Seven friendly DMV's

[mopho]

Any recommendations on SoCal Seven friendly DMV's that have experience with dealing with the SB100?

A friend of mine who registered a Noble recommended Torrance to me, but looking for any other suggestions

Perhaps we should put together a list for the resource section?

I did search first

[moosetestbestanden]

Simi Valley was competent, or at least they were 4 year ago. That is, they were aware of the process and knew what to do. Of course, that was back in the days when you didn't have to be on line on day one. I think I got my number sometime in late Jan. or early Fed. [Boing!]

[Doug Liedblad]

Morgan

The best suggestion is to be prepared. Visit whichever DMV is most convenient for you or gives you a feeling they know what they are doing.

Get all the paperwork ready. This may take more than one visit, and then make a visit the week before just to be sure.

Try to get an appointment for 8:00 AM on the first day of business 2009 as soon as they will give it to you. That way you may not have to be there at 5:00 AM.

The only stories I've heard of people not getting a number were those that didn't come ready.

You may be able to avoid the SB 100 issue (or 1578?) if the car is registed in another state as a presmog Lotus Replica. Gert (slomove) was able to do this.

Doug

[mopho]

Well, already tried the convenient route and they were clueless. Local DMV gave me conflicting information (to the documents I was holding in my hand even) regarding SB100 and the temporary permits (which I need to get taken care of in the next week or so) and when I started questioning what she was telling me she got a bit belligerent so I had to leave as I was about to lose my cool :(

Felt like I was in the stereotypical DMV situation

[slomove]

..........You may be able to avoid the SB 100 issue (or 1578?) if the car is registed in another state as a presmog Lotus Replica. Gert (slomove) was able to do this..........Doug

Yes indeed, but that was 2003 and it was not just a transfer from Florida. I had also a copy of a California registration where it had been titled in 1998 before it went to Florida. They just reentered the data from the old title. So that may be difficult to replicate.

Gert

[mopho]

Car is registered in NJ as a 2004 Caterham, so an SB100/1578 is necessary


Right now I need to get the 90 day temp permit, and the local place told me I would have to bring the car in for an inspection before getting the permit (can't drive it there anyway), which people who have received such permits before have told me is not true.

I plan to try Torrance, but wanted to hear about which other DMV's people have have had good experiences with

[Rich H]

Car is registered in NJ as a 2004 Caterham, so an SB100/1578 is necessary


Right now I need to get the 90 day temp permit, and the local place told me I would have to bring the car in for an inspection before getting the permit (can't drive it there anyway), which people who have received such permits before have told me is not true.

I plan to try Torrance, but wanted to hear about which other DMV's people have have had good experiences with

I'm no expert, but you may have two processes confused. If you want to register under SB100 (and are eligible for it - I don't know), I think that the first thing that you must do is get an SB100 sequence number, which you can't do until January 2009. I don't think that there is any 90-day SB100 permit available without the sequence number.

On the other hand, if you want to register as a non-SB100 car (and I'm not suggesting this is either desireable or feasible - I don't know that either), then you can apply now for registration and meet the standard DMV requirements. If you go this route then I think that a 90-day permit is available if you file an acceptable application and pay fees.

If you want to go SB100, you might want to consider doing it in two steps. The first being to get a CA certificate of title, without registration (no fees either), designating your car as an SPCN vehicle. Do that now so that you can sort out the paperwork with the DMV with no time pressure. Then on January 1, 2009, your car will already be in the DMV computer system as a CA SPCN vehicle. All you'll have to do then is ask for a sequence number.

Here's an excerpt from the vehicle code that might help you to begin research...

"Certificate of Ownership Without Registration

4452. The department may issue a certificate of ownership to the legal owner of a vehicle without requiring registration, and may issue a facsimile copy of the certificate to the owner if there is no legal owner, the application is submitted in proper form, and one of the following conditions exist:

(a) The vehicle is registered pursuant to Section 5014.1.

(b) A certification has been filed with the department, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 4604, that the vehicle has not been driven, moved, or left standing upon any highway so as to require payment of fees and that the owner will not thereafter permit that operation or movement of the vehicle or leave the vehicle standing on any highway without surrendering, or arranging to surrender, the certificate of ownership to the department and without first making an application for the regular registration of the vehicle and full payment of all fees required to be paid under this code and Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

Amended Sec. 11, Ch. 826, Stats. 2001. Effective January 1, 2002."

[mopho]

Sorry, yeah, the temp permit has nothing to do with the SB100, it is my understanding that I can "attempt" to register the car normally (pay the fees etc) knowing that it won't pass smog and I can get the 90 day permit to "fix" it and then try to renew the permit again to carry me over in the meantime until I can go for the SB100.

I got this info from a friend who registered a Noble. The question here is if doing this is going to screw me up for the SB100 or will I have to pay fees and taxes a second time?

I want to be able to drive the car and not have it sit until January, so it doesn't sound like the Certificate of Ownership Without Registration is a solution(?)

[New2 7's]

If you have the license plates and registration from Florida, I believe you are able to drive the car for up to 90 days before you are required by state DMV laws to register the vehicle in California.
Personal suggestion, get the sb100 number when they become available on the 1st business day of January. If you "7" is anything like most of the others around here, you have to fit the motor with "ALL" smog equipment require for the year of the motor. The sb100 number exempt you from those requirements.

I registered my "7" in Culver City 2 years ago, most of the people at the DMV back then didnt know alot about the registration process, but I found if you are humble and contrite (as difficult as that can be) with them it goes a long way.

[Rich H]

Sorry, yeah, the temp permit has nothing to do with the SB100, it is my understanding that I can "attempt" to register the car normally (pay the fees etc) knowing that it won't pass smog and I can get the 90 day permit to "fix" it and then try to renew the permit again to carry me over in the meantime until I can go for the SB100.

I got this info from a friend who registered a Noble. The question here is if doing this is going to screw me up for the SB100 or will I have to pay fees and taxes a second time?

I want to be able to drive the car and not have it sit until January, so it doesn't sound like the Certificate of Ownership Without Registration is a solution(?)

DMV isn't supposed to double-charge fees and taxes. And if someone errs you should be able to get a refund.

Title and registration are two separate things. A lot of the reported SB100 "hassles" have to do with trying to second-guess what documents will be required at a DMV office on January 1, in order to get a CA SPCNS title - which is, in turn, required in order to get an SB100 number (and maybe its confusing that the DMV clerks seem to do both things as a single process on January1). So the thought here is, and its just a thought that may or may not work, if you can get the proper title issued now, without the "do or die" time pressure on January 1, why not do it?

Once you have a title, you can seek any type of registration, and/or temporary operating permit, allowed in the vehicle code.

[Sean]

What the CA DMV has to say about the subject: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/os.htm

edit -- The link above is clearly aimed at more mainstream vehicles. Anybody's guess as to what work-arounds may or may not be applicable in your case due to the out of the ordinary circumstances in play when registering a Caterham.

Senator Johannessen's SB 1578 from 2002, which became Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code, can be found here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/01-02/...chaptered.html