Temporary Registration

For those of you who have had a car built in different state/country than your residence, how did you deal with registration? Did you have the builder get temporary registration in his state/country? We obviously can't register our cars in our home states until we get it there. What's the secret?

With 50 states (and some territories) with different rules, I'm sure this thread can drift all over the map. Since I suspect that you are interested primarily in an SAS car with a recent Subaru drive train and a functional OBDII system, you are probably still all over the map. If you look back at past discussions on registrations, you will see that the picture is anything but clear.

I think it might be to your advantage to identify where you wish to register a car and go from there. Some folks can talk about CA; others about their state. I can only speak to GA which has very liberal registration laws (probably due to the lobbying of the street rodders). For example, in the case of old or specialty cars, GA focuses on what the car looks like rather than the engine or emissions. Not so elsewhere.

TN, where the SAS cars are assembled, does offer some interesting opportunities for titling and registration.

I think if I were doing CA, I would go for SB100.

I know that my Beck was built at Special Edition in Indiana. I could have registered it there, but would have paid sales tax twice, once in Indiana and once in MIchigan (one of my friends in North Carolina ended up doing this). The good folks at SE delivered it on their truck to my house and I then paid taxes and applied for the registration and title. Getting the temporary tag was a piece of cake (of course, so was paying my taxes). Getting the title has proved problematic because they insisted that I register it as an "assembled vehicle" like I built it as a kit myself, even though it was turnkey from SE with a VIN and a MSO. I tried to register it as a normal vehicle the first time and was rejected and had to start over. I'm now 5 weeks into a 4-6 week process waiting for the state to get back to me. During this second round, I had to get a police safety inspection (which went fine). Next, supposedly, the state will soon contact me, schedule an appt to look at my car again, stick their own VIN on the car, release the title, and THEN, I have the privilege of paying to transfer the personalized tag that they had already issued to me back onto the car. I paid for a 30 day tag while I waited for the tag and I paid for another 60 day tag while I'm waiting the second time. It expires on 7/27 and I'm hoping that I don't have to buy another one :) One of my other friends on this board from South Carolina couldn't even drive his for the first 2 months!. Every state is different. Hopefully, your isn't a PITA.

Tom, Thank you for your excellent post that provides a real life scenario for what I was trying to say above. I know of several stories from other states that are quite similar. While there is usually a solution provided, the road can often be steep, hazardous and expensive. Starting over is not uncommon. And I have been told that MI was a "car state" .........

I think I'm the "other friend" that Tom was talking about. Yes, I was on hold for a couple of months, but it was due to ineptitude at the local DMV office, not actual state regs. Once I got someone involved from the state DMV office, it took one trip to the local office with the state person on the phone to them. What this means to you is that many DMV office workers simply don't know how to handle cars like ours. The official process may or may not be problematic, but getting someone who knows what that process is could be the real issue. For example, the state process in SC accepted the 9-digit chassis number on my Beck with no problem, but the local office first thought it had to be 16 digits, so they gave me a form for getting a new VIN for a mobile home! Sheesh!

Making this more "interesting" is that laws are in the process of changing in many states due to SEMA's lobbying. If they've been successful in your state (you didn't say which one that is), you should have a relatively easy time of it.

Here's my recent Texas experience with my just purchased 2002 Intermeccanica... Took 90 minutes total to get the car inspected, title transferred, and walk out with plates. Texas will not budge off the fact that these are Assembled vehicles. Mine is now titled in Texas as a (year) 2002 (make) Assembled (model) 1959 Porsche Convertible. The car was inspected as a 1959 and did not have to pass emissions. Good luck with yours!

Oh yeah, in SC mine is registered as a 1957 Becs (sic) Speedster. Apparently there is another Beck in the state, and it was misspelled when registered. The folks at the local DMV didn't want to correct it on mine as they would have to create a new entry in the database. Sheesh!

I need to apologize. When I posted my initial query, the first paragraph was somehow deleted. My question only regards temporary registration, i.e, how do I legally register the car, temporarily, in the builder's state so that I can drive it to my home state. I think I understand the process for regsitering and titling the car in CA. Naturally, I would prefer not to pay for permanent registration twice, once in each state. Anyone who drives their newly-built car across state lines/country borders faces this issue. Does everyone pay twice for permanent registration in both states? Some owners must drive their cars home, not have them shipped.

Just drive it from the original state into yours. When you get home then do your registration. Carry the bill of sale and transfer papers from the original owner with you and if your stopped for driving to fast or to slow (right) then just explain and show the papers.

That is all you should need.

BTW, What states are involved?

Hi Dale,

Thanks for your response. TN is state of build, CA is state of registration. I used to see "dealer plates" in CA, either paper or metal plates that dealers used for temp. use on new cars, prior to permanent registration. Since I have lived outside the US for many years, I haven't kept up with latest practices of car builders. Regards, Jim

Jim,

When are you getting your car? There are still some SB 100 numbers left and you can register if you have the Manufacture statement of origin, receipts for the trans/engine/frame.

Check the CA DMV site for requirements in "special construction".

You do not need to have the car to start the paperwork and get the SB100 sequence number.

Also check the Cobra Club site for some other thoughts. They have been thru the exercise and have it down. http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=120

Feel free to email me, just mention SOC in the title.

Good luck.

Another quirk of SC is that I got away with some homemade paper plates that said "Tag Applied For - Paperwork on file with SC DMV". This worked for several weeks until I got the real deal. What a place.

Check your state and see if the car even has to be in the state before you register it. In Florida all I needed to present were some application forms, Certificate of Origin, Proof of Insurance(Grundy insured me with picture of my car under construction) and of course a check for the sales tax. Once I presented all that at my local DMV I was given my License plate and registration which took nearly 15 minutes. I received my Florida Title about a month later.

Before I had plates or stickers or anything on mine, I had to drive it to the inspection station. I called DMV and the nice guy told me to not worry about it and just show the paperwork to anyone that might stop me and tell them I'm headed to get it all done. Maybe work for you as well... A police car pulled up beside me in route and I just knew I was nailed, but the policeman only smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Too busy looking at the car itself maybe :)

Tom, I went through the same nightmare of arguing with Sec.Of. St. to get my home built(JPS) titled as a "57 Porsche Replica" even going by thier rules on kit cars. It's titled as a 2009 assembled vehicle. You can hang a VW engine on a tube frame for a dune buggie and they title it as a "HOTROD" OR "ROADSTER". Go figure.

Jim,

You only need to register the car in California if it is your state. Go to DMV and start the process. You can pay initial fees and get the SB-100 Sequence number. I started mine Jan 4th I paid the final fees July 1 and got my 60 TOP. I guess it would depend on how much time will pass before your car is close to completion. If it is close now you better make an appointment and get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. Once the first 500 Sequence numbers have been given out you no longer have the choice to use the cars model year to exempt you from CA Smog laws.

If you can't get ahold of Dale contact me. I can help.

My sincere thanks to all responders. I now have sufficient info to start, and hopefully, keep the ball rolling. On my next trip to California, I will contact DMV to begin the process. Regards, Jim