The Brakes - New Jersey DMV

When we asked about the trailer we found out it had brakes.  I assumed they were electric brakes and ordered the Electronic Brake controller from etrailer.  The hardest part of installing the brake controller was running the wires for it from the back of Pathfinder, to the driver's compartment, to the engine compartment.



After finishing the installation on my truck I knew there must be a legitimate way to get the boat and trailer from New York to Connecticut.  So we did a little more research and I called the CT DMV a few more times.  They kept telling me since the boat and trailer are big, the trailer has a title.  So finally I call the New Jersey DMV and tell a very helpful woman on the phone my predicament.  She asks for the info from the little red NJ registration tag.  Then she types in the VIN number and says it shouldn't have a title but " it says here on the screen Title Issue Date" .  Eureka!  It seems as though the trailer does indeed have a title!  The original owner was wrong!  So plans are made for me to drive to New Jersey, meet the original owner at a NJ DMV and get a duplicate title printed up.   It's amazing that the original owner is nice enough to agree to this since he sold the boat 5 years ago and all of this really isn't his problem. . .  The catch is he is traveling for his business so we have a two day window of opportunity to take care of this before he is gone for a month!  On the day of my trip the title search Jeff started coincidentally arrives in the mail.  It also seems to confirm what the NJ DMV woman told me that there was a title issue date and that the title issued was standard.

The plan was simple:
Drive to NJ DMV nearest to his house in a strip mall with all the forms he needs filled out for a duplicate title.  So I take the day off work, get up at 7:30AM and drive over 112 miles to Oakland New Jersey.
I get to the NJ DMV in the strip mall and there's no line.  The original owner meets me, we walk in and he signs the duplicate title form.  I'm beginning to feel giddy.   I also give him the $60 fee for the duplicate title.  He walks right over to the counter and gets seen immediately.  I can't believe it!! New Jersey has their shit together compared to Connecticut.  He says it's because you can do almost anything DMV related online in NJ.

At this moment I text Jeff "He's at the counter!  No line.  This is going to happen!!"    I am beside myself with happiness after having spent so many hours on this issue.  Seconds later he calls me over saying "There's a problem".  There are two women behind the counter.  The older one says "The computer says there's no title, honey.  New Jersey doesn't title boat trailers that weigh under 2500lbs!"   I say "you're wrong!" and hand her the title search pointing out that it says title issue date and such.  She says "I've been working for the NJ DMV for 25 years -  we don't title boat trailers under 2500lbs.  See that NTTRL in the upper left of your title search.  It means No Title Trailer!"  I nearly collapse.  I explain to her that Connecticut believes this trailer has a title and that she's saying it never had one!  They recommend I get something from the DMV like a photocopy on NJ letterhead to prove what they were saying - so I have a man at a different counter photocopy the NJ regulation out of their Peck book.   Luckily I had also prepared three bills of sale for the original owner to sign in case something went wrong.  I tell him I'm going to need the bill of sale notarized because I'm a freaking expert from all the time I've spent on this problem.  I know that if you don't have a title you need a notarized bill of sale.  He goes into a nearby bank and gets it notarized.  I thank him profusely and call Jeff with the bad news.  He can't believe it.  We formulate a plan.  I am going to call DMV in Connecticut and explain everything and I am not going to leave NJ until this is resolved!!

So I call DMVin Connecticut and go through the whole story for the sixth or seventh time.  They ask me how much the trailer weighs and I exclaim " I am sitting at a New Jersey DMV right now.  You are wrong about the gross weight.  It's unladen weight!!  They have told me the trailer does not have a title!  Can I please speak to someone who can help me resolve this!"  They tell me they are going to transfer me to the Title Division.  This is first I've ever heard of such an office.  The woman who answers is very nice and helpful.  I explain my story and she asks for the VIN number and then tells me to "hold on".   She comes back on and says "You are right about the trailer not having a title!"  I am so relieved!  She tells me she checked the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)  and found out it does not have a title.  So the original owner was right all along. . .  I tell her I am driving to Danbury DMV which is on the way home from NJ to register this trailer today and put an end to my suffering.  I also ask her for her name so if there's a problem the person at the counter can call her.  She says that's fine and apologizes for the hell I've been through.  She also jokes about knowing how it feels to want to get your boat onto the water at the beginning of the season.


So I drive to Danbury DMV.  Take a number and wait about an hour so see someone.  I get to the counter and explain everything. When the gentleman says he'll need a title I tell him to call my new friend at the Title Division. He comes back and says "you were right!"   He also explains that only about once a year does he have to consult the Peck Book to register an out of state trailer.  He gives me a temp registration and temp plate and I begin to walk away.





He says - "Oh I almost forgot.  Since there is no title, you'll need an Q1 form and the original owner will need to sign it. . ."  He also explains that the next step is to do a VIN verification at Wetherfield DMV.  Then I present everything including the Q1 form to the DMV rep and they will finally give me a real license plate.  They will also mail me a Connecticut Title several weeks after that!






I leave the DMV triumphant and text Jeff a picture of our temp plate for the trailer. It's been almost a month since we've bought the pontoon boat and we can finally, legally, pick it up!  Just then the DMV reps runs out of the door and hands me the registration saying "I forgot to give this to you!  You would have been screwed without it!"