CC's must be upfitted before delivery...?

[fkovalski]

When my 3500 was at the dealer, I took the opportunity to take a look- see at the new models. In talking with the salesman about the cab-chassis models he informed me that they cannot deliver to the consumer a bare exposed chassis; they must be upfitted with something (flatbed, dump, etc... ) before a customer can legally leave the dealership showroom upon purchase.



I cannot see how this is possible since there are so many uses to CC's.



Anyone hear or know of this situation.

 

[jgillott]

I'm sure that I'll be wrong on this one like I am most often, but I have never heard that one before. A guy local to us, drove his new 2012 5500 for a couple of weeks recently before the local trailer/truck bed shop installed his flatbed. That was probably Feb/March of 2012, so if there is a regulation, the local dealer certainly was breaking the rule.

 

[Slow Six]

Sounds like a scenario where the dealer wants to sell the upfit? Just my . 02

 

[mwilson]

As far as Maine goes it only needs rear lighting and mudflaps, then off you go.



It is an incomplete vehicle but that does not mean you can't operate it without a body.



Mike.

 

[HBarlow]

The salesman's statement on the issue is fundamentally correct based on my own limited experience in Texas.

I was told something similar when I bought my '08 C&C but I was well known at the dealership where I bought my truck so they hung a scrap piece of lumber across the rear frame and mounted a pair of mudflaps and gave me a dealer temporary license plate and we all hoped I wasn't noticed by a TX DPS trooper.

I drove my truck 300 miles home from the dealer where I bought it. I was told they were not allowed to send me on my way with the truck as it was but would do it for me. The procedure was illegal but I didn't have a way to complete the "incomplete vehicle" until I got it home so they accomodated me.

Edit: A memory just came back to me. The dealer plate the dealership gave me was supposed to be used only by a dealer employee moving the vehicle prior to delivery to a customer for a purpose like to have a bed installed. As a retail buyer I was not supposed to have that type of dealer plate or be driving the truck across the state.

When I got it home I had a CM bed installed then got a certified scale weight and took my certificate of origin and bill of sale along with the scale weight certificate to the court house and registered it and applied for a title.

It's been more than four years and my memory is fuzzy but my understanding at the time was the truck could not be registered until I had the bed installed and a certified scale weight ticket in hand before I went to the court house to register it. I am not sure now but I may have had to wait until the bed was installed and all the street legal lighting was in place and have a regular state vehicle inspection done and take the inspection receipt along with the weight ticket and other documents to the court house.

I think the way it is supposed to be done is that if the truck in question is a retail purchased truck not a dealer inventory vehicle the dealership sends the truck out to have the aftermarket bed or body installed then gets it back and makes the delivery to the buyer as a complete unit.

 

[Bill Stockard]

When my 3500 was at the dealer, I took the opportunity to take a look- see at the new models. In talking with the salesman about the cab-chassis models he informed me that they cannot deliver to the consumer a bare exposed chassis; they must be upfitted with something (flatbed, dump, etc... ) before a customer can legally leave the dealership showroom upon purchase.

Yes, you can. If you pay cash for it, a dealer tag, rear lights (which should already be there), and temporary mud flaps and away you go to have a body of your choice installed or even make one yourself. You cannot legally haul or tow a load until it is registered and the title transferred.



If you are financing the truck with a body, it does have to be installed and the completed truck has to be weighed on a certified scale, a vehicle safety inspection, and registered with the lien holder shown on the title application. In that case a dealer usually will not release the truck until it is completed and the title transferred for their own financial security.



Bill

 

[KIKER]

I'll have to disagree with having it fit with a bed before the owner can take it home. I have been contemplating buying a C/C and putting a welding bed on it, as welding with my own portable rig is what I do for a living. I would build my own custom bed and install it myself. My brother bought one in Denton and drove it to Amarillo and started to work on a custom bed. There are hundred's of cab/chassis trucks running around here in West Texas that have owner built beds on them. I can't see that many buyers getting to drive off the lot, if that was against a law.

 

[HBarlow]

Yes, you can. If you pay cash for it, a dealer tag, rear lights (which should already be there), and temporary mud flaps and away you go to have a body of your choice installed or even make one yourself. You cannot legally haul or tow a load until it is registered and the title transferred.

If you are financing the truck with a body, it does have to be installed and the completed truck has to be weighed on a certified scale, a vehicle safety inspection, and registered with the lien holder shown on the title application. In that case a dealer usually will not release the truck until it is completed and the title transferred for their own financial security.

Bill

Bill,

I paid cash for mine and was told what I reported in my post above. Why would it make it difference to anyone other than the lender who holds superior title to the vehicle until the note is repaid? The court house registration clerks don't care other than the way the title application is filled out.

I only discussed the situation with my salesman who I consider one of the smart ones but perhaps he thought all sales required the bed installation, inspection, and scale weight prior to registration because he had only been involved with non cash sales of C&Cs.

The dealership told me they could not put a state vehicle inspection sticker on my truck because it had no fenders and the salesman told me I would have to have the bed installed, have it inspected by a licensed state inspection station, obtain a scale weight, and then register it.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Bill,



I paid cash for mine and was told what I reported in my post above. Why would it make it difference to anyone other than the lender who holds superior title to the vehicle until the note is repaid? The court house registration clerks don't care other than the way the title application is filled out.

