Date:         Wed, 14 Jan 2015 19:56:35 -0600
Reply-To:     ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET>
Subject:      Re: titling and registering camper in Washington
Comments: To: stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM
Content-type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Does not getting a collector plate involve restrictions on the vehicle?  Things like mileage restrictions, when said vehicle can be driven, etc.?  In Massachusetts there are restrictions such that I decided not to get the "Antique" plate that possibly corresponds to Washington's collector plate.

Dave B..


On 01/14/15, Stuart MacMillan wrote:

Yes, like Loren said, just go to another license agent, or try the county office.

My son just registered an Oregon Westy (where they do consider them RVs) in WA as a passenger van. If you can't live in it completely self-contained (heat, shower and flush toilet), it's not an RV as far as I'm concerned. Try that one anyway.

And, there is no emissions test for 1990 or older (25 years old). When it's 30 years old, you can get a collector vehicle plate for a one-time $50 charge.

I'm getting one for my '85 this year.

Welcome to the Inland Empire in the Evergreen State!

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Dave Mcneely
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 1:09 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: titling and registering camper in Washington

I have run into something unexpected in moving my camper to Washington. The clerk at the registration office asked me if my camper is a motor home. I said "No," because it is not. She agreed, saying that her computer registration program identified it, by its vin, as a passenger car. But another lady, at a different booth, spoke up, saying that it is a motor home. The two disagreed, so they called someone else, saying that they can always rely on him for correct information. He said it was a passenger car.

OK, everything was cool. But the other woman intervened again, asking me if the van had a bed. It does. She then asked if it had a sewage holding tank. It does not. She asked then if it has cooking facilities or a refrigerator. It has both. She declared it to be a motor home. The first woman was non-plussed. I told her that I would title and license the vehicle "later," and she said she thought that was a good idea, and that she would check further for me, and let me know what she found out.

It seems to me that if the registration program recognizes it as a passenger vehicle, and the departmental expert, consulted because he is the expert, agrees, then the second woman is just butting in, but what do I know.

So, fellow VW Campmobile owning Washingtonians, how are yor camper's titled and registered, as passenger vehicles or motor homes?

Thanks,David McNeely