Register used RV purchase in Az or CA??

Punchdrunk Monkey

Punchdrunk Monkey

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I am looking to buy a used RV and was wondering the benefits of registering it in AZ or CA. I live full time in CA but have a place in AZ. I think legally, because I live in CA, it should be registered in CA but it will spend time in AZ too. I know AZ doesn't pay sales tax if purchased from a private party. Is the AZ insurance and registration a benefit compared to CA? I currently do not have anything registered in AZ and I do not have an AZ insurance policy.

 
Depends on the year of the coach, If it is old enough you are going to save big time.  If I had kept my 01 Dodge the tags on it would be around $35.00 for the year.  

 
MWB said:
Depends on the year of the coach, If it is old enough you are going to save big time.  If I had kept my 01 Dodge the tags on it would be around $35.00 for the year.  
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2015. I have heard you can register for multiple years in AZ.

 
I think you can register it in Arizona. After 18 months you can bring it back to a CA registration without paying any sales tax. It might be better in AZ for the first 18mos - 2 years in order to save the CA sales tax if you own a place in AZ....why not?

 
trailer or moho?

az bases fees off of msrp even on older units.

 
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Punchdrunk Monkey said:
2015. I have heard you can register for multiple years in AZ.
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Gas engines you can diesels no, in locations where emissions is required.  Diesels have to go in for the annual snap test, however not all counties require emissions. In those counties not requiring emissions I think you can go up to 5 years.  This bit some people in the ass recently.  AZDMV added a $35/ year DPS fee to registration. It made my $35.00 dodge go up to $70 in one year. If you registered for the five years there was no break on that. You paid the $175.00 then two years later they cancelled the fee. You did not get that money back. 

 
I would do it AZ just to avoid Smog requirement.  I think Insurance will be higher in AZ, but everything should be cheaper.  Not all smog shops do Moho's anymore in Ca, kind of a pain to take in every two years

 
Diesel rv’s over a certain gvwr (14k i think) are smog exempt in CA. we picked up a 2002 40ft DP in havasu from a dealer in august and registered it in CA. no smog required, just a vin verification and they wanted to see the EPA tag on the motor. ours is pre-def, don’t think it matters…for now at least. this was a key point for me because it has the banks kit and an exhaust system   :igor:

 
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Have a friend who had his RV registered out of state (Montana I think??) but kept it at his house here in CA. Years ago he had two drivers license, one from each state, but California changed allowing that I think? So he just had his CA DL and his RV with out of state plates. He never had an issue. 
 

He said if he ever got stopped and questioned, he would tell them they have two residences and travel in between. 
 

If I was you, I’d register as much as I could in AZ or out of state somewhere. 

 
If the Rv came from calif beware I have heard they track them to other states to check if you are still registered with cdl. If the rig is coming from other than calif. I think it’s a safer bet to register out of state as calif dmv never sees the coach

 
You can also have your CA home as the mailing address on your AZ registered vehicle. Make renewal easier if you are in CA mostly

 
Coach is coming from Virginia, private seller.

From what I can tell so far:

Insurance is higher in AZ 

registration for multi year in AZ, also a little cheaper

No smog in AZ (Havasu)

no sale tax in AZ

A lot more RV garages in AZ

 
 I don't see many benefits of doing in so cal. You could go into quickstop in Havasu and have them run some numbers. My FJ cruiser that stays in AZ was less to register for 2 years than one in year in California. I should have taken the 3 year option would have been even better. I'm guessing with no tax and cheaper registraiton with no smog you will be better off. 

https://quickstopgovservices.com

 
If you register in AZ and have a CA DL with the same name as the registration of the coach, DMV will send you a letter asking you to register the coach in CA within 30 days OR show that your primary residence is not in CA  and you have 30 days to surrender your license. 

You can reply that you are NOT going to drive it in CA anymore it was a One time deal ... And they will drop it ..But if you get another ticket in CA  - they will demand you register in 30 days or they suspend your license.

That was what happened to me before the PANDEMIC, not sure any rules changed. 

This is why most of us that have/had houses also in Havasu register our boat trailers in CA but boats in AZ, just to avoid that issue

 
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Fullthrottleguy said:
If you register in AZ and have a CA DL with the same name as the registration of the coach, DMV will send you a letter asking you to register the coach in CA within 30 days OR show that your primary residence is not in CA  and you have 30 days to surrender your license. 

You can reply that you are NOT going to drive it in CA anymore it was a One time deal ... And they will drop it ..But if you get another ticket in CA  - they will demand you register in 30 days or they suspend your license.

That was what happened to me before the PANDEMIC, not sure any rules changed. 

This is why moat of us that have/had houses also in Havasu register our boat trailers in CA but boats in AZ, just to avoid that issue
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I did not know this. Then again my FJ stays in Havasu 99% of the time but this is good info to have if and when it makes a trip back to OC 

 
Punchdrunk Monkey said:
Coach is coming from Virginia, private seller.

From what I can tell so far:

Insurance is higher in AZ 

registration for multi year in AZ, also a little LOT cheaper

No smog in AZ (Havasu)

no sale tax in AZ

A lot more RV garages in AZ
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Fixed that for you.

Friends registration went from $1800/yr in CA to $300/yr (Paid $1500 for 5yrs). That was for a 2009 Monaco Pusher

 
well thanks to this thread it reminded me that i had to go the mvd to renew the registration on my dodge dually. i had it registered as a motor carrier and 26k weight for when i did the rv hauling thing. with the motor carrier and weight it was $800ish for a year and i got a break if i did 2 years around $1400 if i recall. went and basically reregistered it without the motor carrier and high weight, now its $430 for 5 years.

 
problem in AZ they go off the suggested retail for the value. in my case it was 69k more than I paid . was almost double to register my coach in az. crazy most Ca residents want to register in az. I live in az and rv is registered in CA

 
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