Registering Your Vehicle

In order to save you time and avoid unnecessary delays, please call or email to have us calculate how much it will cost to register your vehicles in South Dakota prior to sending in your application. Fill in the information on our "Vehicle Checklist" form, included in your application kit, before you ask us to calculate the costs.

If we are going to register your vehicles, you MUST send us the ORIGINAL of either the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin or the title. We CANNOT USE A COPY! If you do not have either one, we will file the paperwork for you to receive a non-negotiable (interstate) title with a copy of your current registration. In South Dakota, for trailers, fifth wheels and motorhomes, we will need either:

• A document indicating the unladen or shipping weight of THAT vehicle and its VIN (not what that make/model weighs);

• - OR - you will need to go to a CERTIFIED weigh scale (Flying J, Loves, larger truck stops, etc.) and have your vehicle weighed separately (drop the trailer on the scale or drop the tow car from the motorhome). Make sure your tanks are empty if you can. (If there are no truck stops near you, simply call the local sheriff dept., state police or highway patrol and ask them where they take trucks to be weighed);

• - OR - simply take a digital picture of your plate inside your RV that shows both the VIN number AND the empty, unladen, shipping or curb weight, print it out and send that along.

For those of you folks who have a lien on your vehicle, we need a copy of your current registration or a copy of the front and back of the title showing you as owner.

Set up your account with us BEFORE you register your vehicle - and this is important - especially before you buy your new vehicle as well. If you do not, you will probably pay big money unnecessarily. A few of the states have requirements as to how long you must be a resident of another state before you can avoid paying sales tax on a purchase; check with your current state to make sure you meet their requirements.

The excise tax (which you pay on vehicles in South Dakota) is only 3%. If you have never paid sales tax, they will apply that 3% to the purchase price, if new, or to the Blue Book (or NADA) value, if more than 6 months old. If you have a bill of sale showing your purchase price and/or any sales tax paid, send that along with your other documents. When you a buy a vehicle, whether new or used, on which you will be paying the 3% to South Dakota, you MUST have us complete your paperwork and licensing within 30 days of the sale date, or you will be paying a late fee in addition to the one-time 3% tax.

For you folks who are from the East Coast, what South Dakota calls an Excise Tax is NOT what you are used to. Think of this as you would a sales tax. This is NOT a tax that you have to pay every year, over and over...this is a one-time charge. In fact, if you've already paid 3% or more sales tax on your vehicles, you almost certainly would not have to pay it again...almost all states have a reciprocal agreement. (I don't know of any of them that don't have that reciprocal agreement. I personally haven't run across any yet.)

If you've paid less than 3%, you'll have to pay the difference. If you have held clear title for at least one year, issued from a state collecting at least 3% sales tax, the question of sales tax will not come up at all.

For the folks that are considering having their vehicles registered in Montana, please keep this information in mind. Doing it may or may not be right for you.

You do NOT have to have a South Dakota driver's license to register your vehicles in Pennington County.

Please note:  When you are planning to sell your vehicle that is already registered in South Dakota, please read through New SD Cars Info before proceeding. We can help you with the requirements that went into effect on July 1 2008.