Ethics and vehicle registration: A Dilemma

(This is more an ethical question than a legal question, so you don't need a knowledge of Nevada law to read on. I'll fill you in on Nevada law as necessary.)

If you purchase a vehicle in Nevada that has previously been titled in Nevada, no inspection is necessary. You take the old, signed-off title to the DMV, and they give you a new title and a license plate for it. Simple. It is the responsibility of the buyer to make sure the VIN on the title matches the VIN on the vehicle. I didn't do that. I'm an idiot.

So I buy this trailer, and do all that stuff at the DMV. I figure I'm solid. Then, as I'm restoring the trailer, I come to the realization that there's no VIN on the thing, ANYWHERE.

Uh oh.

Now I'm faced with an ethical dilemma. I can carry on as if all is well. I have a valid plate on a not-very-valid trailer. The odds of my getting pulled over by a LEO while pulling my trailer are pretty low. The odds of said LEO VIN-checking my trailer are even lower.

Choice B is to tow said trailer to the DMV for a physical inspection, and explain the problem. The best possible outcome from that is that the Inspector considers it a new build, gives a new, state-assigned VIN tag, and I get to title and register it all over again (about another $50). There are several worse possible outcomes, involving receiving stolen property, etc.

Sorry this came out so verbose. Which path would YOU take?

Get an etching/engraving tool at HF and a set of stencils?

Needing the VIN is unlikely until an officer is writing up the accident report. Just did one last night with a van trailer.

I'd report your honest mistake and see what they say.

Swank Force One wrote: Get an etching/engraving tool at HF and a set of stencils?

First thing I thought of. Why can't you just put your VIN on the trailer?

What if you don't explain the backstory and just say you built it? Get a new title, new registration, etc. And burn, bury, do whatever you like to the old title?

N Sperlo wrote: Needing the VIN is unlikely until an officer is writing up the accident report. Just did one last night with a van trailer.

But did you take the VIN from the paperwork, or did you physically inspect the trailer for a VIN?

z31maniac wrote: I'd report your honest mistake and see what they say.

Clearly, you've never dealt with any DMV, anywhere :)

fritzsch wrote: What if you don't explain the backstory and just say you built it? Get a new title, new registration, etc. And burn, bury, do whatever you like to the old title?

An interesting idea, and one I hadn't considered. Thanks.

you could get some engraving or even some dies and hammer the vin into the trailer. Honestly, it is the route I would go

What kind of trailer are we talking about? A little utility trailer, a mobile home, or what? Is it a home built trailer or was it manufactured somewhere?

mad_machine wrote: you could get some engraving or even some dies and hammer the vin into the trailer. Honestly, it is the route I would go

Yeah, I'd look at spoofing the VIN plates Nevada has. If it can be done easily, I'd do that. OR- I'd lie, and claim I just built it.

EvanR wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I'd report your honest mistake and see what they say.

Clearly, you've never dealt with any DMV, anywhere :)

Sure I have, I even purchased, titled and insured two vehicles that were out of state before I went to get them. No problem at all.

If every encounter with the DMV is poor, perhaps one should look at something besides the DMV as the problem.

stuart in mn wrote: What kind of trailer are we talking about? A little utility trailer, a mobile home, or what? Is it a home built trailer or was it manufactured somewhere?

It's the little camping trailer described in my build thread here.

I can't really say how/where it was built, but my suspicion is that it was either manufactured or built as a one-off by a person/shop that custom builds small utility trailers.

Put it on the inside of the frame rail just bahind the tongue. The Inspector will see it, won't want to kneel or crawl.

In reply to 914Driver:

Winner

Ethics are for people thinking of doing something morally wrong. Do whatever you have to to use your own property like you want to and make sure legally you have not committed something more serious than getting a fine if you get caught.

Maybe I missed something...But I don't really see how getting caught with a potentially incorrect or illegal VIN that you personally stamped onto the trailer, is significantly better or less likely than getting caught without a VIN on the trailer at all?

If it was home made in nv it won't have a vin plate, just numbers stamped in somewhere. On the last one my dad built when we lived in Nevada it was on the drivers side of the tongue just back from the coupler. SD usually makes me stamp the numbers in back by the main frame on the drivers side tongue bar.

If the title you have describes the trailer you have how could anyone prove it isn't the right title? Double check for stamped numbers and refresh them if need be.

Ethics schmethics....

If you know that you have what you think you have, then just stamp the VIN and move on to other more pressing issues.

914Driver wrote: Put it on the inside of the frame rail just bahind the tongue. The Inspector will see it, won't want to kneel or crawl.

exactly the dies I was thinking of

I've seen a set of those for sale at every swap meet that I've ever been to.

It seems to me that the answer is do nothing. You have a title that was issued before you owned it saying this is a valid trailer. The only issue you have is that you haven't found confirmation of the VIN. For all you know it is there under some touch up paint. If someone wants to make it a problem , make THEM go through the effort to PROVE it isn't the right trailer.

In reply to Driven5:

Chances are they are indeed stamped somewhere that he hasn't found yet. Out of 4 trailers we have, only one has a "vin plate"......and its not even the newest.

The newest has the numbers stamped on the underside of the dovetail. The other two have "welding bead" serial numbers on them. As long as the title describes the trailer, thats all that matters. Its not like going through the effort of swapping out vin tags on modern automobiles.