With a finance deal, the dealer doesn't get paid for the vehicle until the title is transferred and the lien is registered. The dealer submits the "white slip" to the finance company proving the vehicle title has been transferred with fiance company as the lien holder. Until the dealer is paid, he is liable for payment of the vehicle to whom ever floor plans his vehicles. The dealer usually will not release the cab and chassis until the title is transferred since he hasn't been paid for it. If the floor plan auditor makes an inventory check and the the cab/chassis vehicle is gone, the dealer will be "out of trust" and the auditor will demand payment whether or not the dealer has been paid by the buyer or a finance company.



BTW, I was a dealer inventory auditor for a year for International Harvester Credit Corp when I first went to work for I-H.



Bill

 

[HBarlow]

Bill,

I understand all that. I worked in auto dealerships but the real question is can the dealer legally deliver an incomplete cab and chassis to the buyer, cash or credit, when the truck has no fenders and can't have a state vehicle inspection sticker.

Did the dealership or saleman misunderstand or did I?

Can a truck without fenders be inspected and registered in Texas? I've seen cab and chassis trucks registered in other states that had aftermarket truck fenders and mud flaps on the rear tires and a 1/2" steel plate attached to the top of the frame rails with a fifthwheel hitch or gooseneck ball on the steel plate and bare frame rails.

I'm vague on details now because I've only been involved in one C&C transaction and it was more than four years ago but my fading memory is that the dealership gave me a black dealers paper plate not a buyer's red paper plate and told me they really weren't supposed to deliver the truck to me as it was.

 

[NIsaacs]

Is this something new or what? Is it a state or federal requirement? I have seen several dually trucks in the class 3/5 size with only a fifth wheel on the frame just like a big truck..... what the heck??



Nick

 

[HBarlow]

Nick,

So have I but the question is - is there some reason why a dealer is not supposed to deliver a new C&C to a retail buyer.

As I have thought about it and exchanged more posts I don't understand. I'm tempted now to call and ask dealers or TXDOT what the rules are.

 

[mwilson]

I would be asking someone for sure.



I talked to the title girl and our top medium duty salesman, they have never heard of such a thing. We sell naked chassis cabs here all the time.



It could be a Texas thing, but it is not federal from what I can see.



Here are federal labels that come from Freightliner on chassis / cabs.



Mike.

 

[Bill Stockard]

With a finance deal, the dealer doesn't get paid for the vehicle until the title is transferred and the lien is registered. The dealer submits the "white slip" to the finance company proving the vehicle title has been transferred with fiance company as the lien holder. Until the dealer is paid, he is liable for payment of the vehicle to whom ever floor plans his vehicles. The dealer usually will not release the cab and chassis until the title is transferred since he hasn't been paid for it. If the floor plan auditor makes an inventory check and the the cab/chassis vehicle is gone, the dealer will be "out of trust" and the auditor will demand payment whether or not the dealer has been paid by the buyer or a finance company.



BTW, I was a dealer inventory auditor for a year for International Harvester Credit Corp when I first went to work for I-H.



Bill

I was explaining from the dealer's point of view.



Yes, I have sent out cab and chassis trucks without a bed, with a state inspection (temporary mud flaps required on dual rear wheels) and transferred the title. I was a little "creative" at the registration office. The state doesn't care as long as they collect the sales taxes and the title/registration fees.



To answer the OP's question, no, it isn't illegal to sell and deliver a cab/chassis truck. Either the salesman is misinformed and/or has been told by misinformed management that it is illegal... typical of car dealers trying to sell trucks.



Bill

 

[mwilson]

It's when the weight capabilities are affected that things get serious such as adding a tag axle, or something of that nature.



Mike.

 

[EGroeneveld]

When my 3500 was at the dealer, I took the opportunity to take a look- see at the new models. In talking with the salesman about the cab-chassis models he informed me that they cannot deliver to the consumer a bare exposed chassis; they must be upfitted with something (flatbed, dump, etc... ) before a customer can legally leave the dealership showroom upon purchase.



I cannot see how this is possible since there are so many uses to CC's.



Anyone hear or know of this situation.

This is a state by state issue, so you'll have to check with your state DMV. You dealer maybe just refering to mudflaps and rear lights. I've seen quite a few chassis cabs around here leave the dealership with temp mudflaps attached to a 2*4 and trailer type of brakes lights plugged in.

 

[HBarlow]

I called and spoke with two different TX DPS troopers and here's what I was told.

When I bought my truck four plus years ago I should have been issued and probably was, an "in-transit" temporary plate which would allow me to drive the vehicle 300 miles to my home where it would be completed.

It is NOT legal in TX to register and drive the vehicle until and unless it has clearance lights mounted at the rear like those on the tailgate of a pickup and on the outer edges of the rear fenders or body like a dually pickup and must have mudflaps. A vehicle without the properly mounted clearance lights and mudflaps cannot have an inspection sticker or be registered.

Fenders are not required but flaps and lighting are.

 

[mwilson]

This is what the truck transporters do and is 50 state legal, it has to be.



Mike.

 

[HBarlow]

Yes, that rig on the Freightliner would be legal for "in-transit" but, of course, it couldn't pass a state vehicle inspection or be registered with temporary lighting rigged up like that.

I was not legal and could have been ticketed when I drove my truck across the state because I didn't have clearance lights rigged up.

 

[mwilson]

Right, but that shows where the lights have to be if a state were pushing the issue.



As far as that power unit goes when it is on the ground and being inspected at a State Inspection Facility the factory installed stop/turn/tail lights, back-up light, plate light, reflectors and factory flaps are within compliance. It needs nothing else for a sticker where it is a tractor.



The same argument would apply in my mind to a 1 ton or C/C that hauled trailers... ... ..... and had a hitch installed.



Mike.