Ready to register and insure my car - need advice

Sitting this one out...

No guts, no glory, Stan.

Come on, guys.  Keep from going down the wrong path.  Once it's registered it's tough to get a "do-over"! 

Besides I'm confused on the order of events.  When do I insure?  How do I get it to a mechanic without insurance or legal registration (trailer it, I guess)?  How do I get insurance without a title?  Which comes first, the chicken or the egg??  LOL...

Some things are the same, irrespective of whether you title your car legally or not:

You want insurance in place prior to driving on public roads.  As always, liability coverage is the most important element.  You may want to contact Hagerty's, Grundy's or other insurers in your area to determine their requirements.

Call or visit the local DMV and ask questions about your situation.  You retain anonymity if you call, but I have found that public employees will try a little harder if they are talking to someone face to face. 

As you may know, some replica owners are content registering their vehicles as 19__ VW's, based on the VW pan.  That registration is illegal in California, since the car no longer resembles the VW in question.  There is a Vehicle Code section on point.  I suspect that is the same in your state, but research it, then take the course of action you  find appropriate.

There is a functioning SEARCH button on the site.  If you go to Members section, you can research other owners who live in your state and ask them about their registration experiences.  Best of luck, and please keep the group informed, as that's how we all learn.

Do you have the kit builder's Certificate of Origin (COO)?  Might give you additional options.

WOLFGANG posted:

Do you have the kit builder's Certificate of Origin (COO)?  Might give you additional options.

No, I do not.  I have the signed title to the pan, a Bill of Sale for the body and a Bill of Sale for the engine.  I believe this is sufficient for registering as a replica in Texas.

The easiest approach would be to transfer the title of the 1970 VW and register it.  My concern is that if something does happen (accident, theft, etc.), would there be a problem since it is no longer a 1970 VW??...and there are provisions to register it as what it really is.

Does insurance care how it is registered if you have an agreed value policy?  Will they pay for an expensive collision repair of a $20,000 replica that is registered as 1970 VW Beetle?

There may be something else involved here that I'm not aware of.

I'm not sure why you are confused, when you ask above: " . . .and (sic) there are provisions to register it as what it really is". 

I Googled "Texas registration of replica vehicles" and found the process, clearly stated by two separate sources.  Texas DMV has already answered your registration questions, and published those findings online. 

Call your prospective insurance company to get insurance questions answered.  If you want additional sources, contact your local Cobra replica club in Texas, and find out how they handle insurance and registration.

The emissions issue is what I think clouds the question - registered as a 2017 Replica'57 Speedster might make it require emissions for a 2017 engine.  NO ODB2 port so good luck with that.  I'm in FL and haven't registered mine yet.  I was going to register it in VA before I retired to FL.  Even though I have a CMC COO, I was going to register it as a '71 VW and get antique tags.  There antique tags were $50 and good forever with no emissions or annual safety inspections required - plus if it was in a sitting in a garage (and not driven), you didn't need insurance.  In FL you need proof of insurance to register it and they need to physically see and  check the VIN on title against car --- then if you cancel insurance they know and can revoke your license!   I still think I'll register it as a '71 VW - I can always go back later and use the COO to change title.  It seems registered as an old VW it can be exported since it meets the 25 or 30 year antique status --- where if it says 2017 it would not. (In FL, the license plate for new car is $225 for initial issue and $75 each year - for a 30 year old antique its $75 forever and you can use year of manf plates. 

James, living in California, I can't answer any of your questions directly.

I can only tell you what I would do in your shoes.

As I've said in a recent comment to a similar question, there's the letter of the law and there's how the law is actually administered. You need to find out what others in your shoes are doing in Texas.

If you can't find other Speedster owners, how about owners of Cobra replicas or dune buggies or hot rods? How are they handling registration and insurance? Why not contact some insurance agents, tell them about your situation up front, and ask how they would handle insuring the car if registered in the various possible ways?

If local Texas DMV offices are anything like California's, they're NOT a good source of reliable info. Here, most local DMV employees are unaware of what the law requires because they handle such cases so seldom. They'll often invent inaccurate answers rather than admit they don't know. You may have to track down someone in Austin with the real skinny and then refer your local DMV to them.

I opted for the 'illegal' registration of my VS as a VW after talking to my insurance agent about it. The insurance company didn't care how the car was registered as long as I was up front with them about exactly what it is. Again, I'm not saying that's what you should do, just find out what has worked for other people in Texas.

