License Plates from out of state

[oneshotveth]

If you are truly a nomad, living out of a car or rv, where do you get your license plates?   And do you have any experience with maybe cops stopping you simply because your from out of state?

 

[RVTravel]

I40 tx east of amarillo is common drug stop area for non tx plates...so i hear

 

[B and C]

I only get stopped doing something I shouldn't. I don't speed in the van so I haven't been stopped at all or had the knock. Last ticket was a warning in West Texas doing 88 in an 80 zone about three years ago in the Yukon. One before that was a ticket for 93 in a 75 zone in my 93 cobra. That was about 10 years ago. Before that I don't remember until back in my 20's.

 

[MrNoodly]

...where do you get your license plates?

This is part of the whole residency and domicile thing Bob has blogged and done videos about. You're going to need an address somewhere for license, registration, banking and such. Some states are easier to deal with than others. Some have advantages like no state income tax or no vehicle inspections. I'm not going to get into all of it here.

As for having out of state plates, as long as they're current and you don't do anything stupid, they're rarely an issue. I've been in 45 states and have seen out of state plates in all of them. We're a mobile country. And I've never been hassled just for being from out of state.

Out of state plates might make it a little harder to stealth camp, though. You wouldn't blend in quite as well.

 

[Reducto]

I was stopped in Minnesota for being in an old van with out of state plates. It was towards the end of the Sturgis bike rally and I was driving away from it, purely by coincidence, so he assumed I was there selling drugs. He asked if I had ever done any drugs in the van because the K9 unit would smell them. I just chuckled and said there was nothing to smell, I don't even drink. He let me go. I had a similar stop in Nevada but I had Nevada plates and a new van.

Out of state plates will draw a small amount of extra attention especially if you're in the same place for a while, but I don't think it makes a huge difference most of the time.

The best choice for where you get your plates has been covered in other threads.

 

[deadwood]

I made South Dakota my residency. So that’s where my license and my plates are from. I’m working in LA right now and no problems yet. Last summer I spent working in Philadelphia and didn’t have a problem there either.

So the first part of your post deals with where to license your van when living out of it. Plenty of ways to do that. From either using a friend or family members address to using a mail forwarding place. I use one of the mail operations in Rapid City and haven’t had an issue about residency since then.

As to having out of state plates I would say just keep your vehicle clean and well maintained and you most likely won’t have any problems.

And don’t park where you know you shouldn’t be parked and you won’t get any knocks on your door at night.