Northwest Fishing Reports

I just bought a nice little boat from idaho, got a great deal! Or so I thought. The guy gave me the registration for the boat and trailer plus a bill of sale. I went in to the licensing place here in spokane and here is what the overpaid lady had to tell me: Since there is no vin number on the registration for the boat or trailer and Idaho didn't issue titles for anything under 20 feet until 2000, we can computer generate you a vin number for the boat, but you are going to have to take the trailer down to the state patrol and have them make you a plate with a new vin number to attach to the tongue of the trailer. I said, okay, how much is that? 5 dollars is all, but they charge you 65 dollars for a trailer inspection. Of course I wasn't so happy but hey, I let most things roll off my back these days. She asked if I wanted to keep the boat and trailer registered in idaho for a while but I just wanted to get it all cleared up and keep it in washington. Then she said because of no idaho title, no vin number, I won't get a washington title for 3 years!!!! Are you kidding me?! That makes no sense, it doesn't take that long to file a lost title! So, maybe I should have thought it through when I bought the boat, and now I know better. Just wanted to pass this along for you fellas so hopefully you will know what to look for if you find a great deal on a boat in idaho. On a side note, if any of you work for the department of licensing or know anyone that does, will trade elk meat for title!

i once bought an out-of-state motorcycle and went through the same thing (inspection and 3-year wait). i was one nervous wreck for a couple of weeks until i got notification the VIN didn't come back as stolen. at that point i didn't care about waiting for the title, i just had to bring in the previous year's registration to keep renewing.

anyway, i think the 3-year wait is more for allowing a previous owner to claim it once it pops up on the "radar" if it was stolen because you're right -- just the lost title process cannot possibly be that long.

good luck, and hang in there! great idea to give everyone a heads-up about the state-to-state transfer process.

I went through the exact same thing a few months ago! I bought a boat from a fella in ID and when I went to register the boat and trailer they told me that the boat was reported stolen, not the trailer because they were able to give me registration and liscence plate for that. So I had to have the police run all the numbers on the boat and trailer to find out it was not stolen, the lady was just full of s&@t. Then I had to try to get in touch with the state patrol in Spokane, I live in Newport. I say "try" because you don't get to talk to a person you get to leave a message and they call you back. With the spotty cell phone coverage in Newport it was a two week game of phone tag! After it was all said and done it was about 6 weeks before I could legally put the boat in the water. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. I am not trying to discourage anyone from taking advantage of a good deal from ID, just a warning of what to expect.