I occasionally tell my wife one of her new recipes is great when it's not so great. Sometimes, the easiest way through life is bending the truth a little.

Google "dune buggy registration in texas"  and you'll find that in April 2013 TX decided NO MORE Dune buggies or home made vehicles would be allowed!  There is allowance for an ASSEMBLED VEHICLE though (which seems it could be home made or even dune buggy looking - is a Bradley GT a replica or a dune buggy?) Ouch.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES. VEHICLE TITLES ...... A vehicle will not be titled or registered if the department determines it to be a dune buggy

I don't get it.

If it can be registered legally, I'd do that and keep the VW title in a file folder in the desk. Texas will assign a VIN for the (legal) special construction title, and there's always the VW ace in the hole if he sells down the road.

Do as you wish. 

The main reason I can think of for not following the 'by the book' registration process is that, in some states, this will eventually require the car to pass an emissions test and there's no way any VW Type 1 motor is going to pass a modern emissions test.

In California, 1960s vehicles are exempt from emission tests, so many of us, perhaps unwisely, are drawn to the dark side of the law. This isn't to say that there aren't legal ways around this both in California and in other states, but me, I have an irrational fear of smog tests. It's like claustrophobia - no amount of calm, reasoned counseling will make the fear go away.

I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat at 3 am after a nightmare about trying to get my old BMW 2002 back on the road one more time after the DMV has changed the smog test requirements yet again.

Mitch,

You may be confusing a "smog check" with a "smog test".  When I registered my replica with CA DMV in 2013, I went to a BAR station for an emissions check.  However, it wasn't pass/fail, it was pass/pass.  They weren't looking for a compliance standard of emissions (I asked the tech), they were merely logging my level of same.  To my knowledge, no owner has ever been refused due to excessive pollutants.  The process may have changed, but a test as you envision it would negate the concept of SB100 registration.  It's a pity that more owners don't take advantage of this method of registration.

Of course, you are correct that most DMV employees, at least in CA, are pretty clueless.  With 35 million registered vehicles in CA, and only 500 special construction registrations/year, small wonder, eh?

Boy!  Talk about confusing the guy!

Start here, with the poop from SEMA:  

Jim, thanks for the clarification. I'm easily confused.

To my point, though, I think James needs to find someone who has been through the process in Texas and can explain, like you've just done, how it plays out there.

As for the state 'logging' your car's emissions, I'm the eternal curmudgeon. I could see some mindless bureaucrat one day proposing that all SB100 cars reduce their emissions by 10 per cent per year over the next , say, 10 years. To someone who has no idea how our cars work, that might seem like a perfectly reasonable idea.

I replaced the awful 'emission control' system on my old BMW with a simple Weber carb that ran great and met all state specs for tailpipe emissions.

Then, I threw away the stock air cleaner (which didn't fit the Weber) and all the vacuum lines, dashpots, and other associated junk that were no longer needed. A lot of people with those cars did the same thing.  It was all perfectly CARB legal at the time, and for a few more years.

Then, they started changing the rules, bit by bit. They added a requirement that all original intake and smog equipment had to be in place - whether or not the car needed it to produce the required levels of emissions. Thereafter, it was a nightmare trying to keep that car on the road legally, even though its emissions were always within spec.

No man's life, liberty, or BMW 2002 are safe while the legislature is in session.

Good stuff, Gordon. Looks like James is in the clear.

But I'd still check with locals to see how it works out for real people with real cars.

I used Hagerty to insure mine.  They insure replica cars at there value not what it's titled as.

For what it's worth.  I recently bought a Speedster registered as a VW in Texas and registered it as a VW in California and sold it as a VW.  If it was registered any other way, I would not have bought it because of the complexity of getting it titled in California and the possibility of not being able to get it registered at all if all the hoops could not be cleared. 

I am in Illinois. I insured through haggerty. I had them insure the car as a 1960 VW (the vin is VW) and as a Porsche 356 replica.  When I went to get plates etc, I had the Illinois DMV use the same wording, 1960 Volkswagen, Porsche 356 Replica.  They put that on the registration and tax forms, so all the paperwork is consistent.

Interesting.  In most states, the DMV tells YOU what they will do, you don't tell them.  

Here in Nevada, when I registered mine, they asked me what it was.  I said a 1970 VW Speedster and that is how the title came.

Ya gotta love it!