out of state

[trekdave42]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum and looking for some advice on buying a mh out of state. I've found a mh in NY that I'm interested in and trying to figure out the logistics to get it back to CA. Went into the CA DMV today and was told that I need to get a NY temporary tag in order to get it home. This sounds incorrect as I'm a CA resident. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
David

[asquared]

When I looked into buying a fiver from the next state over, I asked them how this works. They told me they provide me with a temp tag to get it home. I then would have had to register it once I got it home. Some people arrange for the trailer/motorhone be shipped to them while others will fly or drive to pick it up and then bring it home. Ca to NY is quite a distance. Make sure you have a local dealership willing to work on your rig when you didn't buy it from them. Also ask them how long of a wait it will typically be to get service. Many dealerships will refuse service or put you at the back of a long line for service if you did not buy from them. Many don't care about this as the warranty period is short while others hold the local dealership very important. I'm in the crowd that will pay slightly more for local but I will not pay a lot more, my wallet does have its limits. In my case I chose local because they came close in price to the distance dealership. I am glad I did as I have had some major issues being handled under warranty. My local dealership has been great, some have not been so fortunate with their local dealerships service even with buying from them. Try to get a feel for that particular service department before making any decisions.

[trekdave42]

@asquared: Thanks for the information. I'm going through a private seller so no luxury of having a dealership provide a temporary tag.

[GreenImp]

I'm in Oregon and purchased my 5th Wheel used from Illinois. In Oregon, the plates stay on the vehicle and you register them as the new owner. I was therefore surprised and unprepared when I arrived to pick up the trailer and he had removed the plates per Illinois standard procedure. I towed it home without plates and got lucky...no issues. I did Insure it before the trip though.

I believe that if you have the MH professionally delivered, the delivery company will have their own temporary plates for the journey? No experience with this though, so I could easily be wrong.