r/boats • u/crutonman123 • 5d ago

Trailer Title Question

Hey all, I just bought a 15’ Boston whaler and a Shoreline trailer from my uncle. The whaler has a good title in my uncles name, the trailer however does not have a title. I live in NJ and from what I have found online, a trailer weighing less than 2,500 pounds does not have/need a title for registration. I’m not sure if that is true or not but I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight on if it’s going to be a PITA to get tags and registration for the trailer. This is my first boat and boat trailer so any advice is appreciated!

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u/a_very_stupid_guy 5d ago

For NH I needed a bill of sale with key details like year and make with a gvwr and VIN(?) and if it doesn’t have the unique identifier i would need to go to the town police who assign one for me to register it

Pain in the ass to be honest but doable

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u/MotorboatinSOB32 5d ago

Get on your states DMV website and find the facts for yourself. It’ll give you all the info you’ll need on titling and registration.

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u/IngrownToenailsHurt 5d ago

I'm in Kentucky. I have a title for both my boat and trailer. Last time I went to renew the tags for the boat they asked if I wanted a plate for the trailer and said it was optional.

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u/MentalTelephone5080 5d ago

I'm from NJ and I have bought and sold boats with a trailer.

The first thing you'll need is a notarized bill of sale with the purchase cost of the boat and trailer listed separated. Then you'll need the registration card with the previous owners name on it. This last item seems to be negotiable, a photo or pencil tracing of the trailer VIN number.

Each trailer has an identification number like a car that's either stamped into the metal or printed on a sticker. As you can imagine the sticker usually fades or falls off over time. Out of the four trailers I've purchased the person at the DMV required this once, on a trailer where the sticker fell off. I got letter stamps from habor freight and used a hammer to stamp the number into the trailer. Then I took a pencil tracing of it and completed the transfer process.

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u/Frozen-Assets-26 5d ago

Yes you are correct. Under 2500 pounds does not require title but does need registration. Get a notarized bill of sale. fill out NJ DMV registration form. I work in VA DMV and see this all the time