Anyone heard of "FS" before the vin number?

[cannedham]

Hi,
We just purchased a 63 shasta in Texas. I think we found the VIN on the tongue, but the title has an FS before the number. Any ideas on what FS is? We are registering in New Mexico and they are very picky. Thanks.

[safetybruce]

I don't know anything for sure about New Mexico, but when I bought my 1961 Compact, it did not have a title. I received a Bill of Sale only. When I went to the DMV to see if I could get a Title issued in Mississippi, (the trailer was from Alabama), the lady asked for the VIN number. I gave it to her, and she typed in the vin and an S after the number...submitted it and then said "a Mississippi title already has that number", so she tried a T after the S and resubmitted the request...much to both of our surprise(s), she said..."nooo, there is already a Trailer titled in Mississippi with that combination too...so she tried putting the VIN number with STC after it, and when she submitted that, she said..yep, that one "took". A month later I received a Title in the mail with the vin number and STC after it as my official VIN. Now the old saying is, that there are two kinds of people in Mississippi...those that live in a trailer and those that wish they did...a redneck joke. Mississippi isn't picky, obviously, but maybe if the 64 was purchased and the original Title was lost, maybe it is simply a retitle, and for the same strange reason as I described, the original number was assigned to a different trailer from the 60's, so the FS was "just added" to give it a unique number matchiing the numbers you found on the tongue. You might mention my experience if they question your Title, although I imagine since you have a Title they will not give it a second thought. The only other thing I did have to do, is since I did not have a title, I had to go to a Title Bond Agency, and showed my bill of sale, and because of the age of the trailer, they were willing to write me Title Insurance, for a $50 fee, and the lady said they had never had any inquiries questioning the veracity of ownership on any trailer in the 60's that was issued a new Title since the turn of the century. I suggest not to worry...submiit the Title with total confidence and let them either question it or not. They might require you to get a Title Bond, but that took me about 5 minuutes at the Bonding Company. My new Title is clean and official. I think you will not have any problems with Title in hand. It's worth a try...they won't follow you home and try and take the trailer away from you anyway. I'm guessing you will walk out with your tag and no hassle, "picky or not". Just my thoughts. I'm getting ready to title a trailer with no vin no identifying manufacturer mark on the Trailler and no known date of manufacture. my Bill of Sale says it is a 1938 Hayes, our best educated guess from surfing the net at photos of trailers that most resemble it's appearance, and the seller and I just made up a number...if the DMV submits the request and it is accepted, I am going to get some metal stamps, and stamp the number on the new Title on the tongue of the old trailer , so it matches the Title...again...I do live iin Mississippi...that miight make a difference.

[cdraz]

Very interesting!

[kevschofield]

The camper we just bought was advertised, and came with a registration for, a 1979 Shasta Airflyte..

VIN on the registration was NHTR0147012

I questioned my town clerk and she said if the VIN can't be found on a camper or trailer in general, a police officer goes and looks at it to verify that a VIN can't be found, then the DMV issues a "New Hampshire TRailer" VIN.. thus the NHTR start..

Well, I found the real VIN on my camper and its P12317 which is a 1968 Airflyte.. Town Clerk tells me its no problem, just bring down the bill of sale, the old registration and the new VIN and she'll register it as the 68 with the proper VIN.

[safetybruce]

I have noticed a couple of people advertising on TinCanTourists classifieds in the past, that wanted to buy clean Titles for certain makes of trailer...I imagine they also live in states that have finicky Title requirements and there will be some tongue modifications to match the Title purchased.

[Red Dirt]

My DMV worker suggested that I have the numbers on the tongue re-stamped before selling it to cut down on confusion/ hard to read numbers for the next guy.
My first thought was, "That's a good idea."
Then I thought, "Why would I sell it?"
And then, "If I did have to sell it, why would I make it so easy for the next guy?"

Seriously though, I don't think it is that tricky to add letters and numbers for whatever reason. Just need a punch and a hammer. I think if you are really worried about the dmv and numbers matching, just use a little spackle, bondo, filler etcetera on the letters f and s and repaint the tongue so that only the vin as listed on the title is visible.


Red Dirt