What happens if you dont renew registration every year?

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Nov 29, 2009
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I have a trailer that only goes on the road a couple times a year. What if I didn't renew the registration for say 5 years or so? Seems like a waste of money to pay for it
 
I have a trailer that only goes on the road a couple times a year. What if I didn't renew the registration for say 5 years or so? Seems like a waste of money to pay for it
Guess you will find out if you get pulled over! You might want to PM dnewton3 since I believe he worked in Law Enforcement!
 
Guess you will find out if you get pulled over! You might want to PM dnewton3 since I believe he worked in Law Enforcement!
Not likely if you only drive it 10 times in 5 years. I know people that drive everyday for a year with expired registration
 
I have a trailer that only goes on the road a couple times a year. What if I didn't renew the registration for say 5 years or so? Seems like a waste of money to pay for it
In certain states if you are under a particular weight you don’t technically need plates on a trailer.

Our state allows you to take vehicles off the road and put them back on when your going to use them in a following year. (Still have to pay for the full year of use)

A question, does your area have nearly 100% of vehicles and trailers driving with expired plates?

The northern areas of this state nobody pays for plates, but do that anywhere 50 miles south and the police auto scan every plate and it’s a capital offense
(for something that really isn’t important to anyone)
 
Here in OH one only needs a weight slip to register a trailer-it just goes down as “homemade”. Maine has permanent trailer plates, even for out of state residents & businesses.
 
You can register a vehicle as "Non-Op" in CA; then just pay the annual registration when necessary.
If a vehicle is more than 2 or 3 years out, it can be towed on the spot. You can't get it back until all back fees and penalties are paid.
 
What happens depends on what state your trailer is registered in.

In California, if you don't want to put your vehicle on the road, you can get a certificate of planned non-operation. There are some specific requirements that you have to meet. There's also a certificate of non-operation, for vehicles that have not been operated or used on roads. One is for future non-operation and one is for past non-operation.
 
Just went thru an inspection pull over checkpoint in Freehold. They do it early in the day counter rush hour to avoid tying up commuter traffic for those in compliance. Such an easy hassle to avoid. Go for a Mickey Mouse inspection every two years, (takes literally 5 minutes) display your up to date sticker on the windshield and move on. Why look for trouble?
 
Here in OH one only needs a weight slip to register a trailer-it just goes down as “homemade”. Maine has permanent trailer plates, even for out of state residents & businesses.
Lived in Maine all my life. I'm not aware of this. You can register a trailer for a year, or 2 years AFAIK. Generally I register 1 trailer and move the plate. I have a pop-up camper, 2 trailers (small and medium), and a wood splitter. All of which see maybe 150 miles a year. Technically I'd need to register all of them. Which is total BS as far as I'm concerned. I'm towing all of them with a registered vehicle, don't use any of them for commerce. I haul firewood, and general debris to the dump.
 
In CA, until recently, the fine for driving around with expired tags cost a $25 fine plus other fees. All in all close to $200.

Since the beginning of this year, expired tags are no longer a single cause to get pulled over by the popo The late fees are tiered based on the period. The late fee for one year is 40% of the annual registration fee.
 
OT: Where I work parking is at a premium; the close lots require a pass; There is paid parking near by; a coworker just used the "pass lots" without a pass and when he got towed informed me, "I get towed about once year; it is cheaper than paying for parking" Inconvenient, but you can't dispute the economic sense of that....

Maybe the fine is < the cost of registering it multiple times over the years.
 
Move to South Carolina. Take the lights off, the plate off, and make it look as dilapidated as possible. Every contractor around here looks as I described, and I have never seen one pulled over.
 
Lived in Maine all my life. I'm not aware of this. You can register a trailer for a year, or 2 years AFAIK. Generally I register 1 trailer and move the plate. I have a pop-up camper, 2 trailers (small and medium), and a wood splitter. All of which see maybe 150 miles a year. Technically I'd need to register all of them. Which is total BS as far as I'm concerned. I'm towing all of them with a registered vehicle, don't use any of them for commerce. I haul firewood, and general debris to the dump.
I guess the max is 12 years, so not completely permanent-
mainetrailerregistrations.com
I admit I’ve considered it, since my utility trailer is ~$50/year.
 
I've heard of swapping one registered plate between trailers here. Police have bigger fish to fry and all. While I have done that for trailers I just bought, on all of them I just wound up registering. At $25 per year per plate it wasn't worth the potential headache, and our roads can use all the help they can get.
 
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