'60 AS: DMV rejects VIN numbers?

[MegHighway1]

Hi ,
The pink slip has the lic ID number 22T0179,
The AS has an old plac with the same number that is located beside the door.
The steel hitch has this same number plus three more numbers.

The lady at DMV would not write this as the VIN number because she thought it had too few numbers. She said VIN numbers are usually 16 numbers.

Her second concern was that normally numbers are not pressed into the hitch and that perhaps the hitch and trailer were not built together. Perhaps it was just the number for the hitch.


She said that she could issue me a new VIN number but if she did that she could not say if I could keep the old original black/yellow lic.

Meg

[rumrunner]

go back and talk to some one else. My vin only has 4 digits.
tim

[Colin H]

Originally Posted by MegHighway1

Hi ,
The pink slip has the lic ID number 22T0179,
The AS has an old plac with the same number that is located beside the door.
The steel hitch has this same number plus three more numbers.

The lady at DMV would not write this as the VIN number because she thought it had too few numbers. She said VIN numbers are usually 16 numbers.

Her second concern was that normally numbers are not pressed into the hitch and that perhaps the hitch and trailer were not built together. Perhaps it was just the number for the hitch.


She said that she could issue me a new VIN number but if she did that she could not say if I could keep the old original black/yellow lic.

Meg

The Lady at the DMV is an idiot. The 16 digit vin sequence didin't start until sometime in the 70's. Perhaps you should speak to her boss, & if he/she can't figure it out, keep moving up the ladder until you reach someone who knows how to think. You could also print out the page from the archive section of vintageairstream.com. The vin sequence is noted for each trailer model & year.
Colin

[Stan Z]

Keep fighting, at the Vallejo DMV they said my number was too short, then they tried to use number on the water heater shroud. I had to explain that was the water heater's model number. They quickly accepted the number on the door plate and hitch as the real number.

[Excella CM]

Colin has it right. There are NO "VIN" numbers prior to 1980, only serial numbers. People occasionally get cited for missing vin numbers or vin numbers that aren't visible through the windshield on pre-1980 cars because the constabulary aren't clear on the concept. The DMV in California is way behind the curve when it comes to anything the least bit out of the ordinary. Just find a different clerk.

[dominicjohn]

In reading this thread it makes me wonder why the Vin. Number on the door side plaque and original owner's paperwork from the Airstream Dealer doesn't match the number on my hitch? It looks like the original Marvel Hitch. Thanks, Dom

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by dominicjohn

In reading this thread it makes me wonder why the Vin. Number on the door side plaque and original owner's paperwork from the Airstream Dealer doesn't match the number on my hitch? It looks like the original Marvel Hitch. Thanks, Dom

I believe you said the VIN on the hitch had extra numbers? Might be someone added some along the way to satisfy some state peon on having enough numbers? Just a guess...

Aaron

[ROBERT CROSS]

Your DMV clerk wasn't old enough....

Bob

[Wabbiteer]

Vehicle Identification Number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One glance through the technicals of modern VIN code and the DMV drones' mental shutdown is almost excusable.

[Argosy 7728]

Dom
If your reading numbers on the hitch, thats probabaly the hitch model number. The vin should be on the tongue or at least is on mine. I don't think that they would stamp it on something thats replaceable. When we had our 28' licensed in Oreegon the short vin # did not raise a concern, but the old title having an "A" before the vin number and not being stamped that way on the trailer did.

[helmsman]

Hello MegHighway1:

I have had similar problems with the California DMV. When I attempted to register a trailer that was originally registered in CA, then later registered in Texas, and I had brought it back to CA, the woman at the counter excused herself for a moment. When she returned, she informed me that the trailer could not be registered. She also had the complete DMV registration rule book opened to the page which stated that it could be registered. I exclaimed that the regulation said it could be registered, and was informed her DMV supervisor told her not to register it.

I went to a neighboring city DMV where I was again told that my trailer couldn't be registered in CA. I asked to speak to a supervisor. She called the armed security guard over and he escorted me out.

My solution was to go to the Auto Club of So. CA. They registered my trailer within minutes. When I told them this story, they commented that the DMV was run by political appointees that didn't know their own regulations.

Good luck and happy trailering!

Don

[MegHighway1]

Thank you so much for the help!
Yes so I marched back to the DMV, with data in hand from Vintage Airstreams, comments from the thread in mind, and only yelled once! (That older trailers do not have 16 number VINs) The trailer was registered by another employee.
Yepee!
Cheers to you good folks who took the time to respond to the thread!
Meg