How does dmv (california) determine a motorhome's year?

Answer 1

There are two numbers on your motorhome and they are different. The first is the VIN number for the actual "chassis" and drivetrain which the motorhome was built on. and the second is the motorhome "body" VIN which was assigned by the manufacturer. The motorhome, if titled as such is titled by the year and VIN of the body itself. As an example of this a friend of mine has a 74 Open Road Motorhome which was actually built new on a "73" Chevy chassis. This is often the case as the motorhome manufacturers buy up a lot of chassis to get the best price and them build motorhomes on them as they get orders to do so. If they don't use all the chassis in a single year they continue to make motorhomes on that same chassis until they are used up with each following year's production being titled with newer and newer year titles. It is possible to find motorhomes with chassis more than one year older than the body and that is the way they were made. It is the body number that is what they use as without the body the law considers it a "truck" and the chassis would apply. In order to get the special rates you need to insure a motorhome which is much cheaper than an regular heavy duty commercial "truck" rate and also the registration is cheaper. You have to have it titled as a motorhome and that mean the body number. There have been exceptions to this of course where the motorhome might have been remodeled or damaged in some way and the numbers are no longer there, but is usually a huge hassle involving special inspections by the state police, etc. to make sure it isn't simply a "stolen" motorhome that you are attempting to title with a different number. Normally the chassis and body number is inside to the left of the driver on the kick panel area. Some have them in other places as well. The old Open Road I mentioned above has a plate from Chevrolet showing the chassis as a 73 and then another plate from Open Road showing it complied with all standard for a "motor home" and having a separateVIN for the title. In that case however all mechanical parts involving the drivetrain have to be bought for a 73 and not 74 model so important that no matter what year your home is that you check this to make sure you don't order the wrong parts. you might have a 95 model sitting on a 93 chassis and 95 parts migth not work or even fit.

Answer 2

The same way they determine a car's year. It's based on the model year in which the manufacturer made the motorhome.

Answer 3

The 10th digit of the VIN will determine the model hear.

10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994(R), 1995(S), 1996(T),
1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)------2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)

Answer 4

And if the model year is not good enough for you then there is always the VIN. Every motor vehicle has one in the US. it has a code in it that will tell them the year. Hope this helps.